29 replies to this topic

[Tubbz]

All I'm worried about in terms of specs is :

 

Big Screen (17" ideally)

Centred mouse pad (not left shifted like they all seem to be)

Under £400 ~$650-700

 

 

Any suggestions would be great. Ideally a Windows OS as well, but I doubt I could pick up much else for that price. 

 

EDIT:

It's for my grandmother, so not too worried about specs etc. 

 

EDIT2: Model suggestions please. Just Sony/HP/Acer doesn't help too much

 

EDIT3: Most people seem to be missing what I'm asking for. I need help finding a laptop that fits the 3 things in bold. I've spent the last week trawling through various laptop manufacturers but I just can't find anything that fits. That's why I was asking if anyone could think of anything that fits all 3. 15" would also be ok. 

Edited by Tubbz, 19 August 2014 - 07:43 AM.

[Michaelhex]

For a big screen and an overall good specs :

 

1. HP Pavilion dv7 series. I think the best one is the 6163cl but this goes well over $800 or so with High RAM, 2 graphic cards, 17.3in, intel i7 and high storage capacity.

**a cheaper alternative is the 6b55dx series. About the same specs but one graphic card, i5 and a slightly lower storage( I recommend this one)

 

2. A lot cheaper alt or I would call it as a low budget laptop is the 'Dell Inspiron 17-3721', generally half of the price of the above. My girl has this and she's been using it for some time now and still no problems. It has good specs, enough RAM to do about anything ( except for hardcore gaming ) - 4G RAM and a reasonable storage and graphic card.

 

[Tubbz]

 

For a big screen and an overall good specs :

 

1. HP Pavilion dv7 series. I think the best one is the 6163cl but this goes well over $800 or so with High RAM, 2 graphic cards, 17.3in, intel i7 and high storage capacity.

**a cheaper alternative is the 6b55dx series. About the same specs but one graphic card, i5 and a slightly lower storage( I recommend this one)

 

2. A lot cheaper alt or I would call it as a low budget laptop is the 'Dell Inspiron 17-3721', generally half of the price of the above. My girl has this and she's been using it for some time now and still no problems. It has good specs, enough RAM to do about anything ( except for hardcore gaming ) - 4G RAM and a reasonable storage and graphic card.

 

 

 

The problem with the Dell you mentioned is the left shift on the mousepad. The mouse pad needs to be screen centred, not keyboard centred

[Bones]

I was a solid Sony Vaio user until this year if I had to buy a new laptop now it would be HP. 

[Tubbz]

I was a solid Sony Vaio user until this year if I had to buy a new laptop now it would be HP. 

 

Which HP? Which HP fits what I'm looking for -_- 

I have had really bad experiences with every Dell laptop I've owned.
I also had a shitty time with Toshiba. Sony Vaio is nice if you're gentle with it? 

 

It's hard to find any of the manufacturers that don't shift the keyboard over. 

Even Lenovo has started doing it. 

[Waser Lave]

I think you'll struggle to find a laptop with a centred touchpad these days, especially so at 17" because they usually include a numpad on the keyboard too (they usually tend to centre the touchpad below the g, b and h keys so it's in the middle of the keyboard).

[Tubbz]

I think you'll struggle to find a laptop with a centred touchpad these days, especially so at 17" because they usually include a numpad on the keyboard too (they usually tend to centre the touchpad below the g, b and h keys so it's in the middle of the keyboard).

 

I know, that's the problem. 

I'm not too fussed about it being 17" but 15" at least. 

Ideally just looking for one without a number pad, and was wondering if anyone knew of any at the moment at the price range. 

[Waser Lave]

I can't remember seeing one of any size with a centred touchpad for years tbh. Why is that so important?

[Tubbz]

I can't remember seeing one of any size with a centred touchpad for years tbh. Why is that so important?

 

It's for my nan. Old people are awkward. She's had 3 other laptops since the one she currently uses. I'm sick of fixing it. 

 

The centred touch pad is the only thing that's stopped her getting a new one, we get one, she's fine for a week then moans about the way she types, or uses it. Because she's pretty much chair bound, leaning over to type causes her aches or the laptop seeming off centre annoys her. 

 

Needs to be at least 15" because otherwise she can't see it properly. 

[Waser Lave]

I've had a quick look around and can't find a single one with a centred touchpad. She might just have to deal with it.

[Tubbz]

I've had a quick look around and can't find a single one with a centred touchpad. She might just have to deal with it.

 

There's stuff like this ultrabook
http://store.hp.com/...pt=ABU&sel=PCNB

 

I just need to find something without a number pad. That's what's pushing the keyboard and touch pad left. 

[NapisaurusRex]

Yung owns exactly what you're looking for, but I guess they switched the product keys at some point, cause when I googled it, it's not his computer that comes up.

[Mizk]

ASUS and Toshiba have the lowest failure rate among laptop brands, so those are what I always recommend. I personally have an ASUS and I really like it; the right Ctrl button is longer, making it easier to hit for Ctrl actions like Ctrl + backspace. 

No one should ever get HP, Gateway, or Acer unless you're like really strapped for cash, or you can manage to find an incredibly good deal. Their failure rates are significantly above 20% (after 3 years)

Lots of techies recommend Lenovo Thinkpads and I have no idea why. My first laptop ever was a Thinkpad and it was the worst piece of shit I've ever owned. Among other reasons, the fan was obnoxiously loud, so despite what tech forums might say I recommend against Thinkpads

I know it's not exactly what you asked for, but if specifications don't matter then it should be no problem finding a 17" screen for $600. I do think you'd be hard pressed to find a centered mouse pad though

Edited by Mizk, 19 August 2014 - 08:48 AM.

[Tubbz]

Yung owns exactly what you're looking for, but I guess they switched the product keys at some point, cause when I googled it, it's not his computer that comes up.

 

What brand is it? I'll take a look. 

[NapisaurusRex]

What brand is it? I'll take a look. 

HP

[Tubbz]

ASUS and Toshiba have the lowest failure rate among laptop brands, so those are what I always recommend. I personally have an ASUS and I really like it; the right Ctrl button is longer, making it easier to hit for Ctrl actions like Ctrl + backspace. 

No one should ever get HP, Gateway, or Acer unless you're like really strapped for cash, or you can manage to find an incredibly good deal. Their failure rates are significantly above 20% (after 3 years)

Lots of techies recommend Lenovo Thinkpads and I have no idea why. My first laptop ever was a Thinkpad and it was the worst piece of shit I've ever owned. Among other reasons, the fan was obnoxiously loud, so despite what tech forums might say I recommend against Thinkpads

I know it's not exactly what you asked for, but if specifications don't matter then it should be no problem finding a 17" screen for $600. I do think you'd be hard pressed to find a centered mouse pad though

 

The centred mousepad is the biggest part of what I need. Just seems there no big laptops without a numpad for a sensible price. 

[Grimley]

 

For a big screen and an overall good specs :

 

1. HP Pavilion dv7 series. I think the best one is the 6163cl but this goes well over $800 or so with High RAM, 2 graphic cards, 17.3in, intel i7 and high storage capacity.

**a cheaper alternative is the 6b55dx series. About the same specs but one graphic card, i5 and a slightly lower storage( I recommend this one)

 

2. A lot cheaper alt or I would call it as a low budget laptop is the 'Dell Inspiron 17-3721', generally half of the price of the above. My girl has this and she's been using it for some time now and still no problems. It has good specs, enough RAM to do about anything ( except for hardcore gaming ) - 4G RAM and a reasonable storage and graphic card.

 

 

 

LOVE your suggestions...I'm a very happy HP laptop user and have a machine similar to what you described.

[Tubbz]

Only Macbooks centers their trackpad consistently, but they're pretty expensive. It's user friendly, so it would be a good fit for your nan.

They're 3 times the price. I think we've found a HP laptop we like. (Substitute I've found and she likes)

[Waser Lave]

They're 3 times the price. I think we've found a HP laptop we like. (Substitute I've found and she likes)

 

What model is it?

[Tubbz]

What model is it?

http://www.laptopsdi...1EA/version.asp

It's identical to the one she currently has but a bit smaller and updated hardware. The shell etc. is the same.

[Turnip]

So are HP laptops actually decent now? A few years ago all I ever saw were people complaining about heat issues and that HP laptops were generally low quality :0 Back when I had mine it would get up to 100C regularly from just idling, the keys popped off and the plastic surrounding the touchpad snapped off lmao

[talbs]

My HP gets extremely hot but I really like it. It has been the best laptop I have owned so far. 

[Turnip]

My HP gets extremely hot but I really like it. It has been the best laptop I have owned so far.

 
If you're good with computers, you should open it up and clear out the heatsink and then make sure not to cover the fans after  Mine died because the GPU crapped out, more than likely because of the heat issues (if I rememberly correctly it was a problem that affected a load of laptops from back then and I dunno if its gotten any better recently)

 

I'm using Elin's laptop right now and its really nice!! Its a Samsung NP305E5A and although its not exactly what you're looking for, its great ^^ To be honest, I didn't even notice that the touchpad was slightly off center until you brought it up in this thread lmao

 

@Tubbz, mind if I ask why you want it to have a 17in screen? Since you could make the resolution slightly lower than the native one and it'll make things appear bigger, so she won't have to strain her eyes trying to see what's on the screen!! My friend's mom had some huge ass monitor and used something like 1280x800 so the text would be massive. Also, the centered touchpad thing won't be an issue if she uses a USB mouse :0 There are a lot of small and really lightweight ones if mice are normally too bulky and heavy for her or something

[Tubbz]

@Tubbz, mind if I ask why you want it to have a 17in screen? Since you could make the resolution slightly lower than the native one and it'll make things appear bigger, so she won't have to strain her eyes trying to see what's on the screen!! My friend's mom had some huge ass monitor and used something like 1280x800 so the text would be massive. Also, the centered touchpad thing won't be an issue if she uses a USB mouse :0 There are a lot of small and really lightweight ones if mice are normally too bulky and heavy for her or something

The "setup" she uses is basically the laptop lives on a table on wheels that she has pulled in front of her chair. There's not enough room for her to use a mouse as well.