Money to spend choices to make.

[Trippledence]

I have £1133.58 to spend on a laptop, but I can go over that a bit out of my own pocket, and I'm not sure what to get. So many things are in the air. I need to be powerful as far as prosessing is concered, so I am set on a Core2Duo and at least 1024mb of ram, any idears on the ones that are on my current list? Also to make things tricky it needs to have a three year warrenty.

1.
http://www.acernotebooks.co.uk/Acer_...14/version.asp

Powerful and about average weight for a 15" laptop, well under budget so I can get a carry case or something was well - yay.

2.
http://www.laptopshop.co.uk/Fujitsu_...aptop-4-n2.htm

Less powerful and not a Core2, but its Tiny! 1.8kg which is very appealing and still meets my minimum 1024 ram spec, a little over budget with the warrenty added on. No dedicated graphics tho' which is a shame but not an issue.

3.
http://www.shoplaptop.co.uk/sess/utn...3D252ECEK%3D29

Small and dedi graphics, and within price range.

4.
http://www.asuslaptop.co.uk/proddeta...op_A8Jn-4P001M
Small again, 14" gives a bit more space plus room in the budget for some upgrades.

Any suggestions would be greatfuly appriciated as well as feedback.

[Pennycook]

Do you intend to cycle with your laptop in your bag? Having a whole kilogram less on your back is likely to be a lot better. As for the carry case, I got mine for £20; it's not that big a deal.

Aside from the weight issue, I'd say the Acer looks like better value for money; twice the harddrive space and a better resolution, not to mention a free Vista upgrade and built in webcam.

Imho, if the weight's likely to cause you problems, Fujitsu; otherwise, Acer.

[Trippledence]

3Kg isnt exactly that much weight unless you have the thing on your lap, after some more seaching I have found about a billion other laptops that kinda fit my spec, sigh.

[gt81]

I see you're interested in an Acer as well. My heart is (almost) set on the new Acer 5685, which is a notch above the 5684 but without MS works bundled (which I can live without). It has faster Core 2 Duo processer (2 gig) and the GF7600 has 256mb of dedicated VRAM as opposed to 128/128.

Only place I've seen it in stock as yet is Comet, but their online price is the cheapest I've seen @ 950 quid (and they do a collect-from-store service too.)

[Trippledence]

Do you have a link to that? It's in budget, I think

[gt81]

Do you have a link to that? It's in budget, I think

Unfortunately my postcount isn't yet big enough that I'm allowed to post URLs, I'll try PM'ing it but if that doesn't work just go to Comet's main page, where there should be a link direct to laptops under most popular laptops and you should be able to find it there.

[Trippledence]

That does look interesting gt81, thanks for the link; http://www.comet.co.uk/cometbrowse/p...=specification Which is ther is any one else wants to look. Might pop down to Comet in Truro as they supposedly have one. Pain not been able to get an externded warrenty as cheaply as acerlaptops.co.uk.

[Trippledence]

I went for an Asus with the same spec as the acer, however it has much better battery life and only 1GB of ram. Should still be fine for my needs.

[gt81]

Which one did you opt for in the end? I've looked at and considered Asus' laptops as well, but the ones I looked at had only 1gig ram and 120gb hard disk. Some websites offer low cost double memory upgrades but you have to call them for a figure. What graphics card does your Asus have?

[Trippledence]

http://www.asuslaptop.co.uk/proddeta...op_F3Jp-AP040P < Linky

Only 1gig of ram and a 120HD like you say, but the acers only promice 2hrs of battery life, and this is quoted at twice that, which is rather appealing. If I was spending my own money I would have opted for something a bit cheaper however.

[gt81]

That model (but with Windows MCE) was one of my preferred alternatives. Battery life isn't too important for me as I plan to use mine as a desktop replacement. However, despite my good credit history I got declined a loan from Northern Rock, so I might have to put my plans on hold for the time being.

[Trippledence]

Taking out a loan for a computer isnt alwase the best idear imo, seen as the deprisation in the equipment could equal the interest and you end up paying even more, I saw some nice 17" HP Media PC's for &#163;<900 while looking around, might be worth a look.

[gt81]

Taking out a loan for a computer isnt alwase the best idear imo, seen as the deprisation in the equipment could equal the interest and you end up paying even more, I saw some nice 17" HP Media PC's for £<900 while looking around, might be worth a look.

Not powerful enough. Loan interest was about 5.9% or closer to 15% with full protection, but got turned down so it's a bit academic now.