Need help finding the right laptop.

Smellyirishman

Okay, so I am thinking about investing in a laptop for a variety of reasons. It will be handy for college but I am also travelling for 6 months next year and so would like something small and handy to bring with.

I am not 100% sure (as you will see) what it is I want from a laptop so I will throw some things out there and any advice would be great. Budget ranges from as cheap as possible to about 1,000 (Could break this, but I would have to be very convinced). There is no problem going 2nd hand, infact it's encouraged. I have debated for the past year or two if I would like a laptop that could play games or not, I think I have decieded to go without major GFX power in favour of portability/bat life/price etc....

So, I would like;
Decent CPU,
1GB RAM,
Preferably a NON-integrated GPU but if this is counter-productive then I would settle for integrated,
Light weight,
Small size,
Decent battery of course,
Windows - again, unless I can be convinced otherwise,
Wireless LAN.

Ultimatly it will probably be used when I am in college and on the trot so mostly for web, office work, coding and multitasking all three + music etc... but could be used for some photoshop, graphics programming and maybe the odd gaming fling. I would like a responsive laptop not one where I have to wait 3 minutes for the start bar to appear and one that is actually portable.

I guess something like an Inspiron 1300 or a 640m seems promising, although I am not exactly intouch with the laptop world so just had a quick shuffle through dell for an idea.

Webmonkey

I feel like im an agent for laptopsdirect.ie these days but infernous you can't beat their prices.

Look at this for value:

Processor: AMD Turion X2 TL-56 - 1.86GHz, up to 1.6GHz FSB, 2x512KB L2 Cache
RAM: 2048MB DDR2-667MHz
Hard Drive: 120GB Serial ATA 5400rpm
Screen: 15.4" Widescreen TFTwith Crystal View Technology
Optical Drive: DVD±RW
Graphics: ATI Radeon X1100 256MB
Warranty: 1 Year - Upgradeable to 3 Years!
Operating System: Windows XP Home Edition

for €985.29 inc VAT.

Delivery is in 3 days normally. (Two friends got it in this time, myself a bit longer due to credit card details which were my fault)

http://www.laptopsdirect.ie/Fujitsu_Siemens_Amilo_Pa_Laptop_LKN:GBR-102120-004/version-1.asp

thebman

Dell Outlet Store

^Dell for 985 Euro. Insprion XPS M1210 laptop.
EUR 1,246.99 with VAT and 3 year warranty

Thats one of the more expensive ones

There are 2 X 1300's on there but I think the above is a better offer myself for the spec. All the Dell's there have integrated graphics from the outlet store it seems.

There is also this:
Dell online store

Inspiron 6400 which has everything you want default and comes with a 2 year warranty for 1039 Euro. For 60 Euro you can upgrade to a 256MB ATI graphics card X1400 instead of 128MB X1300 which seems like a worthwhile upgrade.

http://www.gadgetspeak.com/gadget/article.rhtm/754/308298/article.html

^ Review of laptop albeit not a great one.

Anyway I think either the above Inspiron 6400 (you'll have to customize yourself, Dell didn't save my changes I dono't think) or webmonkey's recomendation would make good laptops.

I think I'd probably go for the Dell if it was me for the Intel processor and ATI X1400 graphics card but thats just me.

Smellyirishman

Webmonkey wrote:

Look at this for value:

Processor: AMD Turion X2 TL-56 - 1.86GHz, up to 1.6GHz FSB, 2x512KB L2 Cache
RAM: 2048MB DDR2-667MHz
Hard Drive: 120GB Serial ATA 5400rpm
Screen: 15.4" Widescreen TFTwith Crystal View Technology
Optical Drive: DVD±RW
Graphics: ATI Radeon X1100 256MB
Warranty: 1 Year - Upgradeable to 3 Years!
Operating System: Windows XP Home Edition

for €985.29 inc VAT.

Looks good alright, any idea about weight though and battery life? TBH, 2GB and a 120GB SATA is probably a little overkill for what I want. Although I guess if I ever wanted to play games it would certainly come in handy.

brim4brim wrote:

Insprion XPS M1210 laptop

I can't actually see that model there .

brin4brim wrote:

There is also this:
Dell online store
Inspiron 6400

Perhaps a little heavy also? I am not sure, I cannot see the exact weight. (google reveals about 6lbs...not bad)

Those models both seem quite graphics intensive and I think I would be happy to sacrafice GFX for price/portability. If you think they both offer good portability (weight/size/battery life) along with good graphics then that's great.

Thanks for the input so far.

{EDIT} Just remembered after posting that my Dad has the 6400. Went down and had a look, definitly not overly heavy and nicely sized. I think he has the T2400, but integrated GFX, not sure what cell battery. A nice laptop, and may be able to get some € knocked off it if I go through him. Could be on to a winner, although you have already broken my upper 1000 limit!

TempestSabre

The outlet only has good deals only some of the time. So you need to watch it. I got a 640m with a 9 cell battery, dual core, 1GB ram, DVDRW, 80GB HD for about 700 on the outlet. Battery lasts 5-6 hours easily. I'd go with the 1280x800 screen. The 1440x900 is a bit too small IMO.

TerrorFirmer

Webmonkey wrote:

I feel like im an agent for laptopsdirect.ie these days but infernous you can't beat their prices.

Look at this for value:

Processor: AMD Turion X2 TL-56 - 1.86GHz, up to 1.6GHz FSB, 2x512KB L2 Cache
RAM: 2048MB DDR2-667MHz
Hard Drive: 120GB Serial ATA 5400rpm
Screen: 15.4" Widescreen TFTwith Crystal View Technology
Optical Drive: DVD±RW
Graphics: ATI Radeon X1100 256MB
Warranty: 1 Year - Upgradeable to 3 Years!
Operating System: Windows XP Home Edition

for €985.29 inc VAT.

Delivery is in 3 days normally. (Two friends got it in this time, myself a bit longer due to credit card details which were my fault)

http://www.laptopsdirect.ie/Fujitsu_Siemens_Amilo_Pa_Laptop_LKN:GBR-102120-004/version-1.asp

An ok laptop but the X1100 is a very weak card - actually its not a card, its the updated version of the X200 chipset i.e it's integrated graphics. You are talking running current games on low settings, future games out the window. Not recommended for someone who wants to do any gaming.

Try maybe a Dell with an X1300\X1400 - budget cards but vastly better then the X1100 and you could get a good dell on the outlet if you keep an eye out.

I got a laptop in PC World, that they last were selling for 949 euro:

Core Duo T2300
1Gb DDR2 Ram
256MB Geforce 7400
80Gb
Dvd rw
yadda yadda

Good machine and runs bf2142, company of heroes and FEAR combat at medium settings without any problems. Only drawback - its advent, a brand people tend to shy from, but I find it perfectly fine.