what do i need??

mcowhey

hi im going into 2nd year in college and want to get a laptop ill have about €1300 to spend
ill be lookin to use it for college work just essays and projects and goin on the internet ..ill also use it for my ipod and downloading stuff and for pictures..i also have a video camera so ill be editin videos(but if that hikes up the price a lot might just stick to usin my computer at home for the videos)
im thinkin of gettin a hp or dell but i just dont have a clue what kinda specs ill need anyone have any ideas?
oh aswell id want one thats not too heavy..

majiktripp

I'd go for a middle of the road sized laptop, (15.4" screen) with 1GB Ram,Whatever sized hard drive you want (anything above 60-80GB should be ok,especially as 100GB seems to be the norm now).With that kind of money you can get a good core duo processor so power wise you should be able to do all your tasks very easily..If you wanted to go the gaming route you could look for a laptop with a seperate graphics card rather than onboard graphics but thats upto yourself.Also I advise getting a 3 year warranty on any laptops that people buy (you insure your house/car/property dont you?Why not ensure you'll have a working laptop for 3 years..!)So just browse the Dell site for the 15.4" Inspiron models or... pop into PC World (felt my soul darken as I typed that) and see what they have to offer!

myownslave

majiktripp wrote:

If you wanted to go the gaming route you could look for a laptop with a seperate graphics card rather than onboard graphics but thats upto yourself.

What's the difference between a separate graphics card rather than the onboard graphics? And if I was to go for a separate one, what kinda spec or what kinda card should I be looking for?

TerrorFirmer

myownslave wrote:

What's the difference between a separate graphics card rather than the onboard graphics? And if I was to go for a separate one, what kinda spec or what kinda card should I be looking for?

Depends on what you want. If you don't want to play any games, onboard will do for everything else.

Even for playing older games from say 2002 downwards the Intel GMA will suffice, it comes as standard in all dell laptops and in some others. Another common integrated is SiS graphics - these are fine for basic use, web, dvds, word, all that stuff. For games- forget it. Even worse then the GMA.

If you do really light gaming or play older/less demanding games alot - The Ati X200M or X1100, Nvidia 6150 offer a decent solution light years ahead of the common intel integrated and feature in alot of cheap notebooks and are capable of running even new games on low settings.

For dedicated, you're looking at starting at about 1,100 or thereabouts. But you don't really need these cards unless you're doing either gaming or really heavy multimedia work.

myownslave

HavoK wrote:

Depends on what you want. If you don't want to play any games, onboard will do for everything else.

Even for playing older games from say 2002 downwards the Intel GMA will suffice, it comes as standard in all dell laptops and in some others. Another common integrated is SiS graphics - these are fine for basic use, web, dvds, word, all that stuff. For games- forget it. Even worse then the GMA.

If you do really light gaming or play older/less demanding games alot - The Ati X200M or X1100, Nvidia 6150 offer a decent solution light years ahead of the common intel integrated and feature in alot of cheap notebooks and are capable of running even new games on low settings.

For dedicated, you're looking at starting at about 1,100 or thereabouts. But you don't really need these cards unless you're doing either gaming or really heavy multimedia work.

So you're talking about 1100 Euro for the graphics card alone?! Surely I'm pickin you up wrong?!

MunsterCycling

Yes you are €1100 all in.

Prob a good idea to get the video card option as in a few months time you might want to game (LAN gaming IS addictive) and then you'll be stuck if you went for the option without.

MC

TerrorFirmer

myownslave wrote:

So you're talking about 1100 Euro for the graphics card alone?! Surely I'm pickin you up wrong?!

You can't upgrade laptop video cards - well, you can on some models, but it takes knowledge and skill, and is not easy, so best leave it at "Not upgradable".

I meant 1,100 is the minimum price you can expect to pay for a laptop with a dedicated card - and even then, not a good one, maybe a 7300 or similar.

A machine for decent gaming will set you back about 1,500 - theres no way around it to be honest.

But if you are happy to play games on low or medium settings, 1200 would get you a fine machine.

And if you don't care for games, 800 for thereabouts would get you a nice laptop. But to be honest, from your first post, it sounds like all you'd really need is a Dell 1300 for a cheap lower end model from PC World - starting at about 500 euro. Grand robust laptops with basic specs that are designed for general web, dvd, video, word processing, college use etc.

mcowhey

i was just wondering are HP or Dell laptops better or is there much differnce??

K.O.Kiki

Well the OP is editing video as well, so get the fastest dual-core (CoreDuo or Core2Duo) & harddrive possible.

As for HP vs Dell -- there's no real difference in their laptops other than the specs & warranty.
Have you considered Mac? A Macbook would fall into your pricerange.