im going to uni in september and im getting a laptop (£400-£500). Firstly has anyone spotted any good deals?? (always worth a go). My main question is should i get a windows vista laptop? virtually all new laptops seem to have it preinstalled, the laptop wont b my main computer so it doesnt need to be super speedy. any thoughts are welcome (as long as they arent pro/anti vista rants)
First off, what would you use it for? Work with an occasional gaming session, and some music, or just work and browsing? The thing with laptops is picking it to suit your means.
depends what you need really, the word 'laptop' can stretch to crazy amounts of different machines now If i was you: choose one of the following 3 types: 1: -Gaming not really needed -General web browsing -uni/work apps Buy: a really cheap laptop, as even the most basic you can get will be extreme overkill, or spend a bit extra to get an ultra-portable type with all the performance you need at a fraction of the dimensions/weight 2: -gaming needed, but not too fussed about performance -General web browsing -uni/work apps Buy: generic laptop, but do pay attention to getting a reasonable graphics card on it. 3: -gaming most important -General web browsing -uni/work apps -generally staying in halls/student flats Buy: forget a laptop, buy a compact, portable PC (ie: something like the shuttle mini-PC's) and a LCD screen. If you do not need to take the PC to classes, you can get a PC vastly superior to any laptop for less cash than even the highest spec laptop, plus it is easily transportable for the few times you need to move it. If you really need a laptop for uni work as well, consider buying a PC like this, and also an uber-cheapo 2nd-hand laptop off ebay for uni work. as you don't need gaming performance when you're working, and a 'gaming' laptop ends up so heavy it's no more movable than a shuttle PC anyway... so get a nice PC and a cheap, but portable laptop
^^^what cyril said. 14" seems to be the sweet spot right now for price-portability-performance if you decide to go option #2. if battery life is important to you, forget ebay. any used laptop will have signifigantly reduced battery life.
Tablet PC! Heu.... I never tried those? Are they good for note taking like math/physics, or a waist of money? I was thinking of the HP tablet PC model, where you have AT LEAST a geforce 6150 in it, to play videos smoothly and handles Vista. I'm not sure about this... Intel integrated graphics 950, I don't like the name, specially the part "Intel". I have a hard time seeing this word next to "graphic card:".
iwant it for classes, wrirtin documents, music, net, gaming not that important. i found this http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/prod...hvd19wcm9kdWN0X3Jldmlld3M=&product_uid=126338 whaqt u guys think overkill? or http://www.ebuyer.com/UK/product/129385 my main question xp or vista? i could always install xp on a laptop as dual boot, its just extra hassle tho.
Avoid Acer, they overheat and shut-down on you A LOT. I used to work at a computer store, and we had Acer's turn on all day, with the Acer screen saver, and I had to turn back at least once or twice per day. I would go with Dell, or HP. How about those: http://configure.dell.com/dellstore/config.aspx?c=ca&CS=cadhs1&l=en&OC=N13302V_R_E -> just make it 2GB of RAM, and put a 9-cell battery for extra long battery life. You can leave the rest as default http://www.shopping.hp.com/webapp/shopping/cto/computer_customize_components.do -> Customize it for 2GB of RAM, and put a 12-cell battery for extra long battery life. If money allows it, go with the NVIDIA GeForce Go 7200. Vista is great only if you have 2GB of RAM. Currently Vista is not perfect, still some annoying bugs, but rumor is that SP1 that will be released in December/January, and will fix those, including a faster startup (as it's pretty slow to startup compared to XP). Is Vista currently usable? Yes, way better then XP SP1. Some aspect are better then XP SP2, some are worse. Vista is more stable then XP SP2, with proper drivers.
take look at laptops direct http://www.laptopsdirect.co.uk/ i thinking about this one myself... http://www.laptopsdirect.co.uk/Lenovo_3000_C200_8922_TZ0BXUK/version.asp also currys a dual core intel for 399 at mo on offer http://www.currys.co.uk/martprd/product/seo/401567
The Asus range are pretty nifty - most come with a case, and unless they have changed policys, all have a 2 year global g'tee. Lenovos are really well built. anything from the 3000 family is allright (the T series is much nicer, but has the price too). Dell are the most annoying consumer PC manuf. They undercut every one. fill their machine with crap, have terrible customer support and expensive accesories. People either love or hate dell - yes their prices are cheap, yes thier workstations and servers are allright. ignore the rest. HP seem to be ok. Mid to high end toshibas are alright, but avoid the cheap ones. Gateway seem to be crawling back into the consumer market (via tesco), they used to have nice stuff, but i havn't played with anythign new recently. Avoid acer laptops, fujitsu siemens, advent, medion, anythign generic, samsung, phillips and the such like. Vista v XP. Vista is really nice. i mean really!! there are some issues still, but mostly on a new machine you wouldn't really notice. Just don't try and install old hard or software. For vista i would avoid budget and single core cpus. 1GB ram for VHB and 2 for VHP is preferable. Most only come with 1GB, so make sure you get one with 1*1024MB mem config, so you can add another 1024 (currently about £25 with a little change). That said, have a look at: http://www.asuslaptop.co.uk (have a look at F3M-AP052C - search for it on above) http://www.dabs.com/ProductView.asp...59538,50600,49010000&CategorySelectedId=11105 (add £50 for 2 sticks of 1024MB, as this has 2*512MB - tho for surfing and word pro, 1GB would be fine) Just my 2 cents.
I have a laptop for school that I got from Dell three years ago. Spent a bunch of money on it and it's been great. Don't know what you're majoring in, but I'm an engineering student and I found that a lot of CAD programs are incompatible for Vista. I upgraded to Vista Business (free from school!) then had to downgrade back to XP so I could use Autodesk Inventor. That's the only problem I had though, I liked Vista otherwise. Just make sure there aren't any compatibility issues with programs you might want to run.
I would consider Acer in particular for the versions with the curved ergonomic keyboard - great benefit for a long and trouble free lifetime of typing. Regards, AK p.s. For the times you can type on a proper keyboard, consider plugging in the excellent microsoft natural 4000, which scan bundles with a nice optical mouse for £23. My own personal view is that the split keyboard for a desktop, and curved for a laptop should be compulsary in schools and higher education, along with touch typing basics and general ergonomics . . . apologies for the soap box
dell is doing some excellent deals on the vostro series at the moment...worth checking out...and yep..contrary to what someone said above...i recommend acer as well..my and about 5 of my mates are using them regularly for uni and other stuff...no problems atall...
Comet to a Core Duo, Advent, 17" Screen, 1GB Ram and Vista Home Premium for £399. My cousin just got it. Run Nice. Also a 120GB HD.
Ya know, I just moved to college (same as uni) and was thinking bout laptops and everything, then I figured.. I'm going to have my desktop anyways, and all classes are usually later available online, so what am I going to need a laptop for except to say "Hai I gots laptop." See if you need a laptop first, then buy accordingly, that's what I'm going to do anyways, cheaper, and at least I won't spend on one until I know I'll need one
after sending some 20 odd acers back i gave up selling them. when you have to send a machine off 3 times for it to come back with a different fault each time, you tend to get fed up. really its each to their own. I tend to find dells reliable but incredibly slow. If you get one which has custom parts inside, dell are expesive for parts. they normally ask for £120 for an optical drive etc. I don't know how acurate it is, but apparently dell have lost some of its share of the market this year any way! meh. With respone to T-Nash, thats fair enough. Autodesk should pull their finger out and fix their software, builds of vista have been avalible for a long time (so even if the issues arn't their fault they should ahve worked with ms to fix issues before the release). And I havn't tried to put any autodesk s/w on vista yet, but i'll keep a look out - tho all the architects i do work for hate spending money (ie still using autocad r14). Does it matter which hair gel you buy if your bald? theevilelephant, buy what you want. Someone will always say you could have got something better. XP will stop shipping with machines soon, so if you want an XP one, buy soon. I don't mean to offend any one, every one is entitled to their own opinions, and these are just mine.
What about getting a MacBook? I'm thinking of going for one of these http://store.apple.com/Apple/WebObjects/ukstore.woa/9254042/wo/hb5WoJDpJPVl2JFmmsA1uD7b4TX/4.?p=0 Any thoughts on that?
They're expensive and scream "Steal me!" Besides, what more can you do with OSX? Unless you plan on doing video editing there's very little point in dishing out extra cash for mediocre laptop parts just to get a Mac.
sony. VAIO range. 100% recomended, and there customer support is fantastic. fujistu siemen. dont even consider it, if you have 2 send it back you wont see it for months. ASUS ARE THE WORST EVER, There support team told me my laptop would take 6-8 weeks to be repaired, and thats only if they have the parts. Yes they have a 2 year guarantee, bt its so useless its not worth the paper its written on. www.laptopsdirect.co.uk are a good retailer, but if it breaks after more than 14 days you have to deal with the manufacturer. Sony gets my vote. I love mine
