Reply With QuoteIt's hard to direct link but for £400 - get something from the dell outlet - any of the inspirion 15" will do what you need to do. Pick one with 8gb of ram.Originally Posted by kevkojak
My laptop has finally packed up (mind you I think it was running Windows XP - it's served me pretty well!) Only annoying thing is I think I've lost about half of my writing because I hardly ever back up my work.
What I really need is a new desktop, but that will be for the whole family (homework, coursework, gaming... lots of gaming, I imagine), and this year I just can't stretch to a grand for a competent system that will handle everything.
What I need right now is a relatively budget laptop which will be exclusively for my work (easy stuff, buying/selling on ebay and answering emails) but I'm part way through writing a novel which is something that's been on the "to-do" list for a decade or so, I figured my 40th year might as well be a productive one.
Laptop will need full office software but that's about it. I want something fairly speedy, my current one loads about as fast as i could wade through treacle.
Any suggestions please? Budget is my paramount concern but I'd rather spend £400 on something that'll last over £200 on something that's running crap after 12 months.
Oh, and tablets are out - can't type on those, I've tried and it's just an exercise in frustration.
Thanks all.
It's hard to direct link but for £400 - get something from the dell outlet - any of the inspirion 15" will do what you need to do. Pick one with 8gb of ram.
I don't know what has caused your laptop to die but you may well be able to recover the hard drive files and get back some of your work. I wouldn't assume its lost. As for a new laptop almost anything you choose will be able to handle some Word and basic browsing. If you want it to start up quickly then id recommend something with SSD.
If your happy with 2nd hand at put a WTB out on here I'm sure someone has something suitable.
No need to pay anything for office software - something like Libre Office is free and will save in MS formats...but, there are sometimes formatting errors if you use docs created in a different software.
Office online which is entirely free will do 90% of what the desktop version will and is fine for most people and has the benefit of working with all MS formats because it is MS...
Wow thats very handy info... the office package costs about 100 quid to buy as a complete unit I believe. Does the office online actually save as a programme to the laptop or is it literally just a site I need to open? I'll be honest I'd prefer it on the device so I can work while offline
If you want to work offline your options are:
M365 - subscription - you can find cheap licenses on ebay
Office - one-off payment - you can find VERY cheap licenses on ebay.
Have you considered a chrome book you might get a equivalent spec at a lower price, would mean either using google docs or the online office option
I was about to say just this - they should meet all your requirements as listed (I am pretty sure you can edit docs that are saved to your internal drive offline).
If you want someone to help with data recovery just PM me.
Sent through the ether by diddling with radio waves
As others have stated, almost any modern laptop will meet your needs in the short-term and a WTB post is a good call. As for purchasing MS Office, you can get very cheap, genuine licences from HERE. My current and previous desktops and current laptop all have/had MS Office purchased from this site and I've never had an issue.
Open Office is opensource https://www.openoffice.org/why/index.html and MS compatible. You get a MB second hand as they last for years - take a break from the bloatware of Windows, or chrome book.
“ Ford... you're turning into a penguin. Stop it.” HHGTTG
Cheers all.
I've got an IT boff that I went to college with, I'm sure he'll help me swap files across (photos too, lost hundreds!) I'm immensely grateful for the offer of help though.
I have a bit of a concern with buying second hand - I think I'd prefer a new one as a bit of a blank slate.
Buying S/H can be problematic with intermittent faults with keyboards or boot regimes (I’d like to think - not on here).
I would second the advice on office ‘one-off’ license purchase - as it gives you a really cheap access to recent office suite. I’m not a fan of libre office or similar despite acknowledging what they brought to the public.
For your budget and use case, I totally agree with the Chromebook idea. It also takes care of your data loss concerns, and Google Docs will give you all you’re likely to need to writing a novel and life-admin.
And for back ups, from now on either use DropBox, Google Drive, iCloud or OneDrive as your main work area for your important files. That way if your HD ever fails, you know you have them backed up. Most are very safe and reliable, with Google Drive for example retaining deleted files in the wastebasket for 30 days.
If you have anything ultra private, password protect the documents, or use a ZIP program for the folders. Double authenticate your accounts too, whenever possible.
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