OT laptop advice sought please

upthealbion1970

bring on the trumpets....

NSC Patron

Jan 22, 2009

8,865

Woodingdean

• Mar 12, 2014

• #1

My sons 11th birthday next week and we have £500 max to buy him a laptop ready for big school in September. He will use it for schoolwork, and has said he wants to do some basic film editing and store some music and pictures on it.

I know very little about what's a good spec or even a good deal so I thought I'd ask good old NSC for some advice! Have spoken to his new school who said that anything should be ok and to try PC world.


Over to you NSC and thanks in advance for your help!

 

hybrid_x

Banned

Jun 28, 2011

2,225

• Mar 12, 2014

• #2

Asus UL-30a.

Great medium size, quick, powerful, and runs Win7.

I seriously rinse laptops and this one is still going strong after about 15,000 hours of use.

Get from ebay or online for a great price.

Don't get a big heavy laptop for an 11 year old, or windows 8.

 

omgitsjames

New member

Nov 24, 2011

111

California

• Mar 12, 2014

• #3

upthealbion1970 said:

My sons 11th birthday next week and we have £500 max to buy him a laptop ready for big school in September. He will use it for schoolwork, and has said he wants to do some basic film editing and store some music and pictures on it.

I know very little about what's a good spec or even a good deal so I thought I'd ask good old NSC for some advice! Have spoken to his new school who said that anything should be ok and to try PC world.


Over to you NSC and thanks in advance for your help!

Click to expand...

always get business grade laptops if your livelihood depends on it. I feel weary recommending any laptop built with a plastic chassis (most consumer laptops fall into this category)

 

D

dougdeep

New member

May 9, 2004

37,732

SUNNY SEAFORD

• Mar 12, 2014

• #4

Dell. Choose your spec.

 

Herr Tubthumper

Well-known member

NSC Patron

Jul 11, 2003

59,502

The Fatherland

• Mar 12, 2014

• #5

upthealbion1970 said:

basic film editing and store some music and pictures on it.

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I think this is code for watch porn.

 

J

juliant

Well-known member

Apr 4, 2011

558

Northamptonshire

• Mar 12, 2014

• #6

On the flip side do you really need to spend £500 on an 11year old? You could IMO get a suitable one for far less. My experience with kids and laptops is after they have played around and patched this and put that game on it it might start to have issues. Have a look on ebuyer who also have an Ebay store. Be hard to beat them on price and service.

Also remember to factor in that most new machines probably wont come with MS Office (full pack) which will cost $$. If he doesnt need that open office will do for free.

Oh and I would seriously avoid PC world unless your just happy to part with your cash on what the sales person wants you to buy.

 

clippedgull

Hotdogs, extra onions

Aug 11, 2003

20,789

Near Ducks, Geese, and Seagulls

• Mar 12, 2014

• #7

Buy the latest copy of 'What Laptop'. Don't get ripped off by spotty oiks in the chain stores trying to sell you extended warranties. If anything goes wrong the sales of goods act will cover you if the equipment is at fault up to six years after purchase on expensive items.

 

Goldstone Rapper

Rediffusion PlayerofYear

Jan 19, 2009

14,865

BN3 7DE

• Mar 12, 2014

• #8

Buy a 2nd hand MacBook for £250. Buy 2nd hand Flip video camera for £50. Open iMovie program. Job done.

 

beorhthelm

A. Virgo, Football Genius

Jul 21, 2003

35,302

• Mar 12, 2014

• #9

clippedgull said:

... If anything goes wrong the sales of goods act will cover you if the equipment is at fault up to six years after purchase on expensive items.

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the criteria is what is reasonable which takes no account of the value. you have six years to make a claim if they do not repair or replace. and in anycase it would be return to base taking some time to get fixed in most cases. having said that, warranties for much hightreet stuff isnt much better (unlike business warranties with on site repair).

 

Theatre of Trees

Well-known member

Jul 5, 2003

7,718

TQ2905

• Mar 12, 2014

• #10

juliant said:

Also remember to factor in that most new machines probably wont come with MS Office (full pack) which will cost $$. If he doesnt need that open office will do for free.
.

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There are deals for those in full time education, need to go to look up Microsoft education where software can be a third of the normal price.

If he is going to edit films and store music you will probably need a detachable hard drive for storage.