Help! Laptop has died and I need a new one.

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   Kathryn LJposted 12 years ago

   I need something reasonably priced, it doesn't have to be complex.  All I want it for is to work on various writing projects, the last one was just used as a type writer with a memory, I have a PC for the internet etc.  Normally, I would just walk into a shop, tell them exactly what I want and walk out with a laptop with word and windows loaded.  In other words, a laptop ready to be used.  But now I'm in France, this would mean buying a laptop without a qwerty keyboard, so I'm having to order it all off the internet.
   
   Please can you advise me?  I must inform you that my interest in all things technical wanes after about 30 seconds and computer shops produce the symptoms of sleeping sickness, so could you keep your explanations at idiot level.

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      AMFredenburgposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Can your order from Walmart and get it delivered in good time in France? I ordered an HP laptop for less than 400 dollars, and love it. Amazon.com has a site in France; I've had good luck with them ordering electronic equipment. Most laptops come with basis word processing capability.

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      djdaniel150posted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Stay away from commercial desktop PC's for sure! They are fraught with air flow problems that cause the motherboards and video cards to overheat! I do suggest a laptop, possibly a gateway, they are not the garbage they once were, and HP took them over several years back, giving them a name again. I bought mine for $489.00, and its much better than the $1,275.00 toshiba laptop I had previously. The new Gateway's boast USB 3.0, high quality web cams (the best I've seen in a laptop to date), and super fast AMD dual core A6-4400 mobile processors, oh and they have a real video card, not a graphics chip. The video card in mine has has 512MB of DDR3  dedicated video memory! Better yet, the new Gateway's have LED backlights, NO cold fluorescent backlights that overheat because of the high energy needs of its inverter card. I recommend the same one I purchased, the model number is
      Gateway NV52Lo6u, they sell them at walmart and amazon. Don't buy the cheaper versions of Gateway though. Infact don't buy anything under the price I showed above unless it's this model! Otherwise you will just cause yourself a million headaches. Quality isn't free, but this laptop is more than worth the price! I hope this helps.

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   A Troubled Manposted 12 years ago

   http://www.google.com/intl/en/chrome/devices/

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      AMFredenburgposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Wow! Even better!

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         Kathryn LJposted 12 years agoin reply to this

         Thanks guys, yes I can mail order from Amazon, there are loads of laptops to choose from, It's the choosing that's the  problem.

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      Kathryn LJposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Looks fantastic Troubled Man but you can't install word on it so no good for me I'm afraid.

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         A Troubled Manposted 12 years agoin reply to this

         You can install apps that do the same thing as Word, Excel, etc.

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   IzzyMposted 12 years ago

   If Kathryn just wants a basic model pre-loaded with Word she should look to Amazon UK or even eBay UK. For typing she doesn't need a top of the range model with bells and whistles, and so should be able to pick up one at a very reasonable price.
   
   The problem with buying computers on continental Europe is that they insist you take a computer with Windows installed in their language, so that they can easily read error messages should you need to return to the shop under warranty I assume.
   
   When I was in Spain I could not buy a computer in English, unless I paid an extra €200 and forgo the warranty!
   
   Yet when I bought one from Amazon UK and fired it up for the first time, it offered me a choice of installation languages, and told me the warranty was world-wide no matter which language I chose.
   
   The keyboards are different in other languages too, so even if you got the operating system in English, you would end up with keyboard symbols that were different (the qwerty is the same).

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      Kathryn LJposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Exactly!  The information about the warranty being world wide is very interesting.  Many thanks.

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         IzzyMposted 12 years agoin reply to this

         That was a Samsung computer so can't speak for all manufacturers.
         
         If your laptop has just died I assume it was an older model?
         
         My only advice on laptops would be to choose one with either Windows XP or 7, not Vista. I don't know about 8 as I haven't tried it.
         
         Unless you prefer a MAC of course.
         
         Have you checked out eBay? This is a super offer, though not sure if they'll ship to France - they don't even ship to the Scottish islands, but maybe they'll ship if you offer to pay them to.
         
         http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Fujitsu-AH512 … 53f072cba3
         
         You can buy a new copy of Office 2010 from them too.

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