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The accountant's guide to laptop computers

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17th Dec 2008
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Sony VaioTo tie in with our annual Christmas Gadget Countdown, John Stokdyk sets off on another hardware quest to find the laptop computers that are most popular with AccountingWEB members.

AccountingWEB's Top 10 Printers round-up proved to be a useful exercise, helping members to share their insights about the best machines for small business. The Christmas rush is when a huge proportion of the country's laptop computers get sold, so it seems a good time to repeat our "wisdom of crowds" approach to laptop purchases.

Rate your laptop
Based on the formula of our successful Software Satisfaction Awards, please post your nominations with scores out of 5 for functionality, reliability, ease of use and value for money. Information on the type of machine and price you paid would be helpful, too, and any other information that might be successful to fellow members. Here's an example listing:
Dell Latitude D410
Type: 15.4in, 512MB RAM laptop workhorse with built-in WiFi
Price: £600 approx (now going for £200 or less)
Functionality: 4
Reliability: 5
Ease of use: 4
Value for money: 4
Popular choice with corporate IT departments - reliable, good value for money and no problems yet after nearly three years. Would consider replacing it with a later model (eg e5500 currently on offer for £409 from Dell).
As we reported in August, 2008 lived up to predictions as a vintage year for laptops. The phrase "netbook" hadn't been heard around these parts at the beginning of the year, and now you can hardly move for the profusion of "Eee-toos" such as the Dell Inspiron Mini 9 and Acer Aspire.

These machines may be good for students and those who want a very basic wireless surfing and note-taking tool, but working accountants may need more capability, screen space and support for Windows-based applications such as the beloved Microsoft Excel. Ironically, while the big manufacturers are moving in on Asus's niche, the Taiwanese manufacturer has ambitions of its own and is taking on more established players with more traditional, large format models such as the Windows-friendly Eee PC 1000.

AccountingWEB's PC coverage this year has focused primarily on PC developments, because they are the machines used by the majority of our members. But it's getting harder to ignore the claims of Apple's MacBook range. It's easy to sniff at the designer pretensions that surround the Mac, but these are very powerful, well built machines that come with good built-in tools, and you can run Windows applications within virtual machine software modules.

Below is a selection of different specification laptops culled from recommendations on AccountingWEB, UK Business Forums and online hardware review sites. If you have had experience of any of these machines, or are familiar with another model that should be included in the line-up, feel free to add your suggestions using the Post a Comment button below. We'll round up the results in the New Year, just in case you are in a position to pick up a bargain in the January sales.

Netbooks and ultra-mobile PCs (£250-300)

Acer Aspire One - Acer's netbook appears to have overtaken the Eee in the internet review and sales popularity stakes, but Acer is on several members' blacklists for hard disk and other reliability issues. Ranging in price from £250 to £300, the Intel Atom-powered Aspire One can come in Linux and Windows XP variations, with a range of hard drive options from a 8GB solid-state drive up to a 160GB spinning disk drive. UK Business Forum member YourStressManager paid £199 for the 120GB. "Internet works like a dream and the Open Office software seems more than adequate for my needs. Lot cheaper than the nearest laptop with all the relevant software already loaded." Do others have similar experiences with this device?

Dell Inspiron Mini 9 - It may be chasing Asus in this sector, but Dell's dependable brand carries some weight in a fast-moving market where manufacturers and machines can tend towards flakiness. Starting from £243, the base Mini 9 model is one of the cheapest netbooks around and has a 1.60GHz Intel Atom processor, 8.9in screen, 1MB of RAM and an 8GB solid state hard drive. For £40 more you can get a Windows XP version with a 16GB drive.

Asus Eee PC S101 -"For my money the latest Asus ultra-slim S101 Eee PC is still way ahead of the competition," commented Nigel Harris, who selected the model in his Christmas Gadget Countdown. With a street price around £400-460, the S101 is powered by a 1.6GHz Intel Atom and comes with either 16Gb (Windows) or 32Gb (Linux) of solid state storage capacity.

Toshiba NB100 - Another 9-in Atom-powered model, with 1GB of RAM, a 120GB disk drive (not solid state like the other two models mentioned) and built-in WiFi for around £300. Again, a cheaper (c£260) Linux model is available, but with half the RAM and hard-drive capacity of the Windows XP version. Described as "old fashioned" by one reviewer, the Tosh is pretty much a standard spec netbook.

Do you have any experience of the following "netbook" machines? If so let us know more about them:
MSI Wind
Sony Vaio TT
Toshiba or ULCPC

Laptop workhorses (£300-500)

Dell Vostro 1510 - Another "bog standard" contender in the 15.4in mid-market. But sometimes that's just what you want. Four out of five UK Business Forums members recommended Dells in a recent thread on laptops. Available between £420 - £590 from Dell direct with more powerful Intel Core Duo processors and up to 4GB of RAM. You can also choose between one of the Windows Vista versions, or specify Windows XP. A 160GB hard drive is standard, with options up to 320GB. Includes integral DVD read/write drive

Lenovo 3000 N500 - Still carries some of the ThinkPad DNA that goes back to the days when IBM used to make high-spec PCs, but the 15.4in, WiFi-equipped Levono model is very affordable at around £400-450 (inc VAT) with a choice of Pentium processors and the standard 2GB of RAM and 160GB hard drive, plus a DVD writer.

Toshiba Satellite A300 - Traditionally a dependable name for laptops, this "stay at home" model gives you a 17-in screen powered by a 1.73GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor with 1GB of RAM. Performance may not match the other mid-range machines here, but with a street price of £300, who's complaining?

Supermarket sweep

Just like good wine, PCs and laptops have been appropriated as loss leaders by several of the big supermarkets. In September, AccountingWEB member Mark Gauden suggested that PC shoppers check Aldi's site for details of offers on its Medion range (a high spec laptop was on offer for £500 in September) and Lidl, which sells Tectra PCs. Here's what a quick search turned up this December.

Aldi - online options include: Akoya Mini E1210 10-in netbook (1.6GHz Intel Atom, Windows XP, 1GB RAM, 80GB hard disk drive) for £272; or a 12-in S2210 model (Windows Vista Home Premium, Intel Dual-Core processor, 3GB RAM and 320GB hard disk) - encrusted with a butteryfly pattern in fake diamonds! The Medion website has a fuller selection. Gauden likes Aldi in particular because it offers a free 36-month warranty - 2 years' more than you get from most other suppliers.

Lidl - Has a Targa Netbook Traveller 1016 on offer at the moment for £390 (Windows Vista Home, 1.6GHz Intel Atom processor, 1MB RAM, 160GB hard disk). While the chain has been hailed as the country's "best value" retailer, The Register's hardware correspondent Tony Smith took against this particular model. The price is somewhat overinflated for a "bog standard" 10-in netbook and you can buy a largely comparable Advent 4211 for £270 online. "Even more insulting, it costs 369 euros in Germany and Belgium."

Multimedia ego machines

Let's face it, it would demand some very big spreadsheets and complicated presentations (of course you need full 3D animation capabilities!) to justify some of these laptops for business use, but isn't it funny how many you see out in the wild. Any one of these will greatly enhance your standing with the kids - as long as you let them near the machine.

Dell XPS M1730 - Dell's multimedia laptop range checks in at the £1,300-£2,000 price bracket.

MacBook - The prize laptop for posers, Apple's MacBook slimline, aluminium-encased range starts at around £700 for a 13-in, 2.4GHz Intel Core 2 Duo model P8600 with 1GB of RAM (expandable to 2GB), a 60GB hard disk (expandable to 200GB) and a read/write DVD/CD optical drive. Then there are the 13-in MacBook Air (from £1,200) and the 17-in, £1,700 MacBook Pro Santa Rosa - effectively a laptop music, movie or design studio.

Samsung M60 - "Strikes a good balance between price, size and power," says PC Advisor, which gave it one of their editor's recommendations. Proving that Samsung is a good brand for bargain hunters, this well appointed and fast machine is available online for around £1,270.

Sony Vaio FW - A classy, 16-in widescreen laptop with Blu-Ray-compatible optical drive - so it's obviously useful for watching executive improvement media! "Looks very stylish, nice screen and keyboard," commented Decworld on UK Business Forums. "It's a little more than others but worth it for the quality."

Does anyone have experience of these models?
Fujitsu LifeBook
HP Voodoo Extreme

A word about upgrading your laptop

In a 2006 article entitled How to avoid the hardware upgrade rip-off Stewart Twynham explained that getting the right specification for was important to ensure you got good performance from both Windows Vista and MacOS X operating systems. Manufacturers and retailers know this, and put a premium on higher spec machines and optional upgrades that are more like essential additions. So the prices you see quoted on the net or in press ads will be reflected in the machines' underlying specs. By way of illustration, Twynam quoted prices at the time for adding 1GB of RAM to a 1GB Dell notebook - £100 on the Dell website - with the cost of around £50 for the whole 2GB as a self-installed upgrade. The differential was even higher on a 2GB to 4GB upgrade on a MacBook Pro, costing £480 from Apple direct, but £176 from a RAM supplier.

You need to be reasonably confident (and free of static electricity) around electronic components, but inserting RAM chips and replacing hard disks is a straightforward, though it gets more finicky as you deal with smaller laptops. If you are interested in following Stewart's advice, lots more information can be found online by typing in DIY [RAM, disk] upgrade into a nearby search engine.

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Replies (11)

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By mikewhit
18th Dec 2008 18:05

Midrange laptop - lots of power for £700 (Dec '08)
"The company" has just taken delivery of an Asus MV50-AS001C ordered online (with a Visa of course!) from Asuslaptop.co.uk.

As well as a carrying case, mouse and 2 years RTB warranty, you get
4GB memory
2.26GHz Core2 Duo "Montevina"
320GB hard drive, memory card slots
512MB Nvidia 9300 on 15.4"screen WXGA+ with HDMI & VGA ports
Blu-ray/Lightscribe DVD/CDRW drive
WiFi, Webcam, Bluetooth, USBs, E-SATA, Firewire, Fingerprint scan login, half-decent speakers, etc.
Swappable battery pack (presume you can buy an extra one)

sadly it comes with Vista Premium, but never mind ...

PS. I was originally looking at the Asus F7-sr model for £100 less, then the F8, which got a PC magazine's 'midrange laptop best buy' back in March, but it was discontinued. ( http://www.computershopper.co.uk/labs/178911/asus-f7sr.html )

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John Stokdyk, AccountingWEB head of insight
By John Stokdyk
27th Jan 2009 15:19

The Editor's Curse
I've come back to this piece to prepare the final listing this week, and had to laugh at the sad irony of using my Dell Lattitude D140 as an example of a reliable workhorse.

I left the machine on a colleague's desk when I was visiting HQ earlier this month and returned to find a strange black scar spreading in fractal patterns across the screen. I could still use the machine until I took it to our IT support guys, one of whom said it was basically unfixable and pressed the screen with his thumb to spread the black contagion across half the remaining screen.

"Well, it's pretty much an out of date machine anyway," he said.

A pretty severe failure and in spite of my colleague's blase attitude, I expect to get a bit more than 3-4 years' life out of a device costing several hundred pounds. My Apple Trinitron monitor was more than a decade old when time came to send it to the big crusher in the sky.

Meanwhile, Top 10 laptop recommendations follow shortly.

John Stokdyk
Technology editor
AccountingWEB.co.uk

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By carnmores
18th Dec 2008 16:21

JOHN
talking of keyboards - can you update us on ports usb ets for these machines

EDIT

a little run down on processors would be helpful too - us old fold get confused

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John Stokdyk, AccountingWEB head of insight
By John Stokdyk
18th Dec 2008 19:28

Keep the suggestions coming!
Thanks everybody, I'll be taking on board th suggestions about battery life, keyboard size, processors and input/output options when I compile the final recommendations in the new year. Will also try to get prices for 2GB min RAM.

Here's hoping you all get the toys you want for Christmas! (that's if you don't buy them yourself, like Mike).

John Stokdyk
Technology editor
AccountingWEB.co.uk

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By User deleted
19th Dec 2008 09:50

Had to Smile...
... at John's comment:

"Even more insulting, it costs 369 euros in Germany and Belgium"

If you hang on for a few weeks, this will equate to about 500 quid, so your UK Lidl purchase will be...errr... a bargain!

Have a happy Christmas everyone but chuck those foreign holiday brochures straight in the bin. It's Bognor next year, and you can take your new laptop with you. Fish and chips anyone?

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By AnonymousUser
18th Dec 2008 17:32

Memory matters
I was surprised to see machines with only 1 gig' (1 gigabyte / 1Gb) or even less being included in the list.

The fact is that software has been growing in size over the years, such that it is now, more than ever, necessary to keep swapping software modules in and out of memory. This is all the more important if you use your laptop to do lots of CPU-heavy tasks which involve number-crunching for example.

The size of your own files is also important (though for most people this factor is a lot less likely to cause overflow problems), along with your ability to multi-task (run several jobs at once) which might.

Today, though you can certainly get by with 1 gig' of memory, 2 gig' is definitely preferable, and will, I suggest, be well worth the relatively small price of doubling your workspace.

Another important consideration, as Jez pointed out in his post, is battery life. Be realistic about how long you're likely to be using your laptop without being able to recharge it and make sure you get a machine (within whatever budget you set yourself, of course) which is going to last as long as you're likely to need it.

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By mrkisnon
18th Dec 2008 14:23

Full width keyboard
I agree with the comment above from Yonder Dave - bearing in mind most accountants use laptops for inputting figures the keyboards with an integral number pad are superb. Sony do not do one at all which is disappointing as theirr Vaio's look superb. I use a HPCompaq 6820 which has a smashing keyboard.

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By mike.mpa.me.uk
18th Dec 2008 12:26

MSI Wind
Well it's the Advent version, but it's the same machine branded differently. I bought it because I wanted the portability compared to the 17in 3.5kg one I normally use.

This has been a frustrating experience though, as the design allows static to build up in the machine. This means that every single time you start the thing up it fails to run past the initial boot. It simply closes down to protect itself from the dangerous static levels that it can detect. You need to hold the power button down for about 25 seconds to purge the static, and then fire it up again. The manufacturers say that this is not a fault, as the machine can be used perfectly well after the purge process. You just have to be prepared to hold the power button for half a minute every time you want to use it. It even does it in standby mode, so you can't avoid it that way either. The battery on this one is only a 3 cell unit as well, so expect it to last about 2 hours in normal use and just over the hour on mobile broadband.

It may be less expensive, but there is clearly a reason for it.

www.mpa.me.uk

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By User deleted
18th Dec 2008 12:21

When comparing laptops..
would it be possible to indicate whether a particular model includes a full keyboard? I find it much easier using a laptop including the number pad than using a plug in one.

Otherwise a very helpful guide.

Dave

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John Stokdyk, AccountingWEB head of insight
By John Stokdyk
18th Dec 2008 11:15

Thanks Jez - that's exactly the kind of input we want!
I came across the N10 while I was researching bigger models, but had already written up the netbook section. If I had taken in every vaguely interesting machine I noticed, I would never have finished the article!

And what we're particularly interested in is endorsements from people who have actually used and compared the machines. With your vote, the Samsung now has a proper recommendation.

Best wishes
John Stokdyk
Technology editor
AccountingWEB.co.uk

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By User deleted
18th Dec 2008 10:30

Samsung NC10
It is probably worth raising the Samsung NC10 at this point. This netbook is generally considered the market leader at the moment thanks to providing all the basic must haves of netbooks in one package for the first time with a 7hr battery life and a larger size that makes it a fully funtional portable computer that you will actually enjoy using as much as a desktop. Prospective owners might like to read more on the Samsung NC10 community site.

This netbook is generally getting top reviews out there right now. It won't stay top for ever but right now it is clearly the best buy (imo!)

Cheers.

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