Laptop recommendations

Nugget · 14-12-2006, 09:47

Hi guys and gals

I saw Dad Nug last night, and he said that he was looking at getting a laptop at some point after Christmas (probably in the sales if he can manage it).

Unfortunately, I know next to nothing about laptops - he wants a reasonable cheap one that's internet-ready (he hasn't got the access at home yet, but he's planning on getting it), so has anyone got any recommendations?

TIA on behalf of Dad Nug

Tightscot · 14-12-2006, 09:54

I've always found Acer to be quite good, also the new Dell Latitudes are nice bits of kit, just setup a D820 for a client and it is a solid bit of kit.

I'd recommend steering clear of anything running a celeronM cpu, try and get a centrino duo (core 2 duo cpu for laptops) the Dell D820 i setup had a 2.0 GHZ cpu and 1GB ram, nice and quick..

what sort of budget does he have?

Nugget · 14-12-2006, 09:58

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tightscot

I've always found Acer to be quite good, also the new Dell Latitudes are nice bits of kit, just setup a D820 for a client and it is a solid bit of kit.

I'd recommend steering clear of anything running a celeronM cpu, try and get a centrino duo (core 2 duo cpu for laptops) the Dell D820 i setup had a 2.0 GHZ cpu and 1GB ram, nice and quick..

what sort of budget does he have?

Thanks for that

As for the budget, he didn't give me a specific number but, in fairness, he's not exactly skint

14-12-2006, 09:59

Best thing to do dude is post with a figure when he is ready.Prices will drop after christmas.If he just wants basic then your looking around 350 quid for something better with a nicer screen around the 5 mark for something that little bit better around 6 to 7 will get you a c2d (where I would go personally) then for top around the grand +

Nugget · 14-12-2006, 10:01

Quote:

Originally Posted by zinglebarb

Best thing to do dude is post with a figure when he is ready.Prices will drop after christmas.If he just wants basic then your looking around 350 quid for something better with a nicer screen around the 5 mark for something that little bit better around 6 to 7 will get you a c2d (where I would go personally) then for top around the grand +

Hmmm, I don't think he'd mind about anything from 350 - 500. I've got to ring him either tonight or tomorrow, so I'll try and get a number

14-12-2006, 10:03

have a look around here to get a rough idea http://www.shopacer.co.uk/sess/utn;j...pire+Notebooks

Tightscot · 14-12-2006, 10:10

Also i did a Sony VGN-FE31H Laptop, it was quick and had an X Black type screen cost about 800 squid... Sony's aint too shabby imo

Have a look here for prices/models etc

EDIT although their website is offline at the moment

Saul's Grandad · 14-12-2006, 10:52

After taking the plunge recently myself, I'd recommend taking a look at Apple laptops. The Macs are pricier than their PC equivalents but sooo much nicer

...although it's a fairly steep learning curve if you've only used PCs before. No virus problems for Mac owners at the moment is another plus point.

Tightscot · 14-12-2006, 11:02

Quote:

Originally Posted by Saul's Grandad

No virus problems for Mac owners at the moment is another plus point.

not quite, there are mac viruses out there, but granted they are rarer... Linkage...

ZrByte · 14-12-2006, 11:05

There is even now the DIY route. Dont know how technical minded you or your dad are nug but me and my friend build and sell them if you cant do it.
Prices start from around ÃƒÆ’Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ãƒâ€šÃ‚Â£550 for a celeron model (Sounds pricey but thats for a high end screen, graphics and system features) If we could get a systemboard that was a little more basic they would be a lot cheaper.
The high end dells cost around ÃƒÆ’Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ãƒâ€šÃ‚Â£1800, we built a faster and better specced one for ÃƒÆ’Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ãƒâ€šÃ‚Â£950 and thats including our markup.

And the best bit is that they are fully upgradable if you want to change a part of it later, unlike some laptops now where the cpu is moulded onto the systemboard etc. Only bit that cant be upgraded is the systemboard and in turn the Graphics, though technically even they are upgradable as we can just replace the main unit and swap over the CPU, Memory, Hdd etc.
If your interested I can post a full spec and list of options

Plug over

14-12-2006, 11:13

so your not using system boards with gfx slots then?

ZrByte · 14-12-2006, 11:26

Quote:

Originally Posted by zinglebarb

so your not using system boards with gfx slots then?

Not as far as I know, though if they do have them it will require disassembling the entire laptop as there is no bay door for the gcard.
I thought modular graphics cards where a Dell thing anyway? Ive never seen another laptop that could take them and all the spares being sold on ebay seem to be dell replacements.
Though thinking about it, that is the old AGP models. Its all PCI-E now, the two accessable slots on these machines are for Wifi and TV decoding but I dont see why there might not be a hidden slot somewhere for a PCI GCard. They come with a Radeon X1600 as standard wich is pretty high end for a laptop.

danielf · 14-12-2006, 11:30

Is your dad planning to use it as a laptop, or does he just not want a desktop. If he wants a laptop (is going to log it around), I'd steer clear of the larger screen sizes (15+ inch), particularly the cheaper ones as many desktops are almost as portable

If it is staying at home larger screens are very nice.

14-12-2006, 11:43

Quote:

Originally Posted by ZrByte

Not as far as I know, though if they do have them it will require disassembling the entire laptop as there is no bay door for the gcard.
I thought modular graphics cards where a Dell thing anyway? Ive never seen another laptop that could take them and all the spares being sold on ebay seem to be dell replacements.
Though thinking about it, that is the old AGP models. Its all PCI-E now, the two accessable slots on these machines are for Wifi and TV decoding but I dont see why there might not be a hidden slot somewhere for a PCI GCard. They come with a Radeon X1600 as standard wich is pretty high end for a laptop.

I was under the impression (possibly incorrectly) that there are ungradable motherboards for laptops now with a graphics slot of some discription. I will look into it

Nugget · 14-12-2006, 11:43

Quote:

Originally Posted by danielf

Is your dad planning to use it as a laptop, or does he just not want a desktop. If he wants a laptop (is going to log it around), I'd steer clear of the larger screen sizes (15+ inch), particularly the cheaper ones as many desktops are almost as portable

If it is staying at home larger screens are very nice.

I think it's basically cos he just doesn't want a desktop anymore - I'd be surprised if he was going to take it anywhere anyway