Liam Proven wrote: > On Fri, Mar 12, 2010 at 9:00 PM, Rob Beard <[email protected]> wrote: > >> Hi folks, >> >> Well the time has come where my mum and step-dad have decided to get on >> t'internet so they're looking for a laptop. They were planning on >> getting me to go with them to PC World to help choose one, but I've >> convinced them to hang fire for a week so I can look into what is out there. >> >> It's been about 3 months since I last really looked into laptops, the >> last one I recommended was for my Dad. It was a Compaq CQ-61 15.6" >> notebook with about 3GB Ram, a 160GB hard drive and a Pentium Dual Core >> CPU for about £350. >> >> However I've got a few friends with HP and Compaq machines which have >> died through motherboard failures. >> >> Now I've got an Acer Aspire 2920 (12.1" Core 2 Duo) myself which I >> managed to get from Comet so I'm quite partial to Acers. >> >> Anyway, I've been having a look at what is available and in only 3 >> months the market seems to have been flooded with low power notebooks >> with 1.2 and 1.3Ghz Pentium Dual Core and Athlon Neo CPUs. >> >> My mum & step-dad don't need anything super fast, they want to do basic >> web browsing (my step-dad has been made redundant recently and looking >> for a new job seems to be easier with internet access, especially >> considering a fair few bigger employers seem to have stupid online >> application forms!). They'll also want to do e-mail, and possibly a bit >> of basic photo editing. >> >> So I'm thinking anything made in the past couple of years would be >> suitable. I was thinking maybe a pre-owned machine but I think for my >> peace of mind they might be better going for a new machine. >> >> They have a budget of up to £500 although I think realistically they'd >> probably be looking nearer the £350 to £400 mark. >> >> I've seen an Acer Extensa for under £315 at Aria... >> >> http://tinyurl.com/ycox8mg >> >> It's got a 15.6" widescreen display, 1.8GHz Dual Core Celeron T3000 CPU, >> 160GB hard drive and 1GB Ram. I guess this would be plenty for Ubuntu, >> the hard drive again would be plenty (I'd probably suggest they buy an >> external hard drive maybe to occasionally backup the laptop onto). >> >> My only concerns are the Intel GL40 graphics, and the Acer wireless >> (although it appears to be Atheros wireless). >> >> Just wondered if anyone else had this particular model running Ubuntu or >> had any other suggestions? >> > > General suggestions: > > - Avoid anything with a Celeron or "Pentium Dual-Core". They're > cut-down chips & crippled. Get a Core 2 Duo as a minimum. (Or an AMD.) > > Actually I have a Pentium Dual Core in the wife's PC and it runs fine, sure it has a bit less cache but for what my parents want it would do the job. > - There are often bargains to be had from the surplus clearance > houses. My current laptop came from Sterling XS: > http://www.sterlingxs.co.uk/ > Morgan's is under new ownership but deals may still be had: > http://www.morgancomputers.co.uk/ > > Cool, I'll have a look.
Rob -- [email protected] https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/
