Laptop advice

I am looking for all the advice I can before buying a new laptop. My question is will the following specs work well with adobe products like Photoshop, fireworks and like programs. I don’t play any games so that is not an issue. I do mostly web design and like I said using Adobe software mostly. The following is from a Sony Vio Z-series. I am leaning towards it only because it is small and compact….only issue is the graphic card….seems a little weak. However some people say it will be fine with adobe software…not for games. I need some honest opinions and please no advice to switch to Mac…thanks.
Sony Vio Z:
2.80GHz (P9700) Intel® Core™ 2 Duo Processor
256GB SSD Drive
8GB DDR3 SDRAM
Screen Specs:
13.1" Screen
1600 x 900 Resolution
XBRITE-DuraView™ Technology
Mobile Broadband Built-In
LED Backlight
Graphics:
· NVIDIA® GeForce® 9300M GS GPU with up to 2010MB total available graphics memory
· Mobile Intel® Graphics Media Accelerator 4500MHD with Intel® Clear Video
· Up to 256MB of dedicated video RAM
· Hybrid Graphics System
· Mobile Intel® GM45 Express Chipset

The specs look fine to me.

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Help - I need laptop advice

Thanks in advance. I purchased a Dell laptop about 2 years ago at Best Buy. I love this laptop ... however .... my daughter-in-law dropped a glass of wine on the keyboard and didn't tell me until about a week later ....
I've had a couple people I know look at it (that have done work before on laptops) and they aren't sure whether it is worth trying to repair it or not.
I'm looking for advice on what to do. I paid alot for it because I wanted a good laptop and I was really happy with it but now it won't even turn on.
I don't have alot of money to spend - so I don't want to buy a new laptop if I can get this one repaired.
It's a Dell Inspiron 15
Thanks again,
Laura

Bring it into the nearest Best Buy to be sent off and a quote given. There is really no way to know the extend of the damage without it being analyzed, and therefore no method of determining repair cost versus buying a new laptop.
Typically, you'd expect to pay a fee to send it off, but that varies by store so I don't have the exact amount. Contact your local store for details.
I hope it's cheap and easy to fix!
I am a Bestbuy employee who volunteers on these boards on my own time. I am not paid for posting here, and you should understand that my opinions are exactly that - opinions. I do not represent Bestbuy in any way.
: Open Mailbox

Desktop vs Laptop Advice

I'm having a tough time deciding between a Mac Pro and a 15" Retina MacBook Pro.
The Power, Expandability, and Storage of the Mac Pro seems like a no brainer... but the possiblity of having my workstation everywhere I go with a Retina MacBook Pro by trading off some of those things is tempting. For me, it would have to mean fully replacing my Desktop with a Laptop.
I'm torn because I am a power user, I run Aperture, Logic, and Final Cut almost equally. But I'm really curious just how well the new rMBP handles this sort of work load... especially Final Cut. I've also accepted the fact that I'm going to have to run an external Thunderbolt Drive, since the included storage just wouldn't be enough for me.
Have any power users been able to trade in their Mac Pro for a Retina MacBook Pro and not regretted it? Anything you miss since making the move?

mishmumken wrote:
No easy answer to that question but if you google MBP Retina and FCP X you should find a few comments on how people were blown away by the performance, especially with a Thunderbolt drive. But there is no way of upgrading anything in the new MBP.
The MacPro on the other hand has not had a serious update for a while but should get one in 2013 according to Tim Cook.
What you definitely want for FCP X is an SSD as a start-up disk and Thunderbolt storage. And max out the RAM.
The non-upgradability of the rMBP is a concern, I've always upgraded my own components because of their pricing policies. If your saying I should go with 16GB of RAM that's a little disheartening... but possible something I'll just have to swallow. I won't be ready to buy until next year, so I was planning on waiting to see what they do with the Mac Pro refresh.
Do you know if a Thunderbolt 2.5" HDD is suitable, or is it recommended to use 3.5" drives? I prefer to use a Bus-Powered drive assuming the read/write speeds are fast enough for FCPX's requirements.

I have a MacBook Pro , Model Identifier MacBook Pro8,2 , MAC OX S 10.7.4. Question 1: Does this model have a PCI Express slot? Question 2: Can I upgrade my USB2 port in this laptop to a USB3 port? Appreciate your help & advice..

I have a MacBook Pro , Model Identifier MacBook Pro8,2 , MAC OX S 10.7.4.
Question 1: Does this model have a PCI Express slot?
Question 2: Can I upgrade my USB2 port in this laptop to a USB3 port?
Appreciate your help & advice..

No & no.

Hi, I need help and advice. Basically me and my ex partner both had iphones and synced it with the same computer under the same ID. We split i have a new laptop and now it keeps asking for the old ID or it'll erase my apps bought on theold account.

Hi, I need help and advice. Basically me and my ex partner both had iphones and synced it with the same computer under the same ID. We split up and now im trying to get all my apps and info onto my new laptop with a new account but it keeps asking me for the old apple ID which she is still using and she changed the password. i tried backing it up but still nohing. When i try to back up purchased items being apps etc its keeps asking for the old one. help

See Recover your iTunes library from your iPod or iOS device. But you'll still need the password.
Once you have the computer authorized to use the account she could change the password again to stop you buying apps on her card (assuming it's not on yours!). It would lock you out of upgrading them too but they should work unless she uses the deathorize all feature.
It depends on how amicable the split is...
tt2

Advice on which Mac laptop to buy / Advice about using WIndows on it.

I'd appreciate some advice on which replacement laptop to get for someone in my family who just needs e-mail, the Internet, and iPhoto--something simple, small, and portable, like the iBook or the MacBook Combo. However, he has just complicated matters by saying that he'd like to be able to use Windows on his new computer (yech).
I don't know anything about using Windows on a Mac, not even whether this feature is now built into all Macs or not. A recent post I found on virtualization (February, 2006) quotes Microsoft as saying that Virtual PC won't run on an Intel-based Mac (MacBook), though it will on the iBook and the Powerbook.
Here are the questions I'm trying to answer: (a) Is running Windows on the MacBook Combo an issue? If Microsoft doesn't make virtualization for the MacBook, are there other companies who do? (b) Are there features/lack of features on a MacBook that mean it makes more sense to get the least-expensive iBook instead or vice-versa? Again, simplicity and ease of use are the goal here, not state-of-the-art technology. (c) Can you even buy a new iBook or Powerbook any more, since the Apple website seems to feature only the MacBook?
Thanks in advance for suggestions about any of this!
Powerbook G4 Mac OS X (10.3.9) 15"

For what your
family member want to do the 1.83GHz MacBook will be
just fine. Just be aware that if they want to write
DVDs at any time they will have to purchase an
external DVD writer.
As for Windows, there are two options for running
Windows on a …
1) Use Apple's software, Boot Camp…
http://www.apple.com/macosx/bootcamp/
… which provides the ability to use you MacBook as a
Windows computer. Please note that a restart will be
required and only one OS will be available at any one
time. Additionally it is suggested that at least a
20GB larger drive be purchased to accomodate the
Windows partition.
2) Use Parallels…
http://www.parallels.com/
… which uses Virtualisation Technology. This allows
Windows to be used under Mac OS X just like Virtual
PC did with the PowerPC Macs. While this is far more
convenient it's performance does not match that of
Boot Camp although it is still rather snappy for more
requirements. It does vost money where Boot Camp is
free. Again, a larger drive is recommended.
For both Parallels and Boot Camp Windows will operate
at native PC speeds so do not consider an iBook or
PowerBook.
Thanks, that's helpful. One more question, now that I've looked at the MacBook more carefully: We use dial-up for e-mail and the Internet; this works very well for us and we have no immediate plans to change. Since the MacBook has no internal modem, would you or anyone else reading this say the Apple USB external modem works as advertised?
I see that the Apple USB modem gets very mixed reviews--some people say it's fine, others seem to find it slower than the internal version, and several think it's a piece of junk.
Would you (or anyone else reading this) have any experience using the Apple USB modem for dial-up connection? [That's not meant to be an insult. :-)] Would we now have to expect our dial-up connections to be slower than before? Or do we just have to be sure we have the right settings, compatible server, etc.? Or is the problem Apple's product, and would a 3rd-party product work better?
Powerbook G4 Mac OS X (10.3.9) 15"

Advice on how to access photos on an iPad that were synced from a now failed laptop? The question stems from a need to return my current iPad having just taken delivery of a new unit. Thanks

I am after some advice on how to access photos on an iPad that were synced from a now failed laptop? The question stems from a need to return my current iPad having just taken delivery of a new unit. Thanks

If you have a dropbox account, there's a free app (probably more) that syncs photos to your dropbox account - picbox.
There's also PhotoSync that syncs photos to/from a number of different services and devices.

My new ipod touch is not recognised in itunes or Windows 7 on any of my computers/laptops. I've followed the online advice and still no luck. Help much appreciated!

My new ipod touch is not recognised in itunes or Windows 7 on any of my computers/laptops. I've followed the online advice and still no luck. Help much appreciated!

Does it charge?
Try:
- Reset the iOS device. Nothing will be lost
Reset iOS device: Hold down the On/Off button and the Home button at the same time for at
least ten seconds, until the Apple logo appears.
- Try another cable
- Look at the dock connector on the iPod. Look for abnormalities like bent or corroded contacts, cracked or broken plastic.
- Make an appointment at the Genus Bar of an Apple store.
Apple Retail Store - Genius Bar

[SOLVED] Advice for Arch install with rEFInd dual boot Lenovo laptop?

I am trying to plan an Arch install on a new laptop for dual boot with Windows 8.1, but I know there is a potential to cause huge problems so I have been trying to read and learn about the hard disk partition structure and how I might install the rEFInd boot files so that I am still able to boot Windows once Arch is installed. (Unfortunately for some tasks such as updating the maps on my satnav box Windows is essential). However I am really quite unsure if I am doing the right thing in the way I am thinking about the Arch install so I would appreciate any help from experts on the forum.
The laptop is a Lenovo IdeaPad Y510p which came with Windows 8 pre-installed, with the option to upgrade to Windows 8.1. The upgrade was completed without issue and I then looked into the question of hard drive partitions and boot. I had read posts on the Ubuntu forums about users who had installed Ubuntu on this same laptop and ended up being unable to boot Windows afterwards so I wanted to tread very carefully before executing anything which might cause really major damage. I had also read on the Lenovo forums replies about people who had replaced the hard drive and installed linux only to find that they could not boot to the recovery partitions, with replies from Lenovo moderators saying that if the partition structure had been changed then the laptop would have to be sent back to Lenovo for a factory repair.
On this laptop to get into the bios or boot options you do not just press the power button and hit an F key, but instead there is a special small "OneKey Recovery" button next to the power jack, which opens up with options for BIOS setup and boot options as well as normal boot or recovery. This OneKey Recovery button is therefore needed to boot a usbkey - the power button only allows it to boot to windows presumably until/unless a different bootloader and NVRAM entry is amended.
I have done all the initial ( safe!)changes necessary to move to the point at which I can execute the Arch install. From within Windows (switched off fastboot, and shrunk the "C:" drive to make space for linux partitions). I have also switched off Secure Boot from the BIOS, and made sure that Windows still boots up fine.
The current arch install iso (February 2014) boots under uefi just fine - and of course once booted I have access to the gdisk programme. That certainly showed the pre-existing partitions on the drive (8 partitions with partition number 2 being the EFI partition, and three recovery partitions!) with a GPT partition table, and it should therefore be possible to make the necessary new linux partitions in the now unallocated space on the disk that was freed up with the internal disk management facility within Windows 8.1. So at that point I created three partitions for a root partition (type 8300), a swap partition (type 8200) and another type 8300 partition which will become /opt in the installed Arch system.
In order to try and not make any changes to the partition structure I let the three new linux partitions be number 9, 10 and 11.
I am told that for a GPT disk it is a definite no-no to try to create more than one EFI partition. So I will need to use the existing EFI partition to place the rEFInd files and the kernel once I install Arch.
In this (Y510p) laptop the EFI partition contains the following structure:
BOOT/ - containing only boot.sdi
BOOTSECT.BAK
EFI/ which contains two directories Boot/ and Microsoft/
so EFI/Boot/ contains only Boot64.efi which is likely a fallback copy of the Windows 8.1 bootloader
and EFI/Microsoft/ contains a Boot/ directory - so
EFI/Microsoft/Boot/ contains loads of language specific directories like en-GB/
plus bootmgfw.efi (which I believe is the Windows main efi loader file)
bootmgr.efi
memtest.efi
The scheme that I am planning to use which I have previously used in pure Arch uefi machines, is that /boot is a directory in the root partition, /. That way /boot is an ext4 directory and will contain the kernel and initramfs plus the rEFInd linux config file.
Then I can mount the EFI (vfat) partition as /boot/efi and so I can then make a /boot partition under /. Then the EFI /BOOT/ directory would be seen in Linux as /boot/efi/BOOT/ and the Windows efi stuff would be in /boot/efi/EFI/Boot/Microsoft/Boot/ in which case I would presume that I have to make a new directory in /boot/efi/EFI/refind/ and put the refind stuff including the filesystem drivers there, and let the kernel go into the (ext4) /boot/ directory which would be preferred! However I am not 100% confident that this is what will work and I need to read more before trying to do the install. The thing that concerns me is how the system will handle the uefi boot process, and whether it would auto-detect the Windows efi file as well as the Arch refind efi file once the system has started up?
... and then there is the issue of the NVRAM entries and I am no longer confident that if I use the usual tools to create an entry (efiboomgr or bcfg), that I will get a successful dual boot system!
There is still a chance that I would irrevocably damage being able to boot to the Windows and Recovery partition boot options by messing up the EFI and/or the NVRAM so I have to tread very very carefully with this.
If anyone has gone through this kind of dual boot install with a Windows 8 or 8.1 machine using rEFInd for the bootloader, and can offer advice or help here I would very much appreciate it. I have another pure Arch system which uses rEFInd that works extremely well, but it seems that dual boot with uefi is a rather more complex animal than a pure linux system!
Last edited by mcloaked (2014-02-22 10:06:03)

vipin wrote:I have recently bought the y510p , im planning to install Arch , this is my 4th laptop , i had installed Arch in all the other 3 with no problems, but im a bit worried with the installation as this is the first laptop which has EFI , im a linux user for the past 6 years , i started with fedora , now i like Arch , mike documentation is excellent, i just had one question when i had grub , it automatically finds the new kernel when i update (grub.conf/menu.lst gets updated), does rEFInd also do that.
When there is an update to the rEFInd package you need to copy the files across to your ESP from the files contained in /usr/share/refind/ usually you need to copy the refind_x64.efi binary as well as the icons, fonts, and drivers directories. Since there is flexibility in how you configure the kernel and initrd files in terms of where they are located whether you need to do anything else when a new kernel update arrives depends on how you set your system up. If you have the /boot directory as your ESP partition which will then have the kernel and initrd files updated by default then there no need to do anything else when there is a kernel update. If the ESP is then at /boot/EFI and within that is your refind/ directory then that is where the replacement files go if refind-efi gets a pacman update. So it is actually fairly straight forward. If you configure rEFInd to look for kernels in some other directory than /boot/ then you may need to copy the files there after a kernel update but there is more information in the arch wiki about this.
During a refind-efi package update there are helpful files in the pacman output (and log) reminding you of what you need to do. eg for the latest refind-efi update you get:
[2014-06-18 18:48] [PACMAN] upgraded radvd (1.12-1 -> 1.13-1)
[2014-06-18 18:48] [ALPM-SCRIPTLET]
[2014-06-18 18:48] [ALPM-SCRIPTLET] rEFInd UEFI application has been installed at /usr/share/refind/refind_*.efi
[2014-06-18 18:48] [ALPM-SCRIPTLET]
[2014-06-18 18:48] [ALPM-SCRIPTLET] Other UEFI applications have been installed at /usr/share/refind/tools_*/
[2014-06-18 18:48] [ALPM-SCRIPTLET]
[2014-06-18 18:48] [ALPM-SCRIPTLET] UEFI drivers have been installed at /usr/share/refind/drivers_*/
[2014-06-18 18:48] [ALPM-SCRIPTLET]
[2014-06-18 18:48] [ALPM-SCRIPTLET] Copy the efi application (according to your UEFI ARCH)
[2014-06-18 18:48] [ALPM-SCRIPTLET] and /usr/share/refind/refind.conf-sample to a sub-directory of <EFISYS>/EFI/
[2014-06-18 18:48] [ALPM-SCRIPTLET] as refind.conf and add an entry to firmware boot menu using efibootmgr
[2014-06-18 18:48] [ALPM-SCRIPTLET] or mactel-boot (for Macs)
[2014-06-18 18:48] [ALPM-SCRIPTLET]
[2014-06-18 18:48] [ALPM-SCRIPTLET] rEFInd Icons have been installed at /usr/share/refind/icons/
[2014-06-18 18:48] [ALPM-SCRIPTLET] rEFInd Fonts have been installed at /usr/share/refind/fonts/
[2014-06-18 18:48] [ALPM-SCRIPTLET]
[2014-06-18 18:48] [ALPM-SCRIPTLET] HTML Documentation is available at /usr/share/refind/docs/html/
[2014-06-18 18:48] [ALPM-SCRIPTLET]
[2014-06-18 18:48] [ALPM-SCRIPTLET] More info: [url]https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/UEFI_Bootloaders#Using_rEFInd[/url]
[2014-06-18 18:48] [ALPM-SCRIPTLET]
[2014-06-18 18:48] [PACMAN] upgraded refind-efi (0.8.1-1 -> 0.8.2-1)
I hope that helps.
By the way you can also boot uefi using grub and in fact you can get rEFInd to chainload grub as a backup bootloader as an added safety factor and have both rEFInd as well as grub installed simultaneously. How that can be done is explained in the thread at https://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?id=181906
Last edited by mcloaked (2014-06-25 17:41:12)

My iPhone is currently set up on a laptop where I use itunes to sync music and apps, I have a new laptop and want to connect it to that but am worried I will lose everything? Will this happen? If so can anybody give me advice on what to do?

At the moment I am unable to update my phone to any new software as I still have the software from when I first got my iPhone4. I would be very grateful if somebody had some advice for me on what I can do as I have a lot on my iPhone including songs, albums, games etc. and i really don't want to lose anything but I have heard connecting to a different laptop will wipe everything.

Thank u verrrrrrrrrrry much FoxFifth u save my life thank u.

TS3212 I installed an iTunes update on my Windows Vista Laptop and iTunes wouldn't start saying it was missing MSVCR80.dll, now when I start Outlook it is going on about a mobileme error? Any advice? I'm tempted to not use iTunes ever again.

I installed an iTunes update on my Windows Vista Laptop and iTunes wouldn't start saying it was missing MSVCR80.dll, now when I start Outlook it is going on about a mobileme error? Any advice? I'm tempted to not use iTunes ever again.

Troubleshooting issues with iTunes for Windows updates - MSVCR80

Please could you advise? ... After installing Itunes 11.3.1.2 on my Laptop and when reconnecting my iPad2 via USB, it is no longer visible under 'My Computer'. Any advice on resolving this issue would be most welcome. Thanks

Please could you advise? ... After installing Itunes 11.3.1.2 on my Laptop and when reconnecting my iPad2 via USB, it is no longer visible under 'My Computer'. Any advice on resolving this issue would be most welcome. Thanks

Any one or a combo may help
Give your iPad a reset. Hold down the sleep and home keys for about 20 seconds. When you see the silver apple, let go and let it reboot and try again.
Try a different USB cord
Try a different USB port
Try rebooting your computer
Try closing/opening iTunes.
If you go through that and it doesn't work, try going into the control panel, add/remove programs. Uninstall iTunes, Apple Mobile Device Service, Apple Application Support. Then redownload and reinstall iTunes and try again

HT1420 I have set up iTunes Match on only 3 devices (my Windows 7 desktop and 2 iPhones) and am now trying to authorise my new Windows 8 (Toshiba) laptop but I keep failing to authorise the laptop using my one-and-only Apple ID. Does anyone have advice to

I have set up iTunes Match on only 3 devices (my Windows 7 desktop and 2 iPhones) and am now trying to authorise my new Windows 8 (Toshiba) laptop but I keep failing to authorise the laptop using my one-and-only Apple ID. Does anyone have advice to solve this problem?!

Hi all. I can’t tell you how to solve your iCloud 3.x issues. Heck, I don’t think they’re even solvable.
But if you had a previous version of iCloud that was working correctly then I can definitely tell you how to solve the “iCloud Photo Stream is not syncing correctly to my Windows 7 PC” problem. …without even a re-boot.
Log out of iCloud 3.0 and uninstall it.
Open My Computer and then open your C:\ drive. Go to Tools/Folder Options and click on the View tab. Select the “Show hidden…” radio button and click on OK.
Open the Users folder.
Open your user folder
Open ProgramData (previously hidden folder)
Open the Apple folder – not the Apple Computer folder.
Open the Installer Cache folder
In Details view sort on Name
Open the folder for the newest entry for iCloud Control Panel 2.x – probably 2.1.2.8 dated 4/25/2013
Right click on iCloud64.msi and select Install.
When finished, the synching between iCloud and your PC will be back to working perfectly as before the 3.0 fiasco. The pictures will be synched to the same Photostream folder as before the “upgrade”. Now all you need to do is wait until Apple/Microsoft get this thing fixed and working before you try the 3.x upgrade again.
I think the iCloud 3.0 software was written by the same folks who wrote healthcare.gov with the main difference being that healthcare.gov might eventually be made to work.
For those of you who hate to go backwards, think of it as attacking to the rear. Which would you rather have, the frustration of no synching or everything working on an older version?
Good luck…

Need advice on how to use a samsung 470 128gb ssd in laptop win 7, please

hello,
i have a laptop with 2 hdd's running win 7 64 bit with 8gb of ram
i thought about installing 2 10k drives, but that would heat the laptop up
and drain battery life quickly
so
i found the samsung 470 ssd series to use for the os drive
and have questions that i cannot find answers to
(either from the web or samsung's website)
reading this link about 'shortstroking' the ssd
http://www.ocztechnologyforum.com/forum/showthread.php?67119-Short-Stroking-SSD
my os only uses 40gigs (and i haven't really, really gone through it to delete bloatware)
at most i see myself using 80 gigs of the 128gig model
1) should i 'not partition' the drive and let everything be as it may
or
should i create a 90 gig partition, thus 'shortstroking' it to try to gain more performance?
2) should i locate the static page file on the ssd
or
locate it on the 2nd hdd media drive?
is anyone doing this or have advice?
thanks again for your help
j

hello Frederic,
first of all thanks a ton for the calibration info
that was excellent!
it's an hp laptop with a removable optical drive of which
i installed a 2nd hdd for media
i just found the corsair ssd you mentioned at newegg
and 57% of the reviews are terrible
whereas 100% of the reviews for the samsung are 5 eggs
(they say the samsung isn't the fastest but it is the most sturdiest)
it has a sataII interface
i agree with you about not defragging ssd's
thanks for the answer about not partitioning and locating the pagefile...
my desktop at home has 2 sata3 ports...
after all this research i think i might get the 128 gb ssd for my desktop
which leads me to another question about the laptop:
my os drive is 40gb
i don't see it getting much bigger than that
in terms of installing programs
do you think i could 'get away with' installing a 64gb ssd in the laptop
or will it fill up or run slow because of the limited headroom?
i think it is better to go with a highly stable ssd than a tempermental faster ssd
thanks for answering,
j

Lightweight laptop for Adobe Creative Suite 5 advice

Hello,
I originally posted this in the 'Downloading, Installing, Setting Up > Discussions' forum and have been sent here to see if anyone may be able to help; I need some advice and guidence on buying a new laptop that will run Creative Suite 5 Design Premium. I have a desktop which I use for the majority of my design work, but I need something portable for tweaking and presenting whilst on the move.
The key thing is I need it to be lightweight as I have joint problems so preferably under 1.9kg (I know that usually the smaller then the less powerful) and with a good as possible battery life. I mainly use Photoshop, Illustrator and some InDesign, working to real size (usually under and up to A3, sometimes larger)
I've found two possibilities; can anyone guide me if either of these will run comfortably for what I need?
HP Pavilion dm4-2101ea £449
          Featuring Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium (64-bit)
          2nd generation Intel® Core™ i3-2330M processor
          4GB memory for top system performance
          500 GB Hard Drive for storing all your digital files
          35.5 cm (14.0") High-Definition LED-backlit BrightView Display
          Intel® HD Graphics
          Finished in Dark Umber, Brushed Aluminum
          1 year, pick-up and return, warranty. Optional upgrade to 3 years accidental damage cover for peace of mind
          Featuring Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Integrated Webcam & Microphone
          Includes HP Entry Carrying Case & HP Wireless Mobile Mouse
Sony VAIO VPCSB4C5E (VAIO SB 13 series) £614
           Configured
            Intel®Core(TM)i5-2450M,2.50GHz
            Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium
            320 GB Serial ATA (5400 rpm)
            DVD disc drive
            8 GB 1333 MHz DDR3-SDRAM
            33.7 cm LCD, 1366x768+webcam
            No Wireless WAN
            No Long-Life Battery
            No security features
            HD digital camera
            Office 2010 Starter + Acrobat
            No protection
            McAfee Online Backup trial
            No Imagination Studio Suite
        Also Included
            Backlight keyboard
            AMD Radeon(TM) HD 6470M 512MB
            English (QWERTY)
            1 AC Adapter
            USB 2.0 x2 + USB 3.0 x1
            Wireless LAN (802.11abgn)
            HDMI(TM) output
            Bluetooth® 3.0
If the HP one will run the suite ok then I'll go for that one, as a little kinder on the budget. I've compared them myself but I'm not sure if the HP would be sufficient or if the sony would be wasting money when somethign cheaper will do the job? Though at the moment Sony are doing a deal for 8gb RAM for the inclusive price of 4gb, but only until Monday...
Any advice would be really appreciated, thank you!

Go to HP's web site and you can customize the laptop to your needs and keep an eye on the cost as you add/subtract features. The thing to keep in mind is, forget about tech support, plan on paying someone local to fix it, or fix it yourself or buy new. As Tech support is no good in my eyes.
For me the price out weights the tech support other wise I would pick someone else.
If you need good tech support, then well, not much out there, maybe Dell, but I have seen laptops that break under normal or almost normal wear and tear. Their laptops must be sent in, but I guess tech support is OK. Never owned a Dell laptop, just seen friends with them.
I have heard rumors of bad tech support from Sony, but thats just rumors, so I can't say how good or bad they really are.
As for a lighter laptop, you could go with a solid state hard drive, they don't hold as much, but they are faster and much lighter than their counter parts.
Get as much ram as you can afford, you will be glad you did, when the time comes. I have already ran out of ram editing a video with 16 GB of ram, so you never have enough.
Anyway, good luck on your purchase, I am sure, you will enjoy it, which ever decision you make.

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