New Laptop for my Girlfriend.

[Rookie1986]

Hey Guys,

I'm looking to buy my girlfriend a new laptop for when she returns to Uni this autumn. The laptop is primarily to be used for Uni work obviously but it would also be awesome if it would be able to run "The Sims 3", good for browsing (facebook etc), have good storage for iTunes and support watching DVDs/Blu-Rays.

I've had a look around on a few different website and Dell seem to stand out the most to me but I thought I would be best getting a second opinion before I make my mind up about it. So what would you guys recommend to meet my needs?

Thanks

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Thought I would add this from another forum because it might help people with my needs:


1_What is your budget? - Around £700 tops.

2_What is the size of the notebook that you are considering? - 15" or 17"

3_What screen resolution do you want? - Doesn't matter, my Girlfriend cant tell the difference between standard and HD TV.

4_Do you need a portable or desktop replacement laptop? - I'm unsure what this question means...

5_How much battery life do you need? - The laptop will be used while plugged in around 70% of the time.

6_Do you want to play games with your laptop? If so then please list the games that you want to with the settings that you want for these games. (Low,Medium or High)? - She really enjoys playing "The Sims 3" so something that will run it with no problems and fast loading would be awesome.

7_What other tasks do you want to do with your laptop? (Photo / Video editing,watching movies, Etc.) - The laptop will be used mainly for Uni work but she also like to browse the web, iTunes, e-mail, movies etc etc just the average stuff really no photo editing or anything like that.

8_How much storage (H.D.D Capacity) do you need? - Well it must have space for her iTunes library and some for games and movies so I'm thinking around 60-100GB

9_If you are considering specific sites to buy from, please post their links. - I've been looking at the Sony Vaio site and also the Dell one.

10_How long do you want to keep your laptop? - Well the longer the better lol, a minimum of 2-3 years at least.

11_What kind of Optical drive do you need? DVD ROM/Writer,Bluray ROM/Writer,Etc ? - Would prefer Blu-Ray because we have a lot of movies on Blu-ray but can make do with a DVD drive if need be.

12_Please tell us about the brands that you prefer to buy from them and the brands that you don't like and explain the reasons. - Not a fan of HP, Compaq, Acer and prefer to shop from Samsung, Philips, Sony and Apple for other electronics

13_What country do you live in? - UK

14_Please tell us any additional information if needed. - She loves the colour Purple so a laptop with a purple enclosure would be awesome.

Hope That Helps

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[Tonka777]

I feel your pain, I had to find one for my other half a few months ago - http://forums.hexus.net/hexus-hardware/180646-laptop-play-sims-3-a.html


Ended up getting a Studio 15, with Core i5 M430 and an ATi HD4570. It met the requirements very well, and is a nice machine, but, it has problems keeping the GPU cool when doing anything that uses the 3D clock mode. Had the mainboard replaced once to fix it, but it still gets overly warm.

To keep it cooler, i recommended that she use the power options to lower the clock speed of the GPU. Its a 'longer battery life' vs 'maximum performance' option. this works ok for the Sims, where we also lowered the rendering options, but would not be suitable for anything more intensive. We also got a cooler tray, which makes a tiny difference.

Other than the GPU heat issue, its a good machine, and looks quite nice with the purple cover! Let me know if you need to know anything else about the Studio 15 in particular.

[Iron Sights]

I've not been keeping up to date with laptops but I saw this on hotukdeals

Samsung R620 £499.99

http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Produc...UN&cmpid=COJUN

it might work out cheaper than the dell, but its just a suggestion

edit: oh wait its vista, hmm

[Geralds]

So sorry!

[usxhe190]

Get a Sony Vaio E series. Your GF can pick the colour.

[Rookie1986]

I feel your pain, I had to find one for my other half a few months ago - http://forums.hexus.net/hexus-hardware/180646-laptop-play-sims-3-a.html


Ended up getting a Studio 15, with Core i5 M430 and an ATi HD4570. It met the requirements very well, and is a nice machine, but, it has problems keeping the GPU cool when doing anything that uses the 3D clock mode. Had the mainboard replaced once to fix it, but it still gets overly warm.

To keep it cooler, i recommended that she use the power options to lower the clock speed of the GPU. Its a 'longer battery life' vs 'maximum performance' option. this works ok for the Sims, where we also lowered the rendering options, but would not be suitable for anything more intensive. We also got a cooler tray, which makes a tiny difference.

Other than the GPU heat issue, its a good machine, and looks quite nice with the purple cover! Let me know if you need to know anything else about the Studio 15 in particular.

Oh that doesn't sound too good, the last thing I would want is a laptop thats going to have cooling issues. What colour did you get the housing in?

So sorry!

What??

Get a Sony Vaio E series. Your GF can pick the colour.

The colour options are kinda poor and if I get her to pick the colour then the laptop is no longer a surprise for our anniversary.

[Antagram]

The colour options are kinda poor and if I get her to pick the colour then the laptop is no longer a surprise for our anniversary.

She doesn't have to see the laptop. Just the colour options, a bit like this.



You could consider a laptop skin, but ones I've seen only cover the back of the screen lid. But I'm sure I've seen others that include transfer to go around keyboard. E.g. Lapjacks (just outer lid only by looks)

[Rookie1986]

After talking with a Dell rep tonight I've found out that they are in the process of updating the colours for the Inspiron range and thats why the newer i-3 and i-5 chipped ones no longer offer the Passion Purple housing so I would have to go with an older model if I want to get it in that colour

She doesn't have to see the laptop. Just the colour options, a bit like this.



You could consider a laptop skin, but ones I've seen only cover the back of the screen lid. But I'm sure I've seen others that include transfer to go around keyboard. E.g. Lapjacks (just outer lid only by looks)

Yeah but still, how do I explain having her look at laptop colour options.... it still gives it away lol!

I'm not a big fan of skins to go on the Laptop, they look tacky and would most likely peal on the edges/corners.

[usxhe190]

The colour options are kinda poor and if I get her to pick the colour then the laptop is no longer a surprise for our anniversary.

In that case, just pick the white Sony E Vaio - 15.5 inch screen version. Or the white Apple macbook. No need to get high resolution. She will mostly likely complain the fonts are too small.

[Antagram]

Yeah but still, how do I explain having her look at laptop colour options.... it still gives it away lol!

I meant by using something like a the picture I posted originally, maybe remove the headings from picture. As she's no need to see the product, just the colour options. Similar to picking a paint when you using the selection fobs like this.

[kurosagi01]

I would reconmend getting the dell studio if you want get your girlfriend a good laptop to play sims 3,it has an HD 5470 which should be okay to run it perfectly.
http://configure.euro.dell.com/dells...N0055803&s=dhs
There is this red HP Pavilion DV6-3040sa which is a nice choice aswell:
http://www.saveonlaptops.co.uk/HP_Pa...sa_993943.html