I Need A New Computer . . .

[atalanta]

. . . but don't know where to start. I don't absolutely have to have a laptop, since I have space for a bigger machine, but I have to do a lot of typing, and I have to save huge amounts of written work, and manipulate it. I also need to save lots of photos, and I have to carry over many hundreds of photos and a couple of dozen novels-worth of text from this old PC ( HP) to a new one. I have to have Skype and disc drive. Decent sound would be a bonus, as this one is terrible. I'm neither skinflint nor spendthrift, but I can afford what I want ( short of ocean-going yachts, diamond tiaras, that sort of thing)
Please include links to the sort of machine/s you recommend.
Ta everso.

[delboy3]

I had my last two PCs custom-built, at around £700 each. You're likely to get a much better spec than an equivalent (or even lower) priced off-the-shelf unit from the high street. Ask around if anyone knows a computer geek who builds his (likely to be his, rarely hers) own bespoke units?

[Hymie]

Almost any laptop will do what you want – but to make your life easy, I would go for a 15.6 inch screen. Besides an optical drive, consider other features that you must have such as wi-fi, wired Ethernet connection, built in camera etc.

Buying a new laptop will almost certainly involve you using a later version of Windows to that you are used to, you may also have to buy another copy of MS Office (if this is your normal word processing application).

The sound quality out of any laptop won’t be great, for much improved performance, consider a pair of powered speakers which can be purchased for less than £20.

Take a look at the Tesco laptop website – they have keen prices and allow you to apply filters on product features to find models that meet your requirements.

[FrogNog]

Laptops and tablets are all well and good but if you have the room and the money to make it good, you will get a much bigger bang for your buck with a standard PC.
If something breaks, you can usually replace it without scrapping the whole thing, which has been a big bonus to me once or twice, like when I blew it up by hoovering it.
Laptops are more versatile, but desktops are better value IMO.
I know everyone loves Apple for some reason but my Windows PC is fab. It's 8 years old but has had many affordable upgrades with no information lost and I can download stuff from wherever I like.
Also, although it isn't white, it didn't cost the earth.
Ask around. Most people have a computer guy they trust who knows a computer guy who can fix the things they can't. I'd ask them to build it, based on your needs.
Mine was mainly for graphics and streaming at the same time, which is hard on the system, but it was designed to cope because it was custom made.
It cost a lot less than buying something less suitable off the shelf at PC World.

[Old_Geezer]

Yuk laptops. Bearable it you put it in a base station, but if you have the room why not go for a decent desktop that you can upgrade/expand as you go ?

Adding further boards for sound or graphics is then easier too.

Apologies I'm not really au fait with today's market. Last few PCs I've built from the separately purchased parts. There are some good self build magazines / websites out there.

But if that's not for you, first thing to do is list the spec you want. How much power/memory/speed/etc.. Then go find out what out there comes close.

[beso]

I have an all-in-one PC. Saves the clutter of a separate tower and some of the mess of cables. No as portable as a laptop but easy to pick up and move to another room.

[Peter Pedant]

I bought an out of date Lenovo and was very satisfied with it

The expensive machines are only for people wanting to do Call of duty in stereo technicolour - altho you seem to be scribbling compulsively remember that most of us apparently will not write more than a New Testaments worth during our life which can easily be stored on 750kB

I ha e just checked I am using less than 100GB ( of 450 GN available )
and that includes every digital photo I have ever taken

I agree that jpgs take up more room