Recommend me a laptop

steveland?

I'm looking to buy a laptop soon with something along the lines of the following specs. I've got around €600 to play with. Anyone know the best site to buy from or even a shop I can go to that'll sell something along these lines and can recomment a laptop?

I'll mainly be using it for surfing, msn, watching movies etc... that kinda thing

The main thing that I'm looking for is decent battery life because I'll be using it a lot in college next year (my final year) for doing my project and using it in lectures.

I'll be installing compilers and stuff on it for programming and also be doing some web design on it.

• Processor: Don't really care, something that'll handle Photoshop or something, won't be doing anything that CPU intensive with it
• Memory: Around the 512MB range
• HDD: Anything around 40GB, don't really need a lot of space as I'll be networking it with my PC so I'll be able to share files
• GFX: Doesn't really matter... don't play games or anything so shared graphics would do
• Battery: The main concern. Need a good battery with at least 2.5 hours
• CD/DVD: Only need it to read DVDs, if I need to write them I'll use my pc
• Wireless: 802.11b/g

If anyone has any recommendations on a laptop it'd be much appreciated

forbairt

new or used ?

The current dell inspiron thats doing the rounds in bargain alerts will do the job ... costs around 530 ... with dvd writer ... wireless extra life batter ...

the only thing I find is .. its rather bulky so not ultra portable ... haven't installed photoshop on it .. but I've got the trial version here .. so can maybe have a look in the next day or two ...

steveland?

Preferably new (battery is the major thing I'm going for)

Having a gander on the Dell Outlet store for Inspirons...

Are Outlet laptops "good as new" or will they have been used a lot. Like will the battery in them be just as good as new

spartacus93

steveland? wrote:

Are Outlet laptops "good as new" or will they have been used a lot. Like will the battery in them be just as good as new

I understood they were cancelled or changed orders and had not, or very barely been used.

Shouldnt effect battery life

steveland?

Cheers, definitly going to go with one from the outlet store then...

Now, what processor would people recommend. I'll be using wireless a lot so is a Celeron the best bet or is it Centrino that's the one that likes wireless?

Bah

Go with a Centrino for wireless - the name "Centrino" doesn't really describe the processor as such, but really the combintion of an intel processor, chipset and WiFi card.

If you're looking in the Outlet, they have some good deals on Core Duo Centrino inspirons, which are the newest ones available.

steveland?

Bah wrote:

Go with a Centrino for wireless - the name "Centrino" doesn't really describe the processor as such, but really the combintion of an intel processor, chipset and WiFi card.

If you're looking in the Outlet, they have some good deals on Core Duo Centrino inspirons, which are the newest ones available.

Cheers Bah.

A bit confused by the Dell outlet. Are all of the Inspirons on it Core Duo Centrinos?

Intel® Centrino® Duo Mobile Technology1
More Details

This is above the selection of laptops but none of the laptops shown explicitly say Duo on them.

Any particular ones to search for that have this kind of processor/chipset/wifi combination?

Bah

steveland? wrote:

A bit confused by the Dell outlet. Are all of the Inspirons on it Core Duo Centrinos?
Any particular ones to search for that have this kind of processor/chipset/wifi combination?

No, not all of them are Core Duo, or Centrino. You really just have to look through them manually, just search for "Inspiron" wthout any other details, then go through the list looking for processors that start with "P1-" - they're core duos. It's hard to tell from the outlet website if they're centrinos, since you need to kno if they have an intel chipset (likey) and an intel wi-fi card (not too sure).

steveland?

Good stuff, I'll order one during the week depending on what appears on the outlet site in the meantime.

On a side note does anyone know what the deal is with VAT from the Dell Outlet?

I know shag all about VAT and tax and that malarky but am I right in assuming that VAT only applies to businesses (those who are registered for VAT) and I should be paying what's advertised before VAT but obviously paying delivery charges?

Sleepy

Afraid you've got that backwards steveland?, Businesses that are registered for VAT are exempt from paying it so you'd be paying the VAT-inclusive price (unless your Dad has a company you could buy the laptop through )