Another which laptop.......

shereen · World Chat Champion Joined: 15 Mar 2011 Karma :

Budget £400ish

Im debating between these at the moment. Any thoughts on them or any other suggestions would be appreciated.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/SONY-VAIO-C-SERIES-LAPTOP-640GB-15-5-INCH-INTEL-CORE-I5-6GB-RAM-BLACK-REFURB-/360603896148?pt=UK_Computing_Laptops_EH&hash=item53f5aac954

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Acer-Aspire-5742-15-6-Core-i5-Processor-8GB-RAM-500GB-HDD-Laptop-/121066481348?pt=UK_Computing_Laptops_EH&hash=item1c301fe6c4

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Acer-Aspire-E1-Core-i5-Windows-8-Laptop-in-Black-Grey-NX-M09EK-002-/130800230605?pt=UK_Computing_Laptops_EH&hash=item1e744d20cd

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Acer-Aspire-571-Intel-Core-i5-Dual-Core-8GB-RAM-500GB-HDD-Windows-8-/251199195408?pt=UK_Computing_Laptops_EH&hash=item3a7ca38910
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shereen · World Chat Champion Joined: 15 Mar 2011 Karma :

Any advice? I want to buy one today.....
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toshpot · Scooby Slapper Joined: 12 Aug 2012 Karma :

The first two are refurbs, I tend to avoid refurbs from ebay.

The two remaining are almost identical, except one effectively has a £10 RAM upgrade of 4GB.

I actually hope someone can tell me otherwise though, acer batteries were shit, 3-cell or the ilk and died (I class a laptop battery that can only hold 5 minutes of battery life dead) within a few months.
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LockyUK · Brolly Dolly Joined: 22 Dec 2011 Karma :

i would avoid ebay all together personally, on high value items best getting from a shop incase of any warranty issues ?

LustyLew · World Chat Champion Joined: 19 Apr 2004 Karma :

I concur with the Acer battery comment.

I had one, it was shit. Battery life was dire and the amount of crap 'free' software included slowed it right down.

I've only ever bought one laptop on eBay, wont do it again!

I've also found Sony to be very pretty, very expensive but not very good.

I'd stick with the main stream brands, HP, Compaq, Toshiba. Never really had issues with them. Heck even Dell have to be better than Acer!
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stuarthouston · Trackday Trickster Joined: 31 Mar 2012 Karma :

You will get a base model Lenovo for around the £400 mark. Will probably only be an i3, but otherwise similar in spec to your list. Should be infinitely more reliable than any of those though. I'd definitely say a bit of spec is a worthy trade-off for longevity at that budget unless, of course, your requirements call for a more powerful machine. Thumbs Up

Skudd · Super Spammer Joined: 01 Oct 2006 Karma :

Am I the only person who is thinking Laptop Dancing?
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y2blade · Trackday Trickster Joined: 20 Apr 2012 Karma :

I have a old Acer (has been faultless for ever)
just bought a Packard Bell for video editing..so far I'm very impressed with it.

750gb, 8gb ram for sub £400

EazyDuz · World Chat Champion Joined: 11 Apr 2011 Karma :

Dont want to thread jack but would an i3 be ok for HD video editing? Or would you need an i5/i7?
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unitynotsocri... · Banned Joined: 29 Jun 2011 Karma :

i 3 will be ok with intels graphic chipset for hd.
most cheaper laptop batteries are shit,a replacement battery usually means more power.

the intel chips are better but the intel graphcs are'nt any good for games.
amd ones are evenly priced,but slighty slower but much faster graphics,capable of hd and modern games.

big thing though.whereas 3 years ago many people found that all they needed was a laptop ,and so started dumping the traditional base unit and monitor,......thesedays I'd advise anyone spending that much on a laptop to consider topper range tablets,in windows and android.......laptops will become totally obselete soon,especially when low power led video projectors get fitted into tablets.
ps many tablets have quite powerfull ultra modern video and processor,and are far more efficient. laptops use strangled n debollocked pc technology.
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shereen · World Chat Champion Joined: 15 Mar 2011 Karma :

Thanks for all the advice - Im really confused now. Laughing

I have a new list - what do you think of these ones? I know there is an acer one in there but the reviews looked good on the battery life so I included it.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/190802040044?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1438.l2649

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/221184067552?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1438.l2649

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/190798779449?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1438.l2649

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/281068694976?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1438.l2649
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toshpot · Scooby Slapper Joined: 12 Aug 2012 Karma :

In my humbled opinion, acer aren't too shabby these days, I'm not overly surprised about the batteries still being cack, but for what you pay, you get a decent build that'll last you (performance wise) some time. I do think the general build quality has gone up, but the parts used are still the compromise.

I like Lenovo, Thinkpads are great, I still have an old IBM T40 running great with a linux install, and even now, the battery can still manage about 20-30 minutes.

As for the video encoding, i5 and i7 processors tend to have more grunt, however, what'll be more important is inclusion of IGP features, and how that's implemented, point I'm making, is the generation is more important than a few hz more.

Back to the topic at hand, out of the new line up, I'd probably go HP, I dislike Dell too much, they just lack the quality I'd expect for their premium, The Toshiba is nice, the processor is a second generation 'Sandy Bridge' CPU, which has IGP built in, but it doesn't work with the CPU. the third generation 'Ivy Bridge' has IGP features that work with the CPU, even sharing cache, it's a good performance increase. It's a good £80 cheaper though, I guess only you can decide if the extra ~450GB HDD and slight graphics performance increase you might not really notice.

As for the acer, HP and Toshiba rank higher for me, they just seem better built, and a better selection of internal gubbins.
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EazyDuz · World Chat Champion Joined: 11 Apr 2011 Karma :

From my personal experience, i've only owned 2 laptops.
My last one was a Compaq. The video cable at the hinge started to break down, followed by the hinge which snapped off, followed by the other hinge.
In the last 6 months of use i propped the screen up with a pillow, too cheapskate to get a new one Laughing

, sold on Ebay for £80 as spares in the end. Will never go Compaq again. I remember they were selling a HP which had an identical design (same company) which put me off getting anything HP either.
Second and current laptop is an Acer which ive had for 2 years.
It slid off a chair once which damaged the hinge also. It is still useable but the hinge is only held in with the case, its not actually fastened down (need a nut and bolt ideally). Battery life as said is shit, it gets hot, loud and its dog slow now as well.

From looking at laptops in person, Lenovo seem to have the best build quality which to me is now most important. Samsung seem quite robust also. Lenovo tablets get poor reviews though, and their customer service is dire apparently, but their laptops seem ok.
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unitynotsocri... · Banned Joined: 29 Jun 2011 Karma :

they are good choice but the intel i5 chips are very powerfull,but the graphics from intel are not much cop for games,ok for hd and media.

may be worth looking at another laptop if you want to do computer games,amd graphics are better than intel graphics,

look out for quad core amd laptops,slower than intel but better value ,better graphics.

If you are using it for net/general media then you'd get better value looking for a laptop with a large screen,amd graphics and features,and a lower spec chip.
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nearly a normal tax paying tosser.......with ferrileness suzi100,cg125,cb125scb100n,cb175,cd100,cj250t,kh250,c15,125 bantam,super 6,rickman gs750,xt500,250rs,dt175,lifan125,dolomite1850,metro,Morris220ld,morrisfg,leyland princess,range rover,corsa,vw camper .now struggling with legs. MORE ORDER = MORE CHAOS