Buying a new laptop.. Is this the best i can get?

[realm]

Hi,

Right i am going to buy a new laptop and have come to one of these:


Inspiron 6000 Laptop
Pentium M 2.0Ghz,
15.4" Ultra Sharp Widescreen Display,
1024MB RAM, 80GB,
8xDVD+/-RW, Modem,
64MB ATI Radeon X300 Graphics,
Wireless Enabled,
Windows XP Home Edition,
1 Year Collect and Return Warranty.
£704 (inc vat&del)

........................................

Dell Inspiron 6000 Laptop
15.4" Widescreen Display
Pentium M 750 1.86Ghz
1024MB RAM, 60GB
Modem, 8xDVD+/-RW
64MB ATI Radeon X300
Wireless Enabled
Win XP Media Center Edition
£649 (inc vat&del)
........................................

Dell Inspiron 6000 Laptop
15.4" Widescreen Display
Pentium M 760 2.0Ghz
1024MB RAM, 60GB
Modem, 8xDVD+/-RW
128MB ATI Radeon X300
Wireless Enabled
Win XP Media Center Edition
Dell 720 Inkjet Printer
£799 (inc vat&del)

So my question is the 128MB ATI Radeon X300 with 64meg ram more worth an extra £150 and also is there anything else with similar specs that is better/cheaper.

Cheers,
RealM

[sawyen]

X300 is crap to begin with.. but really depends wat ur thinking of doing with this laptop..

Gaming, then even a 512MB X300 wont cut it... let alone 128MB... ohh! and £150 for 64MB more aint worth it..

You could try getting from Rock Direct, they sell gaming laptops and they have older P4 models with a Go 6800Ultra installed that cost like £800ish if I remember correctly.. Its under their value section, not them Pegasus (actually it WAS a pegasus until it was rebranded as a value notebook).

Go 6800Ultra laptops should keep you happy for a while, unless you're willing to chip in £500 more for those that run Go 7800GTX

Then again, getting P4 laptops will mean silly battery life, very sweaty arms (due to the piping hot armrest thanks to a 3.6Ghz P4), and the quality of carrying something thats as heavy as ur neighbours dead orang utan..

[nichomach]

Honking big 17" 1440x900 with X700 graphics, perhaps?
Dabs Linky
Amilo A3667 - Specification

AMD Turion 64 ML32 Processor 1.8GHz

1024MB Memory (2 x 512MB)

60GB Hard Disk

17" WXGA Widescreen TFT (1440x900)

DVD±RW Dual Layer

Windows XP Home Edition & Works 8.0

4 x USB (version 2.0)

Built-in 56K, V92 fax modem

Integrated wireless LAN (WLAN) 802.11b/g

8 cell Li-Ion battery

ATI Mobility Radeon X700

4 in 1 Card Reader SD/MS/MMC/MSPRO

1 Year UK Warranty - courier collect & return

4kg in weight, though, not in stock now, 30 due in 1-2 weeks. £814.99 inc VAT
Specs'n'stuff

[jamena]

of course if you don't plan to play games or do any serious 3d rendering on the thing then don't worry about the graphics card...

Same goes for the ram I reckon. 1024 would be nice, but if you're not likely to tax the laptop with heavy programs (graphics, large spreadsheets, excessively large word documents, games, 3d-rendering, etc) you might get by fine on 512!

keep an eye on the Bargains.hexus section - LOADS of recent dell reductions on laptops. Think the 600m was avail for under 500 not so long ago and I've seen an ad in the paper for the 1300 at only 299! remember to typew in the value codes...

...imho

personally I considered the gaming laptop route and decided that if I was going to get a lpatop I'd want the lightest, thinnest possible thing that could run work-type apps. Just can't afford it!

[realm]

I already have a good home rig which is fully packed to play games but i get it into my head that i want a good laptop when i don’t need a really need good one. But have to treat my self now and again and is handy just in case 

The option from Dabs seems good but never had any experience with AMD Turion 64 ML32 Processor 1.8GHz are they any good and as good as the Pentium M 760 2.0Ghz also did not really want a 17" monitor due to weight.

[sawyen]

Depends really, Turion and PtMs are pretty comparable in terms of performance clock for clock, but PtMs are abit better in terms of minimal power usage.. PtMs tends to work a tad longer compared to Turion based systems..

But I can tell you that an X300 is crap... its the crappiest of all crappy gfx chips.. maybe a little overexaggerated but hey... it is crappy.

Go for the X700, although the performance is still low.. at least u can play last generation's games with medium settings and all..

17'' versions are VERY VERY heavy, not sure about Fujitsu, but DELL's 17'' 9000 series are as heavy as petrol drums..

But at least u wont get swaety hands thanks to Turion and CnQ..

[jamena]

I already have a good home rig which is fully packed to play games but i get it into my head that i want a good laptop when i don’t need a really need good one
...<snip>...
did not really want a 17" monitor due to weight.

I know precisely where that's comnig from! Therefore I re-aimed my laptop yearnings at the ultra-light/portable models. I've got a 15" toshiba tecra M2 from work and I have to say that even this would be on the annoying side of "heavy" if I was carrying it to and fro on a daily basis. Have you seen those 12" widescreen samsungs? Now one of those I could handle!