Which Blue Ray Laptop for under 800 quid ?

[D1CKY]

I thought i'd post a thread asking for views on which blue ray laptop to buy.

I am after a laptop with Blueray/HD playing capibilities (1080p).
15.4" Screen(so i can take it on aeroplanes etc as hand luggage without being too bulky).
Webcam c/w microphone.
Around a 200-300Gb Hdd.
2GB of Ram (or more if possible).
Vista Premium
And preferably dual core.


My budget is no more than £800.


The main purpose for my laptop is for watching Blue ray movies, Uploading my i Pod with i Tunes, word processing & spreadsheets etc , Skype, Msn Messenger and Internet surfing including the odd music and video download.
I have been looking at the following laptops but unsure which to go for.

http://www.laptopsdirect.co.uk/Sony_VAIO_AR71M_VGNAR71M.CEK/version.asp


http://www.ebuyer.com/product/148563


Anyones views and suggestions would be appreciated.


Cheers


Richard

 

[Mike_182]

Sony laptops are shite and trust me, you'll get bored of hauling around a 17" laptop. Not least of which you'll end up visiting your doctor regularly for back pains.

 

[Mike_182]

[FONT=arial,helvetica]Studio 15 (N0853509)[/FONT]

Date 23/08/2008 05:21:23 Central Standard Time

Catalog Number 20211
Base:
Intel® Core™ 2 Duo Processor T5750 (2.0 GHz, 667 MHz FSB, 2 MB L2 Cache)

Microsoft Operating System:
Genuine Windows Vista® Home Premium SP1- English

Enhanced Service Packs:
3Yr In-Home Warranty Support, including evenings and Saturdays

Colour Choice:
Jet Black Colour with Matte Finish

LCD:
15.4" Widescreen WXGA+ WLED (1440x900) TFT Display with TrueLife™
Camera:
2.0 Mega pixel Integrated Web Camera

Memory:
3072MB 667MHz Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM [1x2048+1x1024]

Hard Drive:
250GB (5400RPM) SATA Hard Drive

Video Card:
256MB ATI Mobility RADEON HD 3450

Optical Devices:
Fixed Internal Blu-ray Disc (DVD+/-RW + BD-ROM) Slot Drive including SW

Primary Battery:
Primary 6-cell 56 WHr Lithium Ion battery

Keyboard:
Internal UK English Qwerty Keyboard

Biometric Identification:
No Biometric Fingerprint Reader
Cables:
1 Meter Power Cord (3 Wire) - UK
Shipping Documents:
English - Documentation Studio 1535

Gedis Bundle Reference:
N0853509
Standard Warranty:
1Yr Limited Warranty - Collect & Return

Order Information:
Studio 1535 Order - UK

Dell System Media Kit:
Studio 1535 Resource DVD (Diagnostic & Drivers)
TV Tuner and Remote Control:
Travel Remote Control Express Card
Power Supply:
AC Adapter 90W - 3 Pin
Labels:
Wireless Label (Dell Wireless Cards)- Core 2 Duo
Carrying Cases:
No Carrying Case
Bluetooth:
Dell Wireless 370 Bluetooth Module
Wireless Networking:
Dell Wireless 1510 Half Mini Card (802.11n)
Microsoft Application Software:
Microsoft® Works 9.0 / English - (Does not include Microsoft® Word)

Accidental Damage Support:
No Accidental Damage Support
Protect your new PC:
No Security/Anti-Virus Protection - English

That system clocks in at £798 including VAT and shipping, with 3 years warranty (on site) and all the bits you want... Phone them up (0844 444 4699) and offer them £750, they'll take it, leaving you £50 to go down to PC Hell for a bag and Windows Live One Care.

 

[dk]

Sony laptops are shite and trust me, you'll get bored of hauling around a 17" laptop. Not least of which you'll end up visiting your doctor regularly for back pains.

you don't half spout some s**t on here.

Sony laptops are EXCELLENT, apple design without the apple price and better spec.

 

[dk]

I thought i'd post a thread asking for views on which blue ray laptop to buy.

I am after a laptop with Blueray/HD playing capibilities (1080p).
15.4" Screen(so i can take it on aeroplanes etc as hand luggage without being too bulky).
Webcam c/w microphone.
Around a 200-300Gb Hdd.
2GB of Ram (or more if possible).
Vista Premium
And preferably dual core.


My budget is no more than £800.


The main purpose for my laptop is for watching Blue ray movies, Uploading my i Pod with i Tunes, word processing & spreadsheets etc , Skype, Msn Messenger and Internet surfing including the odd music and video download.
I have been looking at the following laptops but unsure which to go for.

http://www.laptopsdirect.co.uk/Sony_VAIO_AR71M_VGNAR71M.CEK/version.asp


http://www.ebuyer.com/product/148563


Anyones views and suggestions would be appreciated.


Cheers


Richard

i'm on my 4th sony now, right from 11" to 17" and i would always recommend them, they are great design and fanastic spec.

Only issue with what you want it for is the size and weight of a blu-ray laptop, 17" laptops are 3.5-4kg which is not going to be nice lugging around an airport, i would go for something with a 15" screen really max for that purpose.

 

[D1CKY]

Sony laptops are s**te and trust me, you'll get bored of hauling around a 17" laptop. Not least of which you'll end up visiting your doctor regularly for back pains.

How come Sony's are bad ?

And yeah thats the reason why i was trying to find a 15.4" laptop so its easier to carry about.

 

[D1CKY]

[FONT=arial,helvetica]Studio 15 (N0853509)[/FONT]

Date 23/08/2008 05:21:23 Central Standard Time

Catalog Number 20211
Base:
Intel® Core™ 2 Duo Processor T5750 (2.0 GHz, 667 MHz FSB, 2 MB L2 Cache)

Microsoft Operating System:
Genuine Windows Vista® Home Premium SP1- English

Enhanced Service Packs:
3Yr In-Home Warranty Support, including evenings and Saturdays

Colour Choice:
Jet Black Colour with Matte Finish

LCD:
15.4" Widescreen WXGA+ WLED (1440x900) TFT Display with TrueLife™
Camera:
2.0 Mega pixel Integrated Web Camera

Memory:
3072MB 667MHz Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM [1x2048+1x1024]

Hard Drive:
250GB (5400RPM) SATA Hard Drive

Video Card:
256MB ATI Mobility RADEON HD 3450

Optical Devices:
Fixed Internal Blu-ray Disc (DVD+/-RW + BD-ROM) Slot Drive including SW

Primary Battery:
Primary 6-cell 56 WHr Lithium Ion battery

Keyboard:
Internal UK English Qwerty Keyboard

Biometric Identification:
No Biometric Fingerprint Reader
Cables:
1 Meter Power Cord (3 Wire) - UK
Shipping Documents:
English - Documentation Studio 1535

Gedis Bundle Reference:
N0853509
Standard Warranty:
1Yr Limited Warranty - Collect & Return

Order Information:
Studio 1535 Order - UK

Dell System Media Kit:
Studio 1535 Resource DVD (Diagnostic & Drivers)
TV Tuner and Remote Control:
Travel Remote Control Express Card
Power Supply:
AC Adapter 90W - 3 Pin
Labels:
Wireless Label (Dell Wireless Cards)- Core 2 Duo
Carrying Cases:
No Carrying Case
Bluetooth:
Dell Wireless 370 Bluetooth Module
Wireless Networking:
Dell Wireless 1510 Half Mini Card (802.11n)
Microsoft Application Software:
Microsoft® Works 9.0 / English - (Does not include Microsoft® Word)

Accidental Damage Support:
No Accidental Damage Support
Protect your new PC:
No Security/Anti-Virus Protection - English

That system clocks in at £798 including VAT and shipping, with 3 years warranty (on site) and all the bits you want... Phone them up (0844 444 4699) and offer them £750, they'll take it, leaving you £50 to go down to PC Hell for a bag and Windows Live One Care.

I was looking @ that Studio 15 on the dell website.

But i have heard my mates say a few bad things about them

 

[Mike_182]

i'm on my 4th sony now, right from 11" to 17" and i would always recommend them, they are great design and fanastic spec.

Really? Maybe I've had bad luck but I'm on my 5th Sony, all of them have needed new hard disk drives (and to top it off, the T2XP I've got requires an almost impossible to find £150 HDD), all of them have had bad driver problems (Ask anyone who bought a 'Vista Ready' SZ2, who had to wait A YEAR after Vista's release for them to even release Beta drivers, despite shipping SZ3s with similar/identical hardware configurations with Vista) and their support is appalling. I had to spend £120 getting my SZ2 sent back to Europe somewhere (because you're a fool if you send a £1200 laptop uninsured) to get them to replace the motherboard after 4 months because the screen stopped working.

Compare that to the 4 Dells I currently run - and 12 I've had over the last 3 years, the Toshibas I've used in the past (which are disgusting laptops, but they never broke) and the HP Compaqs I've come across in my time - what some of those can be put through is unreal - and I'd sooner buy anything other than Sony.

They're hugely desirable, very pretty and very well engineered... But backed by non-existant support and cheap parts where it counts, they really aren't made to last.

IMO, of course, which to me is invaluable, but to others isn't...

 

[Mike_182]

I was looking @ that Studio 15 on the dell website.

But i have heard my mates say a few bad things about them

Given that the Studio 15 is essentially an XPS M1530 in a Next suit instead of a Hugo Boss item, I don't see where they're coming from...

http://www.trustedreviews.com/notebooks/review/2007/12/21/Dell-XPS-M1530/p1

Courtesy of TR - this is the opinion that is shared across masses and masses of review sites...

All it loses is the nVidia chip (which, if you're not comfortable taking your laptop apart and sticking a sheet of copper in isn't a bad thing!) for an ATI equivalent, and the XPS 'premium' support, complete with a couple of cheaper materials...

http://www.notebookreview.com/default.asp?newsID=4518

TR don't appear to have badgered Dell for one of the Studio laptops...

 

[dk]

i'm on my 4th sony now, right from 11" to 17" and i would always recommend them, they are great design and fanastic spec.

Really? Maybe I've had bad luck but I'm on my 5th Sony, all of them have needed new hard disk drives (and to top it off, the T2XP I've got requires an almost impossible to find £150 HDD), all of them have had bad driver problems (Ask anyone who bought a 'Vista Ready' SZ2, who had to wait A YEAR after Vista's release for them to even release Beta drivers, despite shipping SZ3s with similar/identical hardware configurations with Vista) and their support is appalling. I had to spend £120 getting my SZ2 sent back to Europe somewhere (because you're a fool if you send a £1200 laptop uninsured) to get them to replace the motherboard after 4 months because the screen stopped working.

Compare that to the 4 Dells I currently run - and 12 I've had over the last 3 years, the Toshibas I've used in the past (which are disgusting laptops, but they never broke) and the HP Compaqs I've come across in my time - what some of those can be put through is unreal - and I'd sooner buy anything other than Sony.

They're hugely desirable, very pretty and very well engineered... But backed by non-existant support and cheap parts where it counts, they really aren't made to last.

IMO, of course, which to me is invaluable, but to others isn't...

i've had the opposite experience to you, my A217 was on and downloading things pretty much constantly for 3 yrs and never missed a beat, i've only replaced it with a 71ZU because it was not high specced enough for what i need it for, but 3 yrs on no stop is pretty damn good in my eyes.

I've had mininotes too, a 10" and 11", both of which are still going strong 6-8 years later, only the processing power lets them down but i still use the 6yr old 11" for plane journey's and transferring pics to on holidays, its going strong.

In all that time I have only had an optical drive go (hardly son'y fault, the laser stopped working, was a decent brand drive) and it was sent to sony and was back within the week all fixed, so thats hardly bad service!

Dell are shocking for customer service, everyone knows that, which is why they constantly lose customers, not because of their pricing and spec but because of service. You can't get anything out of them quickly unless you have a big corporate contract with them, they really are shocking, so as long as nothing goes wrong you should be fine, except for the nasty design (personal preference i guess but they are nothing compared to sony/apple)

T2XP, theres a reason you bought that, and it wasn't for the ease of replacing parts, its the best specced sub notebook, especially at the time, nothing could touch it, i guess a downside to having all that amazing technology in such a small package would be specialist parts. Maybe if you had the extra warranty you wouldn't have had to fidn the drive yourself?

People demand the latest things, and if that meant sony had to ship laptops with vista ready stickers which weren't ready then i guess thats what they did, very few people would actually upgrade that to vista anyway because most people would keep a laptop with what it came with, plus most people don't upgrade straight away, they wait a year anyway until the dust settles, and as we know, people are still waiting years on to move to it. So I don't see that as a major problem, most manufacturers would have been in the same situation, they wouldn't have had the drivers either! I guess, they just wanted to concentrate on the SZ3 product and would get to the 2 when they could.

Whenever I have sent my sony away it gets picked up by someone like UPS or DHL and sent to wales, so you must have been unfortunate to have to send it to 'europe'.

Anyway, this will go around in circles i'm sure.

One thing I can categorically say and cannot be disputed is that Sony have EASILY the best screeens available on any laptops, you can't argue with that (but i'm sure you will find something anyway )

 

[thecremeegg]

Sony laptops are incredbily poorly built - my mum had one and it was falling apart within a month and thats from being on a desk and occasionally brought home! The battery cover fell off, the screen flickered, the paint peeled, the trackpad broke.....

Good specs yes, but like apple are overpriced generally and put together by blind chimps

 

[Mike_182]

One thing I can categorically say and cannot be disputed is that Sony have EASILY the best screeens available on any laptops, you can't argue with that (but i'm sure you will find something anyway )

I will argue that point, my SZ2's screen was 'pretty good' but my XPS's screen is in a different league altogether. TrueLife coating and 1920x1200 resolution, absolutely pixel perfect and a much more even backlight.

I bought the T2XP because yes, it was the best specced ultraportable at the time - but now, the TZ2/3 is in fierce competition and dare I say has been trumped by the E4200. The X30 series isn't shoddy either. However, the TZ2/3 is shipping with the same 4200 ATA/100 HDD - but if you move to Dell's E4200 you get any of an array of SATA drives - all in NORMAL SIZES.

Granted, if I'd paid an absolute fortune for extended warranty, I wouldn't have to pay for any of this. HOWEVER, I've got D600s kicking around that are still working fine. Hell, some of them even still look brand new. Now I'm sorry, but no matter what anyone says about Dell you can't take that away from them.

I've also just got rid of 50 Dell Optiplex GX270 SFFs. The ONLY problem I had with any of them was dead hard drives - which at 5 years old for some of them I can't blame them, being left on all day every day for that...

As for their customer service, maybe you should try them nowadays. I had a DOA Dell ATG D630, an engineer arrived the next day with a motherboard and a screen and it was sorted. Also had an ATG D620 turn up that didn't know when the lid was closed. An engineer turned up with a new top tray, but didn't need it because he'd noticed that the reed switch had been dislodged. Put that back in place, it worked fine. Also had a Dell PowerEdge 1855 enclosure with a faulty power supply. Spoke to a nice lady in France, and I had a new one on my desk 2 hours later, with a note and shipping labels to get the old one back when it was convenient.

Now I don't know if people phone up and are abusive to the agent on the phone, because that'll piss them off and you'll get bad service, but going on those three experiences alone (and various others, including having to have their support connect up to diagnose a problem with a 7-year-old EMC SAN) I can say they've been better than faultless.

However, as has been pointed out a couple of times, sometimes you just get the short straw... All I can say is I've NEVER been disappointed with a Dell system's quality, and I've never met anyone that hasn't been happy with their purchase.

 

[dk]

i guess we will have to agree to disagree on this one then, i have personally never used dell in a business situation as i deal day in day out with customers who want to swap from them because of bad service.

As for home users, for the price they are good value, i just hope they never have something wrong as again, i've not heard anything other than bad things again about their customer service and taking weeks, yes weeks just to source a part, as we all know, dell just buy in whatever is cheapest to them at the time to put in their stuff, which means they are using so many dfferent parts and manufacturers in the same products thats there is a good chance they need to 'source' the part themselves first!

I'll stick to my Sony, you stick to your Dell, then both of us are happy

 

[Mike_182]

dell just buy in whatever is cheapest to them at the time to put in their stuff, which means they are using so many dfferent parts and manufacturers in the same products thats there is a good chance they need to 'source' the part themselves first!

That stopped a while back, IIRC around 2002 with the Optiplex GX270 series being the first where they would keep a 'standard' baseboard. Prior to then, even between 'identical' Optiplexes I will agree you had a 'choice' between a 3Com and an Intel NIC... Which did make them very difficult to look after, and why they have the reputation they're trying to shake today.

 

[ADY 554D]

a mate of mine has just got this one and he reckons its pretty good..

http://www.pcworld.co.uk/martprd/st...=null&sm=null&tm=null&sku=109052&category_oid=

 

[dk]

a mate of mine has just got this one and he reckons its pretty good..

http://www.pcworld.co.uk/martprd/st...=null&sm=null&tm=null&sku=109052&category_oid=

not bad for the price, but again, 3.5kg, thats like carrying around a baby!

 

[Mike_182]

a mate of mine has just got this one and he reckons its pretty good..

http://www.pcworld.co.uk/martprd/st...=null&sm=null&tm=null&sku=109052&category_oid=

not bad for the price, but again, 3.5kg, thats like carrying around a baby!

A) It's an Acer

B) Foooook carrying 3.5kg around... He's right. Sod that. I'm fed up of my ATG and that comes in at just over 3kg!!!!!!!

 

[The Hoff]

Still dead chuffed with my VAIO FZ31Z:

Great performance.
Great screen.
HDMI & Full HD.
BD Player/Burner.
Nice 4GB RAM + 300GB HDD.
Awesome keyboard.

Only neagative is the thirsty nature of it, battery probably lasts 2 hours with average use.

 

[D1CKY]

not bad for the price, but again, 3.5kg, thats like carrying around a baby!

A) It's an Acer

B) Foooook carrying 3.5kg around... He's right. Sod that. I'm fed up of my ATG and that comes in at just over 3kg!!!!!!!

Whats wrong with Acer ?

I'm empted with the Dell Studio 15, unless someone knows something else

 

[Has]

Acer have THE WORST customer service ever.

Never ever again im afraid for me.
Ended up taking them to court.

The service centre is an absolute joke. Who the hell sends a laptop back twice with parts just floating around inside.

Oh, and a dvd drive thats not secured in LOL Brilliant.

 

[Has]

Oh and im not the only one.....quick search and you will find PLENTY of unhappy customers

 

[jonnyjogpants]

acer is a load of poo

 

[D1CKY]

acer is a load of poo

Ah well But what would really go wrong with a new laptop ? Or are Acers prone to problems ? Has anyone had dealings with Dell ? And has anyone heard of Dell using second hand or cheap parts when sending your laptop or Pc back for warranty repair ? As its a rumour i heard (but don't know how true it is )

 

[Mike_182]

acer is a load of poo

Ah well But what would really go wrong with a new laptop ? Or are Acers prone to problems ? Has anyone had dealings with Dell ? And has anyone heard of Dell using second hand or cheap parts when sending your laptop or Pc back for warranty repair ? As its a rumour i heard (but don't know how true it is )

When your laptop is repaired they often use refurbished parts - they carry the same warranty as new and effectively are new, they're just faulty parts that have come back and been repaired and tested. You won't find a manufacturer out there that DOESN'T do this, as to bin hardware for what is frequently a dry solder joint or something equally simple is just wasteful and would increase the cost of a laptop tenfold.

And lots can go wrong with a new laptop. Especially when it's made of plastic!

 

[D1CKY]

Very true Mike

 

[D1CKY]

Anyone any more ideas ?

I'm still on the look out

 

[The Hoff]

Sont reading for Sony bashers:

http://www.techdigest.tv/2008/09/sony_and_tosh_t.html

Seems you've been very hard done by Mikey...

 

[Gumby]

I always thought Sony made awesome laptops, you just paid a bit extra for what was (once) essentially a Dell.

 

[fulhamfcboy]

acer is a load of poo

Ive had absolutely no problems with my Acer Laptop. Everyone has an "opinion" about everything, and your going to find lovers and haters of every manufacturer.
Dont forget, ask most of the public what their opinions of a Renault are, and it wont be pretty.....yet we all still buy them.
I wouldnt be too swayed by some of the input in the post...just find the best laptop to suit your budget....

 

[Munday]

Another Sony person here <puts hand up>

Never had a problem with mine after 18 months of owning it. Dropped it about 5 times and has never crashed either. Very robust and well worth the money!

Looks like a Mac too (I have a white one)!

 

[D1CKY]

I may look down the Sony route after all even though they are costly

 

[D1CKY]

What about any of these ?

http://www.johnlewis.com/230492481/Product.aspx

http://www.johnlewis.com/230498438/Product.aspx

The Dell Studio 15

http://configure.euro.dell.com/dell...en&m_30=136643&oc=N0953504&rbc=N0953504&s=dhs

Components

Intel® Core™ 2 Duo Processor T8100 (2.1 GHz, 800 MHz FSB, 3 MB L2 Cache,)
Genuine Windows Vista® Home Premium SP1- English
1 Year Base Warranty
Jet Black Colour with Matte Finish
15.4" Wide Screen WXGA (1280 x 800) Display with TrueLife™
2.0 Mega pixel Integrated Web Camera - CCFL
4096MB 667MHz Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM [2x2048]
320GB (5.400rpm) SATA Hard Drive
256MB ATI Mobility RADEON HD 3450
Fixed Internal Blu-ray Disc (DVD+/-RW + BD-ROM) Slot Drive including SW
Primary 6-cell 56 WHr Lithium Ion battery
Internal UK English Qwerty Keyboard
Biometric Fingerprint Reader

Accessories

No Carrying Case
Dell Wireless 370 Bluetooth Module
Dell Wireless 1397 Mini Card (802.11 b/g)
Microsoft® Works 9.0 / English - (Does not include Microsoft® Word)
Services & Software
No Accidental Damage Support
No Security/Anti-Virus Protection - English

Also Includes

1 Meter Power Cord (3 Wire) - UK
English - Documentation Studio 1535
N0953504
1Yr Limited Warranty - Collect & Return
Studio 1535 Order - UK
Studio 1535 Resource DVD (Diagnostic & Drivers)
AC Adapter 90W - 3 Pin
Wireless Label (Dell Wireless Cards)- Core 2 Duo


Views appreciated