Laptop advice on a £600 to £700 budget

[Datamonkey]

i get about 2.5 hours out of it, but thats normally playing civ4 and suring the web with wireless.

not brill, you can get a 9cell battery for it also.

 

[paul8811]

I am also looking for up laptop upto £700 but want something small all these mentioned appear to be on the large side. If anyone knows the Dell x300 it would be that size, I use the Dells at work & no way would buy one for home use!

 

[Datamonkey]

hey paul,

not sure if your going to get much thats small and light with any kind of umph for that price range sadly.

Smaller usually means a bigger dent on the wallet.

 

[eveyuk]

Dell Inspiron 6400

Media Accelerator 950 Graphics Up to 256MB shared graphics memory
1GB ram in one strip
Intel ® Core™ Duo Processor T2300 (1.66 GHz, 2 MB L2 cache, 667 MHz FSB)
60GB (5,400 rpm) Hard Drive
Win Xp pro
15.4" UltraSharp™ W Screen SXGA+ TFT Display resolution: 1680x1050 with TrueLife™

£693.

 

[Slap]

Went for ther Dell =)

I went and had a look at various laptops with my wife yesterday and it was soon apparent that a 17” screen size was way to big for her; she was more than happy with the 15.4 size. We popped into the Sony shop and I was impressed with the weight, screen quality and style of the laptops…The Sony prices brought me back down to earth though… =)

In the end I went for the Dell based on the specs and bang for buck and also managed to pump the specs up (better quality screen, larger HD, Bluetooth, XP Pro ) by trading off the free printer and USB memory stick and paying a little extra.


This is what I ordered:
Inspiron 6400
Intel ® Core™ Duo Processor T2300 (1.66 GHz, 2 MB L2 cache, 667 MHz FSB) XP Pro, SP2 (with the disk):
1 Year Collect and Return service only
Dell® Media Experience 3.0 Basic
1024MB 533MHz DDR2 SDRAM (2x512)
80GB (5,400 rpm) Hard Drive SATA
15.4" UltraSharp™ W Screen SXGA+ TFT Display resolution: 1680x1050 with TrueLife™
Intel® Media Accelerator 950 Graphics Up to 256MB shared graphics memory
Fixed Internal 8X DVD+/-RW Drive with Software
6-cell , 53 WHr Li-Ion primary battery (optional)
Microsoft® Works 7.0
65W AC Adapter
Internal Keyboard - UK/Ire (QWERTY)
Internal 56K v.92 Capable Fax Modem
Intel® Pro WLAN 3945 Internal Wireless (802.11a/b/g 54 Mbps) for Duo Processors Dell Wireless 350 Bluetooth 2.0 Module (up to 3 Mbps) with Enhanced Data Rate
Kensington Pilot Mouse Mini - Wireless
And usual trial bloatware…

From what has been posted here I realise that the Dell will most probably be a little plasticky when compared to other brands, but this is not an issue with us as long as the screen quality and specs are on good.

I’ll post back when it arrives/got it set it up with my initial assessment.


Thanks for all the advice and comments guys.


S!ap

 

[GuruJockStrap]

Don't know why Dell get knocked for their laptops. Desktops system fair enough but I think the laptop range is ok.

A work friend of mine purchased an Inspiron 1300 and I must admit that felt plasticy.

I purchased my Inspiron 630m around 2 months ago and at the time, no other laptop spec came close to the £450 I ended up paying to Dell.

Best thing about it is the battery life life. Can get approx 4.5 hours from the 6 cell battery. I expect close to 5 hours after I've reduced the voltages.

 

[eveyuk]

What was the cost Slap?

 

[lemonkettaz]

yeh slap that inspiron 6400 looks like a nice spec

 

[Slap]

Hi eveyuk, it came to £839.87 (delivered & including vat)

A tad over budget I know, but apparently you only live the once... I suppose the flip side is that I can finally get to use my desktop PC all to myself...<maniacal laughter>





PS thx lemonkettaz.