Advice needed for laptop purchase

[Bryn]

I must admit that I find the recommendations in this thread for high end Apple machines puzzling. If what is required is a highly portable laptop for writing and sending text-based reports, surely an Acer Aspire One Cloudbook 11 Windows 10 machine would suit the task admirably. It's not the fastest (based on the slower and cheaper eMMC storage, rather than SSD) but has a reasonable keyboard. It's currently on offer in Tesco for £129, though that offer ends today. Not really suited for heavy use, but worth considering if light weight and small size are important. On-board memory is but 32GB, but for another £25 or so, a 128GB compact USB3 'stick' can be left plugged in. Oh, and rather than using an Atom processor, commonly found at this price, it has a middle rank Celeron.

[Dave2002]

johnb

Asolutely agree about using docking stations etc for use with laptops. However a lot of (dare I say it) older computer users think that using a laptop is good enough - take up less space at home etc. (spouse friendly ... !!!!) and of course many people think they can't afford to have laptops and desktops, so there is a strong element of compromise.

Equally, there are now a whole bunch of people using tablets, which are adequate for some purposes, but not for really complex/serious work.

I think many people who work, or work with computers, or who can afford it, have multiple devices - desk tops, tablets, laptops - some even have iPhones (not me...) but some are trying to squeeze all their requirements into just one device. Some people just don't realise how limiting a small screen space can be.

I argued for a long while with a business oriented friend who had several computers and several employees that he was holding his business back by always going for the cheapest machines which always had relatively small screens. Eventually I think the penny dropped that he and others could do more faster with much larger displays. That enables more work to be done in the same time, thus bringing more revenue in. For users whose main concern is not making money/profit, there is still a benefit, as they can get whatever they're trying to do more easily and effectively, and perhaps to a higher quality level.

Bryn

You are almost tempting me to go to Tesco to buy one of those £129 computers, but I did have a look at some of those or similar models a few months ago. I really doubt that I could get on with a low powered machine with limited memory (both main and backing storage), and I really don't want to get involved with any form of cloud storage (to compensate for lack of inbuilt storage) if I can avoid it. Also, the display size is small - under 12 inches (see above), but OTOH it probably scores very highly for portability and is lightweith. If it gets stolen at an airport or elsewhere, it's only £129 lost! It may suit our OP very well. It also does have a lot more storage than the Asus eee I bought years ago - definitely a plus and solid state storage has to be a good thing.

If I ever do buy any form of Win PC I'd probably go for something more expensive, but also more capable. You are right though, that if the brief is only for text then such a device could do the business, and £129 would hardly break the bank.

[teamsaint]

I must admit that I find the recommendations in this thread for high end Apple machines puzzling. If what is required is a highly portable laptop for writing and sending text-based reports, surely an Acer Aspire One Cloudbook 11 Windows 10 machine would suit the task admirably. It's not the fastest (based on the slower and cheaper eMMC storage, rather than SSD) but has a reasonable keyboard. It's currently on offer in Tesco for £129, though that offer ends today. Not really suited for heavy use, but worth considering if light weight and small size are important. On-board memory is but 32GB, but for another £25 or so, a 128GB compact USB3 'stick' can be left plugged in. Oh, and rather than using an Atom processor, commonly found at this price, it has a middle rank Celeron.

Thats the kind of thing I thought night be just right for the job in question, with the added bonus that if it does go astray ( or whatever)while abroad, the damage isn't too eye watering.

the HP steam also has a celeron processor, but the deals seem to be a little more expensive just at the moment.

[Dave2002]

Thats the kind of thing I thought night be just right for the job in question, with the added bonus that if it does go astray ( or whatever)while abroad, the damage isn't too eye watering.

the HP steam also has a celeron processor, but the deals seem to be a little more expensive just at the moment.

The Stream model is currently £179 at Tesco, but does have an HDMI port for connecting to an external display - thus perhaps addressing some of the issues in msg 32.

It's slightly larger, and presumably slightly heavier. Obviously not to be used at the rear of aircraft

http://www.tesco.com/direct/hp-stream-13-c100na-133-celeron-2gb32gb-windows-10-blue-streambook-laptop/713-0134.prd?skuId=713-0134

[Bryn]

The Stream model is currently £179 at Tesco, but does have an HDMI port for connecting to an external display - thus perhaps addressing some of the issues in msg 32.

It's slightly larger, and presumably slightly heavier. Obviously not to be used at the rear of aircraft

http://www.tesco.com/direct/hp-strea...skuId=713-0134

The cheaper Acer I mentioned also has an HDMI output.

[Dave2002]

The cheaper Acer I mentioned also has an HDMI output.

Ouch - you're really tempting me. Do I really want to buy back into Windows?

Can it display an HD size window? Bigger?
Is there a detailed spec anywhere? Ports - USBs, headphones?

[Bryn]

Ouch - you're really tempting me. Do I really want to buy back into Windows?

Can it display an HD size window? Bigger?
Is there a detailed spec anywhere? Ports - USBs, headphones?

http://www.acer.com/ac/en/GB/content/model/NX.SHNEK.001

I got one just after Christmas at the same low price. I use it quite a bit. It did take a while to update to the latest BIOS and WIndows 10 versions, but each proceeded without a hitch. I cleared out several GB of 'features' and old O/S versions, etc. I have Sony's Sound Forge Pro 11 installed on the little devil and do a fair bit of audio editing on it. I do not use its Cloud storage option, however. I have had no problem using an external USB powered hard drive with it, but mainly store in a 128GB USB3 'stick' (SanDisk Ultra Fit) which cost me £25 from My Memory IIRC.

Do bear in mind, however, that the low price offer for the Acer runs out today, though it may well return later in the year.

[Dave2002]

Thanks.

I found the native resolution - 1366 x 768.

Seems odd that it has two USB ports, one USB 2, one USB 3 - why not both USB 3?

W/Could it give a higher resolution if connected to a display via HDMI?

Presumably this one comes with Win 10 pre-installed - since you mentioned it took a while to sort out. One review suggested that there was a hidden "old OS" lurking, which took up space, and caused problems, but once removed things improved.

As you suggest, at the price it's looking quite a good buy. I just don't know whether I could face using a variety of Windows again, though I do have some software which hopefully should run on it, and it would perhaps be an easier option than buying an OEM version to run on one of my iMacs.

[Dave2002]

Indeed the Tesco price on that suggested machine has now reverted back to £179. http://www.tesco.com/direct/acer-ao1...w&gclsrc=aw.ds

I didn't bite on it this time, but it was a close run thing.

I tried to figure out what kind of software I'd need it for. Apart from some Serif programs which I used to use/like quite a lot, and TotalRecorder - which again I used to use a lot - but there's much less point these days, I don't really have a requirement for a Win machine.

Notionally the Win 365 subscription included was "worth" £40, but I have the Office packages on my iMacs and MBP, and in any case I often use OpenOffice - which I now actually prefer for some tasks.

I was put off slightly by comments in reviews re the speed of the unit, though it may actually be fast enough for most people, and being unsure of the max possible display resolution. For photo editing it helps to have good resolution, even if that's "only" on an external display.

For some tasks, such as video editing, the limited memory, backing storage, and relatively slow processor would rule this out completely, but that's not really fair, as one could pay several £k to get machines good enough. At yesterday's price it was almost certainly a good buy for those who might have wanted a machine with basic capability, which seemed to be the requirement, and some of us might find use for a cheap second (nth) machine which could be used out and about. It was (still is) cheaper than some of the cheapest iPads, for example.

If it, or a similar machine, comes round again I might still bite.

[Bryn]

Indeed the Tesco price on that suggested machine has now reverted back to £179. http://www.tesco.com/direct/acer-ao1...w&gclsrc=aw.ds

I didn't bite on it this time, but it was a close run thing.

I tried to figure out what kind of software I'd need it for. Apart from some Serif programs which I used to use/like quite a lot, and TotalRecorder - which again I used to use a lot - but there's much less point these days, I don't really have a requirement for a Win machine.

Notionally the Win 365 subscription included was "worth" £40, but I have the Office packages on my iMacs and MBP, and in any case I often use OpenOffice - which I now actually prefer for some tasks.

I was put off slightly by comments in reviews re the speed of the unit, though it may actually be fast enough for most people, and being unsure of the max possible display resolution. For photo editing it helps to have good resolution, even if that's "only" on an external display.

For some tasks, such as video editing, the limited memory, backing storage, and relatively slow processor would rule this out completely, but that's not really fair, as one could pay several £k to get machines good enough. At yesterday's price it was almost certainly a good buy for those who might have wanted a machine with basic capability, which seemed to be the requirement, and some of us might find use for a cheap second (nth) machine which could be used out and about. It was (still is) cheaper than some of the cheapest iPads, for example.

If it, or a similar machine, comes round again I might still bite.

I would suggest that the Acer in question is quite unsuitable for video editing (too slow and lacking in memory/storage). Audio editing is o.k., but playback of some CODECs is a bit too much for it to keep up, so you get some stuttering if you overwork it. In addition to Sound Forge Pro 11, I also have Mp3DirectCut, Yamb and (ahem) get_*player installed. I have not bothered with any 'office' software beyond the Windows built in Wordpad, etc. Should I ever feel the need for a more sophisticated word processor, spreadsheet, database management or presentation package on the device, I would opt for Apache Open Office, rather than the Microsoft offering.

[Anastasius]

....

As you suggest, at the price it's looking quite a good buy. I just don't know whether I could face using a variety of Windows again,......

I know that I couldn't !!