Laptop advice required.

  • Hey Guest, Early bird pricing on the Summer Moot (29th July - 10th August) available until April 6th, we'd love you to come. PLEASE CLICK HERE to early bird price and get more information.

locum76

Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
Oct 9, 2005
2,772
9
47
Kirkliston
We're moving to a smaller house with my new job. The savings we'll make will make it easy enough to buy a decent laptop so I could do with a wee bit of advice please.

1) Are Lenovo laptops any good? Does anybody have any experience with them?

2) Does XP mode in Windows7 do what it says on the tin?

Regards

Rob.
(PS: I will not be 'saving up a little bit more to buy a mac').
 

British Red

M.A.B (Mad About Bushcraft)
Dec 30, 2005
26,709
1,947
Mercia
Lenovo bought out IBM "Thinkpads". They are a reputable make used in business not a "toy".

Don't personallt use XP mode, but Windows 7 is a joy to use - fast, good features and stable

HTH
 

locum76

Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
Oct 9, 2005
2,772
9
47
Kirkliston
Yeah, I figured that about Lenovo. I don't want a Toy - I want it to last and I need it powerful enough to produce music.

It could be the way to go.

Cheers. :)

EDIT: all my music software is old and works on XP. I can't afford to replace it all.
 
Last edited:

British Red

M.A.B (Mad About Bushcraft)
Dec 30, 2005
26,709
1,947
Mercia
No worries - I use Dell, but have been quite satidfied by Lenovo and Tosh. I like Dells support best
 

Shewie

Mod
Mod
Dec 15, 2005
24,259
24
48
Yorkshire
We have hundreds of Lenovo thin client terminals on our sites and to be fair they stand up well to some real hammer. No experience of their laptops but I should think they're pretty good value. For me it's a Dell every time, mainly because work supply them but also because I've never had a bad one in the last 14 years or so.
If the hardware is up to running Win7 then see how you get one with it, I quite like it but find XP is more stable in day to day use.

EDIT:

You should be able to setup your new laptop to dual boot if you want.
 

Xunil

Settler
Jan 21, 2006
671
3
55
North East UK
www.bladesmith.co.uk
I have two Lenovo N500 laptops on my desk next to me right now - one is downgraded to XP (running natively) and the other is upgraded to Windows 7 Pro from the awful Vista they shipped with.

Both have been excellent performers.

At last count I had close to 200 Lenovo in various client networks, with few issues to speak of (mostly user error :rolleyes:)

Windows 7 is the best thing Microsoft have done in an age - responsive, stable, it even looks pretty good (if that honks your hooter) and many older programs work very well in compatibility mode without having to emulate XP by using the Windows XP Mode download, which only works with Windows 7 Professional, Ultimate, and Enterprise incidentally.

Compatibility mode on Windows 7 has allowed me to run almost every application I wanted to that I didn't want to upgrade, and XP Mode easily managed to run those apps compatibility mode couldn't cope with which, if memory serves, was one HP photo scanner and some medical haemostasis instrument software (don't ask :rolleyes:)

I get a little irritated at the fundamental changes in Windows 7 from a sysadmins perspective where you sometimes have to go looking for stuff that you're used to finding elsewhere, but there's no denying its stability. Security is good too, with a very capable and highly configurable software firewall built in.

I recommend to most Windows 7 users to download and install the free (for home users) and excellent Windows 7 Firewall Control which makes configuring the firewall a breeze for non-techies in terms of granting or denying application rights.

But dragging this kicking and screaming back to the original question, Lenovo is as good as anything else - it all comes down to the right combination of price and specification at the time of purchase. A friend of mine runs some massive networks and one in particular is almost entirely running on Acer kit - he got a very impressive spec for the price he paid and extended warranties (original 1 year plus 2) were well under a hundred quid per unit. Not a recommendation so much as an observation.

My opinion of Dell is very divided - throw quarter of a million quid their way and you get incredible customer service. Several friends and one family member have had bad experiences with after-market service from Dell on personal purchases, but as in all things you only ever hear the whines rather than the successes. I no longer use them after they spectacularly failed to deliver kit I'd ordered well in advance for a large network infrastructure installation - two days before I was due to receive the kit I called them to find out what was going on to be told they'd almost started building it :rolleyes:

I ended up buying off the peg HP stuff instead and having it overnighted, and then wrangled with Dell for weeks about the order cancellation and refund :(

Like I say, you only ever hear about the failures; never the successes.

Good luck whatever you end up with :)
 
Last edited:

Xunil

Settler
Jan 21, 2006
671
3
55
North East UK
www.bladesmith.co.uk
Rich - Dual boot looks like the way forward, good idea.

Check driver availability first - many Windows 7 laptops won't have dedicated XP hardware drivers written for the kit inside the case. You can find out in advance through the manufacturers support site and it's worth spending 10 minutes doing this to avoid headaches later on if you go the dual boot route.
 

rik_uk3

Banned
Jun 10, 2006
13,320
24
69
south wales
Can't comment on modern Lenovo's but I've an old IBM that is the best made laptop I've ever seen, its old, slow but just keeps working.

I'm using a Sony Vaio for a laptop, well made, fast and no complaints other than I never seem to use the bloody thing (daughter uses it though); worth looking at.

XP mode IIRC only comes with W7 Ultimate, that said I'm running programmes Microsoft said would not run and I don't use XP mode for any. There is usually a work round you can find online should you need it. Echoing what Xunil has said, W7 is a really top operating system IMHO.
 

Neumo

Full Member
Jul 16, 2009
1,675
0
West Sussex
Make sure you dont get one with Windows 7 Starter version on it, which is on many of the cheaper netbooks. Home Premium or Ultimate is a good bet. Also you can only get 3Gb or so of Ram without going 64 bit.
 

Xunil

Settler
Jan 21, 2006
671
3
55
North East UK
www.bladesmith.co.uk
I just checked with Microsoft and it appears they have released XP Mode for all versions above and including Windows 7 Home Premium:

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/virtual-pc/download.aspx

Basically any version of Windows 7 other than the Starter edition (normally used only on Netbooks) can run XP Mode - I was pretty sure that in the early days Windows 7 Home Premium wasn't included as an option for XP mode, but I could be wrong. It's happened once or twice before...

:D
 

Indoorsout

Settler
Apr 29, 2008
509
1
Brisbane, Australia
If you want it powerful then get a desktop not a laptop. Yes, it means no surfing in the garden, or whatever, but you'll quite literally get twice the machine in a desktop than in a laptop of equivalent price. Also you'll be able to easily upgrade it, very much UNlike a laptop, where the most you can do really is bung a bit more RAM in.
 

HarrogateTobias

Full Member
Feb 4, 2011
854
1
34
Heaton, Newcastle
If you want it powerful then get a desktop not a laptop. Yes, it means no surfing in the garden, or whatever, but you'll quite literally get twice the machine in a desktop than in a laptop of equivalent price. Also you'll be able to easily upgrade it, very much UNlike a laptop, where the most you can do really is bung a bit more RAM in.

i have to agree...

make your own midi sized desktop for £400, it will last at lot longer and you can upgrade in years to come.

Its not as hard as most people think.
 

locum76

Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
Oct 9, 2005
2,772
9
47
Kirkliston
Part of the point is to save space, as well portability for music making. I have a decent desktop already but that's going.
 

dwardo

Bushcrafter through and through
Aug 30, 2006
6,451
475
46
Nr Chester
We use a company called euroPC check them out. They have lots of deals on where the laptop has been upgraded prior to dispatch and then had the order cancelled. This means it can no longer be sold as new so you get a good discount. They also have some that have a little cosmetic damage so you get them real cheap, sometimes there is just a tiny mark on the lid. All come with 12 months manufacturer so you cant loose. Oh and to echo above Windows 7.
 

Toadflax

Native
Mar 26, 2007
1,783
5
64
Oxfordshire
For what it's worth, do consider extended warranty on a laptop - I'd say up to three years. I'm not normally one to go for extended warranties, but laptop repairs can be very expensive (whereas desktops are much more modular and many repairs can be done yourself).


Geoff
 

Tadpole

Full Member
Nov 12, 2005
2,842
21
59
Bristol
watchout for the older IBM/Lenovo models, as they sometimes suffer from Graphic chip failure, with make the machine unusable. Saying that I've had three T42's and only one has had this problem. All of mine were running win7 (though they all had 2gb of ram) and they ran PS CS5 with no problems.
 

BCUK Shop

We have a a number of knives, T-Shirts and other items for sale.

SHOP HERE