New Laptop

timconny

Hi Guys,

I'm currently in the process of searching for a new laptop after my dell was stolen. It's likely that I'll buy it somewhere like pc world or curry's. I was looking at a couple but as far as i can tell, these two seem to be quite good for reasonable amounts of money. Could someone please indicate which would be the best model out of the following:

http://www.pcworld.ie/Product/SAMSUNG-NPS3520A02UK-156andquot-Laptop-Black-andamp-Silver/306780/301

http://www.pcworld.ie/Product/SONY-VAIO-VPCEH1L8EB-155andquot-Laptop-Black/306721/301

The samsung seems very good value but i still can't make a decision as there are hardly any reviews of it online!

I'd greatly appreciate some help from someone in the know.
Thanks,

Tim Connaughton.

westcoast1

id go for the samsung as replacement parts-especially the motherboard-are so much more expensive for sonys.

roast

The Vaio C series are fairly sturdy to be honest. As long as you stay away from the N series, you should be fine. I haven't noticed any significant difference in the cost of replacement parts. If you find them very expensive, you're not looking in the right place.

Anyway, the specs of the Samsung are higher. Graphics are the same, but the Samsung has an extra 250GB HDD space over the Vaio, and an extra 2GB RAM, for 30 quid more. Probably better to go with the Samsung.

timconny

Cheers lads. Yeah that's what i was thinking as well. The only annoying thing is that the sony has a core i5 processor that runs at a slightly faster 2.3 ghz. I suppose it doesn't really matter too much considering how much memory the samsung has...

timconny

Hi guys,

Having read several reviews of the sony vaio laptops i've decided that the Samsung is a better option. Apparently sony often refuse to replace faulty parts under warranty. I've also seen several forums where people complained about the battery life of the sony vaio. I was searching on laptopsdirect and came across what seems to be a great deal on another samsung. It has a faster processor than the one i've previously mentioned. However, one thing i know very little about is graphics cards. Could anyone tell me if the NVIDIA GeForce 315M included with the laptop at the link below is better than the Intel GMA X4500M included with the pc world one? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

http://www.laptopsdirect.co.uk/Samsung_Black_RV511_Core_i5-480M_4GB_500GB_DVDRW_15.6_INCH_HD_1GB_nVidia_Wi_NP-RV511-S02UK/version.asp?switchc=e

Cheers,
Tim

roast

timconny wrote: »

Hi guys,

Having read several reviews of the sony vaio laptops i've decided that the Samsung is a better option. Apparently sony often refuse to replace faulty parts under warranty. I've also seen several forums where people complained about the battery life of the sony vaio.

Like any manufacturer, Sony can refuse to repair faulty parts under warranty if there's a valid reason for doing so, eg. physical damage, modification etc.
You'll always find at least one person complaining about battery life for any brand/make/model of laptop. Main fact is, you'll see a handful of negative reports about anything on the interwebz, but compare that against the amount of units sold and you'll find it's a small percentage.

timconny wrote: »

I was searching on laptopsdirect and came across what seems to be a great deal on another samsung. It has a faster processor than the one i've previously mentioned. However, one thing i know very little about is graphics cards. Could anyone tell me if the NVIDIA GeForce 315M included with the laptop at the link below is better than the Intel GMA X4500M included with the pc world one? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

http://www.laptopsdirect.co.uk/Samsung_Black_RV511_Core_i5-480M_4GB_500GB_DVDRW_15.6_INCH_HD_1GB_nVidia_Wi_NP-RV511-S02UK/version.asp?switchc=e

Cheers,
Tim

An nVidia graphics card would be a dedicated graphics chip, it'd perform far better than integrated graphics like all the Intel ones. Definitely a better option if you want a higher chance of being able to play games at a decent framerate (no jittering/skipping etc.)

timconny

Deadly. I think I might as well go for the Samsung on laptopsdirect. It seems to be quite a good spec for a reasonable price. Thanks a million.

marco_polo

timconny wrote: »

Deadly. I think I might as well go for the Samsung on laptopsdirect. It seems to be quite a good spec for a reasonable price. Thanks a million.

EDIT: Disregard it appears to be a student only cashback??
It works out at about 486 delivered from saveonlaptops


http://www.saveonlaptops.co.uk/Samsung_RV511_1073608.html