Laptop for Uni

Cy_Revenant

I am planning on buying a laptop for university and am looking for some advice from people who might know a thing or two about them.
I am looking for one around the €1000 mark. Though I would pay a bit more to have it last a few years without needing an upgrade.

Hard drive at least 40gb
RAM 512mb to 1gb
DVD RW
Graphics 128mb, but I could do without
Wireless net access, but I'd probably buy a wireless card if that worked out cheaper
Screen at least 14"

I was looking at the Dell 6000, though it seems a bit expensive for what I'm getting, and the Dell 9300, although it's a little out of my price range.

I was also looking into the Packard Bell W3301 at PCWorld as it seems to be cheaper. But I was told that Packard Bells tend to be unreliable and altogether not very good.

Also how fast is the AMD Sempron 3000+ and is it as good as the Centrino? And would it be worth waiting til the January sales to buy?

So, any opinions, ideas or alternatives? Thanks.

commited

Dont touch a Packard Bell

The Dell 6000 is good value with the double memory offers.

Sempron 3000+ is like a Celeron 3Ghz. Not as good as the centrino.

Would you really be able to cope with a 17" screen? I find the portability of a 15.4 a pain.

daywalker

have a look at dell outlet, there are usually some good deals there, just remember to add on vat and delivery to the prices shown.

http://www.dell.ie/outlet

the units sold there are returned or refurbished units

Creamy Goodness

17 inch screens are not portable and my brother is only just realising that now.

he has to use a brief case styled bag to carry his 9300 around which he'd prefer a back pack.

Farcear

I'd recommend a Dell Latitude. They're very portable, and easy to carry around which is one of the most important things for a college laptop. Yes, your ability to play top of the range media might suffer but I think it's worth it.

@Committed: Agreed.

Anything more than a 15" screen and you are going to have problems.


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This does depend on what you are going to be using your laptop for. If you're doing some sort of multimedia course then your requirements will be a bit defferent.

What are you hoping to do?

Cy_Revenant

First off, thanks for the input.

I'm doing a computer course so at the moment I only need it for word processing, internet access and programming, though that might change next year or the year after.
That said I would like it to be able to play most forms of media, and maybe be able to handle a few of the older, less power-hungry games.

sceptre

commited wrote:

Dont touch a Packard Bell

For what it's worth the build quality on the PBs appears to have steadily improved from a few years ago.