Advice on what laptop to buy

Framed10

Hi Guys, I’m looking to buy a new laptop and would value some suggestions and advice. Here are my preferred requirements if possible.

Budget: not yet decided upon (depends what the tax man has to give me back)
I’ll start somewhere around 1200e, although Im not sure if that will be enough for what I’m looking for. It could be stretched.;)

Brand: I was angling towards Toshiba , Dell or sony. Im thinking these are the best options??

OS: XP home will be fine

Memory: 512mb minimum (maybe with option to expand to 1gb at later stage)

Processor: No celeron processors please!
Anything with centrino mobile would be preferable. 1.8Ghz or 2 Ghz if my budget could stretch to it.

TV out

TV Tuner card: One built into the graphics card would be great. Not expert on these but I think there’s the option of it having hardware compression built into it.
Would like to use it to rec TV, and radio stations

Wiresless: I think that’s pretty standard now, wireless USB network card (or do you have to buy one separately?) 802.11b/g I was advised to go for.

USB ports: a minimum of 3 please

Lan port: also the option to plug in overhead projector too

56k modem: again im sure its pretty standard

DVD: rewriter/burner

CD: rewriter/burner

Widescreen: would be nice (15 inch or less other wise im guessing the weight will increase)

Pixel count: 1024 x 768 or 1140 x 960 would be even nicer. Wont be used for gaming, more so music downloading and some use of photoshop, image editing but not a huge amount.

Weight: 5-6lb, no higher would be nice. It will only be carried around from time to time but still I don’t want a block either!

Battery life: 4 hours or more (is that a reasonable ask) I’ll use mains mostly but a decent battery life is still important

Framed10

I know there are quite a few requirements for the laptop but I'm hoping that maybe someone could offer a few recommendations

astec123

Any 15inch laptop will weigh more than your weight limits. My laptop is an Acer with a 15.4 and is about 3.5kg. Acers would be my choice, huge range on offer. As for in built TV tuner it would be unlikely at this price point but dedicated ones are better as they allow you to use the system still without heat issues. Battery life like that is unlikely in a machine of the spec you are asking. Nothing to stop you getting a spare battery.

Framed10

Thanks for the feedback..yeah i dont mind if its in the 3.5kg range as I wont be carrying it all that much.
I've seen a few Acers but I have to say I dont know too much about them.
Its not really your household name or maybe Im wrong
the toshiba F20 range looks quite good
http://uk.computers.toshiba-europe.com/cgi-bin/ToshibaCSG/generic_content.jsp?service=UK&ID=QOSMIO_PRODUCT_COMPARISON

Scráib

Hmmm... It doesn't quite fit your specifications but did you ever think of a mac? iBook possibly? These days its easier to get software for them and the OS is much more stable and generally virus free.

Its a good alternative!

hamster

Helped my sister order this dell widescreen laptop for €1029. Comes with all what you wanted and a DVD burner and 768Mb ram.

Although the extra 256mb offer gone now... probably be back next week

http://configure.euro.dell.com/dellstore/config.aspx?b=&c=ie&cs=iedhs1&l=en&oc=N01606&rbc=N01606&s=dhs&sbc=iedhsrsinspn_6000_2

rainbow kirby

There's a very nice Sony Vaio laptop for about €1300 in Dixons at the moment... 1.7GHz Centrino, 512MB RAM, 60GB (iirc) HDD, nVidia GeForce Go 6600 graphics card and it's a 15" screen... can't remember exact model name, but a relative of mine got it and is very happy