Thread: What laptop should I buy? I need an advice from the more experienced

Hi

I intend to buy a laptop. I'm a language teacher so this is not my job but only one of my hobbies I've discovered recently.
Laptop's requirements:

• I would need it to edit photos and videos (only for personal use but I'd like them to be a little more pro; sort of creating personal albums with my photos, some nice videos as well from my trips or some video lessons).
• I would need it to be able to store documents, photos, movies, to record mp3. (I've already got something for recording mp3 and editing photos.)
• Also to be able to work online and to use Skype. I'm thinking of minimum 700 GB to have.

I am searching to buy one online (from UK) and I must remember that my budget is not as big as I'd like for it.

What would you recommend me?

Looking forward to your response!

Regards,
Laura

Hi there, a few things you may need to consider)
1 )- battery life...if you have power available this means you can have a "better" spec as power isn't a limiting factor. An external mains(or car?) PSU is good value.
2)- temperature - can you keep the thing cool?
3) external HDD - you'll need to back-up valuable files (not just in case of theft).
4) Do you want to play video DVD's (this is when the processor power is tested), if you can avoid this, then the price will be a lot lower.
5) Firewire - for tape-based camcorders - try to avoid this requirement...it restricts your choice. Most cameras/camcorders use flash memory now.
6) Budget. sadly you only get low-spec small-screen PC's under £500 - you'll need nearer to £900 for something a bit better.

mp3 is a low-spec music file, so should be no problem, but a whole record collection can take up a lot of space. Replacing the PC HDD is likely to be expensive, so try to keep files elsewhere so the internal drive is reserved for the Operating System, programs, etc.

Video HD is processor sapping, so you need something like quad-core as a minimum, preferable more (like 6) with hyperthreading, which increases the throughput.

Not easy, is it?

Thank you for your detailed answer!

5) Firewire - for tape-based camcorders - try to avoid this requirement...it restricts your choice. Most cameras/camcorders use flash memory now. - I'll use digital recordings only
6) Budget. sadly you only get low-spec small-screen PC's under £500 - you'll need nearer to £900 for something a bit better.
I could wait a little and save something more for something better.

What would you recommend me in this case?

kind regards,
Laura

I myself use a macbook, but its all down to personal preference, are you a MAC or a PC?

If PC then the one thing you DON'T want to do, is go into places like Currys and look at their laptops, a lot of the time their selection is poor and are mainly built for Social Networking and "gaming" as they tend to tell you. My mum had one and has had nothing but problems since she bought it.

If you did go MAC then you'd be making a wise choice, their customer services are incredible if anything goes wrong you can usually get it fixed for free if you extend your guarantee with the apple care pack. But they are quite expensive comparing to the specs you would like. You can easily look on the store and build one to your own specs and with MACs you do get, obviously, iMovie and GarageBand to record your videos and mp3 with.

Originally Posted by dblaynee

if anything goes wrong you can usually get it fixed for free if you extend your guarantee with the apple care pack.

Ummm that's a contradiction if ever I read one. And, as my brother-in-law found out, once the apple care pack has run out they are incredibly expensive if there's an issue. However, if you love Macs, you also expect to do business that way. It's a model that clearly works for many, many customers and they're mighty fine machines.

Originally Posted by Laura 2012

5) Firewire - for tape-based camcorders - try to avoid this requirement...it restricts your choice. Most cameras/camcorders use flash memory now. - I'll use digital recordings only

The sort of tape based cameras that use firewire are digital. However, you're unlikely to be buying one of those - at least not new - even though tape does have some advantages (outweighed by the disadvantages)