Laptop under £600 for music + download / browsing

[Rev_Hill]

Hello All,

Looking for a laptop for a friend for under £600.

Primarily going to be used for music (cubase / logic) and also downloading / internet browsing etc. No gaming, so graphics card does not matter, although I think he'll regret it.

Must have Windows Vista Home Premium, 15.4 inch screen with at least a 100GB hard drive and min. 1GB RAM.

Have found:
http://www.shopacer.co.uk/pp/Acer_As...LMi_Vista.html

£559.10

AMD Turion X2 TL52 Processor
15.4" WXGA CrystalBrite Widescreen TFT Display
120GB Hard Drive
1024MB DDR II RAM
DVD-RW Super Multi Drive
ATI Radeon Xpress 1100 Graphics
Integrated 0.3 Megapixel Camera
Battery: 6 cell
5-in-1 Card Reader
Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium Edition


http://www.shopacer.co.uk/pp/Acer_As...i_Vista_2.html

£575.63

Intel Core 2 Duo T5500 1.66GHz Processor
15.4" WXGA CrystalBrite Widescreen TFT Display
160GB Hard Drive
1024MB DDR II RAM
DVD-RW Super Multi Drive
6-Cell Li-ion Battery
Microsoft Vista Home Premium

http://www.comet.co.uk/cometbrowse/p...=specification

£579.99
Processor speed: 1.6 GHz Processor: AMD Turion 64 x2 Dual Core Screen size: 15.4 inches Storage (hard drive): 120 GB Memory (RAM): 1024 MB Operating system: Windows Vista Home Premium

http://www.laptopsdirect.co.uk/Acer_.../version-1.asp

£559.97

Processor: AMD Turion 64 X2 TL-52 - 1.6GHz (x2), up to 1.6GHz FSB, 2x512KB L2 Cache
RAM: 1024MB DDR2-667MHz - Low Cost Double Memory Offer - Call For Details!
Hard Drive: 120GB
Screen: 15.4" Widescreen TFT with CrystalBrite Technology
Optical Drive: DVD±RW Super Multi
Graphics: ATI Radeon® Xpress 1100 integrated 3D graphics
Wireless LAN: 802.11b/g - Call for advice on Wireless Networking
Warranty: 1 Year - Upgradeable to 3 Years!
Operating System: Windows Vista Home Premium
Fast Ethernet 10/100
Built-In 0.3 MegaPixel Camera
Flash Memory Card Reader (MMC, MS, MS-pro, SD, SM, XD)

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated as well as recommended retailers.

Thank you in advance

Rev

[staffsMike]

I dont really like HP so I wont recommend that one.

Im not acer's biggest fan either but the one with the 3 year warranty could be good if it doesn't cost too much to upgrade to the 3 year one.

The main thing to get for laptops is an iron clad warranty. There is nothing worse than a laptop dying and having to pay hundreds to fix it..For that reason I would recommend dell.

You will get an inspiron 1501 or 6400 for that money.

I'd also check out asus laptops. They have a good reputation and 2 year standard warranty.

[Rev_Hill]

Thanks staffsMike - I'll have a look at the Dell and Asus laptops.

Rev

[Rev_Hill]

Found the following ASUS:

http://www.laptopsdirect.co.uk/Asus_.../version-1.asp

£599.97

Processor: AMD Turion 64 X2 TL-52 - 1.6GHz (x2), up to 1.6GHz FSB, 2x256KB L2 Cache
RAM: 1024MB DDR-533
Hard Drive: 120GB
Screen: 15.4" Widescreen TFT
Optical Drive: DVD±RW Super Multi Double Layer
Graphics: NVidia GeForce Go7300 supporting 256MB TurboCache
Wireless LAN: 802.11b/g - Call for advice on Wireless Networking
Bluetooth: Bluetooth Enabled
Warranty: 2 Year Warranty
Operating System: Windows Vista Home Premium Edition


found at http://www.misco.co.uk/applications/...9606&CatId=610 for £587.49 with Free Vista Upgrade.

[Rev_Hill]

One question - will he ever need 4GB ??

Find that a lot of the laptops I am finding (e.g Asus) are 2GB RAM max.

I think 2GB is recommended for Vista and also the music packages, so should I really go for a laptop with 4GB max ?

Thanks

Rev

[staffsMike]

Nice.. That isn't a bad cpu either..i've had a laptop at work with that one in it.

Even if its not for games if will run VISTA smoothly and will give you half decent frame rates in CS:S (around 45fps at native resolution) as its nearly identical in spec to what I had.

[staffsMike]

No you won't need 4GB..room to upgrade to 2GB would be good though. VISTA is more Hard drive intesive than anything..and that hard drive will be worked hard the first few days you run vista on it as it indexes everything.

[Rev_Hill]

Thanks for the help, much appreciated.

regards

Rev

[Rev_Hill]

A New Requirement.

He now wants a Firewire connection.

grrrr!

REV

[staffsMike]

the asus you found has one

[Rev_Hill]

okay have decided on the Asus, just trying to find the best deal now.

Found this one:
http://www.nexus13.com/productcart/p...idproduct=1055

Anyone purchased from Nexus13 before ??

Thank you

Rev

[staffsMike]

The misco price was better than that..and its misco..they are always trust worthy

[Rev_Hill]

Misco was a slightly different model F3Tc-AP013M insead of F3Tc-AP011C . Not sure if that is actually much different.

Also need to add delivery to MISCO price. Nexus13 comes with delivery + mouse + carry case.

Also looking at 2GB for extra £89 with Nexus which looks like a good deal.

??

I'll get my friend to give them both a call and see what deal he can get.

Thanks
Rev

[staffsMike]

hopefully the difference isnt firewire

that sounds kool..post the company name is the smartshoppers section to see if anyone has heard of them.