Buying a laptop - advice please?

[zuza]

As suggested in the title, I would like to buy a laptop. I currently have a Dell desktop which is approaching 5 years old and is fine, but now I am increasingly needing something portable. I am pretty clueless when it comes to computer specs, so could anyone give me any tips as to what are the important things to look out for?
I want to use it mainly for ordinary personal use, but also possibly for work related tasks, so it would be good if it would be able to run programmes such as Matlab etc which i think require a fair bit of memory...
Any advice greatly appreciated![img]littleicons/yellowhappyface.gif[/img]

[Haunted]

Worth checking out
http://www.notebookreview.com/

When you say ordinary personal use would that include hi spec games? If you want to use matlab then right enough you'll need alot of memory and a fairly hefty processor.

Have a look at:
Dell XPS M1330
Toshiba Tecra M9

If you've got a bit to spend try looking at some Alienware models
http://www.alienware.co.uk/product_page ... fault.aspx

[hr]

Now with 100% more corn

[zuza]

Thanks for the reply. I don't want to play games on it - though I guess I would probably like to be able to store a fair bit of music. The Alienware ones look good but a bit out of my price range...
Can anyone give me an idea of the minimum values I should be looking at for the different specs? ie. processor, memory, hard drive etc? Also, what about vista? Most seem to come with this now, and I've not heard great things about it...

[Haunted]

Cool, so won;t need a hefty graphics card then. That will save you a lot of £££.

Specs to look for:
Core 2 chip in the 2-2.6GHz range, aim for a FSB of 800Mhz.
4Gb of RAM.
Harddrive is up to you, if you want to store alot of music and stuff then bigger is better.

Vista is also entirely up to you. I think the first service pack is now available so maybe it has improved a bit.


[hr]

Now with 100% more corn

[Guest]

I would check out Dell or Novatech they are both good value and avoiding buying from a high street retailer.

[sejanus]

Quoting Haunted from 14:53, 8th Mar 2008

4Gb of RAM.

RAM is cheap as chips these days, of course, but be aware that 32bit editions of XP and Vista won't be able to access the full 4GB. x64 editions can access >4gb, but there are issues with drivers; most OEMs will sell you a 32bit version of windows.

(this thread on ars technica has a right go at Dell for selling 32bit windows on machines with 4gb installed:
http://episteme.arstechnica.com/eve/for ... 7003249831 )
(edited because i broke the link)

[TheUnixKid]

Please ignore these gibbering morons who are suggesting Dell XPS computers and Alienware products. Overpriced and overspecced for what you need. I've had Alienware before and you're paying for a brand name and shitty technical support - if indeed you could call it that.

You can get a half decent Acer laptop (check out their website) with a 3 year warranty for less than 500 pounds. Bearing in mind whatever type you get is going to be horribly outdated in a year anyway so there's no point spending a tonne of money.

Thankfully no one has mentioned the outrageous suggestion of an Apple product.

[Haunted]

Perhaps you could help the OP by posting some links to particular models

[hr]

Now with 100% more corn

[rob 'f*ck off' wine boy]

Buy a laptop.

[The Jaspar]

Quoting rob 'f*ck off' wine boy from 17:51, 9th Mar 2008
Buy a laptop.

Thanks for that, I just spilled some cereal down my chin!



Get a MacBook. Easy to use, have a webcam, good battery life, and you get to feel better than your friends.*



*I don't have a MacBook

[Cain]

I'm going to second a recommendation for Acer.

[hr]

I hold an element of surprise

[zuza]

Thanks for all your advice. I was thinking of a Dell inspiron 1525. http://www1.euro.dell.com/content/products/productdetails.aspx/inspnnb_1525?c=uk&cs=ukdhs1&l=en&s=dhs I know Haunted suggested higher specs than these, but although I want to get what I need, I'm a bit pressed for cash, so don't want to spend more than necessary. Will this machine be enough for what I need?

Also, I'm trying to decide between two processors:
1) Intel® Pentium Dual Core Processor T2330 (1.60Ghz, 533 MHz FSB, 1 MB L2 cache)
and 2) Intel® Core™ 2 Duo Processor T5450 (1.66 GHz, 667 MHz FSB, 2 MB L2 cache)
Is there likely to be much between them other than the price?

Also, is it more important to spend more on the processor or on increasing the amount of RAM? At the moment I am undecided between 2 and 3 MB. Any advice from those who understand these things would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!

[Tigger]

Quoting zuza from 20:41, 10th Mar 2008
Thanks for all your advice. I was thinking of a Dell inspiron 1525. http://www1.euro.dell.com/content/products/productdetails.aspx/inspnnb_1525?c=uk&cs=ukdhs1&l=en&s=dhs I know Haunted suggested higher specs than these, but although I want to get what I need, I'm a bit pressed for cash, so don't want to spend more than necessary. Will this machine be enough for what I need?

Also, I'm trying to decide between two processors:
1) Intel® Pentium Dual Core Processor T2330 (1.60Ghz, 533 MHz FSB, 1 MB L2 cache)
and 2) Intel® Core™ 2 Duo Processor T5450 (1.66 GHz, 667 MHz FSB, 2 MB L2 cache)
Is there likely to be much between them other than the price?

Also, is it more important to spend more on the processor or on increasing the amount of RAM? At the moment I am undecided between 2 and 3 MB. Any advice from those who understand these things would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!

More ram is always good, but only as useful a the processor speed. Intel® Core™ 2 Duo Processor T5450 (1.66 GHz, 667 MHz FSB, 2 MB L2 cache) is much better, the space the computer uses to read and write data is a big advantage.

[hr]

My Wings Are Like A Shield of Steel...
(Claire Raynor)

[Tigger]

Quoting zuza from 20:41, 10th Mar 2008
Thanks for all your advice. I was thinking of a Dell inspiron 1525. http://www1.euro.dell.com/content/products/productdetails.aspx/inspnnb_1525?c=uk&cs=ukdhs1&l=en&s=dhs I know Haunted suggested higher specs than these, but although I want to get what I need, I'm a bit pressed for cash, so don't want to spend more than necessary. Will this machine be enough for what I need?

Also, I'm trying to decide between two processors:
1) Intel® Pentium Dual Core Processor T2330 (1.60Ghz, 533 MHz FSB, 1 MB L2 cache)
and 2) Intel® Core™ 2 Duo Processor T5450 (1.66 GHz, 667 MHz FSB, 2 MB L2 cache)
Is there likely to be much between them other than the price?

Also, is it more important to spend more on the processor or on increasing the amount of RAM? At the moment I am undecided between 2 and 3 MB. Any advice from those who understand these things would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!

More ram is always good, but only as useful a the processor speed. Intel® Core™ 2 Duo Processor T5450 (1.66 GHz, 667 MHz FSB, 2 MB L2 cache) is much better, the space the computer uses to read and write data is a big advantage.

[hr]

My Wings Are Like A Shield of Steel...
(Claire Raynor)

[Gubbins]

If you're intending to do a lot of data processing or intensive things (like MatLab or anything similar), then make sure you have enough RAM (that's on the motherboard, not just CPU cache). For a new laptop, I wouldn't recommend anything below 1GB, otherwise your main sticking point will not be CPU/RAM speed, but the amount of time it takes to read data from virtual RAM on your hard disc.

Edit: Is it "disc" or "disk"? I've never been able to work that out...

[hr]

...then again, that is only my opinion.

[orudge]

Quoting Gubbins from 10:43, 11th Mar 2008
Edit: Is it "disc" or "disk"? I've never been able to work that out...

Floppy disk, hard disk, USB disk, etc; but compact disc, optical disc, and so on.

[hr]

http://www.owenrudge.net/
http://standrews.facebook.com/profile.php?id=37103734

[Haunted]

Quoting zuza from 20:41, 10th Mar 2008
I'm trying to decide between two processors:
1) Intel® Pentium Dual Core Processor T2330 (1.60Ghz, 533 MHz FSB, 1 MB L2 cache)
and 2) Intel® Core™ 2 Duo Processor T5450 (1.66 GHz, 667 MHz FSB, 2 MB L2 cache)
Is there likely to be much between them other than the price?

Definitely get the Core 2 chip, theres more the performance than just GHz and the Core 2 will be much faster than just 60Mhz as the comparison suggests.

[hr]

Now with 100% more corn

[romantic]

Quoting Gubbins from 10:43, 11th Mar 2008
Edit: Is it "disc" or "disk"? I've never been able to work that out...

Disc the English spelling. Disk is the American English spelling.

[kimando]

I've been looking at laptops too, one that looked promising was the Samsung R700 for about £580.
Is this a good option?

One thing that worried me was the weight, it's ~3.18kg, which online reviews tell me is too heavy to be a good portable laptop.
They suggest that I just plug it in on my desk and use it as a desktop replacement, which defeats the purpose of me buying one. I would like to take mine to class and on journeys should I need to.

[mt21]

this is good information, a acer is all you need for doing essays etc pay much more than 400 and you are wasting your money