Laptop for college...

clonadlad

I'm in first year in computer systems and I want to get a decent laptop that will last me a few years. I don't know where to start so I need some help badly.

I have a budget of around €500 but I can go up a small bit if a good deal comes about.
I'll be using it for most general duties but I'll probably be using it for some programming when I'm not in the college.

Is it much cheaper to buy online than in shops? And do online stores offer warranties and aftersale care or am I on my own then? I really don't have a clue where to start looking so any input would be much appreciated.

Thanks.

ByJove

1. Shop around. Everyone says it and few do it. The range of offers of laptops to me is astonishing. One shop will offer you little for 500 and the next shop offer you way, way more than you hoped for 429, no kidding.

One year ago, I got a basic 160GB, 2GB ram Windows 7 64bit with a single core processor. It was grand for some games, browsing, good day to day use etc. I've upgraded to 500GB and 4GB ram and she works great. I can buy these new specs. for the same price or less that I paid one year ago...

Powercity and some other large sales shops like that offer great deals. For 429 you can easily get 4gb ram and 320/500gb hard drive. I even seen the newest Argos has laptops like that for less than I paid (429) one year ago. Get at least a 2 core processor, almost any will do, I haven't personally seen any dodgy ones. 4gb ram and 500gb will do you fine for the next year, and if you really want/need to upgrade, then it'll be cheap to do so. Those are the two parts which are most likely to upgrade anyway, when new offers come out. Those specs. should do your programming just fine.

For online, again look around. Warranties generally come as usual online, nothing changed, but check anyway. Good, large dealers online will make that info. easy to find -they won't hide it in small print in the back end of no where. I bought laptop upgrade parts from Pixmania.ie as just one example, brand new, untouched like shop, real stuff, great price, warranty etc. no problems.
Anything I can refine, answer better? More info.?

herrys

Newegg.com - ASUS Eee PC 1215T-MU17-BK Black AMD Athlon II Neo K125(1.70GHz) 12.1" WXGA 2GB DDR3 Memory 320GB HDD NetBook

That should be perfect for you.

LostCorkGuy

www.harveynorman.ie/np-rc520-s02uk.html
Thank me later

clonadlad

Thanks for the replies guys.

Some really great info there from ByJove but I thought it was hard to upgrade the spec of a laptop and that's why most people would choose a desktop?

I wasn't in the market for a netbook really.

That Samsung from Harvey norman looks impressive but at €650 seems a bit steep. If I went into the Harvey Norman store would they even consider haggling it down?

x in the city

i doubt it, has an i core processor and seemingly nvidia graphics...

must be a typo when is says intel.

seems about right price, and it has loads of memory and a very generous hard drive.

no chance is haggling id say

clonadlad

Looks fairly impressive. On another thread I saw they were talking about the same laptop in Harvey Norman and there was a price drop up until last Sunday so I might just wait and see how much that was and it might be reduced again soon.

ByJove

The guy put in a quote of roughly 500, why did someone put in a laptop for 650? Tech-enthusiast is one thing, but that's not good customer service! You can get a GREAT laptop for college for 430ish or LESS with usually something like:

- 2GB/3GB/4GB Ram (yes there is that much good competition)
- 320GB HD/500 (500 will save an upgrade in one year)
- Intel dual-core or newer i3 (i3 saves upgrade)

As for upgrading laptops, it depends on the manufacturer I'm told, I've a Toshiba one for college and they let you upgrade RAM or Hard drive yourself, nothing else. I upgraded my RAM and HD after one year to moderise it and fit my new needs (things just get faster and you need more storage in time). Harvey Norman has the latest from what I seen but can be sometimes pricey, and powercity may not have ALL the newest but very price-friendly. Get a notepad and a pen and check out both online and maybe pop in store and compare, you'll save yourself that way so you don't miss a better offer after purchasing then go mad about it.

Need any more info. from us posters, just ask!

clonadlad

ByJove wrote: »

The guy put in a quote of roughly 500, why did someone put in a laptop for 650? Tech-enthusiast is one thing, but that's not good customer service! You can get a GREAT laptop for college for 430ish or LESS with usually something like:

- 2GB/3GB/4GB Ram (yes there is that much good competition)
- 320GB HD/500 (500 will save an upgrade in one year)
- Intel dual-core or newer i3 (i3 saves upgrade)

As for upgrading laptops, it depends on the manufacturer I'm told, I've a Toshiba one for college and they let you upgrade RAM or Hard drive yourself, nothing else. I upgraded my RAM and HD after one year to moderise it and fit my new needs (things just get faster and you need more storage in time). Harvey Norman has the latest from what I seen but can be sometimes pricey, and powercity may not have ALL the newest but very price-friendly. Get a notepad and a pen and check out both online and maybe pop in store and compare, you'll save yourself that way so you don't miss a better offer after purchasing then go mad about it.

Need any more info. from us posters, just ask!

Thanks for that. Is there much of a difference between the i3 and i5? Would it be worth getting the i5 now rather than upgrading in a year or two?

marco_polo

clonadlad wrote: »

Thanks for that. Is there much of a difference between the i3 and i5? Would it be worth getting the i5 now rather than upgrading in a year or two?

To be honest for general usage an i3 will be more than adequate for quite a number of years and would certainly not require an upgrade in a year or two. Unless are running some fairly CPU intensive applications you would probably be hard pressed able to tell the difference between both in day to day general usage (browsing,typing, watching DVDs etc), as the most of the time your CPU will be doing pretty relatively little anyways. As an i5 will probably add something in the region of €70+ to the base cost I don't think would be worth it.


This z570 comes in at just under 500 delivered and I think it would be more than suitable for your needs.


The G570 is £20 less than that again (Not much spec wise between the two the z series is Lenovos multimedia range so is ever so slightly fancier, whether that is worth an extra £20 is up to you).


You could go a cheaper still and get a previous generation i3 for a good bit less, like either of the two below. Aside from less powerful integrated graphics and a slightly bit higher power usage, the i3-370m is about the same as an i3-2310m in terms of raw speed.

http://www.saveonlaptops.co.uk/Toshiba_Satellite_Pro_C660-21C_1102627.html

http://www.saveonlaptops.co.uk/ASUS_K52F-EX635V_1120646.html

x in the city

if intel graphics are good for ya then basically any i core laptop would do, like the ones in the prev post.

if you are more serious for a laptop the one earlier for 600 euro is vastly superior to any laptop with intel integrated graphics.

you might make nothing of intel graphics now but down the line you are sure to curse them so tread wisely.

they are 'dirt' cheap compared to proper laptops with dedicated graphics for a reason.

ByJove

I agree with Marco above ^^^ the new Intel processors are i3, i5 and i7. i3 is more than sufficient for home use/college use, except if you use graphic design programs or a very small number of extremely graphic-intensive games. But really, the i3 is a beauty that will do well with the vast majority of modern games and if you're not in a design/graphics/video course, your laptop won't complain. An i3 will not be outdated in a year like RAM or hard drive storage space, nope.

clonadlad

Thanks again lads. I think I might go for that Toshiba one with the i5 because I might be changing to COmputer Games development at the end of the year so I'll probably just shell out now instead of getting a new laptop in a year or two. Thanks for the help lads, really appreciate it.