hi folks looking to buy a descent new laptop up to £300 - £400 never owned one so would like a bit of help please, not for games just the internet really cheers.
All advice is much appreciated.
lots of good laptops around but I'd advise you to think of how you intend to use it before selecting one.
One of the most limiting factors is the screen size . lots of huge 17"+ screens out there but most are now widescreen which is brilliant for movies but absolutely useless for regular Word and Excell useage due to the ratio of height to width of the screen.
I have used a HP Pavillion DV7 17" for a couple of years now and to be honest I hate the thing. Well to be honest I just hate laptops period . The screen height is just 8.5" and with Windows 7 taskbars , sidebars and all the other information bars at the top and bottom of the screen it seriously reduces the vertical viewing area.
If you are used to using a 22" + LCD screen you'll probably find a laptop's work area restrictive for surfing and word /excel type applications. you need to consider the screen's 'aspect ratio' and the screens 'native resolution' carefully.
Whatever you do don't choose a laptop with the combined mousepad and buttons . These abominations should have been phased out by now but i expect there will be a few on offer here and there.
With these, you cannot rest a finger on the left or right mouse button ready toselect something at the same time as using another finger on the mouse pad part to move the cursor on the screen or scroll the page. My advice would be to select a laptop with seperate pad and mouse buttons .
larger laptops 17"+ generally have provision for 2x hard disc drives make sure that you either have 2x drives fitted or it is supplied with the caddy and connecting cable for fitting a second hard drive. i had to order my second caddy and cable from the US because the HP Pavillion DV7 came without them!
As others have said you need to think how you intend to use the laptop. Because we spend a lot of time ,in the garden, conservatory and out camping in our RV and surfing whilst watching tv we decided to buy ourselves a 10" netbook each which is brilliant for carting about and sitting on your knee . We even use them in bed for downloading TV programes and general surfing or reading books on them. I would imagine an Iplayer or tablet type netbook would be even better.
If like me you are a togger and spend a lot of your time editing pictures and videos and business bookkeeping /company accounts etc you'll probably need a large hi-res screen with plenty of memory and dual hard drive . its horses for courses
