New Laptop

valor

Hey all - I'm going to college in the Autumn and I want a laptop to bring with me

I want something

a) capable of playing World of Warcraft comfortably
b) light and easy to transport
c) not too expensive

a) and b) are more important since Dad is paying

any recommendations?

Thumper Long

sony have just released a new range of vaio laptops starting at 1399 with a dualformat dvd writer ie + & -, they all run ati/radeon graphics will handle your games comfortably, the models are:

pcg-k215b 1399
pcg-k215m 1699
pcg-k215s 1879 (very nice onyx black widescreen)

you'll get full specs at www.vaio.sony-europe.com

Champ

The Wow OGaming site says this for specs:
What are the system specs for WoW?

Processor: 800MHz or higher CPU.
RAM: 256Mb or more.
Video: GeForce 2 or better
Hard Drive Space: 3Gb or more available.
DirectX 9.0 or above.

Hmmm on the Dell side; i would probably look at an Inspiron 5150 or 8600c. Though i'm definetly certain the 5150 might run into difficulties with DX 9. I'm not sure how compatible the 8600c's ATI M 9600 is with DX 9; though the Pentium M is definetly an asset.

On that note Komplett would be another stop:
http://www.komplett.ie/k/kc.asp?bn=10011
The ATI M 9700s these notebooks pack; do have native support for DX9. Again the Pentium Ms are most welcomed.

Shrimp

Here is the system spec. for WoW:

Processor: 800MHz or higher CPU.
RAM: 256Mb or more.
Video: GeForce 2 or better
Hard Drive Space: 3Gb or more available.
DirectX 9.0 or above.

Here's one which would run it very comfortably:

1)

Mobile Intel® Pentium® 4 Processor (2.80GHz) + 14.1" XGA
FREE Dell 720 Printer
512MB 333MHz DDR RAM (2x256MB)
64MB nVidia GeForce FX Go5200 Video Memory Card
30GB ULTRA ATA-100 Hard Drive
Fixed Internal 24x CDRW/ 8x DVD Combo Drive with Software
Dell USB Optical Mouse
Microsoft® Works 7.0
McAfee Security Centre 90 day Trial Version
Dell Picture Studio - Paint Shop Pro 8.0 (60 Day Trial)
Dell Picture Studio - Photo Album Standard (60 Day Trial)
1Y CAR (Collect and Return )

All this for € 1484, that is a great deal. Also you can customise it to a lower spec. and cut the cost to € 1159 Custimise your laptop

valor

thanks guys

Youssef - sounds good yeah - but after all the horror stories I've heard about Dell I want to stay as far away from them as possible

valor

On the sony homepage I can find PCG-K215S and look at its specs

but when I go to the online-store and search for it it says it isnt there?

http://shop.sonystyle-europe.com/ and search for pcg-k215s

is that just me !?!

Shrimp

Originally posted by valor
thanks guys

Youssef - sounds good yeah - but after all the horror stories I've heard about Dell I want to stay as far away from them as possible

Horror stories... I never heard of any complaints from dell customers... And I am one, three times over. We bought 1 pc for our home computer, then about 2 years later we got another 2 for my dad's work. And so far no complaints (Touch wood), if anything I would recommend them. They have helped us with after sales service and the like.

But could you fill me in on your Bad experiances with dell, just so I am aware of the "Risk".

I would still seriously consider the laptop I showed you, offers like that don't come around that often, also you get a free printer. ( That will come in handy for when you are printing out all those pages of homework which you will get in collage )

Thanks,

Youssef

I also had the same problem with the sony site search.

valor

problems with After Sales service mostly - my Aunt's laptop stopped working after 6 months and it took them * 2 months * to fix it for her. Also, there were major hardware problems with a computer my mate got off them a year back. Maybe its a prejudice I hold, I just dont like them much

Although I agree that the free printer would be handy!

Thumper Long

the sony site can be slow to update these models are only on the market about ten days i had mine in pre-order since may, great machine if u can get one pcg-k215s the mM is a fairly similar spec but just not widescreen.

secret_squirrel

You're better off with a centrino based lappy. Games performance is limited by the Gfx card in a lappy so the pentium-m's in centrinos perform just as well as P4's. See here

A p-m is roughly equal to a p4 thats 1Ghz more faster eg 1.6 p-m = 2.6ish P4.

As a bonus you will get much better battery life, a smaller lighter and quieter laptop. No roaring fans unlike some desktop replacements.

I just bought one of these babies for cheap money. You might want to find something with a sub 14" screen if you are truely concerned about portability.

[edit] just a warning about sony's - you're paying (lots sometimes) extra for looks and pose value. Having said that I narrowly lost out on an vaio Z1XSP yesterday ;-) [/edit]

valor

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=3713&item=3492905416&rd=1

what you guys think?

Shrimp

That look's like a great buy. but you said you do not want a dell, as they break down. but if this one breaks down there is no chance you will have an after sales service, i am sticking to my gun and i'd say go with the dell i showed ya. and all you have to do then is stick a Mini-PCI Wireless card in and you have yourself a brilliant laptop.

Any don't go for a centrino, just pop a pci-wireless card in and it does the job(cheaper too). Go for the dell i showed ya... not a second hand one of ebay, that has no after sale's

eth0_

Originally posted by Y o u s s e f
That look's like a great buy. but you said you do not want a dell, as they break down. but if this one breaks down there is no chance you will have an after sales service, i am sticking to my gun and i'd say go with the dell i showed ya. and all you have to do then is stick a Mini-PCI Wireless card in and you have yourself a brilliant laptop.

Any don't go for a centrino, just pop a pci-wireless card in and it does the job(cheaper too). Go for the dell i showed ya... not a second hand one of ebay, that has no after sale's

Er.... If you're talking about PC card, that just draws more power. Centrino has it's wireless jiggery pokery incorporated into the processor, so it's more economical when it comes to battery use.

As for Dell - don't go near them. Ugly, bulky, over-priced laptops with the worst after sales support i've ever experienced. Unless you're a huge company, they don't care at all if your machine breaks down. The company I work for now and the company I worked in previously moved from Dell to HP machines because the Dell's were so unreliable and the hardware support abysmal (tech support in India with bad English and even worse grasp of logging calls and dispatching engineers).

secret_squirrel

I personally wouldbnt touch it. Its an older processor, also not a P-M, You're getting less power (than a 2.8 or 3 P4m) with no saving in battery life.

There are also WAY better deals on Ebay than that. (the one I bought was only 100 yo-yos more and is way better specced)

Point on support yousseff - its still under warrantee acording to the blurb so that wont be an issue.

Etho - you're wrong - the centrino wireless adaptor usually actually sits in a custom socket on the laptop motherboard. (Pure chip based radio transeivers are still a few years off- intel are beavering away tho)

It might be fair to say that a centrino branded laptop will consume slightly less power than a P-M laptop with a generic PC-Card wireless card in it though.