Hi
Can anyone help me with some advice please, I am looking to buy a laptop just for internet access, playing some music, and nothing much more than that please, I don't want to spend a fortune, can anyone recommend a good deal please?
Cheers

Hey Gaynor, firstly are you also going to wanting to use this as a portable computer, or is it simply going to just sit at home? If so, you'd be better with a a desktop as, bang for buck, you do get a lot more for your money generally, and if space is a consideration you can get the 'cube' pc's which hardly take up any room at all.

Considering what you've stated the usage will be you're not going to need to spend over £600 on a laptop. My opinion would be (if going mobile) look at a Intel Celeron M/ Pentium M powered unit, or if not going mobile, look at an Intel Pentium 4 powered unit. The AMD cpu's are rather good, but my preference is the Intel, as they're better for number crunching. Look for a minimum quoted battery life of around 3 hrs (as you'll more than likely get 2 hrs out of it) Manufacturers tend to be rather generous with quoted battery life. I'd go for a widescreen but thats just personal preference as it adds to the weight to be carried.

You wont need a dedicated graphics card, on board will be fine, but if you can get it for the cost look for a Sonama chipset, DON'T go for any units that quote the VIA chipset, as, bluntly, its crap. But i would go for at least 512mb ram, its easy enough to buy ram (if you order a unit that comes with 256mb) also easy enough to fit, but if you want it to work straight out of the box, go for the 512mb.

I also wouldnt get one that quotes a weight of the unit over 3kgs, as you'll also need to take into account carrying the adaptor and any discs/mouse etc as well.

Regarding carrying it around, i find the carry-bag erm..bags rather annoying, and much prefer the backpack ones, plus it doesnt look like you're carrying a laptop when you've a backpack (personal security). Targus do some good ones, and they're rather cheap as well, have a look at Amazon.co.uk for thes.

A dvd/cdrw drive will suffice, but a dvdrw drive would be beneficial and at the price point i've quoted, its not an impossibility either.

If you're ordering online, be VERY careful as to the order itself, please do ensure you order exactly what you want and whats quoted, and ensure you read the warranty conditions very carefully, also, if possible, get a confirmation of the spec in writing (or email) before you agree to order.

And, for me anyway, dont order from Mesh, Savastore are good allrounders for service, Dell are good (for pricing and build quality, customer service ain't so hot). Theres lots of sites on there, so do your homework, set your budget first and work from that.

Samsung are doing some rather nice new models, Sony vaios are overpriced pieces of junk generally (and the customer service is, well, non-existent in my experience)

Sites to look at, (maybe not for ordering, but helpful for info) are Dabs.com, savastore.com, ebuyer.com, laptopsdirect.co.uk.

Happy hunting.