Laptop buying advice needed....

robd75

Yeah I know it's a bike forum, but there must be some here with more of an idea than me and I don't go on computer forums.
Anyway, sons birthday Saturday and we are going to get hom a laptop and had seen these two

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? ... K:MEWAX:IT

and

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? ... K:MEWAX:IT

It is for facebook, browsing et, he games on the xbox so taht's not a big factor and he is only 11?

Have very limited knowledge on this so any advice anyone can give would be very welcome. This is the top of my budget.

Thanks

el_presidente

he is 11 ??!

I suggest some mid-range Technic lego and maybe a nice book about dinosaurs or robots

robd75

He starts secondary school in a couple of weeks and will also use it for homework etc. He already has loads of lego, toys etc so thought something useful and fun.

kelsen

el_presidente wrote:

he is 11 ??!

I suggest some mid-range Technic lego and maybe a nice book about dinosaurs or robots

Lego? Dinosaurs? Robots?!! I think you'll find things have changed since we were kids! The modern 11 year old is probably more tech savvy than the computer science teacher from my era.

Robd75, either one is probably good enough for him. If I were shopping for a laptop I'd visit HUKD and see if any laptop deals are attracting interest and buy on that basis.

Jason82

Smaller screen but for browsing should be fine. Too be honest if he isn't using it for gaming you can get away with lower specced models. Although screen size may be important to him if he wants to stream movies and Tv on it.

These guys do some cheap refurbished ones

http://www.laptopsdirect.co.uk/GRADE_A1 ... ersion.asp

Jason82

http://www.laptopsdirect.co.uk/ACER__A1 ... ersion.asp

This one is cheaper and roughly what you are already looking at.

gilesjuk

First one will be better for games as it has discrete GPU. The second one has integrated graphics.

I don't really like Intel Celerons either. Sound a bit too much like Celery which I hate

robd75

Will also be used for watching films as well

el_presidente

robd75 wrote:

Will also be used for watching films as well

and industrial amounts of porn

robd75

So the first is better for games, but will have not so good sound if I understand right, so the second would be better for films and iplayer etc? Which of the two would be faster for browsing on line/dowloading is is there no real difference?
I guess both hard drives will be big enough so I don't think that will be an issue, just want best value for him

Jason82

250 gb hard drive is big enough most films are around 2gb . If he does for some reason need more space external hard drives are as cheap as chips and work via USB sound is always a problem with laptops but he could always buy pc speakers which are much better. Downloading and browsing is dependant on your bandwith i.e connection speed the fastest internet card you can get at the moment is wireless n but if you have a low bandwith connection for internet at home it won't make any difference.

Jason82

www.Letmewatchthis.ch for films and TV programes

robd75

thanks, gone for the first one, seems to be a better processor and graphics and RAM can be added. Can get external hard drive if required and speakers for sound if needed.
Job done.
(heres were you all say I should have got the other!!

davmaggs

For the average punter the lowest spec machine will have more power than you need. Internet surfing, the odd film and some school work doesn't require much in the way of spec. Buy the cheapest brand name, even Aldi or Tesco will do (they will also give you a warranty) or go second hand from a reputable source.

As he is 11 assume that he'll either break it or some other friend will so don't up-sell yourself gradually into some machine capable of designing an entire Pixar film.

PS once it is set up the way you like back it up. Easier to just restore a back-up when the system gets screwed up.

edhornby

I would set it up with a seperate account for him that isn't the admin and he can't install, that way when he wants 'that game on it please dad' you know what is installed

robd75

Hi edhornby,
Thats the plan, I'll be the administrator adn he will have an account that is protected/limited .

Jason82

Youporn is one of the few virus free sites apparently

sketchley

Personally I would not buy a laptop for an 11 year old. A desktop in the living room or a communal area would be more than fit for purpose and you can watch what they are doing and who they are talking too. Headphones mean they can play games, watch video etc with disturbing everyone else. A laptop can be taken to bedroom and used behind closed doors. Just my 2p worth.

robd75

Thanks Jason82, I'll let him know
I don't really want another work station in the house, As I'll be the administrator on the laptop I will be keeping an eye on what he is up to.

davmaggs

robd75 wrote:

Thanks Jason82, I'll let him know
I don't really want another work station in the house, As I'll be the administrator on the laptop I will be keeping an eye on what he is up to.

Some home routers also let you block internet access to individual machines. Might be useful to do that later in the evenings. In fact I might deploy that on myself.

robd75

Good tip davmaggs, will look into that.

jamesco

Another tip: make a backup of the disk image after you've installed everything, but while the PC is still clean. This makes restoring much easier; should any viruses or mysterious behaviour be encountered, just restore from the image and copy any (backed-up) data files across afterward.