Another "recommend me a laptop" thread

zagmund

Hi all,

I'm looking to buy a desktop replacement for home use. Kids are 9 & 11 so gaming demand isn't huge yet - they mostly play teeny-tiny games which they select from a website rather than full blown applications. Overall usage would be pretty light, but there would likely be some AVCHD editing of holiday videos so I don't want to buy anything too under powered and find it's struggling. HDMI out would be good for the odd occasion that I might want to torture visitors with holiday videos played directly from the laptop. My current desktop (which is due to be retired) is a 2007 Dimension running Vista and it is technically able to do the editing but I want to do it on a laptop now.

I've been stung previously when choosing between different models and opting to save €20 or €30 and finding out that the OS version (Vista Home vs Vista Premium or whatever) doesn't support the fuction I need so I would prefer to pay the little bit extra now and make sure I'm a little more future-proofed, yet at the same time I don't want to be 'that guy' who walks into ComputerLand with his wallet wide open saying "I want something cool".

Budget is about €500-700 but if needs be can stretch up to €900.

In the old days Dell (or Gateway in the really old days) would have been the automatic choice since they had the pricing advantage from the volume side of things, but from what I gather these days this doesn't hold true as much.

So, can anyone suggest a laptop that fits the requirements above ? I'm not a huge fan of buying expensive things over the net, but this can be done. I can also get it shipped to/bought by someone in Belfast if buying from the UK helps in any way.

On the screen side - 17" would be good but 15" would also be fine.

Muchas gracias senors,

z

dazzday

Probably overspecced for your needs, but heres one i recommended earlier

http://www.laptopsdirect.co.uk/Toshiba_Satellite_Pro_L670-14P_Core_i5_Laptop_PSK3FE-00U00REN/version.asp?switchc=e

GPU is a high midrange card that will comfortably play any modern game at mid-high settings. Id expect it to play most new releases for the next ~3years at mid settings at the very least.

The CPU is a powerhouse considering the price. It is one of the faster dual-cores and with hyper-threading it will run like a beast in multitasking, perfectly ideal for CS package (photoshop, video editing etc). It will handle everything and anything you plan to throw at it.

Has a max RAM slot of 8GB so its very future proof. 3gb RAM easily enough for your needs atm.

What is nice about this laptop is the fact its one of the lighter desktop replacements I have seen at only 2.8kg, making it quite portable for a 17inch. Battery life is better than standard at over 4hours and from reviews the screen is good quality, although only at the 17inch standard of 900p. Has good connectivity also with HDMI and e-sata.

Excellently specced at that price tbf, particularly with such a solid graphics card. Will comfortably handle anything you throw at it for the next 3+ years

zagmund

Thanks for that dazzday - it looks good alright. I checked out a few other retailers and most of them were more expensive than this. dabs.ie was within spitting distance - is there anything to recommend between the two sellers ?

Also - I see Toshiba have a cashback offer with this model. Does anyone know the logistics of this ? I'm looking at the Toshiba site at the moment but I'm wondering if anyone has been through it previously. I don't want to end up paying €70 to ship my old laptop to them just to save €110. Is it possible to drop it into Toshiba here in Ireland or does it have to be shipped ?

Thanks again and if anyone else has any suggestions fire them in please.

z

[edit] - correction - it looks like the cashback is based on the serial number of your old laptop and you don't need to ship it from what I can see. I thought you had to ship it from some of the text that was used (must be in working order, must have a power supply, etc . . .)

dazzday

laptopsdirect is one of those companies that people have split opinions off.
Many horror stories, but my personal experiences (and its been a fair few!) have been very good and very competitive.
Dabs is an excellent company to deal with, and maybe if the cost difference isnt much maybe a better option to go with for peace of mind and support the Irish etc!

As for the cashback, I couldnt tell you. Best bet is to call customer services.