[Archived] Laptop Recommendations

[Cocker]

Need to buy a new laptop for our squadron, it needs to be able to run big Powerpoint programs and to have a decent wide screen that is visible from angles Price is below £800

Dell appeared to offer this

BASE Intel® Pentium Dual Core Processor T2330 (1.60GHz, 1 MB L2 cache, 533 MHz FSB) edit

OPERATING SYSTEM Genuine Windows Vista® Home Premium - English edit

COLOUR CHOICE Jet Black Colour with Matte Finish without camera edit

LCD 17.0" UltraSharp™ Wide Screen WUXGA (1920x1200) TFT Display with TrueLife™ edit

MEMORY 2048MB 667MHz Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM [2x1024] edit

HARD DRIVE 240GB (5400RPM) SATA Dual Hard Drives (2X120GB)

GRAPHICS CARD nVidia® GeForce™ Go 8400M GS with 128MB DDR2 dedicated graphic memory OPTICAL DRIVE Fixed Internal 8X DVD+/-RW Drive including Software edit

PRIMARY BATTERY Primary 6-cell Lithium-Ion Battery (56 WHr) edit

WIRELESS CONNECTIVITY Dell™ Wireless 1390 802.11b/g Mini-Card - Europe - Pentium Dual

Anyone got any other suggestions?

Cheers

That Dell looks fine but how much are they asking for it?

[Flopsy]

just under £800

[Cocker]

just under £800

I think your Dell one is ok.

Here is another one maybe though (bit cheaper):-

Click

EDIT: In fact the Dell one does seem better so get that

[Flopsy]

Laptops Direct

Someone suggested this site, which has stuff nearly as good as the Dell, but a lot cheaper.

Now to find a projector

[Paul]

As the family PC is getting older and slower by the day (bit like me really) I've decided to invest in a new laptop for the home.

Question is this. Am I going to get the best prices before or after Christmas?

[Cocker]

As the family PC is getting older and slower by the day (bit like me really) I've decided to invest in a new laptop for the home.

Question is this. Am I going to get the best prices before or after Christmas?

Always wait till January. Always.

[Sandiway Blue]

Today`s mission impossible is...

I want to buy 2 laptops for my kids,preferably minimum 1.4 ghz processor,1GB ram,at least 40gb hard drive,wireless and a dvd rom (not too bothered about a re-writer ).

Easy so far?

Now for the impossible bit,the wife has set a budget of £200 each and not a penny more!

Not too bothered if they aren`t brand new,but obviously would be better if they were in a good clean condition.

Anybody got any ideas? Thanks

[LeChuck]

Plenty of <£200 laptops that exceed those specifications here: http://www.bigpockets.co.uk/cat.php?search...ops&nav=227

Does screen size matter? There are quite a lot of good deals on netbooks at the moment (screen size roughly 10").

Edit: Actually most in that link are out of stock, but there are still 2 or 3 different models available that meet your requirements.

Example of a netbook in your budget: http://www.it247.com/product/1/XXTSUE42-B1...mory_Offer.html

[Anti-Dingle-Brigade]

And another challenge (I will read through these links posted already, so just add anything new if you can).

I'm going to Uni and looking for a standard, but cheap, laptop with generally acceptable specifications.

Minimum:

RAM 1GB

HDD: 80GB

DVD/CD Rom drive (R/W would help)

Acceptably fast processor.

At least 11" screen size.

Windows (XP is fine. I'd probably prefer XP over Vista but either will do).

Any recommendations would be greatly appreciated!

EDIT: Oh, I'm still taking my PC. I just need something a little more portable.

Looking at Dell I found the cheapest Vostro...

Base Vostro 1015 : Standard Base

Gedis Bundle Reference N0911501

Order Information Vostro Laptop 1015 Order - UK

LCD 15.6in Widescreen WXGA (1280x800) WLED Anti Glare

Memory Memory 1024MB 800MHz DDR2

Hard Drive 160GB Serial ATA (5400RPM) Single Hard Drive

Video Card Graphics : Intel Integrated GMA 4500MHD

Optical Devices Fixed Internal 8X DVD+/-RW Tray Load Drive including Software

Primary Battery Primary 6-cell 48 WHr Lithium Ion battery

Wireless Networking European Dell Wireless 1397 (802.11 b/g) Mini Card

Cable 1 Meter Power Cord (3 Wire) - UK

Power Supply 65W AC Adaptor (3 Wire)

Documentation/Disks English Docs with Start Up Guide

Bluetooth EMEA Internal Dell Wireless 355 Bluetooth Card

Dell System Media Kit Vostro 1015 Diagnostics and Drivers

CompleteCare Declined CompleteCare

Keyboard Internal Keyboard - English (QWERTY)

Standard Warranty 1 Year Collect and Return

Protect your new PC Norton Internet Security™ 2009 - 30 Day Trial Protection - English

Camera Integrated 2 Mega Pixel Camera

Color Choice LCD Back Cover : Obsidian Black

Packaging Vostro Brown box packaging

Labels Wireless Label - Celeron

All for £293.

Good? Bad?

Operating system is concerning me.

--

I could get an Inspiron 1545, it had good specs and should come to under £400. I'll make a package and post it here.

With a £95 discount, Free Windows 7 upgrade and free delivery this comes to... £364.

COLOUR CHOICE Black Colour with Matte Finish

PROCESSOR Intel® Celeron Dual Core T3000 (1.80 GHz, 800 MHz FSB, 1 MB L2 Cache)

OPERATING SYSTEM Genuine Windows Vista® Home Premium SP1 (64 BIT) - English

OFFICE SOFTWARE Microsoft® Works 9.0 / English - (Does not include Microsoft® Word)

HARDWARE SUPPORT 1 Year Limited Warranty - Collect & Return

LCD 15.6" Widescreen WXGA CCFL (1366 x 768) TFT Display with TrueLife™

MEMORY 4096MB 800MHz Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM [2x2048]

HARD DRIVE 250GB (5,400rpm) Serial ATA Hard Drive

GRAPHICS CARD Intel Integrated GMA 4500MHD

OPTICAL DRIVE DVD +/- RW Drive (read/write CD & DVD)

PRIMARY BATTERY 6-cell battery

WIRELESS CONNECTIVITY Dell Wireless 1397 Mini Card (802.11 b/g)

BLUETOOTH No Bluetooth Upgrade

WEBCAM No Camera Included

ACCIDENTAL DAMAGE SUPPORT No Accidental Damage Support

ONLINE BACKUP DataSafe Online Backup 2GB 1 year

Gedis Bundle Reference N0954502

Order Information Inspiron 1545 Order - UK

Shipping Documents English - Documentation Inspiron 1545

Dell System Media Kit Inspiron 1545 Resource DVD (Diagnostic & Drivers)

Power Supply 65W AC Adaptor

Carrying Cases No Carry Case

Cables 1 Meter Power Cord - UK

Keyboard Internal UK English Qwerty Keyboard

Standard Warranty 1Yr Limited Warranty - Collect & Return

Labels Wireless Label - Celeron Dual Core

PalmRest Black palmrest

DataSafe (Services Owned) Datasafe Local 2.0 Basic

i'm quite impressed with that one. Anyone have any thoughts?

[Sandiway Blue]

Plenty of <£200 laptops that exceed those specifications here: http://www.bigpockets.co.uk/cat.php?search...ops&nav=227

Does screen size matter? There are quite a lot of good deals on netbooks at the moment (screen size roughly 10").

Edit: Actually most in that link are out of stock, but there are still 2 or 3 different models available that meet your requirements.

Example of a netbook in your budget: http://www.it247.com/product/1/XXTSUE42-B1...mory_Offer.html

Thanks LeChuck i`ve gone with big pockets and got the IBM Thinkpad T41 and Toshiba 9100.Both laptops for less than £315! Well chuffed!

[Bazzanotsogreat]

Hi Guys:

Any recommendations for a desktop? I am moving away from having another laptop/Notebook.

I want to pay no more than £500-600. It will solely be for Internet/Gaming (I have a works laptop) Size is not an issue

It needs to have a min 15.6 LCD screen

Wireless/Bluetooth

Fast processor- either Atlon/Intel

Good graphics card

Good RAM spec

Large storage is not an issue

Any suggestions would be appeciated

[Hughesy]

Im also looking for a netbook/ possibly a laptop for the missus birthday in a few weeks - any ideas would be good.

[tcj_jones]

Gonna jump on the bandwagon here too. My laptop packed up today and I'm looking for a new one and would really appreciate a few recommendations.

My current one only had a gig of ram whilst running Windows Vista and my physical memory usage is always up at around 80-90% and I've had endless problems with the battery.

I'm basically looking for one that will actually have the RAM to run Vista properly, is slightly smaller than my current one (between 12-14") and which is easy to take from place to place, and one which has a long battery life. I'm looking to spend as little as possible as I only want it for word processing, internet and Football Manager (so needs to be able to run this, also).

Cheers!

[LeChuck]

Hi Guys:

Any recommendations for a desktop? I am moving away from having another laptop/Notebook.

I want to pay no more than £500-600. It will solely be for Internet/Gaming (I have a works laptop) Size is not an issue

It needs to have a min 15.6 LCD screen

Wireless/Bluetooth

Fast processor- either Atlon/Intel

Good graphics card

Good RAM spec

Large storage is not an issue

Any suggestions would be appeciated

Have a look at this: http://configure.euro.dell.com/dellstore/c...28fba72d14e7995

Won't be great for gaming until you stick a high end graphics card in it, which in turn would need a new power supply. If you throw this in for £90: http://www.ebuyer.com/product/169206 and this for £60: http://www.ebuyer.com/product/127861 you'd be within your £500 budget.

You won't find anything that's good enough for the newest games that's pre-made, anything under £600 comes with a far less powerful graphics card than the one I've linked to.

Actually, this is probably just as good without the need for installing stuff yourself: http://www.ebuyer.com/product/168382 slightly poorer graphics card but a better processor and more RAM. You'd have to add a monitor to that, there aren't any great deals on monitors at the moment but they come along fairly frequently, you should be able to pick up at good 19" for around £70-80 at some point. This one would be okay: http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/part...rs|14419111.htm

Need a rough idea of budget for everyone else, I'll try and help if I can find something that fits though.

[Bazzanotsogreat]

Have a look at this: http://configure.euro.dell.com/dellstore/c...28fba72d14e7995

Won't be great for gaming until you stick a high end graphics card in it, which in turn would need a new power supply. If you throw this in for £90: http://www.ebuyer.com/product/169206 and this for £60: http://www.ebuyer.com/product/127861 you'd be within your £500 budget.

You won't find anything that's good enough for the newest games that's pre-made, anything under £600 comes with a far less powerful graphics card than the one I've linked to.

Actually, this is probably just as good without the need for installing stuff yourself: http://www.ebuyer.com/product/168382 slightly poorer graphics card but a better processor and more RAM. You'd have to add a monitor to that, there aren't any great deals on monitors at the moment but they come along fairly frequently, you should be able to pick up at good 19" for around £70-80 at some point. This one would be okay: http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/part...rs|14419111.htm

Need a rough idea of budget for everyone else, I'll try and help if I can find something that fits though.

Cheers Chuck; Looks like ebuyer it is

[LeChuck]

No problem. That eBuyer one is a cracker of a deal actually, I'm semi-tempted to get that myself. I didn't notice until now it comes with a Blu-Ray drive too. Might be worth shelling out a little more for a HD monitor if you fancy watching movies on it.

Oh yes, don't forget the free upgrade to Windows 7 when that comes out too.

[Bazzanotsogreat]

No problem. That eBuyer one is a cracker of a deal actually, I'm semi-tempted to get that myself. I didn't notice until now it comes with a Blu-Ray drive too. Might be worth shelling out a little more for a HD monitor if you fancy watching movies on it.

Oh yes, don't forget the free upgrade to Windows 7 when that comes out too.

Any idea when the free upgarde comes out? because I coudn't live with Vista for next couple of years.

[LeChuck]

It comes out next month, 22nd to be exact: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/8081003.stm

I think that's why most companies are offering a free upgrade from Vista to Windows 7 now, most people would hold off from buying until it was released otherwise.

I've had the beta version installed for a few months now and it's miles better than Vista, it's what Vista should have been really.

[Anti-Dingle-Brigade]

I think everyone buying Vista between now and 30th Dec. gets the free upgrade, but that may only be Dell (as that's where I saw the offer).

Anyway, I chose the Inspiron 1545 I posted earlier but upgraded the LCD as the second one is less wasteful with battery life and I upgraded the processor.

I got it for £404 when it should have been £519.

[Paul]

After agonising over a Macbook my son eventaully decided on a Sony laptop which we purchased yesterday. This came pre-laoded with Vista and a free upgrade to Windows 7. I had a happy time last night updating Vista, making the restore discs etc.......very tired now!

Anyway three questions. Should we bother with installing Windows 7? Secondly, and I have never installed an OS, am I right in thinking installing Windows 7 will firstly remove all software from the machine and we will then have to re-install everything after loading Windows 7?

If this is the case I presume it would be wise to install Windows 7 sooner rather than later?

[LeChuck]

An unequivocal 'yes' regarding installing Windows 7 Paul.

It's that long since I tried to upgrade an operating system that I can't remember if it keeps all the installed programs or not - I would assume it should, otherwise it seems a bit pointless. I always do a clean format and install, maybe someone who has done this in the past (maybe XP > Vista?) can help a bit more.

[Paul]

An unequivocal 'yes' regarding installing Windows 7 Paul.

Good. This is what I felt and have heard elsewhere

It's that long since I tried to upgrade an operating system that I can't remember if it keeps all the installed programs or not - I would assume it should, otherwise it seems a bit pointless. I always do a clean format and install, maybe someone who has done this in the past (maybe XP > Vista?) can help a bit more.

Like you I'd agree an OS upgrade shouldn't require all programmes to be re-installed as it makes for a huge amount of work but you never know with Microsoft.......!! Looks like I shall be spending sometime working out how to do this ):

[tcj_jones]

Vista's a nightmare, definitely install Windows 7.

I bought a laptop last week, but forgot to check whether I am eligible for the free upgrade. You just reminded me, so gonna check. Gonna be gutted if I'm not

For anybody out there looking for laptops and PCs, check out Ebuyer.com. I rarely bother looking elsewhere anymore.

[Paul]

Just been reading up on Windows 7 and it is aclean install and deletes everything from the hard drive prior to installation.

[LeChuck]

An upgrade will keep your installed programs though, I've just checked. I don't think you'll be able to do a clean install anyway as I'm pretty sure they'll just supply you with the upgrade disc to move from Vista.