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what laptop

micksjoinermicksjoiner Posts: 409
edited December 2010 in The Crudcatcher
need a new laptop and got £400 to spend
so many to choose from, head hurts
hates dog walkers

Posts

  • 101_North101_North Posts: 607
    Specs are pretty similar across the brands at that budget. Most in that bracket will have an integrated graphics card but if you choose an AMD chip over an Intel the integrated card will most likely be an ATI card which should be better than the Intel one. You should be looking at 3/4GB ram and least a 320GB HDD. Most laptops under £400 will have a recordable DVD drive - rarely get Blue Ray at this budget. Bluetooth doesn't feature much either in this price range but a bluetooth USB adapter costs about a fiver so it not worth worrying about.

    An HDMI port is worth looking out for is you want to connect to an HD TV. A multicard reader should also be included along with a built in webcam.

    What are you wanting it for?

    A few in your budget would be:

    http://www.saveonlaptops.co.uk/Acer_Asp ... 40885.html

    http://www.saveonlaptops.co.uk/Acer_Asp ... 40886.html

    101
  • meanredspidermeanredspider Posts: 12,550
    edited December 2010
    First you need to decide what you want to do with it. Then someone might be able to help.

    What are the important things to you? Screen size, battery life, graphics, hard disk space, processing power, portability, reliability, operating system etc etc.

    I bought my daughter a nice Acer - very portable, great (8 hour) battery life, 500GB hard disk, 4GB RAM, dual core processors, Bluetooth BUT no DVD drive (no need) and XP/Vista as an operating system, 13" screen. It was half price at 350GBP. Suits her perfectly.

    Also came from SaveOnLaptops - good service.
    ROAD < Scott Foil HMX Di2, Volagi Liscio Di2, Jamis Renegade Elite Di2, Cube Reaction Race > ROUGH
  • SlamdunkinSlamdunkin Posts: 355
    edited December 2010
    This stands out at 299

    LENOVO G550
    15.6" LAPTOP

    http://www.comet.co.uk/p/Laptops/buy-LE ... =tsid:8361

    Review here

    http://www.techradar.com/reviews/pc-mac ... 946/review
  • 101_North101_North Posts: 607
    Slamdunkin wrote:
    This stands out at 299

    LENOVO G550
    15.6" LAPTOP

    http://www.comet.co.uk/p/Laptops/buy-LE ... =tsid:8361

    That's what I have. Didn't realise the price on Comet or I may have recommended it. The one I have has dedicated graphics and bluetooth - otherwise the spec is the same as the one you linked - you might be lucky enough and find the Comet spec is wrong! Very good for the money. I've been very pleased with mine - paid 370 last year. For sub 300 the spec is great. I'd be happy to recommend it.

    Only issue is that it had a very noisy fan when I bought it but Lenovo brought out a BIOS fix which can be downloaded from the Lenovo site - sorted the noise out fine - worth getting if you buy this laptop.

    101
  • warm18warm18 Posts: 341
    what do you want it for?
    Adrian


    Zesty 514
    http://cornwallmtb.kk5.org
  • thel33terthel33ter Posts: 2,684
    Slamdunkin wrote:
    This stands out at 299

    LENOVO G550
    15.6" LAPTOP

    That sounds a very good deal, only 4 hours battery life though, not sure wether that would cause problems.

    I've also been looking at laptops, and this caught my eye. It has then new i3 processor, which are faster than the Dual cores. Bang on budget too

    http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Acer-Aspire-5741- ... 3cb39fd204
    And now you know, and knowing is half the battle
    05 Spesh Enduro Expert
    05 Trek 1000 Custom build
    Speedily Singular Thingy
  • bike-a-swanbike-a-swan Posts: 1,235
    I don't think that's got enough travel for my liking.
    Rock Lobster 853, Trek 1200 and a very old, tired and loved Apollo Javelin.
  • SlamdunkinSlamdunkin Posts: 355
    Acer Aspire 5742 15.6 inch Notebook ( Intel Core i3-370M processor 2.4GHz, 3GB RAM, 320GB HDD, DVD, Webcam, Wireless, Windows 7 Home Premium

    £379 @ amazon

    http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B004 ... ukdeals-21
  • thel33terthel33ter Posts: 2,684
    Slamdunkin wrote:
    Acer Aspire 5742 15.6 inch Notebook ( Intel Core i3-370M processor 2.4GHz, 3GB RAM, 320GB HDD, DVD, Webcam, Wireless, Windows 7 Home Premium

    £379 @ amazon

    http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B004 ... ukdeals-21

    Ignore me, buy that, major bargain, now where's that £200 I need :roll:
    And now you know, and knowing is half the battle
    05 Spesh Enduro Expert
    05 Trek 1000 Custom build
    Speedily Singular Thingy
  • SlamdunkinSlamdunkin Posts: 355
    Samsung E452-JA01UK

    Operating System: Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium
    Processor: Intel CoreTM i3 Processor 350M (2.26 GHz, 3 MB)
    System Memory: 2GB (DDR3 / 2GB x 1)
    Display: 15.6" LED HD (1366 x 768) 16:9 Gloss
    Graphics Processor: Intel GMA HD (Int. Graphic)
    Integrated Camera
    [email protected] 320 GB (5400 rpm S-ATA)
    ODD: DVD (S-ATA) / Super Multi Dual Layer (S-ATA)
    Wireless LAN: 802.11bg/n
    Bluetooth: Bluetooth 3.0 High Speed
    I/O Ports: VGA, HDMI, Headphone-out, Mic-in, Internal Mic, 3x USB 2.0 Multi Card Slot (3-in-1 (SD, SDHC, MMC), LAN, DC-In (Power Port)
    Battery: 6 Cell
    Software:
    Safety: Samsung Recovery Solution, Samsung Support Center, McAfee Internet Security (Free 60-day Trial), HDD Password
    Utility: Easy Speedup Manager, Easy Network Manager, Battery Life Extender, Easy Display Manager, Samsung Update Plus, Chargeable USB, Easy File Share, Easy Content Share
    Multimedia: CyberLink YouCam, Game Console
    Dimension (WxDxH): 379.6 x 255.5 x 32.4~38.25 mm
    Weight: 2.4 kg


    £379 @ play

    http://www.play.com/PC/PCs/4-/17494522/ ... hotukdeals
  • SlamdunkinSlamdunkin Posts: 355
    Dell Inspiron 15R Core i3-370m, 3GB ram, 320GB hard drive, Win7 £399 @ Dell

    Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium, 64bit
    Inspiron N5010 (UK6, FCG71) - i3-370M (2.4GHz, 3M)
    N11N5051
    Inspiron N5010 BTS Order - UK
    15.6" High Definition (1366x768) WLED
    Documentation Inspiron N5010
    3072MB 1333MHz Dual Channel DDR3 SDRAM [1x1024 + 1x2048]
    320GB (5,400rpm) Serial ATA Hard Drive
    Inspiron N5010 Resource DVD (Diagnostic & Drivers)
    DVD +/- RW Drive (read/write CD & DVD)
    65W AC Adaptor
    Primary 6-cell 48 WHr Lithium Ion battery
    1 Meter Power Cord
    Intel® Graphics Media Accelerator HD
    Dell Wireless 1501 Mini Card (802.11g/n)
    Internal Keyboard
    1.3 Mega pixel Integrated Web Camera
    1 year Collect & Return Hardware Support included with your PC
    Intel® CoreTM i3-370M Processor (3M Cache, 2.4 GHz)
    Dell Wireless 365 Bluetooth Module
    Microsoft® Office Starter 2010 (Word Starter, Excel Starter)


    http://configure.euro.dell.com/dellstor ... b6a069a909

    also 5% cashback through quidco too.
  • thel33terthel33ter Posts: 2,684
    edited December 2010
    The Acer has more ram and a better processor than the Samsung.
    And now you know, and knowing is half the battle
    05 Spesh Enduro Expert
    05 Trek 1000 Custom build
    Speedily Singular Thingy
  • SlamdunkinSlamdunkin Posts: 355
    I take it you are refuring to the sammy and not the DELL just posted
  • thel33terthel33ter Posts: 2,684
    Slamdunkin wrote:
    I take it you are refuring to the sammy and not the DELL just posted

    Fixed. The Acer is pretty much the same as the Dell, but has a card reader as far as I can tell.
    And now you know, and knowing is half the battle
    05 Spesh Enduro Expert
    05 Trek 1000 Custom build
    Speedily Singular Thingy
  • micksjoinermicksjoiner Posts: 409
    this is great you all know so much
    going to use laptop for surfing net do a bit with photos ,would be great to watch iplayer on big tv ,download music and movies, thats about it,
    but would like to be a bit future ready
    hates dog walkers
  • thel33terthel33ter Posts: 2,684
    So far Acer is winning, and it has an HDMI output so you can use your TV as a monitor.
    And now you know, and knowing is half the battle
    05 Spesh Enduro Expert
    05 Trek 1000 Custom build
    Speedily Singular Thingy
  • micksjoinermicksjoiner Posts: 409
    yeah had old pc at back of plasma but packed in ,so thought id get laptop
    had been looking at this http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B003 ... d_i=468294
    but only because it had high rating in what laptop mag
    hates dog walkers
  • SlamdunkinSlamdunkin Posts: 355
    The DELL also has HDMI and VGA outputs
  • thel33terthel33ter Posts: 2,684
    Very similar laptop, they can't decide what processor it has though. One bit says an AMD Athlon, and another say AMD Turion :?

    The i3 processor in the Acer 5742 gets a higher benchmark than either of those two, but it does have a dedictated graphics card, which the Acer 5742 doesn't have.

    My laptop has a similar set-up to the 5742, but with a lower spec proccessor, and I can games from around 2005 running smoothly.
    And now you know, and knowing is half the battle
    05 Spesh Enduro Expert
    05 Trek 1000 Custom build
    Speedily Singular Thingy
  • micksjoinermicksjoiner Posts: 409
    think ill go down to comet and have a look at http://www.comet.co.uk/p/Laptops/buy-LE ... =tsid:8361 and also the http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B004 ... ukdeals-21
    any more advice will be more than welcomed
    hates dog walkers
  • micksjoinermicksjoiner Posts: 409
    think ill go down to comet and have a look at http://www.comet.co.uk/p/Laptops/buy-LE ... =tsid:8361 and also the http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B004 ... ukdeals-21
    any more advice will be more than welcomed
    hates dog walkers
  • projectsomeprojectsome Posts: 4,478
    If you haven't already done so, try and find the same laptop but with linux, a good £100 cheaper then just install windows on it (if you still have the cd and/or key...)
    FARKBOOK TWATTER Happiness is my censored mood!
  • bobpzerobobpzero Posts: 1,431
    edited December 2010
    meh
  • thel33terthel33ter Posts: 2,684
    Why not buy any specific make, most laptops including HP and Apple are made either by Foxconn or Quanta Computers.

    I had an Acer for around 5 years of heavy usage, it had no fan for 4 of those years either. Then the motherboard died :roll:
    And now you know, and knowing is half the battle
    05 Spesh Enduro Expert
    05 Trek 1000 Custom build
    Speedily Singular Thingy
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