[SOLVED] A laptop for my mum

chuffedas

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Feb 20, 2009
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So, I have had a little conversation with my mum (70 yo if that matters).
She was going to buy 2 things.
A pc for home and something small for travelling.
She was going to get one of these:
https://www.currys.co.uk/gbuk/compu...ll-in-one-pc-1-tb-hdd-black-10173528-pdt.html
But we have had that conversation.

We will sort that one out later, but in the meantime is wanting a laptop to take around with her on her travels.
Looking for the best she can get for her budget.
I have a quarter idea with pc, but laptops, nope.
Looking for something that has more memory than the OS will take up and won't overheat if you look at it funny really.
We are in the UK.
Happy with a decent refurbed if appropriate.

Great idea with the questionnaire. Thanks for doing this.

1. What is your budget?
£300 ish

2. What is the size of the notebook that you are considering?
10 inch screen ish.

3. What screen resolution do you want?
Don't think it matters.

4. Do you need a portable or desktop replacement laptop?
Nope. Just something to enable her to do emails and photos type thing.

5. How much battery life do you need?
Open to ideas.

6. Do you want to play games with your laptop? If so then please list the games that you want to with the settings that you want for these games. (Low,Medium or High)?
Nope.

7. What other tasks do you want to do with your laptop? (Photo/Video editing, Etc.)
A little bit of temporary photo storage.

8. How much storage (Hard Drive capacity) do you need?
Nothing huge, just a workable amount.

9. If you are considering specific sites to buy from, please post their links.
None as yet.

10. How long do you want to keep your laptop?
Thinking that the better it is, the longer it will last.

11. What kind of Optical drive do you need? DVD ROM/Writer,Bluray ROM/Writer,Etc ?
Good question. Nothing in particular, although USB port is good actually, also probably an SD card reader.

12. Please tell us about the brands that you prefer to buy from them and the brands that you don't like and explain the reasons.
I have no opinion.

13. What country do you live in?
UK

14. Please tell us any additional information if needed.
Just looking for something that can be used for emails and photos when travelling.

Thanks again in advance for your help.
 

chuffedas

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Feb 20, 2009
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Hmmm, thank you.
That looks pretty good actually.

I get a bit lost with the terminologys.
I don't know what a chromebook is.
ipad, tablet, notebook, chromebook, laptop, etc etc

I have only ever had one laptop and that overheated as soon as you switch it on.
(The cooling system was terrible (I opened it to have a look))

Is the thinkpad a reasonable make etc? It appears fairly simple to operate on as well.
Am I right in thinking that RAM and SSD could be upgraded in the future on these?
I am thinking because it is 5th gen, it can take 16gb RAM. Is that right?
 

wasaw

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A chromebook is a type of laptop with the chromeOS operating system. It is limited in what it can do. Personally its good for just checking the internet but you cannot install regular programs on it. You can install linux and android apps on it. Android apps dont always run smoothly though.

As for the thinkpad x250. Its classified as an ultraportable. it has a 12.5in screen. They are durable and made to last. You can upgrade the ram to 16gb (it only supports one ram stick from my research so u need to buy a 16gb ram stick)
SSD can be upgraded to.

1. Price - 220 euros

2. What is the size of the notebook that you are considering?
10 inch screen ish.
* 10 in is quite small. I would recommend 13in for a good balance between size and portability in your case

3. What screen resolution do you want?
Don't think it matters.
* thinkpad has standard 1366 x 768 display

4. Do you need a portable or desktop replacement laptop?
Nope. Just something to enable her to do emails and photos type thing.
* Should meet this criteria

5. How much battery life do you need?
Open to ideas.
*Should have okay battery life at the least

6. Do you want to play games with your laptop? If so then please list the games that you want to with the settings that you want for these games. (Low,Medium or High)?
Nope.
* thinkpad x250 is not best suited for gaming so thats fine

7. What other tasks do you want to do with your laptop? (Photo/Video editing, Etc.)
A little bit of temporary photo storage.
*240GB should be enough for the start for some photo storage

8. How much storage (Hard Drive capacity) do you need?
Nothing huge, just a workable amount.
see 7.

9. If you are considering specific sites to buy from, please post their links.
None as yet.

10. How long do you want to keep your laptop?
Thinking that the better it is, the longer it will last.
thinkpads can last quite a long time

11. What kind of Optical drive do you need? DVD ROM/Writer,Bluray ROM/Writer,Etc ?
Good question. Nothing in particular, although USB port is good actually, also probably an SD card reader.
* It has an sd card reader

12. Please tell us about the brands that you prefer to buy from them and the brands that you don't like and explain the reasons.
I have no opinion.

13. What country do you live in?
UK

14. Please tell us any additional information if needed.
Just looking for something that can be used for emails and photos when travelling.
 
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chuffedas

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Thank you.
This is great.
There is an amount of pondering going on.
The Lenovo looks great.
It has also focussed the mind.
'This is a reasonable laptop at a reasonable price, upgradeable etc etc etc'
She is currently considering the weight though.

Her last little thing (which was always pants and a problem) only weighed a few hundred grams. So it is all about deciding priorities.

Watch this space.
(Or don't, actually, it might be pretty boring for a bit)
 

chuffedas

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Feb 20, 2009
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OK, all sorted.
Thank you very much for your help.
She got something from a local guy at the end, but it was great to have a benchmark.
The laptop became an interim thing and we will be looking at a phone and a desktop in a year or so for her.

This is the one that I was suggesting if anyone is interested.
Seemed a pretty good deal with a year's warranty.

Especially, as, from what I read, the 5th gen allows you to upgrade to 16gb Ram .

https://www.encore-pc.co.uk/lenovo-...grade-c?refSrc=8046&nosto=nosto-page-product3
 

chuffedas

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Well, after all this thought for my mum, it had me looking at things.
So I used this as a great starting point and picked myself up an X230.

Seems like the sweet spot for me with price and power etc etc

Thanks again for the input, much appreciated.
 
I wold not even bother with a desktop, the Lenovo X models have good docking stations, get one of those with a monitor/keyboard/mouse and done. Click system to dock, you have a desktop. You can get them used for like $30,40 with a power brick so you don't need to unplug a single one every time, keep it plugged in, keep second for travel in bag.