View Full Version : Laptop help please
Davey_Pitch
22-07-2007, 18:38
Been looking at this laptop that I found through Hotukdeals - http://configure.euro.dell.com/dellstore/config.aspx?b&c=uk&cs=ukdhs1&l=en&oc=N0710002&fb=1 - but was wondering if you guys knew of any others for around the same price that would do the job as well or better? We mainly want it for some web browsing, and then hooking it up to the TV to either surf the web or watch films. I may play games on it from time to time but it would be older ones, certainly nothing new or taxing.
Any thoughts?
Lynnie_pitch nee Leigh
22-07-2007, 18:39
it is also for me to mark tonnes of GCSE coursework without havig to sit in my office all alone crying at the never ending pile ;)
What's the budget guys? You wont get much difference in spec around £300 - they'll all be tolerable for basic web/email/word processing but little else (gaming wise you'll get solitaire out of them!). If you're going to be using it for work then you could use a better screen probably, 1200x800 (or whatever it is) isn't the sweet spot for 15.4" imo.
Davey_Pitch
22-07-2007, 23:06
Depending on what needs buying for the house, the budget could be up to £500. It'll be used mainly for web/word processing/watching movies, but if we could get games out of it then it'll be a bonus (I'm thinking games like FM2007, or Civ 3, rather than FPS games). It's certainly not a necessity though.
semi-pro waster
23-07-2007, 07:18
If you want to play FM2007 then I'd probably go with an X2 and 2gb Ram if you can afford it, I haven't played it in a long time but every earlier version chewed through CPU and Ram like nobodies business. Although either of the games mentioned should work anyway, just a bit slower.
If you are intending to use it for a long time away from the power source then get the largest battery you can, this will of course add extra weight though. Other than that any of them should do fine for what seem fairly basic requirements. :)
Davey_Pitch
23-07-2007, 11:36
I should have said that I'd be upgrading the CPU and battery. Not too sure on whether I'd do the Ram though, it would be easy to upgrade it later on through Ebuyer if I need to.
http://www.hotukdeals.com/forums/showthread.php?p=772342
Good price, and a Core2 to boot. Acer's support is a bit hit and miss though.
Noooo you tempting sod :p
*may or may not quite like a laptop*
Davey_Pitch
23-07-2007, 14:16
http://www.hotukdeals.com/forums/showthread.php?p=772342
Good price, and a Core2 to boot. Acer's support is a bit hit and miss though.
Hmmm, not bad, though it's a refurb. I do like the Dells though so I'd sway towards them if I had a choice of the two. Is the Core 2 that much better than the X2?
Yes. The Core2 is just unbeatable at the moment, AMD are well on the back foot in the desktop space - performance wise anyway. Not that the X2's are bad, just that the Core2's are significantly better.
Dell put new stuff up typically on a Thursday so hold off until then and keep an eye on HUKD.
Davey_Pitch
23-07-2007, 15:23
Will do. If the performance is that much better then the Acer is looking more like a good deal. I think there was a good Inspiron deal recently on HUKD a while ago so I'll have a hunt around for that.
Davey_Pitch
23-07-2007, 20:08
This one seems quite nice....
http://www.currys.co.uk/martprd/store/cur_page.jsp?BV_SessionID=@@@@1342142324.118521602 6@@@@&BV_EngineID=cccladdliekdghfcflgceggdhhmdfhk.0&page=Product&fm=1&sm=0&tm=4&sku=000229&category_oid=-27411
It doesn't tell you the screen resolution or memory speed, and the support is questionable, but otherwise a good deal. You could upgrade the Acer one yourself to a similar spec (increased memory and hard drive space) for about the price difference but fewer purchases/faffing is always a winnar.
Davey_Pitch
23-07-2007, 21:13
http://h20195.www2.hp.com/V2/pdf/c00834837.pdf
Specs seem decent enough, though there's still no mention of memory speed.
1280x800 wouldn't be good enough for me, but to be honest I'm a bit uncompromising when it comes to my screens.
Davey_Pitch
23-07-2007, 21:22
1280x800 wouldn't be good enough for me, but to be honest I'm a bit uncompromising when it comes to my screens.
I'm running 1024*768 on this 15" LCD here, anything above that is a great step up for me :D
Davey_Pitch
25-07-2007, 16:51
http://configure.euro.dell.com/dellstore/config.aspx?c=uk&fb=1&l=en&oc=N0715002&s=dhs
Seems quite nice. I'd get the better graphics card for gaming, and up the monitor a little to the TrueLife one, but seems good for the price (which would be £586.32 with the two upgrades. :)
Looks pretty nice to me :)
Although not sure what difference Vista Business makes.
None really. You lose media center and gain things that most people dont ever see - though you keep Aero. TrueLife wont make much of a difference Davey. Do it for the resolution if anything. From what I read the graphics card would make a big difference if you plan to game, in which case you might want the smaller resolution - it's less to drive for the chipset in the end.
It's not amazingly good value, but it is a fair price.
Davey_Pitch
25-07-2007, 17:18
I keep finding laptops like this, telling myself it's a good deal and then telling myself it's not. It's because it's going to be the only laptop we buy for some time, and I want to make sure we get the best we can for the money we spend.
Grrrr, I just need to find a brilliant deal one day that makes me just want to buy it.
Well, it's not uncommon to see new things on Thursday and not uncommon for them to be fudged in favour of the buyer, but you'd need to be in a position to buy quick and even then it may not actually happen.
Laptops still carry the premium and will do for some time I guess. If you really need performance then perhaps you need to consider a desktop instead.
Davey_Pitch
25-07-2007, 18:14
Laptops still carry the premium and will do for some time I guess. If you really need performance then perhaps you need to consider a desktop instead.
Oh I'm still getting a desktop that will be uber powerful, but being able to play games on the laptop while Lynne is working on the pc would be nice.
Well fwiw, I have pretty much what you want (gaming/decent PC, 360 and a laptop), and very rarely do I want to game on the lappy. If Dee's on the 360 I can be on the PC and vice versa, the laptop is just caught in the middle for web access and some other things I want to (scripting, things in Linux, media encoding).
Davey_Pitch
25-07-2007, 19:47
If that's the case (as I suspect it may end up with me) then I just need to wait for the best bargain to appear that is Core2, has a decent screen, HDD and ram, and get that. Dell would still be preferable though as I used them a lot in my last job and we very rarely had any troubles with them (and they're very well built in general).
I'll help keep an eye out for you :)
You're looking for something very close to the kind of laptop I want to get eventually.
Davey_Pitch
25-07-2007, 21:27
Thanks Jen. I've been looking on Dell Outlet for refurbs, and while some of them are brilliantly specced (Core2, 2GB ram etc), most only have 14" screens which is too small really. I'll be watching that and hope something good comes in.
Trouble with the Outlet is they dont include VAT or shipping. There's usually either a free shipping or £50/60 off deal on though, which takes care of one but not the other as they're about the same.
Davey_Pitch
25-07-2007, 21:30
Yup, £55 off at the minute, some good ones to be had around £450 all in, but with the small screens.
Matblack
25-07-2007, 22:50
I want one with a 12" screen :)
m1210
MB
LeperousDust
26-07-2007, 01:37
MB i'm using that right this instant, and its absolutely perfect in almost every way. It's tiny too, Daz probably wouldn't be impressed with the resolution but for the size of the screen i think its superb! I love mine to bits :)
If i were you though and buying new (i got mine off ebay) i'd look into its new brother which is so popular dell can't make enough for the states yet.
M1330
http://www.engadget.com/2007/06/04/dell-xps-m1330-performance-ultraportable-revealed/
It makes me want to upgrade :(
leowyatt
26-07-2007, 09:21
I have to say from a personal perspective I'm so glad I got my 12" iBook. I know I don't get the same resolution as other people but the portability for me was the big thing, I needed it to be light etc.
LeperousDust
26-07-2007, 09:39
Same, mine can just be thrown in my bag and off i go. Battery is excellent too, with enough power saving (pretty unusable dim backlight unless in the dead of night). I've managed to squeeze 4-5 hours out of it too!
Matblack
26-07-2007, 09:52
This is just for use in front of the telly and if Aitch needs to do some work on the train, the Dell P4M we have at the moment is heavy, hot and slow and it would be nice to have something a bit easier to hide away in the livingroom. Not great reasons for an upgrade but what the hell :D
MB
Davey: http://configure.euro.dell.com/dellstore/config.aspx?b&c=uk&cs=ukdhs1&l=en&oc=N0715003&fb=1 Take the warranty down and it's £622, not sure if that;'s over your budget but looks a pretty nice system imo. :)
Although just had a quick look and the original Dell Laptop you posted about a couple of pages ago, you could get with 2gig ram today too.
If you're going to use it off mains lots then the £11.75 for the bigger battery is probably worth it. Otherwise a very nice system for the price. :)
Davey_Pitch
26-07-2007, 17:39
http://www.currys.co.uk/martprd/store/cur_page.jsp?BV_SessionID=@@@@1001816104.118546588 2@@@@&BV_EngineID=ccfdaddligjfhjdcflgceggdhhmdgmj.0&page=Product&sku=050719&calling_page=Product
Me likey. Me likey a lot. Me also likes the £60 off I can get, as well as the £18 cashback too. Me needs to find wallet methinks.
/me wonders why me's talking like an idiot.
Slower CPU than the Dell, but better graphics (though it still doesn't state the resolution), and cheaper too. For what you need, that looks like a good bet.
That's an uber laptop. Kiss goodbye to your battery life and arguably some portability (17" is mah00sive), but that's a lot of power for the price. A lot. And Vista Ultimate to boot.
Slower CPU than the Dell, but better graphics (though it still doesn't state the resolution), and cheaper too. For what you need, that looks like a good bet.
WXGA+ in the spec, so 1440×900 :)
Looks nice to me :D
As long as it doesn't make you keep saying me all the time when you're typing on it :p
WXGA+ in the spec, so 1440×900 :)
Well spotted there - I'd not looked.
Now I have, I'd call that more of a desktop replacement. It's heavy (3.7kgs) and the battery life isn't clever (2hrs under ideal conditions), but that's the price you pay for all the bells and whistles, and it's certainly got those. In short, it's a compromise, but then laptops always are. If it fits... :)
Lynnie_pitch nee Leigh
26-07-2007, 19:32
http://www.currys.co.uk/martprd/store/cur_page.jsp?BV_SessionID=@@@@1001816104.118546588 2@@@@&BV_EngineID=ccfdaddligjfhjdcflgceggdhhmdgmj.0&page=Product&sku=050719&calling_page=Product
Me needs to find wallet methinks.
me thinks you mean Lynnie where's your credit card :p
*goes off to find purse* :shocked:
Now I have, I'd call that more of a desktop replacement.
As indeed would I, good shout :)
Go on :D
Nothing like encouraging people to buy stuff you wish you could afford ;D Can I have a go when you get it? :p
Davey_Pitch
26-07-2007, 19:50
Nothing like encouraging people to buy stuff you wish you could afford ;D Can I have a go when you get it? :p
Of course you can, I'll let you know when it arrives ;)
Lynnie_pitch nee Leigh
26-07-2007, 19:57
Now I have, I'd call that more of a desktop replacement. It's heavy (3.7kgs) and the battery life isn't clever (2hrs under ideal conditions), but that's the price you pay for all the bells and whistles, and it's certainly got those. In short, it's a compromise, but then laptops always are. If it fits... :)
As indeed would I, good shout :)
tbh at the moment the set up we have is computer on desk as an office machine and one hooked up the the TV.
The laptop isn't meant to be that portable its purpose is to be able to browse the web without having to sit upstairs, watch films, and so I can sit at the table and work rather than being couped up in the little room upstairs when I have to mark all my work. Especially good when I want to cook I can keep an eye on stuff whilst working :D
Of course you can, I'll let you know when it arrives ;)
\o/
Sounds like a good plan there Lynnie :) I know I hate being stuck in one room when I've got work to do.
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