Business Laptop

[Lazarus]

Folk,

Looking around for a decent business laptop on a budget of less than £400

Doesnt need anything special, expect a DECENT graphics card.

Needs to be able to

Send/Receive email
Stocktaking
Wireless Internet.

but most importantly, needs to be able to show decent images of the stock so clarity is the key.

I think a 15" would be too small and would probably prefer a 17"

Recommendations?

 

[Yaka]

Find a Notebook, Desktop, Server, Printer, Software, Service or Monitor at Dell.

cheapest is 15.1" 17.1 is a tad over you budget

 

[nath]

In my experience dell are rubbish. HP laptops are fantastic - the nx series. Just very decent no fancy bollocks laptops that do the job very well.

 

[Jonty]

Hi Laz

To be honest, you're not going to get a good 17" laptop for £400, even excluding the VAT. 15.4" may be possible, though.

As for your requirements, pretty much any laptop can do email, stocktaking, and wireless internet, so there should be no problems. You may want to consider using Windows XP Professional because it's less resource demanding than Vista Business (i.e. you really need 2GB RAM for Vista, which may not be feasible with your budget).

With regards the decent graphics, again, don't hold your breath at the £400 price level as you'll be looking at the integrated solutions. To be honest, if the images are 2D photos then integrated graphics are absolutely fine. What really affects clarity is the display. For example, glossy displays can appear to have more vibrant colours, but in the wrong lighting they can be highly reflective. Matte displays may lack the wow factor, but they tend to be less affected by the lightning (but still not completely unaffected).

I'm afraid I have the opposite experience to nath, my 17" Dell laptop has been amazing and lasted almost three years without a problem. I think a lot of Dell's troubles stem from their inconsistency; some people have no problems, whereas others are plagued by issues (and Dell's consumer support is pretty dire at times).

Anyway, as per Yaka's recommendation, I also think Dell's business line is worth considering (Vostro is cheap and cheerful, Latitude is lighter and thinner, and Precision is more like a mobile workstation). The prices are good, there's little-to-no bloated software, the business support is good, and the business laptops feature things that the consumer models don't (like spill proof keyboards, durable magnesium alloy casing, shock zone HDD drop protection etc.).

As for HP, I've no experience with them, but obviously they're number one in the world in many areas of their business, and they certainly have some systems in your price range. You may also want to look at Acer, ASUS etc. as they have some cheap notebooks, but I don't know what the quality is like.

Good luck!

Kind regards

 

[Hawkwind]

In my experience dell are rubbish. HP laptops are fantastic - the nx series. Just very decent no fancy bollocks laptops that do the job very well.

Exactly my experience with Compaq (now HP), shite laptops never had a good one.

Only had one Dell and that's my XPS which is a great laptop. Travels the world with me and runs everything I throw at it with no problems.

 

[Kryten]

I've not long had a Latitude 610 from work (30 quid!) - runs Vista, 2gb ram, all the bells and whistles, onlyh a 15.4" screen but it's rapid enough for my purposes. It's solid enough, and parts are very easy to come by.

I like the HPs, especially the NX series Nath recommended, but they're very susceptible to pressure marks on the screen. Not normally a problem but if you've got kids or a wife who enjoys pointing at stuff... Otherwise also sturdy and parts are easily available.
Fujitsu's are very flimsy in general, so always worth avoiding like the plague.

Otherwise you're gonna be looking at the half/half (jack of all trades) laptops like Toshibas, but for that price range you're gonna be pushing it. Acer I'm in two minds about - I've refurbished several of the newer turion based machines they do, the quality seems alright and the specs good but they just seem a bit "plasticcy". Not entirely small, either. Only had the pleasure of one Asus laptop, again not very small but they have the big advantage of being the only big name "whitebox" provider (making them very upgradable and often the graphics cards are interchangeable, as long as you're happy ripping the whole machine apart).

That just leaves IBM/Lenovo Th(st)inkpads. I quite like the down to business look of these units but they're normally compact with a max of a 15 inch screen and the wristpads don't take much beating to crack/break. But saying that, I'd rather deal with Lenovo for support than Dell, HP or Toshiba, after sales is fantastic.

 

[gunner440]

In my experience dell are rubbish.

You must have tried the Inspiron series then. Their Latitude range is pretty well built.

 

[Lazarus]

thanks guys.

May opt for the Dell range - they seem to be offering the best bang for buck on the laptops (will give him the option of Dell/gateway/acer) but also recommend staying with XP

Couldnt even come close to the price with HP which ranks (even with my 25% discount)