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What laptop?

Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
Hello :)

Right, its about time i got a new laptop. I bought my current laptop before i started uni 4 years ago, has worked fine and never had a problem with it but its a little old and i need something abit more powerful (it only has 1gb ram at the moment).

I've been spending weeks looking at various models and have been to the shops to have a look at some but theres so much choice out there i dont know what to get.

The Toshiba Satellite models look pretty good but in general im after something with a minimum of 4gb ram and can spend upto around 600 squid. I dont really need it for gaming or anything like that. I'd need it for some of the music production i do as a hobby, which is struggling at times at the moment, and just general usage - watching films etc etc.

Anyway, anyone got any tips? Any particular laptops i should look for?

Comments

  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    HP have really good models out right now. If you do go into stores, keep out of Currys, and the general big super stores like Tesco, ASDA - they're really basic. With HP if you through say an extra £100 at it, you can go from a Dual-core to a Quad-core with a little extra RAM, possibly a faster drive too. So for that price, I personally would put that little bit more for the right model.

    Only thing is, I'd say stick away from Core i# processors right now, they're expensive and really won't do you much justice for your use/price range. I'd say go for a AMD variant too if you can find many.

    e:/ Just checked eBuyer and they've got some okay ones in. This one is nice. http://www.ebuyer.com/product/224134 (or view all)
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Cheers for the reply. I'll keep those tips in mind :)
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    bear in mind that if the operating system is 32 bit, anything more than 3GB of RAM will not be used anyway. personally, i think a 4 year old laptop is capable of doing all the things you describe and it may save you a bit of money to have a go at optimizing and speeding up your current hardware before you shell out for a new laptop.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Nah, this laptop is seriously struggling with what i want to do these days so im just gonna get a new one. I have the money to buy a new one :)
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    GoodFella wrote: »
    Nah, this laptop is seriously struggling with what i want to do these days so im just gonna get a new one. I have the money to buy a new one :)

    mind if i ask what programs you intend to run? :)
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Re:

    I recently bought the new Acer 4736 since it felt like great value for money and am really really happy with it. Would recommend the latest range of Acer laptops. They work pretty well and is much cheaper than the other guys like Dell or HP.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Acers are fine and failure rate is average for a laptop brand. However, when one fails, don't expect it to be its only trip to the repair centre. Those that fail tend to be repeat offenders. This is coming from a guy who did tech support for Acer, Asus, HP and Toshiba for 6½ years.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Dell?
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Melian wrote: »
    Dell?

    Yup. I got a Dell that's 6½ years old. It went strong for the first 5 years then the CD drive failed. I got a replacement drive off the 'Bay for a few quid and the machine is good as new. Can't fault the older Dells. I'm not sure what the current models are like though.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Can you tell me what you are using it for? I would stay away from Dell, 3/5 of my customers are unhappy with Dell and have major problems with them within the first 2 years, not only that their tech support sucks!

    I have an Acer which I can highly recommend plus HP DV series are great. AMD are mediocre processors unless you spend the money but then you can get a better highend i3 or i5 which offer much better performance.

    The laptop Java suggested is ok but the processor (Athlon X2 P320) isn't fantastic. I would spend and extra 30 quid and get a laptop with the AMD Phenom II P820 which is miles better then the P320.

    http://www.pcworld.co.uk/gbuk/sony-vaio-vpcee2s1e-bq-06559695-pdt.html

    Do you do video editing or music production?
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Joss wrote: »
    Can you tell me what you are using it for? I would stay away from Dell, 3/5 of my customers are unhappy with Dell and have major problems with them within the first 2 years, not only that their tech support sucks!

    I worked in a computer shop for 7 years and I could quote what you said, except for Acer instead of Dell :-) We switched to Toshiba, and problems / support was a lot better.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Monserrat wrote: »
    Yup. I got a Dell that's 6½ years old. It went strong for the first 5 years then the CD drive failed. I got a replacement drive off the 'Bay for a few quid and the machine is good as new. Can't fault the older Dells. I'm not sure what the current models are like though.

    I have a current model (Inspiron 1750 with Windows 7) and think it's much better than my old Samsung. My Samsung would just freeze - never had that problem with my Dell.
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