Laptop Advice (sorry!)

Pac1Man

Hi. I'm looking for a laptop and it will be my first so I'm not really up-to-date on all of the specs advertised.

What I'll be using it for: MS Office, Auto-Cad (although I'm not sure if it's possible to run this on laptops?), Internet (so a good wireless setup is needed) and iTunes.

I want Windows 7 and a nice chunk of memory would be nice too!:)

Reliability is important too although I know it's sometimes pot luck when it comes to laptops.

Budget: I'm not really sure but I suppose I'll be expecting to pay €500-€800.

I know I'm being very specific but I'd just like to get some ideas before some salesperson tries to push a laptop on me that I'm not quite sure about.

muchas gracias:)

Gavin "shels"

I got an Acer Aspire 5536 laptop there last much, was €400 in PC World due to 20% being off it as it was Vista (free Windows 7 upgrade from acer though).

Basics:

AMD Turion X2
(2.2Ghz, 3600MB,1MB)
Windows Vista Home Premium
4GB Memory Size
500 Gb Hard Drive Capacity

Intergrated webcam and mic, quality bulit in speakers (Dolby Home Theater Virtual Surround Sound). Good wirless (picks up my internet connection which is a good 20 feet away through 2 walls and I still get full connection).

I run iTunes, Internet, Office, few progamming programs, MSN and usually a few other things at the same time and it's still great and fast. Not sure what Auto-Cad needs to run properly, but sure the experts on here will they you.;)

Pac1Man

Thanks for the reply. I've heard Acer have gotten good reviews lately, don't know much about them though.

Not being able to use AutoCad wouldn't be a deal breaker. I could always just use the computers in college. It would just be a preference.:)

garbear

everyone says alot of bad stuff about dell, but I found there laptops to be the best laptop when your not looking to splash out. I got the new Dell insprion 15 for just 400euro online 3 months ago and it has being perfect for me so far, and before this laptop I had the older dell inspiron 6000 that lasted me 3 years without any problems.

.

Pac1Man

My God this is harder than I thought! Took a trip to PC World and Curry's today to seek some advise. Nobody knows what they're talking about in those shops. Any question I asked, I just got a reply like "Hold on and I'll check" or "Ah yeah, that should be grand" :eek: Not what I want to hear. I came out more confused than when I went in:(

What I need is someone who is un-biased and knows what they're talking about, to tell to 'buy this one'. In an ideal world I know.

I might head up to Harvey Norman to see if they're any better.

I specced a Dell Studio 17 online to the bare requirements I want and it came out at just over €800. Now, I don't know if I'd be paying over the odds or maybe thats just what I'll have to shell out.

All I want is a good graphics card, Windows 7 and just a decent spec overall. I don't need a massive hard drive as I'll be buying an external one anyway so around 250GB would do. All of of this from a reliable manufacturer. (hmm, maybe I am asking for too much!).

Anyone have any more ideas before I head up tomorrow??

Thanks for the replies so far.

Tiriel

Hiya - I'm looking for a similar laptop to yourself - how did you get on if you don't mind me asking?

Overheal

Pac1Man wrote: »

My God this is harder than I thought! Took a trip to PC World and Curry's today to seek some advise. Nobody knows what they're talking about in those shops. Any question I asked, I just got a reply like "Hold on and I'll check" or "Ah yeah, that should be grand" :eek: Not what I want to hear. I came out more confused than when I went in:(

What I need is someone who is un-biased and knows what they're talking about, to tell to 'buy this one'. In an ideal world I know.

I might head up to Harvey Norman to see if they're any better.

I specced a Dell Studio 17 online to the bare requirements I want and it came out at just over €800. Now, I don't know if I'd be paying over the odds or maybe thats just what I'll have to shell out.

All I want is a good graphics card, Windows 7 and just a decent spec overall. I don't need a massive hard drive as I'll be buying an external one anyway so around 250GB would do. All of of this from a reliable manufacturer. (hmm, maybe I am asking for too much!).

Anyone have any more ideas before I head up tomorrow??

Thanks for the replies so far.

The Irony of the Retail PC Industry, nobody wants to hire Tech Savvy individuals: We know too much. I'd sooner tell a punter about OpenOffice than try and upsell Microsoft Office - and stupidly admitting that, cost me the interview at CompuStore Carlow

Managers hire eejits who will tow the company line and tell people anything they need to hear to push a unit out the door for the maximum possible profit. Ive read enough Best Buy confessions to make me sick.

Obviously B&M Shops get wholesale rates but they also mark em up, so its hard to really compete with just going online and getting one from dell direct or something.

This one might be worth investigating though. While the processor power seems light, its Graphics option is quite beefy and even has a Hybrid mode for top notch power saving (on AC Power it runs a nvidia g210m chip, on Battery it runs a low voltage intel graphics chipset) which gives it remarkable battery life: 10 hours+. And comes with a 2 year global warranty standard and plenty of Memory.

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2355052,00.asp

http://uk.asus.com/ (.ie site "Under Construction")

# Type: General Purpose, Media, Value
# Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium
# Processor Name: Intel Core 2 Duo SU7300
# Processor Speed: 1.3 GHz x2
# RAM: 4 GB DDR3
# Weight: 4.7 lb
# Screen Size: 14.1 inches
# Screen Size Type: widescreen
# Graphics Card: nVidia GeForce G210M
# Storage Capacity: 320 GB
# Networking Options: 802.11n
# Primary Optical Drive: External

kdaly100

My 10 year old is VERY tech savvy (not a joke. He has been saving for over 8 months to get a laptop and now has approx 700 Euro to spend.

He is going for a Toshiba (he dabbled with the idea of an Apple but changed his mind) as it has a solid spec - is a bit heavier but has gotten good CNET reviews.

A simple rule of thumb is the more you spend the better you get and I agree with the previous poster - Dell are best for quality IMHO.

hinault

I've read good reports about Toshiba and ACRE laptops.

Bought DELL Latitude E5500 last March : and will not be buying another DELL laptop again after that experience.