Laptop Spec

K

kmelvin

Registered User
Messages
216
Hi guys,

Does anyone know where the cheapest place is to get a laptop with this spec:

Decent processor - doesn't have to be an intel.
17inch monitor,
At least 1 Gig ram.
100 Gig hard drive.
Dvd re-writer.
256 Graphics card (I want to play some decent games).
Wireless n/w card.

I tried Dell - the prices are ok, but not amazing.

Am I living in a fantasy world thinking I can get this for around €1300?

Thanks for any help.

Karl
 
I wouldn't buy a Dell again - their after-sales service is one of the worst I've come across.
 
Personally i'd go with Dell because there's no two ways about it - they are the cheapest - especially if you want a specific configeration.

However failing this, I think would be the next best choice.

For example you can get an Acer Aspire 9423 for €1,118 with these spec:

Processor: Intel Core Duo 1.66Ghz
Screen: 17" Widescreen
Ram: 2Gb (probably the single biggest difference for preformance)
Hard Disk: 120Gb @ 5400rpm
Drives: DVD±RW
Graphics: NVidia GeForce Go7300 128MB
Wireless LAN: 802.11b/g
Operating System: Windows XP Media Center Edition
+ Built-In 1.3 MegaPixel Camera

That particular model meets or exceeds everyone of your parametres bar the graphics card and IMHO a 128MB GeForce is probaly as good as a 256MB made by anyone else. If you were willing to push the budget a bit more, you could get this Acer Aspire 9513 for €1,655:

Processor: Intel Core Duo 1.83Ghz
Screen: 17" Widescreen with Dual Lamps
Ram: 2Gb
Hard Disk: 240Gb @ 5400rpm
Drives: DVD±RW
Graphics: NVidia GeForce Go7900 512MB Dedicated GDDR3 Memory
Wireless LAN: 802.11a/b/g
+ Bluetooth
+ Built-In 1.3 MegaPixel Camera

240GB memory! And a 512MB GeForce graphics card! All for just €1,655! I bought a laptop about two months ago and there was nothing quite like that in that price range.
 
Thats actually really good - many thanks for your help.

Is the 128 Graphics card dedicated or shared with the ram?
 
First one can be found here:


and the second one here:


Note: I've never owned an Acer, but based on what i've read, the spec I've seen and on the price I reckon their the best choice aside from Dell. At the moment Acer is desperatly trying to gain market share so is quite possibly selling on very tight margins to win business, which explains why its such a good deal.
 
Thanks for that.

I know 2 people that have bought Acer and had nothing but trouble with them - I'm very reluctant to buy the laptop after what they said.

I'm gonna keep shopping me thinks.
 
So you've ruled out Acer and Dell... your choices are much more limited now. Be prepared to pay more than expect.
 
I feel obliged to respond to that and say of the 5 laptops, I have had ACER were by far the best. Toshiba won the wooden spoon.
 
Stick to the HP's of this world.

With laptops its very true that you get what you pay for.

If its for personal use get one with a liquid guard under the keyboard if possible. Drink spillages are one of the biggest laptop killers!
 
kmelvin said:
I wouldn't buy a Dell again - their after-sales service is one of the worst I've come across.
Click to expand...

I've had three different brand laptops over the years (the first two didn't break down, I just needed to upgrade!) and one company was as bad as the other in terms of after sales service. I've heard anecdotal evidence that others seem to be as bad too, but maybe some of you had better experiences? I'm using a Toshiba at the moment which is fine, nothing special, but occasionally use my father's Dell when I'm stuck. I have to say it's excellent, really nice to use, a good performer - and it was about the cheapest they had (about six months ago). So I wouldn't necessarily let the after-sales thing put you off, I'd be more concerned about getting a machine with a reputation for being reliable.
 
Dell can work out best on prices a lot of the time but check out PCWorld/Currys for some special deals on HPs/Compaqs, Toshibas or Acers.

Also check out www.Komplett.ie
See Acer Aespire below ...
[broken link removed]

Personally I have a newish Dell and an old Tosh.

Workwise I now recommending clients go HP since we had lots of problems with Dell over last few years. Tried of getting problems with Touchpads, keyboards, batteries etc and their support is not great.
Some of the problems don't appear to be resolved by newer models, may be just my impression?
Their support is nothing to write home about either.

HP support is good although early days yet.

Acer appear ok, two friends that got them have had no problems.
One would be getting high usage (lots of installing/reinstalling etc) and no hardware realted issues, although get the usual MS gotchas.
 
Thanks for your help guys.

I'm definitely leaning towards a HP.

Dixons have this model for €1399 - its a bit dearer than I had planned to spend and not a great bargain either but it seems a more reliable brand.

Does anyone know if this Graphics card is good?

Heres the spec:

Features for this HP DV8387EA -AMD Turion 64 ML-40 Processor 2.2GHz-1600 MHz Systm Bus-1 MB Cache-2048 MB RAM-160 GB Hard Drive-DVD ReWriter MultiDrive-17" Widescreen Display-Microsoft Windows XP Home-128mb ATI RADEON XPRESS Graphics-1 Year FREE Warranty

Thanks again

Karl
 
You'd need to specify which Radeon Xpress chipset it is. Full details are avaiable on the ATI website.
 
As far as I can see that laptop has no PCCard/PCMCIA/Cardbus slot in case that's important to you.
 
Heres the graphics card:

ATI RADEON XPRESS 200M IGP graphics - 128 Mb

I haven't a clue what the PCCard/PCMCIA/Cardbus slot is for - is it important?

Thanks Clubman.

Karl
 
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