Wow, I'm all over the tech shed these days

I'm am contemplating buying a laptop...... But I know little about them and I'd like the best quality I can get for a small(ish) price.

I have a desktop so it's not going to be an only pc, if I get one it is to replace the old pc I have in my room which is connected to my telly - so to the first question - is it possible to connect some/all laptops to a separate monitor i.e. My telly?

Secondly, just an idea of good/bad makes for reliability and stuff.... The general contributions!

Oh, and if you know where has them at the best price?

Thanks!

Yes you can output to tv that has vga or dvi input.

Seen some cracking deals on HP kit lately sub £400

Avoid Celeron and go to Dell Outlet! Most have HDMI, DisplayPort or VGA out nowadays.

get a mac mini and job done

I've had a look on dmx dimension at the dell ones, I always thought they were good, but lately heard the quality has dropped. I've always had bad experiences with packard bell so don't want theirs.... How about compaq, toshiba, Sony, acer? Any reports? ....

Found a compaq and a dell at £299......

SWMBO has a HP Pavillion G61, nice bit of kit, was sub £400 and has a HDMI out

I've had a look on dmx dimension at the dell ones, I always thought they were good, but lately heard the quality has dropped. I've always had bad experiences with packard bell so don't want theirs.... How about compaq, toshiba, Sony, acer? Any reports? ....

Found a compaq and a dell at £299......

dmx and outlet are different - i have bought around 10-15 over the last year for people from the outlet and had nothing go wrong with them.

System ID: FLVVY6PF

Inspiron 15R - N5110

Certified Refurbished

System Price: £306.86

Base Inspiron 15R - N5110

Operating System Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium (64 BIT)

Processor Processor: Intel Core i3-2310M (3M Cache, 2.10 GHz)

Hard Disk Drive 500 GB SATA Hard Drive (7200 RPM)

Memory 4 GB DDR3 SDRAM 1333MHz (1 DIMMs)

Media Bay 8X DVD+/- RW Drive

NoteBook Screen Display: 15.6in High Definition (720p) LED Display with TrueLife

Laptop Battery 6 Cell Primary Battery, 48W

System Color Black

Software Back Up Media Not Included

£368 delivered - there are some lower spec and first gen i3's for less money too...

Hi,

Suppose the obvious question is what budget you have set yourself?

What is important to you in terms of features?

ie. Battery Life, Screen size, capacity,weight etc

Most laptops have an VGA/DVI output which will allow connectivity to a majority of TV'S/Monitors etc.

Cant go wrong with Toshiba Tecra range, HP,Sony,Asus,Lenovo and Samsung. Ive used http://www.laptopsdirect.co.uk/ and found them to be very competitive.

Something like..

http://www.laptopsdirect.co.uk/HP_4530s_Intel_Core_i3-2310M_2nd_Gen_Laptop_XX992EA/version.asp

or for value...

http://www.laptopsdirect.co.uk/Samsung_NP-RV511_Black-Silver_-_Core_i3-380M_2.53GHz_3GB_320GB_15.6_Win7HP_NP-RV511-A07UK/version.asp

or a 17" screen possibility..

http://www.laptopsdirect.co.uk/Acer_Aspire__7741_Core_i5_Windows_7_Laptop__LX.PXA02.121/version.asp

Just using above company as an example as you could probably get them cheaper with a little surfing.

AVOID ACER

AVOID ACER

Have to disagree, while they are not at the top of there game as long as you do a little research you should find a good model in there extensive range.

We have used them in the agricultural sector which is hostile to anything electronic and they have served well.

I think my budget is going to be about £300, have seen some with dual core pentium, 4gb ram and 500 gb hard drive so that's sort of my benchmark lol!

I think my budget is going to be about £300, have seen some with dual core pentium, 4gb ram and 500 gb hard drive so that's sort of my benchmark lol!

The Samsung is in that ball park if you include the cashback.

Good spec for the price.

http://www.laptopsdirect.co.uk/Samsung_NP-RV511_Black-Silver_-_Core_i3-380M_2.53GHz_3GB_320GB_15.6_Win7HP_NP-RV511-A07UK/version.asp

Really it depends on your budget and priorities.

I've just ordered a quad core AMD laptop from PC World for my folks

http://www.pcworld.co.uk/gbuk/acer-aspire-5552-15-6-laptop-black-10945101-pdt.html

It's not cutting edge, and it'll be quite big, heavy with poor battery life but they're looking for a desktop replacement that'll never be far from a power point so for £330 it was a good deal for something that will suit them.

Brands are all ok to be honest. Anecdotally Toshiba are the most reliable.

The Dell outlet has some cracking deals and keep an eye on UKhotdeals.co.uk and you might pick up a bargain.

Cool, I will keep my eyes peeled!