Calling all geeks

[andrewducker]

is_not_well need a laptop. Budget of £500. She'd like basic word processing, etc. Must run SPSS. And an add-on that can do midi in/out.

Anyone got any suggestions for good brands/models?

Comments

[johnbobshaun.livejournal.com]

2GB Memory, 160GIG HD, just shy of £400.

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/133385

I have no idea when it comes to MIDI gubbins. Something like this?

http://www.dolphinmusic.co.uk/page/shop/flypage/product_id/14452

[andrewducker]

Nice laptop. The midi thing is a bit expensive. I'll take a look at the keyboard and see whether it supports direct USB, having now discovered that some do.

If not, then I'll recommend this:
http://www.dolphinmusic.co.uk/page/shop/flypage/product_id/1145

[meaningrequired.livejournal.com]

And want a 14 inch-ish screen!

[andrewducker]

Look at the one John's linked to above!

[meaningrequired.livejournal.com]

15.4

I#m going to be really picky about this.


I want a light, dinky thing.

[meaningrequired.livejournal.com]

And feel free to tell me I'm being unreasonable and 1 inch is not going to change the laptop that much :)

[andrewducker]

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/136299
14" screen.

£50 more
Exactly the same weight :->

[ratmist.livejournal.com]

If you want a light/dinky thing, can you deal with a screen smaller than 14"?

Colin's Thinkpad is unbelievably light and dinky and would more than do for your needs, but it's got a smaller screen than 14". It's 1.6kg in weight and very cute.

He bought it here: http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=150201084954

Reviews of it here:
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2004/02/23/ibm_thinkpad_x31/
http://www.pcpro.co.uk/reviews/43305/ibm-thinkpad-x31-tk1c8uk.html?searchString=x31+thinkpad

The thing that sends me drooling about his laptop is the battery life. His has been happily working away for four hours I think without dying, but "[i]f you buy the extra-life battery, which fits snugly underneath the main battery via the docking station port, you could keep using the ThinkPad for around eight hours - it lasted an unmatched nine hours in our tests." (from the PCPro website)

For the record, I also have a dinky/light Acer, weighing 1.46kg. It's this one:
http://www.pcpro.co.uk/reviews/72893/acer-travelmate-3004wtmi.html

Best thing I ever bought, and I too use SPSS, word processing, etc. The reason I needed the extra processing power was due to the GIS work I do, and I basically wanted a straight swap from a desktop PC to a laptop that wouldn't break my back carrying it.

[theweaselking.livejournal.com]

How small are you willing to go?

Fujitsu makes awesome microtablets, with a 5.4" touchscreen and foldable full keyboard. Those tend to be fairly expensive, though.

Acer makes perfectly acceptable machines in 14" with standard options plus bells and whistles like a webcam and microphone setup for about $700 CDN. $600 CDN if you don't want XP Pro and are willing to put up with the fully-hardware-supported Ubuntu Linux.

With the current exchange rate, that should be well under budget.

[johnbobshaun.livejournal.com]

If you want to go *really* light and dinky there's always the Asus EEE PC. The screen's tiny tho.

[time-for-tea.livejournal.com]

I too would recommend the Thinkpad X series machines. I use an X23, which is the generation before Colin's, so a bit slower. They are light and capable and very easy to get accessories and spare parts for, but also very rugged and more likely to survive a drop than most brands. I think that the ones after this generation even have some sort of drop sensor so that they park the hard drive before it hits the ground. Very clever. Come and give mine or Colin's a go to see if you like the feel though. They do have their own style about them which isn't to everyone's taste. I love it.