Help needed: Sony Vaio EB 4X0E or Toshiba A660 1H7

labrador72

Hi all

I'm planning to buy a new laptop as my Toshiba is on its last leg after 4 years of heavy use.
When I bought it I went for a AMD Turion and low-end graphic card to save money: it has worked well but on many occasions over the last 4 years I wished I had bought a laptop with a better chip and graphic card... This time I am planning to get a laptop with a very good processor and decent graphic card to ensure I can use it for everything I need: multi-tasking with damanding applications, gaming, HD videos, etc.

I've narrowed the search down to a Toshiba and Sony Vaio. The specs are very similar, the price identical. I noticed the Vaio has a slightly higher res [1920x1080] but I'm not sure it would make a difference on a 15.5 screen.

The Vaio has a ATI Radeon 5470 while the Toshiba a Nvidia G Force M310: from what I could find on the web their performance is in the same range.
I am really not sure is there's a "better one". They are both recent models and couldn't find any decent independent review online.

Would anybody have any experience or advise with these 2 models? Any good reason to go for one rather than the other?

Sony Vaio VPCEB4X0E/BQ
http://www.sony.ie/product/vn-e-series/vpceb4x0e-bq

Toshiba A660 1H7
http://uk.computers.toshiba-europe.com/innovation/product/Satellite-A660-1H7/1102325

Thanks in advance for your help,

L

MASTER...of the bra

Did you try saveonlaptops.co.uk? It's getting good reviews around here. The ATI Radeon 5470 and Nvidia G Force M310 are low end, so you may find yourself wishing again if you get these, especially if it's recent games your playing. The Radeon is slightly better.

Here's a comparison of every laptop graphics card by performance.

This is similar priced to yours with better Graphics card and USB 3...the blu ray drive though limits your choice.

Battery life is very bad on all these machines.

labrador72

Thanks for the advice: really appreciate it.

I'll check saveonlaptops.co.uk out: I had come across it but thought they'd deliver only to the UK.
I wouldn't mind giving up the blu-ray if it knocks a 100 or more euros off the price. If battery life is very bad though I might end up having to buy a netbook: not really saving much then!

Thanks a lot again

labrador72

labrador72 wrote: »

Thanks for the advice: really appreciate it.

I'll check saveonlaptops.co.uk out: I had come across it but thought they'd deliver only to the UK.
I wouldn't mind giving up the blu-ray if it knocks a 100 or more euros off the price. If battery life is very bad though I might end up having to buy a netbook: not really saving much then!

Thanks a lot again

it's the best value around by far at the moment. £9.95 for delivery in 2 days to Ireland.

here's a good laptop with mid-level graphics card (better than the 2 above) with good HD screen.

http://www.saveonlaptops.co.uk/Toshiba_Satellite_Pro_L670-14M_1040587.html

(you don't get good battery life in gaming laptops - it's a tradeoff thing).

MASTER...of the bra

Glasso's laptop is an i3 but you can't fault it, great price. I don't think the cashback is available here, I think you need a northern address. Someone else may know.....

Specification

Processor Intel® Core™ i3 Dual Core (330M, 3MB Cache, 2.13 GHz)

Screen 17.3" (Toshiba TruBrite HD+, 1600 x 900 HD Resolution)

Operating System Windows 7 Professional Edition 64-bit

RAM 4GB (DDR3)

Hard Drive 320GB

Optical Drive DVD Rewriter (Records DVDs 8x & CDs 24x & Dual Layer Super Multi)

Graphics Dedicated (ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5650 with 1GB Dedicated DDR3 RAM)

Wireless LANWireless (WIFI LINK A,B,G,N Includes MIMO)

Network Card10/100/1000 Gigabit Fast Ethernet

Integrated Webcam Integrated Webcam

Card Reader 4-in-1 card reader (MS, MS Pro, MMC, SD)

USB Ports 2x USB 2.0 ports

BluetoothVersion 2.0

Speakers Intergrated Stereo Speakers

VGA Port Yes

Kensington Lock Kensington lock slot

Charge Time 2.5 Hours

HDMI 1x HDMI Port

E-sata 1x eSATA Port

Warranty 1 Year International Toshiba Warranty

Battery Life 3-4 Hours (This Specific Model 3 hours)

Weight2-3 Kg (This Model 2.82 Kg)

Finger Print Reader No

Please note: Battery life depends on usage. We quote maximum battery life as stated by the manufacturer. Some Laptops may achieve substantially less whilst running demanding applications.

If you want to stick with an i5 I like this one, Toshiba

Specification

Processor Intel® Core™ i5-480M Dual Core (2.66 GHz, 3MB Cache, with Intel Turbo Boost up to 2.93GHz)

Screen 17.3" (Toshiba TruBrite HD+, 1600 x 900 HD Resolution) Operating System

Windows 7 Professional Edition 64-bit

RAM 4GB

Hard Drive 640GB

Optical Drive DVD Rewriter (Records DVDs 8x & CDs 24x & Dual Layer Super Multi)

Graphics Dedicated (ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5650 with 1GB Dedicated DDR3 RAM)

Wireless LAN Wireless (802.11b/g/n Wireless)

Network Card 10/100Mbps Fast Ethernet

Integrated WebcamIntegrated Webcam with Microphone

Card Reader 4-in-1 card reader (MS, MS Pro, MMC, SD)

USB Ports 3x USB 2.0 ports

BluetoothVersion 2.0

Speakers Intergrated Stereo Speakers

VGA Port 1 External VGA Port

Kensington Lock Kensington lock slot

Charge Time 2.5 Hours

HDMI 1x HDMI Port

Warranty 1 Year International Toshiba Warranty

Battery Life 2-3 Hours (up to 3 hours with power management)

Weight2-3 Kg (This Model 2.82 Kg)

Please note: Battery life depends on usage. We quote maximum battery life as stated by the manufacturer. Some Laptops may achieve substantially less whilst running demanding applications.

3 USB ports are handy if you have external Hard drive that needs two of them to run.

labrador72

MASTER...of the bra wrote: »

Glasso's laptop is an i3 but you can't fault it, great price. I don't think the cashback is available here, I think you need a northern address. Someone else may know.....

If you want to stick with an i5 I like this one, Toshiba

3 USB ports are handy if you have external Hard drive that needs two of them to run.

Thanks, I was just looking at the L670 103 today: it has a better graphic card then the Toshiba A660 1H7 [it's gone out of stock anyway] and a 17" screen. The price is good too - 20 euros cheaper than the Sony Vaio. Laptop directs sells it even cheaper. The only drawback is that I haven't read positive reviews about the keyboards and screen colors/shades of the L670 series. It's also lacking the 1x eSATA Port and ExpressCard slot but to be truly honest I don't know if they are something I would need - not even sure what they are for... I guess I'll have to check out a few reviews to make my mind up.

Thanks for the for the good advice!