The above question is worth answering, given you could spend mind-boggling amounts on a computer/laptop you're only going to use to play, ... 2D Pong. Or a really shiny, expensive-looking brick. Or a sluggish thing, that couldn't compute itself out of a wet, toilet-paper bag. Whatever hints go your way, unless someone has the model suggested, there's still gonna be a chance you'll get a lemon; unfortunately, these things can be a gamble. You'll up your chances by going for renowned brands, getting only what you need, or think you might need, using a good store/seller, etc.
If you spot a laptop, feel free to link me it (via PM, to get my attention, as I might miss this thread) and I'll happy have a peek at it, and maybe do some research. If you buy online, make sure it's a
good seller, and check all the reviews, if you can, for the laptop. It might help to even look at some YouTube videos about it. Knowledge is power, or in this case, knowledge is a better laptop and a happier wallet/purse.
Overclockers UK - Computer components, hardware & gaming PC is apparently very good, and I've known people to recommend it rather a lot; it's a US one, I think. I'd give
Amazon.com: Online Shopping for Electronics, Apparel, Computers, Books, DVDs & more a good try - I use Amazon a lot, built my PC and my dad's old one, with parts mostly purchased from it, and have very little problems with the site, as a whole. I wouldn't recommend eBay, because I simply don't trust it anywhere near as much as the likes of Amazon, especially for larger purchases; conversely, my brother uses eBay quite a bit, and he likes it and stands by it, so it's your call! You could try places like PC World, but I think they're kinda overpriced. Careful of those tiny little obscure computer stores, that may or may not be local to you, as
, based on the ones I've seen in England, they are often overpriced, and may sooner sell you a lemon, than give you something you'd actually find useful. I'm kinda cynical, so take what you will, from my ramblings. :P
Careful not to get confused between a laptop and a netbook; they are not the same. A netbook is typically slower than a more powerful laptop, because netbooks have power conservation as, so far as I know, the upmost priority. I have a netbook, and as cool as it is, it's certainly not the fastest. I imagine to get a much faster netbook, it would set you back £300+, but I got mine for £200 or something. xD Netbooks tend to not have a disc drive, so that wouldn't help, if you actually need it.
If you decide to ignore the laptops and netbooks, but want something different, more portable, and kinda fun, then you might wanna look at Android tablets, such as the only one I can ever really honestly recommend:
Samsung Galaxy Tab 2; I recommend it, because the cheaper ones are a huge gamble, often rubbish or malfunctioning, and can have software-side issues. I'm not sure if there's a newer model out, as I haven't looked for a few months, but there might be. There's another competing model, that almost tempted me, back when I was in my "
OMG, I WANT A TABLET!" phase, but I can't remember it, ... >.< ...
*looks it up* ... Nexus 7, I think is the one, but it had the drawback, I think, of lacking the support for a storage card, which I personally thought was utterly useless. One again, with tablets, perhaps more so, it's important to check the reviews! With so many dodgy tablets going about, it is somewhat of a gamble. In the end, I wasn't prepared to gamble, even with the Samsung, so got a netbook - in retrospect, I should've probably got the tablet.
When you do look up a laptop, remember to use its model number, to ensure you're looking up the right model, as you don't want to read amazing things about a
slightly different laptop to the worse model, of which you might actually purchase.
I typed out some stuff on page 2 of
THIS thread (don't worry, it's on PC) so that might be of help to you.
Best of luck.
