Buying a new laptop

Patricide

Ok im buying me a new laptop for collage and i have around 1500 to to a strectched ABSOLUTE MAXIMUM of 1700. Although im gonna be using it for collage work its also gonna be used for gaming, graphic design a bit of recording and some movie editing.

After some thinking i think ive settled on the fact that the Asus G1S gaming laptop (Link here http://www.laptopsdirect.co.uk/Asus_G1S_Gaming_Laptop_G1S-AK005C/version.asp ) is about my best bet here, its got everything i need i feel spec wise plus its a real looker and has a nice small screen to make it pretty portable.

Anyway problem is on that site its 1800 euro so the problem for me is the cash thing. I found a few places selling it for 1500 but they are german sites which cannot be translated into english and im a bit weary of that kind of thing plus i have no idea on the delivery costs. Anyway i was just wondering if anyone knows a good place to get that laptop on the cheap thats in english. If someone could help me out here itd be savage cause ive been searching for the lalst hour and ive got nothing so far.

O yea any alternitive laptops youd recomend over it if you can think of one would be good too.

Thanks in advance guys.

Sephiroth_dude

THATS a dam nice laptop :O

TerrorFirmer

Dell Vostros currently have 8600MGT (same card as the G1) and 2GB of Ram as well for 800 euro. For that price the CPU isn't as strong as the G1, but to be honest it's the GPU that is always the bottleneck anyway so it's not as important to consider when you're looking for a gaming laptop and both will offer similar performance, apart from the fact that you'd be paying double for the G1. The G1 is nice but too expensive in my opinion. Unless your looking for something you can brag about (like an Asus G1 then you won't beat the Deal for performance for that price - anywhere.

dulpit

I ordered a Dell Vostro other day with very similar specs.

The specs for your asus are:

* Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo T7500 - 2.2GHz (x2), 800MHz FSB, 4MB L2 Cache
* RAM: 2GB DDR2-667MHz
* Hard Drive: 160GB Serial ATA 5400rpm
* Screen: 15.4" Widescreen TFT (1680x1050 - 16:10)
* Optical Drive: DVD Super Multi LightScribe
* Graphics: NVidia GeForce 8600M GT DDR3 256MB - Supports DirectX 10
* Wireless LAN: 802.11a/b/g/n
* Bluetooth: Bluetooth Enabled
* Weight: 2.8kg
* Warranty: 2 Year Collect and Return - Upgradeable to 3 Years!
* Operating System: Windows Vista Home Premium
* Gigabit Ethernet 10/100/1000
* Built-In 1.3 MegaPixel Camera
* Free Gaming Mouse and Carry Case Backpack

Total Price (inc. VAT & Delivery): £1239.97 (approx €1,826.63)

With the Vostro you could get:

* Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo T7500 - 2.2GHz (x2), 800MHz FSB, 4MB L2 Cache Exact Same
* RAM: 2GB DDR2-667MHz Exact Same
* Hard Drive: 160GB Serial ATA 5400rpm Exact Same
* Screen: 15.4" Wide Screen WXGA+ (1440 x 900) Display with TrueLife™ Slightly Different
* Optical Drive: Fixed Internal 8X DVD+/-RW Drive No Lightscribe
* Graphics: NVidia GeForce 8600M GT DDR3 256MB - Supports DirectX 10 Exact Same
* Wireless LAN:Intel® Next-Gen Wireless-N Mini-Card - Europe Same thing
* Bluetooth: Bluetooth Enabled Same
* Weight: ? I dunno
* Warranty: 1 Year Business Hardware Suppose less than the Asus, you can upgrade to 2 years for €119.00
* Operating System: Windows Vista Business You can upgrade to Ultimate for €50, ot go to Home Premium too, dunno how much that is (i think it costs less)
* Built-In 2.0 MegaPixel Camera Better
* Carry Case Backpack No Mouse

Total Price (inc. VAT & Delivery): €1147.79



So basically with the Dell you are getting a very similar machine, with a shorter warranty and slightly worse screen, but for €700 less...

There is a small delay with them (3 weeks at mo.) though... Check out the Vostros here.

Villain

Jesus that dell machine is serious value for money! WTF?

Villain

Just looking at that Dell again, the cost of putting in 2*2GB sticks of RAM to give you 4GB is an extra €420 ex vat!! thats crazy you can buy that RAM for about €200 ex vat online.

godtabh

irish1 wrote:

Just looking at that Dell again, the cost of putting in 2*2GB sticks of RAM to give you 4GB is an extra €420 ex vat!! thats crazy you can buy that RAM for about €200 ex vat online.

Thats how Dell make a lot of their money

Patricide

Woa Class lads you made me dodge a bullet there, the asus may look pretty nice but not nice enough to warrant that price tag when the vostro has the same specs. Nice one lads.

TerrorFirmer

You get can the Vostros even cheaper if you change to basic 1 year warranty...

cormie

Havok, I rarely look at posts in this forum, but I've already seen you recommend Vostros about 3 times already:) What's the deal with them are they new and how come they are so cheap? Are they definite value for money or can the same deals be found elsewhere quite easily by the likes of Acer/Alienware or whoever else makes good laptops?

Zaltais

dulpit wrote:

I ordered a Dell Vostro other day with very similar specs.

<snipped>

* Graphics: NVidia GeForce 8600M GT DDR3 256MB - Supports DirectX 10 Exact Same

This is not quite true...

The ASUS G1 has: NVidia GeForce 8600M GT DDR3 256MB
The Dell Vostro has: NVIDIA GeForce 8600M GT with 256MB DDR2 dedicated graphic memory

So the speed of the memory on the graphics card in the ASUS is quite a bit faster, and the benchmarks do certainly suggest that this does make a significant difference. However, the likelyhood of this being a significant difference in all but the most taxing of games is; IMO, quite low.

Personally, I think the near 700 quid saving is worth the somewhat inferior card...

art

The other big difference between the Vostros and practically any other laptop is the long wait for Dell laptops, if you order one know you can expect to be around six weeks waiting for delivery. Whereas you can get a laptop off dabs in a few days.

AlmightyCushion

art wrote:

The other big difference between the Vostros and practically any other laptop is the long wait for Dell laptops, if you order one know you can expect to be around six weeks waiting for delivery. Whereas you can get a laptop off dabs in a few days.

I think this is because off the popularity of the vostro range. When I bought my inspiron off them in October, I was only waiting about a week.

art

AlmightyCushion wrote:

I think this is because off the popularity of the vostro range. When I bought my inspiron off them in October, I was only waiting about a week.

No, it's a problem dell are having meeting demand for laptops in general, they are having problems sourcing components and also with stuff like paint finishes - it affects inspirons, xps and vostro laptops. It's mentioned elsewhere on the forum.

AlmightyCushion

art wrote:

No, it's a problem dell are having meeting demand for laptops in general, they are having problems sourcing components and also with stuff like paint finishes - it affects inspirons, xps and vostro laptops. It's mentioned elsewhere on the forum.

I haven't seen anything aboout delays in other ranges but I have seen loads about delays in the vostro range so I just presumed it was the vostros.