Laptop advice please

[Bagpuss]

Dell are now in pc world arnt they...i could take a look...to be honest my home pc is dell and i have had it 5 years with not 1 problem.

The bit i cant figure out is what i am supposed to buy to go with the laptop...i don't understand all this vista and Microsoft office home and student thingy that the man in pc world said i have to buy cos the laptops come blank ????.....if a laptop comes with vista is that enough....? or do i have to have the Microsoft office home and student thingy too....?

 

[Fitz]

Dell are now in pc world arnt they...i could take a look...to be honest my home pc is dell and i have had it 5 years with not 1 problem.

The bit i cant figure out is what i am supposed to buy to go with the laptop...i don't understand all this vista and Microsoft office home and student thingy that the man in pc world said i have to buy cos the laptops come blank ????.....if a laptop comes with vista is that enough....? or do i have to have the Microsoft office home and student thingy too....?

You can buy them online at PC World but not sure about in store. If so then certainly give them a try. My gripe with PC World is that they are trained to flog as much as possible to people who really don't know anything about PC's.
Regarding the Specs, for me I would try and avoid Vista. This is one of the reasons I suggested having one pre built. Just like XP was before the Service Packs it has its problems and tbh I like the feel of XP anyway. Looking at Vista its not much different again in my opinion. As for everything else it depends what your Daughter wants to do with it. However I would have thought something that has an 60-80GB Hardrive, 512MB Ram, Minimum Sempron 1600 - 2ghz Processor, a Half Decent Graphics Card that should be fine. Your operating system i.e. Vista or XP will be installed and should come with Microsoft Office and loads of other software either installed or on Disc. Please don't let them flog you any other. Another trick that PC World do is try and flog you a router with any PC/Laptop, they did my cousin even though she told them she had one.
Ask away if you need any other help.

 

[Bagpuss]

Thanks for that...sorry i know you must feel like you are doing this :grr: but i am really not computer smart at all....

Are any of these any good... Laptops & PDAs in Computing & Phones Direct - Tesco.Direct

I really appreciate it. x

 

[gillian w]

My daughters got a Toshiba satelite and my son a Dell Inspiron both have had no problems at all apart from what they have done themselves and caused viruses etc.
Does she like to play the simms games or any other games on it will she want to watch films on it ? because if she does you will need to look for one with a higher spec ie good graphics card and memory etc because these games have minimum requirements and will either not play or keep freezing.If she only wants it for basic computer stuff and emailing then you will be ok with a basic one.

 

[Bagpuss]

just to update...i learnt alot from the posts on this thread as it helped me know what things to look for...

i got one last week ... from staples... Staples.co.uk - Laptops Fujitsu and it came with....

FREE
Laptop case
memory stick
student software thingy
and for an extra £5
4 in 1 printer
ream of paper
ink
usb cable

thanks again everyone for all your help. x