Laptop choices

Mr Sworld

roger merriman wrote:

meh I was using them long before they became cool!

I remember them too...



The 'computer lab' at school had one of them, no one used it... We were all playing Chucky Egg on the BBC B's...

Koncordski

+1 for a refurbed Macbook Air. I 'Switched' to Mac's over 5 years ago and still can't believe it took me so long. They just bloody work.

mrc1

Mr Sworld wrote:

roger merriman wrote:

meh I was using them long before they became cool!

I remember them too...



The 'computer lab' at school had one of them, no one used it... We were all playing Chucky Egg on the BBC B's...

Bet that is worth a fortune now!

Im very tempted by the refurb Macbook Air but the 11 inch screen might be a bit too small. If I can find the money for the bigger screen, which would those in the know choose between these two (same price)?

http://store.apple.com/uk/product/FC504B/A More memory, older model, slower processor

http://store.apple.com/uk/product/FC234B/A Less memory, newer model, faster processor

Edit: I don't think the amount of memory is a big issue for me (probably plenty of room on either I think), so my question is probably more aimed that the differences in processors/other internal gubbins as I have no idea what the real world difference (if any) between the two would be!

rjsterry

How about this puppy

vermin

Without any hesitation, the 2010 model. You wouldn't notice the speed difference, which is the only 'advantage' of the 2009 one. It will have a much better screen, bette.r graphics, 2USB Ports, etc etc... And that big ssd will make a huge difference.

mrc1

vermin wrote:

Without any hesitation, the 2010 model. You wouldn't notice the speed difference, which is the only 'advantage' of the 2009 one. It will have a much better screen, bette.r graphics, 2USB Ports, etc etc... And that big ssd will make a huge difference.

Sorted - just need to scrabble around and find the money now!

Cheers

vermin

mrc1 wrote:

vermin wrote:

Without any hesitation, the 2010 model. You wouldn't notice the speed difference, which is the only 'advantage' of the 2009 one. It will have a much better screen, bette.r graphics, 2USB Ports, etc etc... And that big ssd will make a huge difference.

Sorted - just need to scrabble around and find the money now!

Cheers

Good choice, enjoy!

Thanks for the heads-up on those refurbs UndercoverElephant.

MonkeyMonster

vermin wrote:

If you just want a powerful, future-resistant machine, this is the best all-rounder I've seen in a very long time, and it's bang on your budget:
http://www.techradar.com/reviews/pc-mac ... 378/review
It has the most powerful chip, a very powerful graphics card, a great screen and all the bells and whistles you could want. It even looks nice, if not in a Mac-nice way.
Worth a look

Yes it is. Quite good indeed. Only downer is screen resolution but i'm used to 1900 x 1200 on my (2 grand) work laptop so am spoiled

dhope

MonkeyMonster wrote:

vermin wrote:

If you just want a powerful, future-resistant machine, this is the best all-rounder I've seen in a very long time, and it's bang on your budget:
http://www.techradar.com/reviews/pc-mac ... 378/review
It has the most powerful chip, a very powerful graphics card, a great screen and all the bells and whistles you could want. It even looks nice, if not in a Mac-nice way.
Worth a look

Yes it is. Quite good indeed. Only downer is screen resolution but i'm used to 1900 x 1200 on my (2 grand) work laptop so am spoiled

Indeed, seems there's a tendency since the shift to widescreen laptops to include awful low resolutions. My 8 year old 14" Thinkpad has 1400x1050 and the 15" Thinkpad 1600x1200. Likewise on the desktop monitor space, we seem to have stalled at 'Full HD', with only high end monitors getting past 1920x1200. Sorry, where was the rants thread?

notsoblue

dhope wrote:

MonkeyMonster wrote:

vermin wrote:

If you just want a powerful, future-resistant machine, this is the best all-rounder I've seen in a very long time, and it's bang on your budget:
http://www.techradar.com/reviews/pc-mac ... 378/review
It has the most powerful chip, a very powerful graphics card, a great screen and all the bells and whistles you could want. It even looks nice, if not in a Mac-nice way.
Worth a look

Yes it is. Quite good indeed. Only downer is screen resolution but i'm used to 1900 x 1200 on my (2 grand) work laptop so am spoiled

Indeed, seems there's a tendency since the shift to widescreen laptops to include awful low resolutions. My 8 year old 14" Thinkpad has 1400x1050 and the 15" Thinkpad 1600x1200. Likewise on the desktop monitor space, we seem to have stalled at 'Full HD', with only high end monitors getting past 1920x1200. Sorry, where was the rants thread?

Dell have been doing 1920xX screens on their laptops for ages. I had a Precision about 5 years ago that had one. The option has been there, cheapskate IT departments just tend to leave it off :P

dhope

notsoblue wrote:

dhope wrote:

MonkeyMonster wrote:

vermin wrote:

If you just want a powerful, future-resistant machine, this is the best all-rounder I've seen in a very long time, and it's bang on your budget:
http://www.techradar.com/reviews/pc-mac ... 378/review
It has the most powerful chip, a very powerful graphics card, a great screen and all the bells and whistles you could want. It even looks nice, if not in a Mac-nice way.
Worth a look

Yes it is. Quite good indeed. Only downer is screen resolution but i'm used to 1900 x 1200 on my (2 grand) work laptop so am spoiled

Indeed, seems there's a tendency since the shift to widescreen laptops to include awful low resolutions. My 8 year old 14" Thinkpad has 1400x1050 and the 15" Thinkpad 1600x1200. Likewise on the desktop monitor space, we seem to have stalled at 'Full HD', with only high end monitors getting past 1920x1200. Sorry, where was the rants thread?

Dell have been doing 1920xX screens on their laptops for ages. I had a Precision about 5 years ago that had one. The option has been there, cheapskate IT departments just tend to leave it off :P

Yeah, a proper resolution seems to be a business option rather than the norm. Hopefully the iPad's improved res will make other tablets get proper screens which will in turn mean laptops have to catch up.