I reckon you'd be better off buying a motherboard, some Ram and a Graphics card off ebay and use a tower.

Unless they purpose of you having a laptop is so you can be mobile.

buying a pc/laptop is all about balance really. as others have said you really need minimum 3gb memory nowadays. if you are gaming you need a decent processor and in conjunction a fast graphics card (for gaming steer well clear of integrated graphics). also don't forget you will need a windows 7 operating system which eats up a lot of memory too. for the money you have, a pc would come better specced but you have said you want a laptop so use the websites mentioned or save another couple of hundred.

but don't forget you can alter the setting of some of the games (frame rates etc) so games can be made playable on lower specced pcs

one final point if you are adding a super duper graphics card make sure you power supply unit is up to the task - its a relatively cheap component but one thats often overlooked

and then theres the cooling or your laptop could end up crashing all the time.

while theres a comp thread open id like some help too. I want to buy my dad a laptop for his 60th and im not sure what to get. He will only be using it to surf the net and emails the most, maybe a webcam to relatives in oz. Posiibly adding a few photos. Obviously he doesnt need a big expensive laptop. Any ideas would be a help as i aint totally comp savvy myself

depends on the operating system you want on it, if win 7 best off with a 3 gb ram laptopas others have said. Have bought laptops from here for work reasonable prices, local and good customer help systems as you can chat to them live and they will be able to help you. www.ebuyer.com/store/Computer/cat/Laptops

depends on the operating system you want on it, if win 7 best off with a 3 gb ram laptopas others have said. Have bought laptops from here for work reasonable prices, local and good customer help systems as you can chat to them live and they will be able to help you. www.ebuyer.com/store/Computer/cat/Laptops

yeh basically i just want a decent laptop that will be able to run fm 11 quickly and easily

I meant that while it's ok for FM, if he wants it for games in general he's better off buying an xbox or PS3.

sounds like you need a netbook - have a look at dabs or ebuyer (other websites are available) - its basically a cut down version of a laptop, you get a lot of surfing power, wireless facility and decent storage and usb connections so you can add peripherals such as a card reader for your piccies. what you dont get is a cd/dvdrom drive and of course the screen is smaller than that of a laptop

Hullbg do you repair laptops ?...My battery connection (where it is plugged into the laptop) is not working, it is an 13month old Dell

with him being 60 and a little on the sight problems creeping in, will the screen be big enough for him to get a netbook? for the extra few quid it may cost for a laptop

with the new ipad the netbook will be a thing of the past imo.

bit of a price difference at the mo though isn't there?

regarding the netbook screens the quality and resolutions are excellent 10 inch screens may be a bit small though (its 15 to 16 inches for a laptop) and decent priced ones (£350 upwards) should be just fine