Help - I need a new laptop

[cK]

My laptop is fooked, I need another laptop and not a full pc because I haven't really got the room for a PC.

I want something fast for internet, songs, downloads etc etc but i'm not into playing games on it (i have a 360 for that) so a graphics card is not important. So needs to be quick and have plenty of space available.

Can someone help me out finding something good?

My budget is between £400-600 depending on how much I like the laptop.

 

[cK]

Anyone?

 

[CHRISK172+]

Not sure if this will help..............

http://www.whatlaptop.co.uk/aPlnJBk.html

 

[cK]

What kind of PC and flat panel monitor could I get for £600?

I might be able to make a bit of room if I can store the box unit out the way.... surely a desktop pc would be much better value?

 

[cK]

Ive looked on dabs, insight, pcworld and dell always seem to come up with the best spec for the least amount of money.

 

[cK]

Anyone in the know?

 

[Jay_clio]

Try Dell ? they are good value for money, brother payes £400 n summin and its fewkin fast, 2gb ram memory and hes got s**t loads ov music onit, as hes nealry put every cd on his comp(nearly 300cd's) and still runs quicker than mine.. have a look at www.dell.com and phone them if you want cz they build it for your use..

 

[Daz]

I've just got a Dell D420 (the small one).
It's awesome.. and I'm coming from a Macbook Pro.

Small tho, so unless you want an ultraportable, then bigger Latitude etc..

 

[cK]

Looks like it will be a dell then, they seem the best value for money and good specs.

 

[FiDoDiDo]

Those D420's that Daz mentioned are great if you want a protable laptop, a nice size.

 

[cK]

Components
AMD® Athlon™ 64 X2 Dual Core Processor 5000+

Genuine Windows Vista™ Home Premium - English

Collect & Return, 1 Year Service only


Dell™ 19" Silver Wide Flat Panel (E198WFP) - UK/Irish

4096MB 533MHz Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM [4x1024]

250GB (7200rpm) Serial ATA Hard Drive with 8MB DataBurst™ cache

Integrated nVidia® GeForce® 6150 LE graphics

Dell™ Entry Quietkey USB Keyboard - UK/Irish (QWERTY)

Dell 2 Button USB Scroll Optical Mouse - Black

£578 inc vat & del. Is that a good price?

I'm only really concerned with speed and storage. I'm not wanting to play games or watch dvd's on it.

 

[Daz]

Pretty big laptop

 

[cK]

The above is a c521 i think. I can't find any mention of a dvd/re-writer though.

 

[Jay_clio]

Cd-Rewriter are in every comp now u buy, u wont see 1 without one i dont think. Dvd on the other hand may cost you about £35 from PcWorld or anywhere

 

[Daz]

Thought you wanted a laptop tho? Heh.

 

[Ross M]

I've just got a Dell D420 (the small one).
It's awesome.. and I'm coming from a Macbook Pro.

Small tho, so unless you want an ultraportable, then bigger Latitude etc..

im actually interested in buying this ... but for some reason it dont give me the option or give me the full run down of spec and price on the website ?
shite website ? i think so

 

[cK]

Yea i couldnt find the one he was on about.

I'm swaying towards a desktop pc now. Get more for your money and can work on them if they f**k up out of warranty. Wouldnt know where to start with a laptop.

 

[Mike_182]

Yea i couldnt find the one he was on about.

I'm swaying towards a desktop pc now. Get more for your money and can work on them if they f**k up out of warranty. Wouldnt know where to start with a laptop.

Laptops are just as simple. I dismantle them at work when I'm bored, and changed the screens over on Latitude C640s, Removed processors and replaced fans on D610s...

Current recommendation is an Inspiron 6400:

Components
Intel® Core™ 2 Duo T5300 Processor (1.73GHz,533MHz,2MB L2 cache)

Genuine Windows Vista™ Home Premium - English

Collect & Return, 1 Year Service only


15.4" UltraSharp™ Wide Screen WXGA+ (1440x900) TFT Display with TrueLife™


1024MB 533MHz Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM [2x512]

120GB (5400rpm) SATA Hard Drive

Intel® Media Accelerator 950 Graphics Up to 256MB shared graphics memory

Fixed Internal 8X DVD+/-RW Drive including software

9 cell Lithium-Ion Battery (85 Whr)

No Floppy Drive Option

£550 inc VAT. Got uprated battery which will last a decent time for using for home media, 1Gb memory (decent enough for Vista, shame you're buying now as they had a free double memory upgrade last month!), and 120Gb hard disk is plenty for all your music, any more than that and you really ought to be getting a NAS to keep those things on...

 

[Azoic_en_ash]

I have a desktop which is similar spec to the dell you want.
it can take AMD x2 dual core CPU if you decide you want to up grade
Also my has better gfx card but only 1G of DDR2.
comes with 19' wide screen LCD with both DVI and VGA input
so you can have DVI for you PC and VGA for you xbox360 which shou be nice. and my price is way better
http://www.cliosport.net/forum/showthread.php?t=231894

 

[Mike_182]

As for desktops - they're Ok but if you're doing media on it then get a laptop... It's only a rare occasion but it's great to be able to stick it under the TV to put a film on, rather than have to either haul the whole base unit downstairs, or convert it and burn it to DVD or whatever...

AMD processors are a waste of money nowadays. The similarly priced Intel Core 2 Duos stomp all over them for the sort of stuff you're talking of doing...

 

[Daz]

I've just got a Dell D420 (the small one).
It's awesome.. and I'm coming from a Macbook Pro.

Small tho, so unless you want an ultraportable, then bigger Latitude etc..

im actually interested in buying this ... but for some reason it dont give me the option or give me the full run down of spec and price on the website ?
s**te website ? i think so

The D420 is very nice.. I never thought I'd like any other laptop as much compared to the Macbook Pro, as IMO, that's the best looking laptop ever.. but after using the Dell all weekend, it's superb

http://www1.euro.dell.com/content/p...k&cs=ukbsdt1&l=en&s=bsd&~section=specs#tabtop

 

[Mike_182]

im actually interested in buying this ... but for some reason it dont give me the option or give me the full run down of spec and price on the website ?
s**te website ? i think so

The D420 is very nice.. I never thought I'd like any other laptop as much compared to the Macbook Pro, as IMO, that's the best looking laptop ever.. but after using the Dell all weekend, it's superb

I've warmed to Dell laptops - I've got a VAIO SZ2 and love it - would go out and buy an SZ4 tomorrow if this died, but I have to say the decision is becoming more difficult every time I use my mum's development laptop (Dell Precision M65, with the upgraded screen - you can get 4 reasonable size MSN conversations across the top and 4 across the bottom, with room down the side or in the middle for the main window! That's just insane!

 

[Daz]

The D420 is very nice.. I never thought I'd like any other laptop as much compared to the Macbook Pro, as IMO, that's the best looking laptop ever.. but after using the Dell all weekend, it's superb

I've warmed to Dell laptops - I've got a VAIO SZ2 and love it - would go out and buy an SZ4 tomorrow if this died, but I have to say the decision is becoming more difficult every time I use my mum's development laptop (Dell Precision M65, with the upgraded screen - you can get 4 reasonable size MSN conversations across the top and 4 across the bottom, with room down the side or in the middle for the main window! That's just insane!

Yea, I've used a lot of SZ's, nice laptops..
When I bought my Mac, it was between that and an SZ..

We sell a lot of Dell stuff at work, and it's certainly getting much better.. I never thought I'd be buying a Dell laptop after my MBP, anyway!

 

[Mike_182]

I've warmed to Dell laptops - I've got a VAIO SZ2 and love it - would go out and buy an SZ4 tomorrow if this died, but I have to say the decision is becoming more difficult every time I use my mum's development laptop (Dell Precision M65, with the upgraded screen - you can get 4 reasonable size MSN conversations across the top and 4 across the bottom, with room down the side or in the middle for the main window! That's just insane!

Yea, I've used a lot of SZ's, nice laptops..
When I bought my Mac, it was between that and an SZ..

We sell a lot of Dell stuff at work, and it's certainly getting much better.. I never thought I'd be buying a Dell laptop after my MBP, anyway!

Screen on this Dell is 1920x1200, and it's got nVidia Quadro graphics built in and lasts an absolute age on batteries (I'm going to be ordering a PCI-Ex minicard for my T-Mobile data account and the CD/DVD slot second battery for it just to finish the job off, as it's fantastic).

I love my SZ though, it does plenty. Trying to find out if I can stick the newer Core2Duos in or not - physically they fit but I'm not sure on BIOS support as it's only had one upgrade a while ago! Also managed to acquire an additional 512Mb RAM (not bad for free, although will be going to 2Gb DDR2-667 when I get some funds back into the company!)

On the ultraportable front, got a lovely VAIO TX, but it's getting on a bit (was the ULV Pentium-M version, before Core Solo) and the disk has started reseeking a bit. Think it's a 2.5" jobber, will open it up some day soon and have a look.

 

[JMR]

Chris K

I have a Dell Inspiron 5160 laptop and it is superb. i've had for 2.5 years now and its still a decent spec.

Pentium 4 2.8 GHz, 1GB RAM, 64MB nVidia Geforce FX graphics, 15" screen blah blah blah.

Never missed a beat.

Love it. Best thing is, instead of getting moaned at by the missus for being upstairs on the desktop all the time, I can bring it downstairs and surf in the same room. All wireless.

Have to hide the screen if I'm surfing p0rn of course........:rasp:

 

[Daz]

On the ultraportable front, got a lovely VAIO TX, but it's getting on a bit (was the ULV Pentium-M version, before Core Solo) and the disk has started reseeking a bit. Think it's a 2.5" jobber, will open it up some day soon and have a look.

Bit too small for me.
I'm thinking about opening this one up and changing the HDD.. 4200RPM standard which is shocking. Got a 7200RPM in my MBP, and it makes a bit difference.. about £60/£70 for an 80GB 7200RPM I think? Not too bad..

 

[Mike_182]

Chris K

I have a Dell Inspiron 5160 laptop and it is superb. i've had for 2.5 years now and its still a decent spec.

Pentium 4 2.8 GHz, 1GB RAM, 64MB nVidia Geforce FX graphics, 15" screen blah blah blah.

Never missed a beat.

Love it. Best thing is, instead of getting moaned at by the missus for being upstairs on the desktop all the time, I can bring it downstairs and surf in the same room. All wireless.

Have to hide the screen if I'm surfing p0rn of course........:rasp:

Battery life on the P4 Laptops sucked at the best of times... I dread to imagine how bad a 2.8Ghz one was? And how hot it makes your crotch/coffee table?!

 

[Mike_182]

On the ultraportable front, got a lovely VAIO TX, but it's getting on a bit (was the ULV Pentium-M version, before Core Solo) and the disk has started reseeking a bit. Think it's a 2.5" jobber, will open it up some day soon and have a look.

Bit too small for me.
I'm thinking about opening this one up and changing the HDD.. 4200RPM standard which is shocking. Got a 7200RPM in my MBP, and it makes a bit difference.. about £60/£70 for an 80GB 7200RPM I think? Not too bad..

Is it even that much? The Dell's are fairly easy to change the HDDs on, although I'd be weary of sticking a 7200 in place of a 4200 - noise will be more and more significantly battery life will be adversely affected - which on an ultraportable is important. Perhaps try a 5400rpm? It's a fair balance between the two. I just don't think it's worth throwing all the battery life away for the sake of a couple of ms loading up...

 

[Daz]

The difference in noise is nothing really.. and the battery life usage between the 5400rpm and 7200rpm is like a few minutes (well, it was when I looked at the options on the Mac)

In terms of performance, it's worth it for me.. I don't think I'd notice it much

 

[JMR]

Yeah, er about 2 hrs battery life. Not bad but poor probably by todays standards with mobile chips.

It does the job though and very well.

Chris K

I have a Dell Inspiron 5160 laptop and it is superb. i've had for 2.5 years now and its still a decent spec.

Pentium 4 2.8 GHz, 1GB RAM, 64MB nVidia Geforce FX graphics, 15" screen blah blah blah.

Never missed a beat.

Love it. Best thing is, instead of getting moaned at by the missus for being upstairs on the desktop all the time, I can bring it downstairs and surf in the same room. All wireless.

Have to hide the screen if I'm surfing p0rn of course........:rasp:

Battery life on the P4 Laptops sucked at the best of times... I dread to imagine how bad a 2.8Ghz one was? And how hot it makes your crotch/coffee table?!

 

[GazCB]

The cheapest most basic laptop you can get from comet will download music and view the internet at almost no difference in speed to the more expensive ones. If all you're doing is downloading and browsing the web, just get the cheapest thing out there.