Hi folks, Just need a bit of buying advice please on buying a small laptop/larger notebook for my son. He has dyslexia and it has been recommended he uses this voice recognition software to be able to write longer homeworks (http://www.nuance.co.uk/naturallyspeaking/products/premium.asp). I've tried it on my laptop and it works really well but a full size laptop like mine is way too heavy for him to carry around all day. So I am looking for something light but larger than the average notebook as they are too small I think for him. Good battery life and as durable as possible (he's 11 so will probably be smashing it into everything!!). Also it need to run windows 7. He'll also be using it for web browsing, iplayer and have some music on it too. Any thoughts or help would be very much appreciated.
Be warned, I have friends who had Acers that fell apart after 6 months. If your son is boisterous with his belongings you might want to consider something else. Check Engadget for "thin and light laptop for carrying around" type laptops such as this: http://www.engadget.com/2009/12/15/msi-slides-out-13-4-inch-x-slim-x350-culv-laptop/ I used "culv" as the search term. Lenovo would be another recommendation: http://shop.lenovo.com/SEUILibrary/...=05396D3B778B4C93BFDA918C8E4815E2&action=init I had a Dell but it only lasted 18 months. Might be different nowadays. What is your budget?
Dell Vostro V13, Asus UL series, Acer Timeline, MacBook Air Though IMO it would be far more beneficial for the child to learn how to write correctly than to depend on dictation..
My brother got this Toshiba T110 the other day, its faster than a netbook but only a little bit larger and runs windows 7 64 bit but costs about the same: http://www.laptopsdirect.co.uk/Toshiba_Satellite_T110-121_Windows_7_Laptop_PST1AE-01J00GEN/version.asp It is a bit plasticy but very light and has bluetooth, wireless n, a very bright sharp screen (glossy tho) and integrated mic and camera so should be ideal!
A budget would help us narrow your search down, but also, how big is big? 14" screen? Larger? Most CULV laptops I can think of use 13.3" screens, or something along those lines. Off the top of my head, Asus UL20 or UL30 are pretty good, but the screen might be too small for your son, and it's pretty expensive (£400-450). If that's too small, look at the Asus UX50V. It's light, stylish (not that stylish matters), a 7 hour battery life while running a word editing program, has a graphics card using nVidia Optimus , and a pretty comfortable keyboard. The two downsides are that it's £700, which is a lot, and the performance isn't very quick for such a costly computer.
Hi thanks for the replies so far, budget is max £450 preferably less. I looked os a website and found this, is it one of the ones? Price seems ok?? http://www.asuslaptop.co.uk/proddetail.php?prod=UL30A-QX131V Please keep the ideas coming I need to get something in the next few days!! Thanks guys...
