Buying a Laptop: The current Generation

longhalloween

Im looking at this Lenovo IdeaPad Z500, the dark chocolate one.

Seems like a good deal for a Third gen i7 and a GT645M for just over 700 euro.

Anyone have any opinions on this??

My current laptop is on the way out and I want something for Rome 2 later this year.

looking_around

Personally, I would wait a few months for the haswells (intel gen 4) to be out on the market. Battery life is about 6hours +.

It should be able to handle that game well enough though.

Skill Magill

I'd go for something with a solid state myself, having built my pc with one I'll never go back to platters!!but thats a good price, I'm looking at what I think is the same machine and its £772.72 Stg
I posted in another thread here on the laptop I've just ordered from pc specialist

Babslovesshoes

Hi, I currently own a five year old dell, and an iPad. I'm looking for a laptop for irregular freelance work.

It must be light and small, but have a full sized keyboard.
Battery life of 3 hours plus
DVD player
USB ports

It will be used to run ms office, email playing DVDs v. Occasionally.
Conference calls via google drive very occasionally.

Also, I was hoping for it to feel fast, and to be inexpensive.

http://www.laptopsdirect.ie/Acer_V5-431_Silver_14_Laptop_Windows_8__NX.M2SEK.003/version.asp#maindesc

Would this be okay, and if not, what would you recommend? What sort of specs should I be looking for?

Do I need a 14 inch for a full keyboard (minus number pad) or would 11 inch do?

As you can see, pretty clueless, so any advice is greatly appreciated.

looking_around

It really depends how often you use numbers... the numpad is useful if you're spend your day typing numbers.
If not an 11 inch is fantastic for portability.

What I'd make sure is that you have a top range wireless card as you'll want to be sure the connection isn't dropping and that you have good range and speed.

Other than that, any laptop will do what you need.

Whats your budget? so people can look for the best value.
Also, is battery life important to you?
What about harddrive(storage) space?


Although the laptop in the link is decent, and will feel much faster compared to your current dell

delthedriver

Laptops Direct.ie

Has anyone purchased from this source?

How do they compare with the usual sources say PC World, Harvey Normanetc.?

I am anxious to replace my personal laptop which gave up the ghost last year.

For personal use I have been surviving with an Eepc notepad and my iPad. ( iPad is great but I need something a bit bigger for working on. I find screen too small.

I use my laptop for home office, Internet, ITunes.

At one stage I considered buying an HP laptop 8 & 1 TB.

Any thoughts please , best price?

Many thanks

looking_around

delthedriver wrote: »

Laptops Direct.ie

Has anyone purchased from this source?

How do they compare with the usual sources say PC World, Harvey Normanetc.?

I am anxious to replace my personal laptop which gave up the ghost last year.

For personal use I have been surviving with an Eepc notepad and my iPad. ( iPad is great but I need something a bit bigger for working on. I find screen too small.

I use my laptop for home office, Internet, ITunes.

At one stage I considered buying an HP laptop 8 & 1 TB.

Any thoughts please , best price?

Many thanks

They're grand to buy from, much cheaper. Although the consensus is they seem to be a bit of hassle if there is any problems with the laptop.

Another site is www.saveonlaptops.co.uk And Amazon is pretty good.

If you'd like to customise your laptop. www.pcspecialists.co.uk, have fantastic prices for top range stuff.

You generally save about 100 euro or so buying online over a store.

PurvesGrundy

I'm looking for a laptop and have narrowed it down to these three choices:

http://www.laptopsdirect.ie/Acer_CS-TE_B960_8GB_750GB_W8H_Blk-Slv_NX.C1FEK.021/version.asp#maindesc

http://www.laptopsdirect.ie/Packard_Bell_TE_Windows_8_Laptop_-_Black-Silver_NX.C1FEK.015/version.asp#maindeschttp://www.laptopsdirect.ie/Packard_Bell_TE_Windows_8_Laptop_-_Black-Silver_NX.C1FEK.015/version.asp#maindesc

http://www.laptopsdirect.ie/Sony_VAIO_E15_Laptop_in_White__SVE1513B1EW/version.asp

The first two choices appear to be the same, it's just the latter appears to have Intel HD Graphics over the former. The 8GB ram of the Packard Bell is massive and double that of the Sony. I just happened to notice that the Sony has an xLoud and Dolby Home Theatre system which would be appealing, as I use my laptop for listening to a lot of music.

I am also not sure that if I was to opt for the Packard Bell that the HD Graphics are worth the extra twenty something euro over the lesser model.

Monotype

B960 is 2.2GHz. It's two generations old though, same as the Sony. I'd avoid sony as well as I've heard people complain about many of their laptops needing proprietary drivers.

What about this? You're talking about a much faster CPU, it's a newer generation and you'll have much better graphics capabilities.
http://www.laptopsdirect.ie/Acer_Aspire_E1_Windows_8_Core_i3_Laptop_-_Black-Silver_NX.M09EK.001/version.asp

PurvesGrundy

Monotype wrote: »

B960 is 2.2GHz. It's two generations old though, same as the Sony. I'd avoid sony as well as I've heard people complain about many of their laptops needing proprietary drivers.

What about this? You're talking about a much faster CPU, it's a newer generation and you'll have much better graphics capabilities.
http://www.laptopsdirect.ie/Acer_Aspire_E1_Windows_8_Core_i3_Laptop_-_Black-Silver_NX.M09EK.001/version.asp

Thanks very much for the response.

You see, I had no idea those laptops were two generations old.

What are Acer like for build quality and longevity? That looks like a very impressive package and worth consideration. 4GB of ram is also more than likely sufficient compared to the 8GB of the Packard Bell.

Monotype

I don't see any more than 4GB being used for office/basic home needs. You'd only be going over that when you start using demanding professional programs (video, photo-editing) or if you have a lot of programs of various types open. If you were doing a lot of heavy work, you'd be looking at a different computer anyway.
The Packard Bell is 2 generations old as well.

Acer are the largest laptop manufacturer in the world last time I checked. Acer are generally reasonably reliable - there's always a few bad stories, but they have a reputation to uphold. Build quality is as you'd expect for a laptop of that price range, I'd imagine. €360 is quite a low price to be paying for a laptop and it's not going to be superb casing after they've paid for the internals. Durability and longevity would be fairly good as heat is an area that's been addressed in recent generations of CPUs, so the laptops should last longer. That said, because of the miniaturisation and the mobility of laptops, they tend to be more prone to damage and failure.
It's a pretty good set of features for the price, but if you want USB 3, a smaller or flatter system among other things, you'll have to pay more.

You should search around the net if you want personal reviews.

chops018

Lads is this laptop good for the price?

http://www.powercity.ie/?par=10-30-C8501LK&pages=1&prod=C8501LK&brands=TOSHIBA&image=

Monotype

It's probably not too bad for a shop price, but you could do better online where there's a generation newer for similar prices.

chops018

Monotype wrote: »

It's probably not too bad for a shop price, but you could do better online where there's a generation newer for similar prices.

Any examples?

Would be looking to get this in-store preferably so this looks right down my alley....I thought the processor looked decent?

Monotype

http://www.laptopsdirect.ie/Acer_Aspire_V3-571_Windows_8_Core_i3_Laptop_-_Black_NX.RYFEK.020/version.asp
http://www.laptopsdirect.ie/Toshiba_Satellite_Pro_C850-1K3_15.6_Core_i3-3120M_4GB_500GB_DVD-SM_Win8_64_PSCBXE-02F00EEN/version.asp

PurvesGrundy

What are people's views on this?: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Fujitsu-LIFEBOOK-AH532-15-6-inch-Laptop/dp/B00BQ9I100/ref=lp_429886031_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1374786616&sr=1-5

Monotype

Pretty good value. It can be hard to find i5s at that price.

PurvesGrundy

OK, may very well place an order tonight on something. My existing laptop has packed in and my nine year old desktop PC is seriously unable to keep up with modern day browsing and software. Up to now, I have been hesitant in choosing as I am afraid of making the wrong choice. I am getting fed up now, just not going to care anymore and am biting the bullet.

Out of these two, which would be the better bet?:

http://www.laptopsdirect.ie/Acer_Aspire_V3-571_Windows_8_Core_i3_Laptop_-_Black_NX.RYFEK.020/version.asp

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Fujitsu-LIFEBOOK-AH532-15-6-inch-Laptop/dp/B00BQ9I100/ref=lp_429886031_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1374786616&sr=1-5

I am a big fan of watching music and films on the computer, so either of these will have to deliver in visual quality and sound.

Monotype

i5 can do turbo, i3 can not.
So it can go up to 3.2GHz. That's a nice boost over the i3 which is 2.4GHz.
http://ark.intel.com/products/72164/Intel-Core-i5-3230M-Processor-3M-Cache-up-to-3_20-GHz-rPGA?ui=BIG&wapkw=3230m

The Acer has 6GB of RAM vs the 4GB in the Fujitsu. RAM has been increasing in price over the past year but it'll probably return eventually to cheaper prices. Describing your uses, it's unlikely you'll see any benefit from 6GB over 4GB.

The Fujitsu lists a USB 3 port but I think the Acer also has one but it's specifically mentioned. Could be useful if you have USB 3 sticks or drives.

So the only real major feature there is the CPU. Now the i3 is still a powerful CPU for office use, so I think the biggest thing is to check which style will suit you best - have a look at youtube videos of the two laptops and any other recommendations you pick up on the way. I think that videos are a great way to see things that you might not otherwise see - keep your eyes open for ergonomics, shiny/matte screens, keyboard layouts etc.

PurvesGrundy

Monotype wrote: »

i5 can do turbo, i3 can not.
So it can go up to 3.2GHz. That's a nice boost over the i3 which is 2.4GHz.
http://ark.intel.com/products/72164/Intel-Core-i5-3230M-Processor-3M-Cache-up-to-3_20-GHz-rPGA?ui=BIG&wapkw=3230m

The Acer has 6GB of RAM vs the 4GB in the Fujitsu. RAM has been increasing in price over the past year but it'll probably return eventually to cheaper prices. Describing your uses, it's unlikely you'll see any benefit from 6GB over 4GB.

The Fujitsu lists a USB 3 port but I think the Acer also has one but it's specifically mentioned. Could be useful if you have USB 3 sticks or drives.

So the only real major feature there is the CPU. Now the i3 is still a powerful CPU for office use, so I think the biggest thing is to check which style will suit you best - have a look at youtube videos of the two laptops and any other recommendations you pick up on the way. I think that videos are a great way to see things that you might not otherwise see - keep your eyes open for ergonomics, shiny/matte screens, keyboard layouts etc.

Once again, Monotype, thanks very much for that. Some great advice there that I have found very hard to get.

Both look to be laptops with their own indiviudual strengths, so I am going to give it a little more thought and report back when I make the decision.

Monotype

Well just post here or send me a PM and I can clarify any details if I can.

AwayWithFaries

Came across this today if anyone is looking for a cheap i5.

http://www.elara.ie/productdetail.aspx?productcode=ECE2821957

€338.83. 6GB RAM, i5 3230M, 750 GB HDD. Not too shabby at that price.

byronbay2

AwayWithFaries wrote: »

Came across this today if anyone is looking for a cheap i5.

http://www.elara.ie/productdetail.aspx?productcode=ECE2821957

€338.83. 6GB RAM, i5 3230M, 750 GB HDD. Not too shabby at that price.

Wow, that is amazing value. Anyone know of any reason why I shouldn't buy one right now??

fibix

AwayWithFaries wrote: »

Came across this today if anyone is looking for a cheap i5.

http://www.elara.ie/productdetail.aspx?productcode=ECE2821957

€338.83. 6GB RAM, i5 3230M, 750 GB HDD. Not too shabby at that price.

Is there a trick somewhere? Considering a spontaneous purchase...

Serephucus

Nope, looks like very good value alright. It won't do any real gaming though, in case you were looking for that.

beauf

Other than the graphics card that seems a great deal.

Monotype

Miss-price, I reckon.

fibix

All I need is a good laptop for Internet, watching dvds, music and work which is use of excel and word. Have old good 5 year old Toshiba but struggling recently and the screen has a blue hue now.

Should I go for this one? Looks pretty:) (I'm a girl;)

Serephucus

Then go for that. If it goes through (which it might not) you'll have a great laptop for that price.

fibix

Yeah, doesn't work. To pretty to be true