Question:
New laptop for mainly work
Hi All
I'm looking for a new laptop... specs as follows
General Questions
1) What is your budget? £700 all in
2) What size notebook would you prefer? C or D
a. Ultraportable; 12" screen or less
b. Thin and Light; 13" - 14" screen
c. Mainstream; 15" - 16" screen
d. Desktop Replacement; 17"+ screen
3) Please select your country's flag as a post icon and tell us what country are you buying this in. UK
4) Are there any brands that you prefer or any you really don't like? Anything but Toshiba
5) What tasks will you be performing with the notebook? Photoshop, Dreamweaver, Office, browsing and Email, DVD videos, light gamiing
6) Will you be taking the notebook with you to different places or leaving it on your desk? Mainly desk but sometimes out for presentations etc
7) Will you be playing games on it; if so, which games? Mainly 1year+ games, but this isn't the main use
8) How many hours of battery life do you need? More is better
9) Do you mind buying online without seeing the notebook in person? Online is OK
10) What OS do you prefer? Windows (XP or Vista), Mac OS, Linux, etc. Prefer XP, then Vista
Screen Specifics
11) Would you prefer standard or widescreen? Not bothered
12) From the choices below, what screen resolutions would you prefer?
Standard
a. XGA -1024x768 - Large and easy to read text + graphics icons, but you fit less stuff on the screen.
b. SXGA - 1400x1050 - Compromise resolution between XGA and UXGA.
c. UXGA - 1600x1200 - Very small text and graphics icons, you can fit lots of stuff on the screen.
Widescreen
d. WXGA or WXGA+ - 1280x768/800 or 1440x900; Wider viewing version of XGA, good for movie viewing or spreadsheets.
e. WSXGA+ - 1680x1050; Wider viewing version of SXGA, good for movie viewing or spreadsheets.
f. WUXGA - 1920x1200; Wider viewing version of UXGA, good for movie viewing or spreadsheets.
13) Do you want a glossy/reflective screen or a matte/non-glossy screen? Not bothered
Build Quality and Design
14) Are the notebook's looks and stylishness important to you? Not as much as speed
15) When are you buying this laptop and how long do you want this laptop to last? Now, and a couple of years
Notebook Components
16) How much hard drive space do you want; 40GB to 200GB? 120GB plus
17) Do you need an optical drive? If yes, a DVD-ROM, DVD-CD/RW or DVD-RW drive? DVD+-RW
I've seen this one http://http://www.laskys.com/pcs_and...20_302g16.html
but I can't find any reviews on it. It looks very similar to this one http://www.laskys.com/pcs_and_laptop...g_302g16n.html but the 5920 is just out of my price range.
Any other suggestions would be welcome... I'm swayed towards the Santa Rosa specs, with an external graphics card (rather than an onboard one) and 2Gig+ processor as I think those specs will last me for a few years, other than that I'm open to offers...
Thanks
Dave
Answer:
Re: New laptop for mainly work
The Santa Rosa has the fastest FSB at 800 Mhz so I'd go with that. Definitely go with a dedicated graphics card if you want to ever run Vista. Don't go with an Acer. I'd say a good starting point would be a Dell Vostro (I don't think you can get XP on the Inspirons). Check out the 1500 and 1700 and see what you like.
For a higher quality build you could get a ThinkPad, but you can probably buy more performance with Dell.
Answer:
Re: New laptop for mainly work
Funny, I've just been looking at a Vostro 1500
Components
Intel® Core™ 2 Duo T7300 Processor (2.0GHz,800MHz,4MB L2 cache)
Genuine Windows Vista® Business - English
Base Warranty - 1 Year Business Hardware Support
15.4" Wide Screen WXGA (1280 x 800) Display with TrueLife™
Matte Jet Black with 2.0 mega pixel camera
2048MB 667MHz Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM (2x1024)
160GB (5400RPM) SATA Hard Drive
256MB nVidia® GeForce® 8600M GT
Fixed Internal 8X DVD+/-RW Drive
Primary 9-cell Lithium-Ion Battery (85 WHr)
Works out to £499 ex vat and shipping, so under £650 all in.
Not bad I think but I'm still looking aroung if anyone else has any blinding deals!
Cheers
Dave
Answer:
Re: New laptop for mainly work
Looks good to me. I'm not sure if the Dell Coupons work in the UK, but if they do you could try to configure the Inspiron 1520 (same thing as Vostro) just to compare, even though it comes with Vista.
Answer:
Re: New laptop for mainly work
None of the coupons work unfortunately... do they do those sort of coupons for the UK?
Answer:
Re: New laptop for mainly work
I don't think so dave, guess that's a USA thing. You could try calling a Dell rep however, they're known to cut prices to get a sale. There are a few threads here in the forums regarding tips on negotiating with Dell and getting better prices.
Answer:
Re: New laptop for mainly work
I'll give that a go then. Thanks for your help.
Dave
Answer:
Re: New laptop for mainly work
I did manage to find this
http://www1.euro.dell.com/content/to...hs1&l=en&s=dhs
It's 90 pounds off, including VAT. Not sure if it's helpful though.