Laptop Recommendation

Depends on what you intend to use it for & how much you want to spend.

 

Has to be a macbook I got one in 2009 and never looked back....

 

If its mostly for internet browsing, email, forums etc, maybe a bit of Youtube, it might be worth considering a netbook. Smaller, lighter, and perfectly capable. It means you can 'work' from the comfy chair without having to balance a full sized laptop on your lap.

 

Mine's a Toshiba with Windows 7 and Skype which is a boon. Had it about 15 months . It serves me well and is easy to use,
Jenny

 

As Clueless suggests, a netbook may be worth thinking about Woo, though much depends on what you want/need to use it for. If you are thinking about anything that requires a lot of processing power such as running Photoshop you'd be better with a laptop.
I bought a refurbished netbook, an Acer Aspire One for £150 back in June this year. It's just fine for taking away while travelling, does email, internet browsing, skype and interfaces with my radio just fine and battery last very well.
Personally I'd avoid Windows 8 and go for W7 as 8's a bit bloated and designed for touch-screen computers/tablets.

 

I've been using computers daily since before Windows for Workgroups 3.11, yet try as I might, I can't for the life of me get the hang of Windows 8.

 

I've been using computers since before Windows, Apple and GUIs and I struggle with every new version of Windows. Could be down to age though !

 

JazzSi has it about right. It really does depend on what you want to use it for, whether you'll be carrying it around much and need to take account of the weight, etc etc.

The only net book I've used belonged to somebody else and was perfectly adequate for his interests which were primarily downloading and listening to music at home or on holiday. He had about 20,000 pieces of music stored on it! The only trouble was that with such a small screen it was like looking at things through a letterbox which made finding and organising his music much more difficult.

So, do you want a laptop just for emails, Internet browsing and storing digital photographs or do you have more demanding requirements such as Photoshop, video gaming, complex graphics design?

 

Both other half and I have got two to three year old Acer laptops with Windows 7. We've had no issues and are happy with them. My son has just bought his second HP as his first one gave up after many years. His new one is joint touch screen and keyboard and he says Windows 8 is totally different and takes a while to get used to, but he does find it an interesting set-up.