Recommend Me a Laptop.

[Dave2002]

mangerton

Strictly the neoprene cover should be secured, for example, with an elastic band. I was fortunate that mine landed screen side up, but at least the corners didn't get dinted as far as I can see. Some of the other cases are better for the screen, but are a lot less protective for the corners.

[Flosshilde]

I wouldn't recommend any machine for use with Windows.

Why not?

[french frank]

Strictly the neoprene cover should be secured, for example, with an elastic band.

I do find these technological threads most instructive

[mangerton]

I do find these technological threads most instructive

Oh, so do I. It's a very good point, though, and I'll ensure I do that in future - thanks dave.

It also raises an interesting question. What is the most useful sort of band - brass, pipe, or elastic?

[Petrushka]

Getting back to Petrushka, we haven't established whether he has a desktop computer. My assumption was that he hadn't, and that like many for whom the computer is not a way of life he'd opted for a laptop rather than a desktop. He may use it mainly in the house rather than on the move, in which case a rather larger model with a good screen (occasional iPlayer TV programmes?) would be preferable.

Sorry, just come back to this thread after a short lay-off. FF, your deductions are spot on. I have no room for a desktop computer (all those books and CD's!) and I do want a slight degree of portability. The 17 inch screen is excellent for i-player and the BPO Digital Concert Hall (when I can get it to work) but would consider a 15 inch.

I realize that Acer machines will have improved since 2007 and I have no problems in getting another of their products. I'm not that bothered by an all-singing, all-dancing model as long as it is able to do what I ask of it without going very slow, has decent memory (just 30gb on my current C Drive) ande does what it says on the tin.

Thanks for all replies.

[Dave2002]

Petrushka

Sounds as though weight and size aren't too big an issue for you. If you do intend to use this on the move and you're not going to be using a car, then smaller and lighter is usually a much better option. Lugging even a 1.5 kg lump around can turn out to be quite tiring. Also bigger screens may not make you popular if you ever use these on trains or buses.

For new models an HDMI output can be useful to connect to TVs. More have those nowadays, but there are still some without.

[johnb]

Sounds as though weight and size aren't too big an issue for you. If you do intend to use this on the move and you're not going to be using a car, then smaller and lighter is usually a much better option. Lugging even a 1.5 kg lump around can turn out to be quite tiring. Also bigger screens may not make you popular if you ever use these on trains or buses.

For new models an HDMI output can be useful to connect to TVs. More have those nowadays, but there are still some without.

There is always a balance to be struck between ultra portable (small screen, small keyboard, possibly less powerful) and heavier and larger 'desk-top replacement' laptop. Different people will make different choices along that spectrum to suit their own requirements.

I do agree that that HDMI can be very useful these days.

PS It's curious how the whole PC/laptop market has now adopted the wide-screen display. It is obviously ideal for watching videos etc but it is the the 'wrong way round' for most business applications where you want to read down a document or spreadsheet. This also makes the physical size of a laptop significantly bigger for the same depth of screen or, putting it another way, you would need a 19.1" wide-screen display to get the same depth as a 15.6" 4:3 display. [Edited]

[Dave2002]

PS It's curious how the whole PC/laptop market has now adopted the wide-screen display. It is obviously ideal for watching videos etc but it is the the 'wrong way round' for most business applications where you want to read down a document or spreadsheet. This also makes the physical size of a laptop significantly bigger for the same depth of screen or, putting it another way, a 15.6" wide-screen display has an 18% reduction in depth compared to a 15.6" 4:3 display.

Can any of the widescreen laptops actually go so far as to enable two documents to be put side by side (without overlapping)? I find that with a large screen desktop that is something which is worth having - but then I'm used to seeing people use either wide screens or two monitors. If there are laptops which make side by side documents a feasible option, then some might find that very useful - though it may take a little getting used to. Some people just hook up an external monitor, either to replace the laptop screen, or to provide an additional screen.

[Flosshilde]

PS It's curious how the whole PC/laptop market has now adopted the wide-screen display. It is obviously ideal for watching videos etc but it is the the 'wrong way round' for most business applications where you want to read down a document or spreadsheet. This also makes the physical size of a laptop significantly bigger for the same depth of screen or, putting it another way, you would need a 19.1" wide-screen display to get the same depth as a 15.6" 4:3 display. [Edited]

Absolutely agree - & I raised this issue with the salesman (or boy) when I bouight my latest one - it would seem that laptops are designed for people wanting to watch films or play games (cf the emphasis on the graphics capabilities).

Mine does have the facility to change the orientation of the document on the screen - that is, have it lengthwise on the screen but still in landscape format. Unfortunately this means that you have to stand the computer on its side - which makes the keyboard rather awkward to use! This might be where the tablet format is mostr useful.

[Estelle]

Dave,
I have a 3-year-old 17" MacBook Pro which I use daily for emailing. I always keep the message to which I am replying open beside my reply. One can easily size two documents to fit side-by-side. It is also simple to toggle back and forth in order to scroll through the texts of either message. I don't need to see the entire document when I can scroll through it so quickly using the cursor and the touchpad.

[barber olly]

The contributors to this thread await Petrushka's final tableau - have you made that purchase yet, and are you happy with it!