Spec me a laptop - ~£400 budget, but can go higher.

-westy- · 18 Oct 2006 at 02:30

As title

Must haves:

Wireless
DVD-RW
I want to use an external hard drive, so connectivity for that (USB 2.0 or Firewire...? I'm out of date!)
Biggest screen possible
Lots of storage space
Lots of RAM

Parents are buying me an early Xmas pressie, but I'm willing to add my own money (£200ish) to the budget, which is £400.

Just model numbers will do, I can research myself. I've looked at Dell online - is it best to buy from manufacturers direct?

edit: I like pretty ones too

I like slim designs, no chunky stuff for me

Thanks lots

-westy- · 18 Oct 2006 at 12:36

Anyone?

smckay · 18 Oct 2006 at 12:47

I was going to put forward the HP NX6325 which at £399 was great value.

However it may now be discontinued!

GuruJockStrap · 18 Oct 2006 at 13:33

You won't be getting anything with 1GB RAM. At that price point, you're looking at 512MB. You can always upgrade the RAM at a later date anyway.

Also, at that price point, you'll be looking at Celeron M based laptops. Storage space will genrally be around the 60-80GB mark. Laptop won't be particularily stylish and certainly not light (2.5KG+)

You should have no problem with getting a 15" Widescreen display (resolution 1280x800), Wi-Fi and a DVD-RW.

Having said all that, I have managed to find this:

TravelMate 2428AWXMi

Intel Pentium-M 735 1.7GHz Processor
14.1" WXGA Widescreen TFT LCD Display
512MB DDR II RAM
60GB ATA/100 Hard Drive
DVD-RW Dual Drive
Ethernet LAN 10/100Mbps
Wireless LAN 802.11b/g
Weight - only 2.35kg
Microsoft® Windows® XP Home

All for £410

You get an excellent mobile CPU (much better than the Celerons in terms of performance and power management) and a more compact/lightweight laptop. Design looks pretty good and thin.

The display might be an inch smaller, but you still get the same resolution as the 15" widescreen and also the depand on the battery will be less too.

-westy- · 18 Oct 2006 at 14:43

That sounds good to me!

What would I be able to get hold of if I upped my budget to £600?

GuruJockStrap · 18 Oct 2006 at 14:59

You'd be looking at dual core with possibly at bigger HD and more RAM.

What do you plan on using the laptop for? If its everything minus gaming then the one I posted will be fine. My Dell 630m is very similar spec and size wise and it does everything I want with utter ease.

Personally don't see the point in spending a further £200 when this £410 laptop will suffice, unless you're planning on gaming or using applications that require dual core.

-westy- · 18 Oct 2006 at 15:26

I watch a lot of films, edit music/video (mostly music) - plus the odd game, wouldn't mind one thats capable of playing newer games either.

GuruJockStrap · 18 Oct 2006 at 16:25

Gaming would mean that budget going up to £700-800.

Energize · 18 Oct 2006 at 16:30

Remember that a big screen means bad battery life and games looking poorer. I agree that £700 is what you will need for decent gaming. Zepto can make a 1.6ghz dual core laptop with a geforce 7600go 256mb for £614, but it would only have 512mb ram, no dvd-rw no wireless and a 40gb hdd.

-westy- · 18 Oct 2006 at 16:37

Its only the odd game, nothing serious tbh, i hardly ever play them. I just want a decent specced laptop for the money

Definate things wanted:

512MB RAM
at least 80 gig hard drive, although I could comprimise on 60.
Wi-Fi
DVDRW
Biggest screen possible.

Energize · 18 Oct 2006 at 16:43

The Acer Aspire 7100 and 7111 are the only <£600 laptops with a 17" screen that I could find, however they have a mass of 3.6kg and 3.68kg respectivley.

Acer Aspire 7111WSMi £566
Intel® Celeron ® M 410 processor (1.46GHz, 533MHz FSB)
1024MB (2*512) DDR2 RAM
80GB hard disk drive
DVD-Super Multi Double Layer drive
17" WXGA+ 200-nit high-brightness Acer CrystalBrite™ color TFT LCD
1440 x 900 pixel resolution
Intel® Graphics Media Accelerator 950

Networking:
56K ITU V.92 modem with PTT approval; Wake-on-Ring ready
10/100/1000Mbps Gigabit Ethernet; Wake-on-LAN ready
Acer InviLink™ 802.11b/g Wi-Fi® CERTIFIED™ solution supporting Acer
Bluetooth® 2.0+EDR

Audio:
Audio system with two built-in speakers
S/PDIF (Sony/Philips Digital Interface) support for digital speakers
Sound Blaster Pro™ and MS Sound compatible
Built-in microphone

Battery:
44W 6-cell Li-ion battery pack
Up to 2.5-hour battery life

Dimensions(WxDxH):
400 x 295 x 31.4/39.9 mm

Weight:
3.68 kg (8.10 lbs.)

Operating System:
Windows® XP Home Edition

GuruJockStrap · 18 Oct 2006 at 16:49

Westy, is portability high on your list? Or will you just have the laptop plugged into the mains all the time?

Also, what is your final budget? Theres a big difference between £400 laptops and £600 ones.

-westy- · 18 Oct 2006 at 17:18

Not too bothered about portability, it'll be plugged into the mains most of the time. The only time i'll use it on the move will be plugged into my car stereo or in a bag, travelling home (in my car)

final budget is £600 max.

GuruJockStrap · 18 Oct 2006 at 19:53

Had a scan around and for that cash you're looking at:

1.66GHz Intel Core Duo
512MB RAM
80GB HD
802.11 ABG Wi-Fi
DVD RW
15.4" Display
Integrated Intel Graphics

-westy- · 18 Oct 2006 at 23:09

What model is that?

GuruJockStrap · 18 Oct 2006 at 23:19

No particular model mate, just what you could get. Dell, IBM, Acer to name but a few all have models for that spec/budget.

Android · 18 Oct 2006 at 23:33

Price = £523.99 Inc VAT

-westy- · 18 Oct 2006 at 23:41

I'm going to have a look around a few shops, see which ones I fancy, then look them up online.

I have a habit of buying things as soon as I see them, but I'm going to do this properly, there's no urgency

Thanks for all your help guys