Help choosing a laptop for college use

looder

Budget: €600

Intended use: E.g. college work, internet, e-mail, Word processing, I'll have maybe 7 or 8 internet sessions open at any one time if that makes a difference.

Mobility: a 15.5 inch or 17 inch screen would be ideal

Warranty:Not a problem. I'll take my chances. I had an extended Dell warranty on my current laptop buut when a problem arose, they didn't cover it.

What Operating System do you use? Windows Vista at the moment but wouldn't mind upgrading to Windows 7 maybe, although it's not a necessity.

One extra point: I've had problems with my last 2 Dell products so I'd like to go with another brand I think this time.


Here's what I'm thinking of buying: http://www.currys.co.uk/martprd/store/cur_page.jsp?BV_SessionID=@@@@1735432154.1263032570@@@@&BV_EngineID=ccekadejfjjdhedcflgceggdhhmdfol.0&page=Product&fm=2&sm=1&tm=0&sku=822766&category_oid=-37388

I'll be going to Enniskillen in about 10 days time so can pick it up then.

Is the Sony a good deal?

Anything else I should be looking at?

Dawei

I think you can get one that has the similar specs for much less than the sony one, and it will be good enough for your needs which is pretty basic.

angel01

Have a look at Tesco Direct or Ebuyer, you can pick something up a lot cheaper.

fuelinjection

Don't waste yer money.

Look up the internet once you have a fixed address... then buy what you need.

My own opinion is that netbooks are crap and no good for anything that your phone cannot do. Acer, DELL express, and even Sony (who I hate)

looder

Thanks for all the responses guys. I think I might stay away from the Sony after all.

What about this: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Acer-15-6-inch-Notebook-Dual-Core-Processor/dp/B0030GESMW/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top

15.6-inch HD Acer CineCrystal LCD
AMD Athlon 64 X2 dual-core processor L310 (1.20 GHz, 1 MB L2 cache)
4GB RAM and 500GB Hard Drive
DVD-Super Multi DL drive
Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit

It's £399 so about €440/450

It's an acer, which I've heard bad things about qualitywise.

Is Intel better than AMD?

Is this a good machine for the money?

Thanks

looder

pontovic

For portability, practicality and some decent grunt you can't go wrong with an Acer Aspire 1810tz. You will pick one up online (elara.ie) for under €600. Very highly regarded machines. I'm getting one myself in fact.

If screen size is an issue for you, pick up a decent new or second hand flat screen monitor for when you are at your desk working away.

Read laptopmag.com for reviews and stay away from high street stores like dixons, pcworld and currys. You are likely to end up paying over the odds for machines that are near the end of their shelf life.

Hope that helps and good luck with it.

looder

pontovic wrote: »

For portability, practicality and some decent grunt you can't go wrong with an Acer Aspire 1810tz. You will pick one up online (elara.ie) for under €600. Very highly regarded machines. I'm getting one myself in fact.

If screen size is an issue for you, pick up a decent new or second hand flat screen monitor for when you are at your desk working away.

Read laptopmag.com for reviews and stay away from high street stores like dixons, pcworld and currys. You are likely to end up paying over the odds for machines that are near the end of their shelf life.

Hope that helps and good luck with it.

Am I right in saying that's a netbook. The screensize is only 11.6". Although it looks nice, I need a screen beiiger then that. Idealy 15+ inches.

Thanks for the reply though. I must take a look at that laptopmag.com.

FunnyStuff

Toshiba L500-19X, should be able to get hold of one for about 500 euro, nice pentium T4300 processor, 4gb ram and 500 gb hard drive.

pontovic

Well strictly speaking it's a CULV (consumer ultra low voltage) laptop, so it packs more processing muscle than a standard netbook.

The screen is small but if you get a cheap enough external monitor you can get yourself set up nicely. You don't want to be lugging something the size and weight of a phonebook around with you especially when it only has a two hour battery life, but that's from my experience and preference.

Nature lover

Hi guys, my son will (hopefully) be starting college in September, hes hoping to do game design at UL. he would like a laptop for his 18th birthday in April but I think we should wait until he gets to college and we know what course hes doing (in case he doesnt get this course or doesnt get it at UL), would different colleges and different courses have different requirements for a laptop? Any advice would be useful

evolutionqy7

http://www.elara.ie/products/detailsfull.asp?productcode=MME865Q498#spec

this is decent enough...not 2 pricey and has a decent graphics card...though have in minid the graphics card only works when plugged in...im planning to get this for myself soon enough

WopTittyPop

evolutionqy7 wrote: »

http://www.elara.ie/products/detailsfull.asp?productcode=MME865Q498#spec

this is decent enough...not 2 pricey and has a decent graphics card...though have in minid the graphics card only works when plugged in...im planning to get this for myself soon enough

Great laptop!
Got one myself about a month back and haven't had a problem since!
Battery life is awesome (avg. of about 4-5 hours on high performance) Can max out at 8+ if you set it on low power settings!
Great cooling system, and unbelievably slim and light!
The only thing I could possibly change are the speakers! Not the best volume out of them but sure i've a nice set of portable speakers that do the job!
The LED screen quality is something else as well!

evolutionqy7

im gettin that laptop soon enough...just waiting for the grant to come at the end of the month i got acer aspire 5536G now has only 3 hour battery life!!