Lap top

[Fi]

I need a lap top to:
connect to office computer - I have a "virtual desktop" style connection to the office on my pc at home;
email and internet via home wi fi.

 so I can sit downstairs in the evening, rather than upstairs on the PC.

Can anyone recommend something cheap and cheerful that will do? I'm not techy (I still use windows 2000 at home on my seven year old computer)
 I would use a proper sized keyboard (managed to get a couple at the local dump) if I want to do much typing so I'd need a port for one.

Ta

[Elleigh]

Hi Fi

I bough a cheap and cheerful ACER machine from Woolworths for £299 nearly two years ago.  It has an internal wifi card and a reasonable memory and processing capacity.  I use it to connect remotely to work systems.  As I said it is 2 years old now and it is still working very well.

I can recommend both Woolworths and ACER.


Edit: On searching the Woolworths site, it looks like you can get pink one for £299 atm  Buy Medion Intel Celeron M Processor 540 Pink Laptop MD 96515 from Woolworths.co.uk online shop

[токамак]

PC Pro A-list: 'Value Laptop' = Dell Inspiron 1525 for around £400

Those keyboards you picked up - what connector do they have? I reckon it's most likely to be PS/2. Modern laptops are unlikely to have onboard PS/2 so you'll need a USB keyboard.

[Polar Bear]

And if your keyboard has the old round plug you can buy a usb to ps2 adapter. 

[Phil]

If you don't mind using a Mac, buy a second hand IBook.  They can be had for very little money and don't break easily.  On the downside there might be compatibility problems with your virtual desktop software, you've got to learn a whole new system to use, and they look like they're made of duplo. 

If you want to stay with windows I'd probably go for a second hand Toshiba laptop.  They're simple and reliable enough.  Get a techy friend to install windows 2000 over the top of the existing operating system. 

Don't worry about your keyboard problems - it's easy to get an adapter that will let you use a traditional keyboard in a USB port. 

[alchemy]

I bought an Acer Aspire 5315 a couple of weeks ago. It came pre-loaded with Vista Basic and is wi-fi compatible. I only need it to run versions of MYOB and Excel/Word at clients' offices so it's perfectly specced for what I need. It only cost $625 with another $150 cash back from Acer.

One of the things that swayed me was that a client told me that Acer offer about the best bang for your buck in laptops (their desktops don't seem to be very well-regarded though).I bought a proper number keypad and a real mouse because I can't use the silly pad on a laptop. All up the whole set-up cost about $600 (approx 300 quid)

So far it's worked really well for me.

All this is a long-winded way of saying that I think the Acers are worth a look, without breaking the bank.

[pcolbeck]

Dell are pretty good value. Don't get hung up it having a keyboard port for your old full size keyboard. You can buy a brand new full size USB keyboard for approx £5 and all new laptops should have a USB port but may not have the old PS2 style keyboard connector.

[Fi]

Thanks all.  I'd got the old keyboard for my work computer as I loathe the keyboard it's got and I've got it an adapter. I'm leaving work in a couple of months so I've hung onto it at home.

[Valiant]

Morgan Computers

Personally, I'd avoid anything with a Celeron processor as somehow they always hang up on me.

[fred the great]

How interesting. By contrast, I have owned a few Notebooks with Celeron and never one problem

[alchemy]

How interesting. By contrast, I have owned a few Notebooks with Celeron and never one problem

Yep, both my desktop and laptop have Celerons and they're fine.

[pcolbeck]

Yes but think about what Valiant does for a living. He needs loads of processing grunt. For office applications / web browsing a Celeron is adequate.

[alchemy]

Yes but think about what Valiant does for a living. He needs loads of processing grunt. For office applications / web browsing a Celeron is adequate.

Yep, fair point

[Valiant]

This was a home use machine so basic family word processing etc. But to be honest I did probably abuse it by multi tasking.