Laptop Suggestions....

Shane732

I'm currently thinking about getting a laptop for Christmas (I know it's getting late!)

The laptop will be used for gaming (probably not that graphics intensive - the likes of football manager etc...), ripping my dvd collection to hard drive and maybe as a media centre as well...

What would you guys suggest?

The budget would be €800 max.

AntiRip

I think it's too close to xmas now to run the risk of not getting your laptop online.

Some place like Harvey Normans now would be your best bet.

This SONY comes in at e729 with pretty decent spec and graphics. Also the beauty with a shop is that you can go back if sometime goes wrong, even over christmas

http://www.harveynorman.ie/sony-laptop-vpceb3j1e-bq.html

Shane732

Thanks for the reply....

If you took the need to have the laptop before Christmas would you pick something different?

What do you think of the graphics card in the Sony? Radeon™ HD 4250

Also, would you stretch the budget for a mac?

AntiRip

I'm actually looking for a laptop myself atm. I really like the Acer Timelines with the 8 hours battery life and 14" screens. I know if I was to get something else it would spend most of its time plugged in a/c.

I think I will wait though into the new year as i3 and i5 will probably get cheaper because of the new chips coming out.

There are I think better value/spec laptops on the likes of ebuyer and saveonlaptops.


I certainly wouldn't stretch my budget to a mac because I think you would get the same spec in a windows laptop for probably half the price but each to their own. If somebody gave me the choice between a free laptop or macbook I would definitely go for the macbook then

Shane732

Just wondering if 6GB of RAM with dedicated video memory of 512MB is better than 4GB with dedicated video memory of 1GB?

Mc Love

Also in the same boat (Football Manager wise for gaming) and was thinking of this, its only 569

http://www.pcworld.ie/Product/ACER-Aspire-5742-Core-i3-4GB/301620/301

Alanstrainor

Shane732 wrote: »

Just wondering if 6GB of RAM with dedicated video memory of 512MB is better than 4GB with dedicated video memory of 1GB?

RAM is easily upgradable in the future. A graphics card is not. It's worth keeping in mind though that it's not all about the amount of dedicated video memory when comparing cards.

x in the city

there should be a sticky about dedicated graphics, obviously people have no clue.

Intel GMA grpahics are barely able to run solatire, judging from a recent post on someone not been able to play some game that needed SM 2.0.

I have absoluterly no idea how Intel have brainwashed every vendor to use their $hit dedicated cards in it seems 90% of laptops available

Alanstrainor

x in the city wrote: »

there should be a sticky about dedicated graphics, obviously people have no clue.

You're more than welcome to post one up!;)

Shane732

x in the city wrote: »

there should be a sticky about dedicated graphics, obviously people have no clue.

Intel GMA grpahics are barely able to run solatire, judging from a recent post on someone not been able to play some game that needed SM 2.0.

I have absoluterly no idea how Intel have brainwashed every vendor to use their $hit dedicated cards in it seems 90% of laptops available

I wouldn't say I have no clue - I know Intel is to be avoided at all costs. I know a dedicated is better than an integrated. I know the more dedicated MB/GB the better.

Would anyone recommend anything else?

x in the city

Shane732 wrote: »

I wouldn't say I have no clue - I know Intel is to be avoided at all costs. I know a dedicated is better than an integrated. I know the more dedicated MB/GB the better.

Would anyone recommend anything else?

tech specs are misleading sometimes when they say dedicated graphics memory

as it is usually shared with the main memory and not fully ddr3 memory or the like used by the gfx engine.

this is quite standard for low or mid range systems, when you up the ante you will get proper dedicated graphics cards with proper dedicated memory 1Gb is pretty normal now

of course you wont get such a laptop for 500euros.

for cheap graphic cards apart from intel crap look for ati they have some low range stuff which should at least run games more taxing than solatire

Shane732

My budget is up to €800.

I'm completely stumped as to what to go for apart from the XPS15.

I really want it before Christmas but I can't see to find anything under the €800 mark with the same level of specs as the XPS15.

AntiRip

I've ordered the XPS15 myself. Been shopping around online and b&m shops for the last 3 weeks and I really couldn't find anything to match it price wise. I've been getting dell for 10 years and I love them. I also love how you can customize them as well unlike the other shops, where you have to look at a pile of different brands of laptops.

I got this for €715.01

Intel® Core™ i3-370M (2.4Ghz, 4Threads, 3M cache)
15.6 High Definition WLED TL (1366x768) 720p
1GB NVIDIA® GeForce® GT 420M Graphics Card
4096MB 1333MHz Dual Channel DDR3 SDRAM
500GB (7,200rpm) Serial ATA Hard Drive

x in the city

AntiRip wrote: »

I've ordered the XPS15 myself. Been shopping around online and b&m shops for the last 3 weeks and I really couldn't find anything to match it price wise. I've been getting dell for 10 years and I love them. I also love how you can customize them as well unlike the other shops, where you have to look at a pile of different brands of laptops.

I got this for €715.01

Intel® Core™ i3-370M (2.4Ghz, 4Threads, 3M cache)
15.6 High Definition WLED TL (1366x768) 720p
1GB NVIDIA® GeForce® GT 420M Graphics Card
4096MB 1333MHz Dual Channel DDR3 SDRAM
500GB (7,200rpm) Serial ATA Hard Drive

thats very good price.

solid

AntiRip

x in the city wrote: »

thats very good price.

solid

Thanks

Used the dell.ie/epp so hope I get it

Voodu Child

There's a new Acer 5742G with Nvidia GT540M and i5-430M. Goes for about €700.

GT540M is a new card but it performs very nicely for the money.

http://translate.google.com/translate?js=n&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&layout=2&eotf=1&sl=auto&tl=en&u=http://www.notebookjournal.de/tests/laptops-reviews-nvidia-geforce-gt-540m-acer-aspire-5742g-458g64mnkk-nkrt-1259/5

Shane732

I bought a Toshiba i7 740QM in the end....

Total overkill but sure why not!

AntiRip

Shane732 wrote: »

I bought a Toshiba i7 740QM in the end....

Total overkill but sure why not!

Satellite A665-3DV8 or Satellite A665-S6092? Where did you end up buying?

Shane732

AntiRip wrote: »

Satellite A665-3DV8 or Satellite A665-S6092? Where did you end up buying?

A660-1FM PCworld

AntiRip

Shane732 wrote: »

A660-1FM PCworld

Nice one. Only e300 over budget

Enjoy!

Shane732

Unfortunately my new laptop is overheating....

It'll be going back tomorrow...

Or

Is it ok for it to be overheating and turning off on me....

Voodu Child

Shane732 wrote: »

Unfortunately my new laptop is overheating....

It'll be going back tomorrow...

Or

Is it ok for it to be overheating and turning off on me....

Its normal for a mobile-quadcore to run hot, but it is definitely NOT normal for it to shutdown. It means the cooling system can't keep up with the heat that is being generated. Probably the heatsink isn't installed properly or something is blocking the vent (you're not using it on a bed are you?:pac:).

Send it back.

Shane732

Voodu Child wrote: »

Its normal for a mobile-quadcore to run hot, but it is definitely NOT normal for it to shutdown. It means the cooling system can't keep up with the heat that is being generated. Probably the heatsink isn't installed properly or something is blocking the vent (you're not using it on a bed are you?:pac:).

Send it back.

I have used it on a bed yes but never when it's shutdown and I don't think even in the same session.

I left it sitting on the desk and just watched the temp of it for a few mins - it varied between 45 and 68.

It's going back tomorrow evening.

Just one other question - when I do use it (the new laptop) on the bed should I use a chill pad or something? I don't use it on the bed often but sometimes it's handy!

Thanking you kindly for the reply.

Fashionized

Acer Aspire 5551, FTW!

Voodu Child

Shane732 wrote: »

Just one other question - when I do use it (the new laptop) on the bed should I use a chill pad or something? I don't use it on the bed often but sometimes it's handy!

Thanking you kindly for the reply.

Yep, you shouldn't use a laptop directly on a bed, carpet or any kind of dusty surface (including your lap!:pac:). The fans usually take in air from the bottom or sides, so if you put it on a bed, it'll suck up loads of dust. Over time it'll clog up the cooling system. Some laptops are harder to clean than others in this regard.

Thats doubly true for a powerful system because the fans tend to run harder, or they may have multiple fans.