recommend a laptop.....!

[andyandy]

hiya

I'm looking to spend about £500....i want at least 1GB RAM, a 16 bit soundcard, and good battery life.....and ideally not the weight of a small elephant.....

just for everyday work related use....

any recommendations? I don't really know too much about different makes/processors etc.

I was looking at some UK suppliers...

Toshiba P200 (http://www.currys.co.uk/martprd/store/cur_page.jsp?BV_SessionID=@@@@1113240522.120344887 0@@@@&BV_EngineID=ccdfadedggdgjfjcflgceggdhhmdgmj.0&page=Product&sku=718064#productInformationSection)

Intel Pentium Dual Core Processor T2330
(1.6 GHz, 533 MHz FSB, 1 MB Cache)
Genuine Windows Vista (R) Home Premium
2 GB Memory
120 GB Hard drive
17" Widescreen TruBrite Display
DVD ReWriter dual layer
Wireless Enabled
5-in-1 Media card reader
Onynx Blue/Silver colour

or ASUS X50RL (http://www.ebuyer.com/product/134523/show_product_reviews)

Processor - Intel Core 2 Duo T5250 1.5 GHz 667MHz, 2MB L2Cache
Chipset – ATI XPRESS X1100
Integrated Network
Integrated Modem
Form Factor - Notebook
Memory (Maximum) – 1024MB (2048MB) 667MHz DDR2
Hard Disk - 120GB 5400RPM Serial ATA Hard Drive
Optical Drive Type - DVD Super Multi Double Layer
Keyboard - 19 mm full size 88key with MS-Windows function keys
Monitor - 15.4ins Colour Shine LCD WXGA Colours
Sound Device - Integrated Intel High Definition Audio compliant audio chip
Speakers - Built-in Stereo Speakers (1.5W)
Audio Features - SoundBlaster Pro Compatible
RF Network Standard - IEEE 802.11g
Modem - Intel High Definition Audio Modem Integrated
Graphics Device – ATI Mobility™ Radeon® XPRESS 1100,
Operation System – Microsoft Windows XP PRO
Card reader - 4 in 1 SD, MMC,MS,MS PRO,

Or another £500~ laptop from ebuyer (http://www.ebuyer.com/search/?strSearch=&bolShowAll=true&intStoreID=5&intCatID=10&intRating=5&minprice=417.0&maxprice=520.0&remove_filter=rating5&type=Rating)....

or something else....

any tips/advice gratefully received :)

[nimzov]

I had a Toshiba Satellite and it lasted many years (until I dropped a cup of tea on the keyboard). I will most likely buy another Toshiba next time I need a laptop. For the now a desktop computer is fine.

EDIT: After a 3 years when it was time to replace the battery I found out that a replacement battery was very expensive. It was worth nearly as much as the used laptop. You should look at the price of replacement parts before you buy.

nimzo

[Leftus]

17" Widescreen vs. Monitor - 15.4ins

I'd go with the 17 inch. I don't think in the history of PC's or even TVs someone has ever said "I should have went with a smaller screen." The fact that the wider screen creates room for a larger keyboard, one that has a legitimate numpad, is also a nice feature. It is also offering more memory and the CPUs are all but a push (one is slightly faster but the other has a slightly bigger cache). The only other factor here is OS. The first comes with Vista (doesn't say 32 or 64) Home Premium and the latter with XP. I'm one of the few people in the world that prefers Vista to XP. It could just be it gives me an excuse to build a powerful rig but let's not go into that now.

[madurobob]

FWIW - PM me if you are interested in an IBM/Lenovo. I can get you a discount (strictly above board. You order direct online from Lenovo, they ship to your home).

The 11/2007 US Consumer Reports rated laptops:
Tech Suport, best to worst:

Apple
Lenovo
Dell
Sony
HP
Toshiba


Repair history, best to worst:

Lenovo
Compaq
Sony
Toshiba
Dell
HP
Gateway
Apple

They ranked laptops overall by screen size and intended use, so there are loads of rankings, but the best buys they note were the Toshiba Satellite A215-S4697 ($600) and the Toshiba Satellite U305-S5077 ($900). They liked the Dell Inspiron, too.

BTW - the Toshiba P200 was ranked low among the 17 inch screen models. They liked Dell Inspiron 1720 & 1721, Sony VIAO, HP Pavillion 9500 better

[Yalius]

FWIW - PM me if you are interested in an IBM/Lenovo. I can get you a discount (strictly above board. You order direct online from Lenovo, they ship to your home).

The 11/2007 US Consumer Reports rated laptops:
Tech Suport, best to worst:

Apple
Lenovo
Dell
Sony
HP
Toshiba


Repair history, best to worst:

Lenovo
Compaq
Sony
Toshiba
Dell
HP
Gateway
Apple

They ranked laptops overall by screen size and intended use, so there are loads of rankings, but the best buys they note were the Toshiba Satellite A215-S4697 ($600) and the Toshiba Satellite U305-S5077 ($900). They liked the Dell Inspiron, too.

BTW - the Toshiba P200 was ranked low among the 17 inch screen models. They liked Dell Inspiron 1720 & 1721, Sony VIAO, HP Pavillion 9500 better

I've worked in computer sales and repair for going on 15 years now, and I am totally mystified by the Consumer Reports rankings. I've never seen one of their repair or tech support rankings for any tech product-- laptop, desktop, camera, printer, you name it-- that was even vaguely like the experiences I had. I'd rather slit my wrists than attempt to pry parts, reference manuals or warranty repair payments out of Sony, and yet year after year CR somehow doesn't give them a review of "Worthless." Just as an example.

[Tsukasa Buddha]

I'd go with this one (http://www.ebuyer.com/product/136302). If it has Vista, and you don't want to worry about upgrading memory in the future, you'll want 2 gigs of RAM. As long as you aren't doing anything too graphic intensive, integrated graphics should be fine.

But how important is battery life to you? IMO, that is the most important question.

Also, if you travel a lot, the bigger screen can be a hassle.

[madurobob]

I've worked in computer sales and repair for going on 15 years now, and I am totally mystified by the Consumer Reports rankings. I've never seen one of their repair or tech support rankings for any tech product-- laptop, desktop, camera, printer, you name it-- that was even vaguely like the experiences I had. I'd rather slit my wrists than attempt to pry parts, reference manuals or warranty repair payments out of Sony, and yet year after year CR somehow doesn't give them a review of "Worthless." Just as an example.

Agreed. They base their tech support/repair ratings on customer-reported data. So, its probably skewed towards companies with friendly L1 support, as opposed to companies who have easy to deal with hardware and who quickly settle up with vendors.

[andyandy]

thanks for all the replies....:)

a question...quite a few laptops don't seem to specify the soundcard..like the Acer Aspire 7720Z Laptop (recommended above....) which sounds good but on the audio bit just says

Audio: soundcard

i specifically want it to run Dragon Voice software which requires

Intel Pentium / 1 GHz processor (e.g. Pentium M, Pentium 4, or equivalent AMD processor faster processors will yield faster performance)
512 MB RAM
1 GB free hard disk space
Microsoft Windows vista 32-bit , XP (SP1 or higher) Home and Professional, 2000 (SP4 or higher)
Creative Labs Sound Blaster 16 or equivalent sound card supporting 16-bit recording
Microsoft Internet Explorer 5 or higher (free download available at www.microsoft.com)
CD-ROM drive (required for installation)
Nuance-approved noise-cancelling headset microphone (included)
Speakers (required for playback of recorded speech and text to speech features)
A web connection is required for activation

and it's the soundcard part that i'm not sure about.....

all the laptop blurbs seem a bit ellusive with regards to battery life too :)

[Wudang]

Most important question - what do you want to do with the laptop?

[madurobob]

thanks for all the replies....:)

a question...quite a few laptops don't seem to specify the soundcard..like the Acer Aspire 7720Z Laptop (recommended above....) which sounds good but on the audio bit just says

Audio: soundcard

i specifically want it to run Dragon Voice software which requires



and it's the soundcard part that i'm not sure about.....

all the laptop blurbs seem a bit ellusive with regards to battery life too :)

Those sound card requirements look fairly generic. Any new laptop you buy should meet those requirements out of the box.

For battery life - most laptops are in the 2 to 3 hour range for "real" life. Bigger screen versions have shorter battery life.. the Toshiba P200 rates at 2 hours compared to 3 1/4 for the HP Pavillion 9500.

But, I travel all the time w/my laptop and rarely find battery life to be a problem. You can always find a power outlet to recharge.. in airports, cafes, brothels....

[Soapy Sam]

Why a laptop?
For the same money you could get a decent desk top and a portable USB drive of the Archos or IPOD type. Do you actually need a portable computer or do you want a portable multimedia player?

[BenBurch]

A refurbished MacBook 2.0GHz Intel Core 2 Duo from the Apple online store is $943 which is cheaper than your target price. Get Parallels Desktop, and keep your current XP license (no sane person wants Vista) and you'll have the best of both worlds.

Specs;

13.3-inch glossy widescreen display
1GB memory
80GB hard drive
Combo drive (DVD-ROM/CD-RW)
Built-in iSight camera

[ElMondoHummus]

recommend a laptop.....!


Okay: Hey! You should get a laptop...

:scarper:

Eeeeep!:duck:

[ElMondoHummus]

Okay, seriously, if you're looking at a Windows machine: I don't really know anything outside of Dell, so I'll just recommend these two things to keep in mind, no matter what brand you get:

If you want an XP computer instead of a Vista one, look very carefully at those that come default with Vista. Some Dell's and at least one other brand my staff has supported had components that only had Vista drivers, so the owner couldn't knock back to XP if he/she/they wanted to. Obviously, this is a moot point if you don't mind using Vista.
Dell has something called "Complete Care (http://www.dell.com/content/topics/global.aspx/services/client_support/completecare_svc?c=us&cs=19&l=en&s=dhs&redirect=1)". I think other manufacturers have something similar. In 3 laptops, I've had to invoke Complete Care three times. I know that it's expensive, but having accidental damage coverage (as opposed to manufacture defect coverage only - i.e. a mere "warranty") is absolutely an a** saver. While they won't replace for just any and every reason (Quote from Dell tech: "Well, if it's got a bullet hole in it, no, but for most other things..."), they're very liberal in what they'll cover. One of my three invocations was a Sierra Mist accident. At any rate, for just a couple or three years, it jacks up the price alarmingly, but it's worth it. Also, I work in support in a university environment, and know that the rate of Accidental Damage coverage being invoked is definitely noticable. Low, but noticable. It's worth it, and no, I don't work for Dell or any manufacturer; I work for a US state university. If your manufacturer offers it, it is worth it since you're dealing directly with the manufacturer for repair/replacement. If it's the retailer, then study carefully; I don't know how well those extra coverages fare, I have no experience with their product.
If you do get a Vista computer, get 2GBs of RAM if you can. Trust personal experience (I'm on a Dell Inspiron 6400 with only 1 GB of RAM right now, and there are times Vista really chokes), plus the reports of other users I've dealt with. 3GB's is probably overkill, but that may change after Vista Service Pack 1 comes out. 4 GB's is useless in normal 32-bit Windows environments, so don't go after that unless you want to run a 64-bit version of Windows.

[yairhol]

hiya

I'm looking to spend about £500....i want at least 1GB RAM, a 16 bit soundcard, and good battery life.....and ideally not the weight of a small elephant.....

just for everyday work related use....

any recommendations? I don't really know too much about different makes/processors etc.

I was looking at some UK suppliers...



I asked a somewhat similar question a few weeks ago. You might wanna check out that thread as well:
http://forums.randi.org/showthread.php?t=101948&highlight=laptop

[SezMe]

... so I'll just recommend these two things to keep in mind, no matter what brand you get:

...snip...
...snip...
...snip...Beware of man who speak with forked tongue. :) :)

[andyandy]

ok....many useful posts - thanks :)

boiling it down to a few, ideally i want 2GB RAM, and XP but all these 2GB machines seem to have vista,

which is better.....1GB and XP or 2GB with Vista?

....i'm not sure i could cope with changing the OS on a laptop :)

[madurobob]

FWIW Lenovo has two lines of laptops: the 3000 series for consumers and the Thinkpad series for workhorse business use. Most of the Thinkpads come pre-loaded w/XP Pro or give you the option of XP Home. XP Pro, Vista home or Vista Business.

http://www.pc.ibm.com/uk/thinkpad/

Also, you'll find a lot of laptops come with 1G standard but have room for 4G. You might find it cheaper to buy a pre-configured 1G machine, then a new 1G DIMM to install yourself. Installation is usually as simple as changing the memory card in a digital camera.

[geni]

ok....many useful posts - thanks :)

boiling it down to a few, ideally i want 2GB RAM, and XP but all these 2GB machines seem to have vista,

which is better.....1GB and XP or 2GB with Vista?


RAM is cheap. Are you prepared to upgrade the thing at a latter date?

[ElMondoHummus]

[/list]Beware of man who speak with forked tongue. :) :)

Yipe! Damned abacus, always lettin' me down. ;)

[andyandy]

RAM is cheap. Are you prepared to upgrade the thing at a latter date?

if it is easy to add more RAM then i'd upgrade that later if necessary....

how easy is it really......? i looked at doing it for my desktop and got as far as "unscrew the panel to get to the motherboard..." and decided not to bother :boxedin:

[nimzov]

if it is easy to add more RAM then i'd upgrade that later if necessary....

how easy is it really......? i looked at doing it for my desktop and got as far as "unscrew the panel to get to the motherboard..." and decided not to bother :boxedin:
Changing memory stick is quite easy, but there is another problem.

If you install initially 1 GB of RAM and all the memory slots are filled up, you will have problem when you want to upgrade to 2 GB.

But if initially only half the slots are filled you are ok.

Sorry if this is not clear. I just woke up. :boxedin:

nimzo

[elgarak]

Avoid Vista at all costs.

Better yet, I recommend strongly a MacBook, as has been already mentioned. You can still run Windows, either in a virtual machine (with programs Parallels or VMWare Fusion, which you have to buy extra) or dual-booting (Boot Camp comes with every Mac).

Although Dragon claims that their software does not run on a Mac, even with Windows installed (which I have a hard believing, if you dual-boot using Boot Camp, but I'm too lazy to find out).

BUT... The Dragon engine has been licensed to be used in MacSpeech, which will come out shortly, and runs natively in Mac OS X.

[moopet]

I'll just plop in with one thing. As mentioned before, accidental damage cover can be a good thing. Acer (who make cheap and nasty kit most of the time but they're getting better) do a 3-year extended warranty covering accidental damage including a complete replacement system for £99 at time of purchase. We sell a lot of these covers.

[moopet]

Actually, here's a recommendation for you: Dell's Vostro 1000. Basic 15" machine with a lot of solid features for about £300. Well-supported, easy to upgrade and fix.

[Worm]

I recently got a Vostro 1000 for £200 (they had an offer on at the time) and I'm very pleased with it. I only use it for basic stuff, but it works well and has't caused any problems yet.

My only comment would be that the standard battery is a bit wimpy - currently lasting about 2 hours, and that will reduce with time.

[yairhol]

Here's a question which is relevant I think:
If a desktop is P4 and has a CPU speed of 3GHz, which would be its equal in a laptop?
I'm asking this because I heard that a laptop can have slower speeds than the desktop since it's smaller in size.

[Leftus]

The reason you see a slowdown in laptops is not for the size but the inability of a laptop to disperse heat. Right now the cpu in my rig is running at 60C. The GPU is chugging along at a pedestrian 34C. This is not a problem because they are not on my lap and are very well ventiliated. The laptop doesn't have the advantage of space so it has to overcome the problem by choking down the performance of the system.

What this means is the laptop, when you are not working it hard, will not use all of its resources so it doesn't burn your lap so it might feel slower at times when compared to an equally equiped desktop.

[Vitnir]

Are any brand better for Linux? My Compaq works for most parts but the TV-out won't work and neither does the energy management (hibernate etc).

[geni]

if it is easy to add more RAM then i'd upgrade that later if necessary....

how easy is it really......? i looked at doing it for my desktop and got as far as "unscrew the panel to get to the motherboard..." and decided not to bother :boxedin:

For a desktop open the case and look for the things that look like your news stick of ram and stick it into the socket next to them. For a laptop it depends.

[moopet]

Here's a question which is relevant I think:
If a desktop is P4 and has a CPU speed of 3GHz, which would be its equal in a laptop?
I'm asking this because I heard that a laptop can have slower speeds than the desktop since it's smaller in size.

For most purposes the equivalent is something like a Pentium-M 1.8GHz. For more modern intel CPUs like the Core Duos, a 1.66GHz would be similar.
To most people, the apparent performance is more down to RAM and hard drive speed than CPU.

[andyandy]

hiya

I'm typing this my new laptop! I decided to get an ASUS X50RL one after all -it's got windows XP and I bought one extra GB of RAM to go with it.
So far it seems to be pretty good, and as far as recommendations go I would certainly recommend ebuyer for service and delivery... Nextday isn't too bad :-)
and not only that I'm typing this completely hands-free with the Dragon software, which is very impressive. :-)

Many thanks for all the advice it was really useful

Andy

[GreNME]

ElMondoHummus made some good suggestions, but can I ask why shopping somewhere like the discounted Dell Deals (http://www.dell.com/content/products/features.aspx/hot_offers_nb?c=us&cs=04&l=en&s=bsd) is out of the question?