Hi!
I am really clueless about laptops, but I have got the opportunity to buy one. I have £1000 to spend, and it would mean I could do my homework and things without having to wait to use the computer. I could play Smart Music in my room, and it would be good for when I go to uni. Needless to say, it will have internet access () so I am sure I'll visit you all on the forums from it!

Anyway, I need some recommendatiosn, as I am clueless. I have had people recommend me Dell and then people say they're rubbish. I'll need it for work purposes, I won't be gaming on it. I'd like it to be relatively light, have good battery life, and just a general all round laptop.

Thanks!

Nicki

I bought a Dell Inspiron 9300 earlier in the year - wanted a desktop replacement rather than something to carry round. I've been very happy with it! I suspect you could probably get it for under 1000 now (grumble grumble, moment you buy the thing it drops 400 in price grumble grumble).
I've not had to use Dell service though - the other half takes care of that.

Make sure you have a look at models in the shops. The Sony laptops have amazing screens for viewing movies etc, but we found that they don't cope well as far as reflections go - you'd need to be careful about other lightsources in the room.

good luck...

Yes.....apparently Dell's customer service isn't great. I have a dell I bought (actually, it was mum ) earlier this year, and nothing's gone wrong with it, it's great! My dad has a dell laptop, and even though old it is still good.

Not sure how much you'd find under the 1000 cap though......

Good luck!

Evesham Technology

It's a great company, based in Worcester, with branches all over the UK. They're really helpful and will help you choose the best one for you. Customer service afterwards is brill.

AP and I are about to buy a Sony FS315B, for £757. It's a Centrino laptop with 3 and a half hours battery life, 80Gb hard drive, 512Mb RAM and built-in wireless networking. To take advantage of that someone's getting us a wireless access point for Christmas (for £32) so we can connect to the Internet from anywhere in the house using our laptop.

I'd say there's not a great deal of point spending much above £800 on a laptop - maybe you could spend some of the rest on a printer, wireless access point if you want one, and a nice bag. Ours is £25, and is a rucksack style one so it doesn't say 'Mug me - I've got a laptop!' .

Edit: and maybe insurance against accidental damage and/or theft if you're going to be taking it out the house a lot. If it's indoors, check your parents' home contents insurance policy - it should be covered by that - but once it leaves the house you might need extra cover .

This one doesn't look too bad for under £700. AMD64 too, which would be great in the future.

HP NX6125

What is "AMD64"?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AMD64

Basically they are processors that are capable of running tomorrow's applications (64 bit) while still being able to run today's (32 bit/16 bit). Newer Intel processors can also do this, but AMDs are generally cheaper with no performance compromise. Or something.