Notebook recommendations for approximately R3k?

ponder

ponder

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The old lady I tried to assist with her PC with finicky RAM has decided to get a notebook.

Any suggestions? Something from a retail store or maybe eesquire.

Was looking at http://www.game.co.za/computers.html?dir=desc&order=price as we have a store less than 1km away. Anything good on there, the Lenovo dual core caught my eye but there are also other options.
 
Hi ponder

Hmmm... from that Game selection, under R3K...

http://www.game.co.za/computers/toshiba-intel-celeron-nb-c850-f12s.html (1 year warranty - Onsite a plus)
http://www.game.co.za/computers/lenovo-dual-core-bundle-g570l-sw.html

Also, some Esquire specials; ex VAT;
http://www.esquire.co.za/specials/2013_03_11Lenovo.html
http://www.esquire.co.za/specials/2013_03_11Asus.html

Does she want a laptop for any specific reason ?

I am sure that even down your side you will be able to find her a replacement tower for less than that....
 
kilobits said:
http://www.game.co.za/computers/lenovo-dual-core-bundle-g570l-sw.html
Click to expand...

Leaning towards this one.

kilobits said:
Does she want a laptop for any specific reason ?

I am sure that even down your side you will be able to find her a replacement tower for less than that....
Click to expand...

I honestly don't know, the other day she was talking about getting an iPad until I told her how much they are.

Yeah, I showed her a tower for R2399 and she was gonna go for it but today she sms'd me saying she wants a laptop instead, apparently her son in law got one of his kids one for R3k from CNA so maybe this sparked something in her mind.

That dual core lenovo should be plenty for what she does which is email, skype, facebook & maybe a bit of office.
 
esquire had some lenovo's on special last week 2.5k - 2.7k excl. vat. dual core celerons iirc
 
Indeed, any of those entry level notebooks will be an upgrade for her from her s478 relic.

Heck, the newest Celeron CPUs are nothing like they used to be... plenty of grunt for admin / skype stuff. Family member's granny here even manages to Skype and email and such with an Atom netbook... once the thing has booted, it seems to be OK for her... just using an external LCD as the 10" screen a wee bit small for pensioner eyes.

A laptop is a lot more convenient... but you pay more for it.

ponder said:
Leaning towards this one.



I honestly don't know, the other day she was talking about getting an iPad until I told her how much they are.

Yeah, I showed her a tower for R2399 and she was gonna go for it but today she sms'd me saying she wants a laptop instead, apparently her son in law got one of his kids one for R3k from CNA so maybe this sparked something in her mind.

That dual core lenovo should be plenty for what she does which is email, skype, facebook & maybe a bit of office.
Click to expand...
 
How does a Celeron B820 compare to a Pentium B940 compare to a AMD E300 1.3GHz.

Are my suspicions that the B940 is the most powerful correct?
 
I'm in the exact same situation, old tannie asked me to have a look at some laptops she's interested in. Is her name perhaps Hilda. :D
 
ponder said:
How does a Celeron B820 compare to a Pentium B940 compare to a AMD E300 1.3GHz.

Are my suspicions that the B940 is the most powerful correct?
Click to expand...

Well... in terms of clockspeed then yes... B940 is the most powerful. It is very similar to the B820. The B820 is newer, has support for virtualisation extensions where the B940 has not.

http://ark.intel.com/compare/67193,55626

The AMD is like an Atom with built-in Radeon GPU... horribly underpowered.
 
kilobits said:
Well... in terms of clockspeed then yes... B940 is the most powerful. It is very similar to the B820. The B820 is newer, has support for virtualisation extensions where the B940 has not.

http://ark.intel.com/compare/67193,55626

The AMD is like an Atom with built-in Radeon GPU... horribly underpowered.
Click to expand...

Ta, I can't see her doing any virtualization :D
 
shubz said:
I'm in the exact same situation, old tannie asked me to have a look at some laptops she's interested in. Is her name perhaps Hilda. :D
Click to expand...

No it's not Hilda but it also ends in an 'a'.
 
I got that Toshiba. Dont buy it!!!! Even with Lubuntu on it it runs slowly :(
 
ghoti said:
I got that Toshiba. Dont buy it!!!! Even with Lubuntu on it it runs slowly :(
Click to expand...

Which one did you get? Really weird as any bottom of the line laptop these days should run anything just fine.
 
ponder said:
Which one did you get? Really weird as any bottom of the line laptop these days should run anything just fine.
Click to expand...

Indeed... unless compared with another that has more RAM and not a 5400rpm HDD. The difference a 7200rpm drive makes is quite noticeable.

My sister in law bought a cheap Gigabyte B940, 2GB RAM and 5400rpm drive... added 4GB more RAM, popped in her 7200 drive... a world of difference on the same machine. Ended up slapping in an SSD and it really flies - even for just a B940 cpu :p .

So... perhaps it is always better to take the cheapest laptop you can afford, ignore it, and somehow, scrape the funds together for the entry level i3s ??
 
ponder said:
Which one did you get? Really weird as any bottom of the line laptop these days should run anything just fine.
Click to expand...

Thats what I thought.

Toshiba Notebook Satellite C850-F211

I should have realized something was wrong when I saw the "Approved for sale in Africa" sticker on it. Worst buy ever for me.

Im selling it for 3500 if anyone wants its. I paid 3700. It sucks with linux.
 
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ghoti said:
Thats what I thought.

Toshiba Notebook Satellite C850-F211

I should have realized something was wrong when I saw the "Approved for sale in Africa" sticker on it. Worst buy ever for me.

Im selling it for 3500 if anyone wants its. I paid 3700. It sucks with linux.
Click to expand...

Something does not seem right, those specs seem fine.
 
Ok, no stock at any of the stores so back to the drawing board. Any other suggestions?
 
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Would this old lady be fine with a 17.3" notebook? Game's got a pretty decent special on at the moment.

View attachment 43722

Pity it ends so soon, I need to get myself a lappie for work purposes.
 
NAG - Wesley said:
Would this old lady be fine with a 17.3" notebook? Game's got a pretty decent special on at the moment.
Click to expand...

Those are also out of stock, I tried :(

Bloody good price though.

They also advertise this one which has 4GB ram & Win7 Home Premium

acer.png


That's cheaper than a comparable desktop!
 
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