h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

My laptop is coming to the end of its useful life. It is a Toshiba NB510, which is the right size and the right level of indestructableness, but I don't like it as much as a similar Samsung thing (yes, that's totally a model) I had before.

Any recommendations? I don't use it for mch other than word processing, doing the odd powerpoint, storing photos and mucking around on the Internet.

I got quite a good deal for my new purple HP laptop from a large retailer earlier this year. It has the dreaded Windows 8.1 installed, even though it isn't a touchscreen one, but I've just about got things set up how I like them now.

I'm impressed by the amount of RAM there is and I think the hard drive is a Terabyte, so I have certainly enough storage for photos. It often seems slower in performance than my old laptop, even though it is a new modern processor, but I think that's because it gets indigestion in its cache, so it speeds up when I shut it down and switch it on again, or if I log out of the other user accounts I've set up for different tasks (I have the admin account, an everyday internet surfing account and a game account).

Good luck!

I recommend Acer and Levono
Tried others but those seem to be just more durable.

Funnily enough I have just come across a review for Lenovo which basically goes, this would suit Solnushka, who will drop it, sit on it, shove into a bag unprotected, and get biscuit crumbs on the keyboard. Nice to have that confirmed.

I am clearly no geek given that all other considerations are secondary. I don't even know what you are talking about, Sasha, when you mention RAM.

My son recommended Lenovo for me and his wife, and it's certainly done OK for me so far.

From one non-geek to another: RAM is the part of the hard disk which keeps notes of what you're doing while you're working, a sort of temporary storage. It's where alterations and files you are using are kept, but it practically deletes everything when you switch off, or when you close or save a file. Which is why you can undo parts of a text you are writing only whilst you're working on it, but can't close the file, re-open it and unwrite the last word you wrote.

My old laptop that died 11 days ago after years of hard use was a Lenovo. It came from Argos, who carried out good speedy repairs when needed.
This is a Toshiba C70D, 17inch screen and cost a penny under £400 - also from Argos. I use mine for work (long distance on-line from Hong Kong) as well as pleasure.

RAM (Random Access Memory) is the working memory that sits inside your computer on a printed circuit board (or 2) and can (relatively) easily be upgraded for more or faster memory - but most people don't. It does the working out and runs programs on your computer. When you turn your computer off it forgets everything.

The HDD (Hard Drive Drive) is a disc inside a sealed unit itself inside your computer. The HDD holds all of the programs (including Windows) and data such as your music, photos, the documents that you have created and your deepest darkest web browsing secrets. When you turn your computer off it remembers everything.

In general terms, the bigger the numbers on offer, the better. It would be sensible to have a minimum of 4gb of RAM, but if you can stretch to it, have 8gb. You will never notice if you have too much, but if you have too little it will drive you nuts.

So far as the HDD goes, discs measured in terabytes are relatively recent and a 1Tb drive is likely to last a lifetime. The machine that I am using has a 500Gb (half a terabyte) HDD and I don't suppose that it will get anywhere near full in the lifetime of this machine. If a 1Tb HDD is within reasonable reach within your budget, go for it. If it isn't, don't lose sleep over it. A terabyte will hold about 1,000 copies of the Encyclopedia Britannica.

Do think about the quoted battery life. People don't usually and it will be overstated.

I'm not sure that brand is that relevant. Many of the components will be made by other manufacturers and assembles by Toshiba / Lenovo / Asus / whoever.

Good luck.

PP.

I'd second the Acer vote, I think this is my third one over the years, they are reliable and tough. One top tip though, get one where the power button is central, or at least not right on the edge next to the charger port. I regularly turn it off with my thumb by mistake when plugging in the charger.