Best spec laptop for £500-550

[Barry]

I'm after a new laptop that I can play games on (l4d ect)

I've looked at dell and seen a few but I have no idea about mobile graphics ect

theses are the ones I've seen so far

Inspiron 1545

Intel® Core™ 2 Duo Processor T6400
3072MB 800MHz Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM
256MB ATI Mobility Radeon HD4330
320GB (5,400rpm) Serial ATA Hard Drive
15.6" Widescreen WXGA CCFL (1366x768) TFT Display with TrueLife™

£431.10

Studio 17

Intel® Core™ 2 Duo Processor T6400
4096MB 800MHz Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM
256MB ATI Mobility RADEON HD 3650
320GB (5.400rpm) SATA Hard Drive
17.0" Widescreen WXGA+ CCFL (1440x900) TFT Display with TrueLife™

£519.10

Studio 15

Intel® Core™ 2 Duo Processor P8600
4096MB 800MHz Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM
256MB ATI Mobility RADEON HD 3650
320GB (5.400rpm) SATA Hard Drive
15.4" Widescreen WXGA+ CCFL (1366x768) TFT Display with TrueLife™

£530.09

[staffsMike]

Well I would go with dell as I always do

The first one won't be too great from games but obviously represents decent value for money.

The second one is a goliath.. frickin huge and heavy. If it's just sat on your desk thats OK but don't be lugging it around.

The Studio 15 is what I would buy (well in fact I'd buy the studio 13 but horses for courses..). It's still quite chunky but you get veyr decent specs for the money, they are very nicely built and have lovely keyboards/screens*. You might also be able to do a bit of unscrewing and upgrade it with a blu ray slot drive later

*I'd get the LED screen if it were me, they do make CCFL look rather.. naff.

One thing to mention, are you sure the studio 15 has the HD3650.. never used to. The XPS M1530 might be more suitable.
http://www.dmxdimension.com/dell-uk/...al-comparison/ (third model down with the 8600GT)

10% off studio/xps: 6DP117PJ45KTWD

The best spec is probably an acer model on ebuyer, it has an HD3670 (perhaps) and blu ray etc.. but I've used it and I wans't bowled over by the quality. I've never been an acer fan anyway due to shoddy CS and reliability.. an unbeatable combination.

[Barry]

in general it will be sittong on top of the amp in the kitchen or on the desk at work (reception desk), you're right about the HD3650 its a HD3450, the costs are including the 10% discount code

[staffsMike]

Well generally speaking in your price range you will find Nvidia's in the region of 8400gs, 9200gs 9300gs. all pretty naff but I do game on my 8400gs and it plays the likes of COD4 and Rainbow Six Vegas 1 and 2 very well considering.

Realistically for good gaming you want 9500 onwards for nvidia, preferably a 9600 of some sort or the older 8600GT.

ATi the HD3470 will be capable, the HD3650 isn't bad at all.

You will find most laptops using nvidia cards are expensive, novatech are worth a look but are slighly out of your price range.

[Barry]

The XPS M1530 does look nice

[Andeh13]

I am in the same boat as you, right down to your excellent choice in game!

I was looking at an Acer (link below) but seeing the Inspiron 1545 it seems better specc'd all round, and cheaper! iv googled the Inspiron but couldnt find those specs for that price, i dont spose you could link me to the laptop could you? thanks

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Aspire-16-in...d_i=B001G7PI2Q


edit; im guessing this is all through dell's web site, however how did you get the Inspiron that cheap? I dont spose you could share the discount code for it could you, if you used one*?

edit2; whats the difference between the graphics cards aswell, i always thought higher the number = better? yet surely the Inspiron doesnt have better graphics than the studio's?

*or did the code Staffsmike posted work for the Inspiron aswell? Hoping it does, brings it into my price bracket that way!

[Barry]

Yes, Dell website with 10% off code

[Andeh13]

Yes, Dell website with 10% off code

Is that the code Staffsmike posted?

thanks again mate

[Lanky123]

edit2; whats the difference between the graphics cards aswell, i always thought higher the number = better? yet surely the Inspiron doesnt have better graphics than the studio's?

Notebookcheck has a fairly complete list of mobile graphics cards. The benchmarks aren't available on all cards but you should be able to draw reasonable conclusions based on specs/benchies for most cards.

http://www.notebookcheck.net/AMD-ATI...0.13973.0.html

http://www.notebookcheck.net/ATI-Mob...50.8839.0.html