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Thread: £600-£800 lappy

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    lazy student nvening's Avatar
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    £600-£800 lappy

    Im looking for a lappy of £600 - £800.

    I was looking at http://www.cclonline.com/product-inf...pc=pricerunner

    Turons good? Also what screen res am i looking at (me liking widescreen)

    x700 good enough for some games like counter strike?

    Have never really looked at laptops before. Also, i will prob want to add a 512mb ram stick, can i do that without voiding the warrenty?

    EDIT: had a look at the turon CPUs, the names seem to be like MT - 34.

    Is that the same performance (ish) as a 3400+ ?
    Last edited by nvening; 12-09-2005 at 11:26 PM.
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    lazy student nvening's Avatar
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    sos, should be in the portable section
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    Agent of the System ikonia's Avatar
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    I'd advise caution on the turions.

    The two laptops I've seen with them in run super hot and the battery gets eaten big time when in use not plugged in. Acer seem to have jumped up in the reputation scale on laptops although I'm not convinced myself, they have some widescreen models.

    I suppose you'd have to be a little cautious after all, your asking for pretty much close to the latest technology (widescreen high res) in laptop terms, but your not really paying that much, so if you can find a laptop that suits your needs within that budget I'd double check and ask myself "whats wrong with it, or where is the catch"

    Look at the price of a good Thinkpad for example (just a random noted make) and look at what you get for say £1000 and thats nowhere near what your asking for (granted IBM are expensive).

    I'd look at maybe increaing your budget or re-thinking your spec, eg: I assume you need widescreen for movies as most games won't play in widescreen, but you'll have no real need for a say a truion processor, so look at something like a widescreen centrino with an intergrated video card and then fill it up with ram, may save your budget, give you widescreen and give you a bit of battery portabilty too, but again looking around I think your budget is a little shy.
    It is Inevitable.....


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    radix lecti dave87's Avatar
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    I think you're aiming for a desktop replacement system there, or being optomistic to find the best deals. Ill probably be shot for saying this, but I've used a couple of Dell Laptops, and if set up right they will work beautifully. They also have the bonus of being well built and from a reputable company. Worth a look anyhow.

    Dave

    edit - not sure if they are widescreen though....is it that important?

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    My sister has just bought one from *shudders* PC World.

    "Supposedly" BRAND NEW in, AMD64 3500+ , 1024 RAM, cant remember much else apart from ATi Express graphics. Seems alright but as she isnt living with me, i havent been able to put it through its paces. £850, and it looks stunning!

    Found it :

    # AMD Athlon 64 Processor 3500+
    # 2000MHz System Bus
    # 512Kb Cache
    # 1024Mb RAM (2x512Mb)
    # 80 Gb Hard Drive
    # DVD ReWriter MultiDrive
    # 15.4" Widescreen BrightView Display
    # Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition
    # 128Mb ATi Xpress 200M dedicated graphics
    # 1 year FREE warranty

    PC world product code : "R4155"

    Dumb where Lappys are concerned but I'd be happy with it!

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    lazy student nvening's Avatar
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    There are different types of notepad, desktop replacement and ultra portable ones, with a middle ground.
    This is a middle ground pc and so its bigger with less battery life and also they tend to be of slightly less quality as they are not designed to be taken around so much.

    I could get an even more powerfull laptop for the money but it would be huge and have no battery.

    This laptop wont be used mobile much, its more the case of having a portable pc which i can take places and mabe use on the train if i go on it.


    The only thing i am not sure about is the very slow spinning 4200 HDD in it.

    With a 60GB 7200 HDD £60 can i just change the hdd? But im guessing that will void the warrenty? What difference does that make?

    Also, what experiences have peole had with acer? I have only heard good things (good pr men? lol )

    EDIT: Whats better, a 1.8 turon or a 1.7 pentium m?
    Last edited by nvening; 14-09-2005 at 03:41 PM.
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    Theoretical Element Spud1's Avatar
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    1.7 pentium-m i think, should be faster in for most if not all things.

    Acer are a good make for laptops, I know a few people who have them with no problems. If you want a PC laptop though i would defo say look to dell, especially with all the deals that they have on (eg free double mem or free shipping etc) Dell tech support is also pretty good

    Going to be contraversial now - have you considered an ibook/powerbook? You can get a fast 2nd hand one for around 400quid, or brand new for around your budget....

    granted you can't play CS on them but you can play loads of games on them now, eg WoW, Black Hawk Down, Civ3..etc

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    lazy student nvening's Avatar
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    You may be able to play those games on a G5 with that nice 6800 Ultra option but not on the laptops.

    So, is a 1.6 turion not as powerfull as a 1.6 pentium m?

    What are these mobile semprons like?
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    Agent of the System ikonia's Avatar
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    the turions I've seen run super hot and have noisey fans, but as you've cleared up the fact that this isn't really a mobile laptop more a desktop that will sometimes move you may still want to consider it.

    I'd still stick with an Intel M simpley so you do get an element of portability, eg: I saw the turion die in under 2 hours, and that wasn't really being used. the middle ground laptop seems pointless to me unless it really is portible, because if you want a desktop replacment, your going to spend fat cash, and get a brick of a machine as you've said, but the other end won't allow you to play games and the like that you want, so I wouldn't worry about "which one is faster" etc etc as long as they are in the ball park of what you want, as if speed is a genuine concern, you'll end up leaning more towards the desktop replacment.
    It is Inevitable.....


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    lazy student nvening's Avatar
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    OK, i have been looking about, one i have seen and like are the acer ones and an evesham one. The evesham seems to be more expensive but is it better? (as in quality, spec about the same)
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    lazy student nvening's Avatar
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    OK, i have been looking around and have seen this:

    http://www.evesham.com/PCs/Configura...2-2357D7AE063D

    It costs more but i think i can stretch, is it good? Ill go look for a review now.

    EDIT: Hang on a minute, whats better, a 6600 or x700 ?

    EDIT: This looks better yes? http://www.evesham.com/PCs/Configura...4-31B88244B379
    Last edited by nvening; 18-09-2005 at 02:20 PM.
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    For bang per buck and quality, I'd suggest an Acer, and this is coming from someone who's used practically every 'mainstream' laptop under the sun.

    http://www.cclonline.com/categories/NOT-ACR

    I have a Dell Inspiron personally, and they're very good value, but the quality of the TFT screen is disappointing for anything other than office work. Contrast is particularly poor and you can't adjust it. Build quality is also only 'so so'. I wouldn't buy an Inspiron again.
    Last edited by davidstone28; 18-09-2005 at 03:48 PM.

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    lazy student nvening's Avatar
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    any experience with evesham?
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    Agent of the System ikonia's Avatar
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    an ex-school chum has worked there for years....he doesn't own an evesham. Thats all he'll say on the matter
    It is Inevitable.....


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    lazy student nvening's Avatar
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    Ah, this is annoying me.

    I really want a laptop which will play games. Stupid Dell only have a paskey x300 and then a massive jump to a 6800! Grrrrrrr
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    I had the same problem as you a few months back - I wanted laptop for work but I didn't want to pay through the nose, and ideally wanted one that could at least play some games when I'm was stuck in a hotel in the middle of nowhere.

    Have to admit, I coudn't find an ideal compromise in the end - the cheap laptops couldn't play games, the ultralights were mind numblingly expensive, the X700/6800 based laptops were pricey.....so ended buying the cheapest laptop (Dell) I could find, and saved the gaming for when I was back at home with my dekstop.

    BTW, you'd be better off with a 7200rpm drive than a 5400rpm drive, even if its lower capacity and more expensive. You can always externalise if you want capacity - at least that way the HDD isn't bottlenecking everything. 5400rpm drives are truly hideous.

    From the requirements in your post, if I had to plump for something, I'd might go for something like this The X700 isn't that great though - quite good for laptop standards but - only barely 'okay' by normal gaming / desktop standards.



    You would lose a huge amount of 'atmosphere' running a game like Riddick on a X700.



    The X700 will probably be okay for CS:S though (low everything and no AA/AF etc) - its not that demanding a game as you have such a wide variety of settings it wouldn't be difficult to optimise it.

    I've never owned one, but I'm guessing the X700 is somewhere around 6600 (vanilla) / 9700 levels plus knock off a few % for the fact that everything in a laptop is slower.
    Last edited by davidstone28; 18-09-2005 at 10:17 PM.

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