Need help buying a laptop.

My mum has tasked me with the job of picking up a laptop for my dad before Christmas as the one he has now is ancient. I am a bit of a div when it comes to computers so i thought i would post here to see if anyone has already had a good deal on a laptop this Christmas.

Any help will be very much appreciated.

Fox78

http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/partNumber/5072583.htm

Great laptop for the price IMO. Mine came with a processor upgrade too (i3-2330M), even though the box states the same processor as in the description (i3-2310M).

Highlights:

8gb DDR3 RAM

i3 processor

500gb HDD

And even though the GPU is built in (Intel HD 3000), it still outperforms lower-midrange discrete cards.

thanks mate that looks great.

just tried to reserve but its out of stock

Zoostorm is not a very good make.

Going on the £400 ish range

http://www.dabs.com/products/lenovo-b570-i3-2310m-4gb-500gb-dvd-rw-15-6--w7hp-7FQX.html?refs=15-473150000&src=3

http://www.dabs.com/products/msi-cr640-235uk-i3-2310m-4gb-320gb-dvd-sm-hdmi-w7hp-7SML.html?refs=15-473150000&src=3

http://www.dabs.com/products/asus-k53e-sx087v-i3-2310m-4gb-640gb-15-6--w7hp-7R9M.html?refs=15-473150000&src=3

http://www.dabs.com/products/asus-k53e-sx962v-core-i3-2330m-6gb-500gb-15-6-w7hp-7T6W.html?refs=15-478040000-54950000&src=3

Better computers up to £500

http://www.dabs.com/products/lenovo-ideapad-b570-i5-2430m-4gb-500gb-dvdrw-15-6-w7hp-7T44.html?refs=54590000&src=3

http://www.dabs.com/products/lenovo-ideapad-b570-core-i5-2430m-6gb-750gb-dvdrw-15-6-w7hp-7VMW.html?refs=54590000-54950000&src=3

http://www.dabs.com/products/lenovo-ideapad-z570-i5-2430m-6gb-750gb-gt-520m-1gb-dvdrw-15-6--w7hp-7RB6.html?refs=54590000-54950000&src=3

Over £600 -best I could see

http://www.dabs.com/products/lenovo-ideapad-z570-i7-2670qm-6gb-750gb-gt-540m-1gb-dvdrw-15-6-w7hp-7RB9.html?refs=54600000&src=3

http://www.dabs.com/products/asus-n55sf-s2342v-i7-2670qm-6gb-640gb-gt555-2gb-bluray-15-6--w7hp-7RJW.html?refs=54600000&src=3

thanks tyson thats great i will have a browse through now

one rule in FM laptops, faster processor = faster game

The rest is just to either make the screen big enough or depends on what else you want to do with the laptop eg movies, graphic intensive games etc

What will your Dad use it for? And what sort of money you are looking at spending. It might be worth giving some guidance so taht we can give you the most appropriate details for his needs - laptops tend to be very need-specific and budget is always a major factor

Anyway, don't have much time this evening so these are my suggestions for different sort of budgets, but you should really say what type of usage and budget is expected. So:

Higher-end business machines:

http://www.dabs.com/products/samsung-series-6-600b4b---core-i5-2520m-3gb-320gb-14--windows-7-pro-dockable-laptop-7KYD.html?utm_source=td&utm_medium=affiliates&utm_content=TB00?ReferrerID=tb&utm_source=td&utm_medium=affiliates&utm_content=TB00

http://www.pixmania.co.uk/uk/uk/10800488/art/samsung/series-7-np700z5a-a01dx-1.html?srcid=9689&Partenaire=idealo&CodePromo=oui&clickref=3076833

A bit cheaper options with good external video:

http://www.laptopsdirect.co.uk/HP_ProBook_4530S_Core_i5_Windows_7_Professional_Laptop_A1E99EA/version.asp?refsource=ldawin&affid=73258

http://www.woolworths.co.uk/toshiba-l755-16z-core-i5-500gb-156-inch-notebook---silver/1000207181.prd?aff=awin&affsrc=73258&cm_mmc=awin-_-ELECTRICAL_AND_SEASONAL_ELECTRICAL_COMPUTING_LAPTOPS_RANGE-_-WK2WU-_-Toshiba_L75516Z_Core_i5_500Gb_15.6_inch_Notebook_Silver&istCompanyId=d7726fe4-8f1a-4beb-b3b1-f42113fc7c87&istItemId=impipqqt&istBid=t&aff=awin&affsrc=73258&cm_mmc=awin-_-test-_-test-_-test&awc=3097_1324497972_63094a56de8463ba56e0ae41dcc2e63c&browseToken=/q/wk2wu&totalResults=1

http://uk.insight.com/apps/productpresentation/index.php?src=afw1&product_id=ARRYAX0204&utm_source=aw&utm_medium=affiliate&utm_campaign=affiliatewindow&src=AFW1&awc=2922_1324497978_f1beae6fa92b2e7f5bf43182e775c302

No External video but comes with i7 - http://www.comet.co.uk/p/Laptops/buy-ASUS-X53E-SX996V-Laptop/769428?_$ja=tsid:8361|prd:47868&awc=157_1324500054_9f6d911cc673266464d6496400b08de3#product_desciption

Budget Business laptops:

http://www.dabs.com/products/asus-p52f-core-i5-480m-4gb-320gb-w7-pro-7JJX.html?utm_source=td&utm_medium=affiliates&utm_content=TB00?ReferrerID=tb&utm_source=td&utm_medium=affiliates&utm_content=TB00

http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B004MP0E0A/?smid=A1KUSYK0VGXXQH&tag=iduk-mp-21&linkCode=asn&creative=6742&camp=1638&creativeASIN=B004MP0E0A

A couple of budget mainstream laptops:

http://www.currys.co.uk/gbuk/lenovo-ideapad-z570-15-6-laptop-blue-11306294-pdt.html?srcid=369&xtor=AL-1-[Awin]~Computing~11306294

http://www.dabs.com/products/lenovo-b570-i3-2310m-3gb-320gb-dvd-rw-15-6--w7hp-7FQW.html?utm_source=td&utm_medium=affiliates&utm_content=TB00?ReferrerID=tb&utm_source=td&utm_medium=affiliates&utm_content=TB00

Obviously this doesn't cover all variants of budget+usage, so there might be a better alternative for you. However, I think all of the above could be good buys for specific purposes. Good night.

thanks alex i have just got back from the mall and i have reserved this one.

http://www.currys.co.uk/gbuk/sony-vaio-vpceh2n1e-w-cek-15-5-laptop-white-11296560-pdt.html

it looks ok and i think it will last him. he just uses it for work, burning dvds and browsing the net really.

let me know what you think.

Yep, for that it's good as you don't need external video. Obviously, it is a Sony and you are paying quite a bit for the design aspects but it looks good as a present. Other laptops from the same ranges of competing brands with the same hardware tend to be around 450-460. I think it is an alright option - not sure how much it will last as it isn't a business laptop, which tend to be more durable. If he uses it on the road for work, then it is essential to buy a business rather a consumer laptop, but they come a bit more expensive so you will have to settle with i3 instead of i5 and go up in price by around 100 quid (add 200 quid for similar hardware). If it is just for home usage than the VAIO should be ok as it won't suffer so much. Good luck and have a nice Christmas.

I bought a Lenovo z560 and its the best decision I made. Great performance and no problems whatsoever. They are going for around $490AUD so in pounds your looking at a very cheap laptop Let us know what you buy

Actually, laptops in UK are quite a bit more expensive than in AUS or USA so you can't get it much cheaper - a similar speck-ed Z570 costs around 470 (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Lenovo-IdeaPad-Z570-15-6-Notebook/dp/B005TPRWMK/ref=sr_1_1?s=computers&ie=UTF8&qid=1324555431&sr=1-1), which is still less and tbh I prefer the build quality on it.