Looking for a new laptop for around €700-800/850

Howlin1

Budget: €700-800 (can possibly go to €850)

Intended use: Mostly college work (photoshop and dreamweaver and possibly 3ds max, I'm not sure about 3ds max yet). I will be playing games but they're not overly important. I would like to play games like GTA, the Sims, Age of Empires, Portal, Half life. All the above run fine on my current laptop.

Mobility: I don't mind the screensize/weight as long as it will fit into a schoolbag.

What Operating System do you use? Windows

I have looked a small bit and I saw one that did catch my eye http://www.computeruniverse.net/products/e90448179/samsung-300v3a-s03-w7hp64.asp#data
but I was told to be careful about GeForce 520, that you ideally want a 525+ or 630+.

I was also pointed to http://gizmodo.com/5916005/theres-never-been-a-worse-time-to-buy-a-laptop that article.
I wasn't really going to get the laptop for a few weeks/a month or two.

My current laptop's specs
http://www.hotukdeals.com/deals/fujitsu-siemens-amilo-li-2727-t1400-225970

Battery Life Up to 2 hours depending on usage
Bluetooth No
Box Contents 1 x power cord and adapter
Brand Fujitsu Siemens
Built-in Webcam No
Finger Print Reader No
Firewire No
Graphics Intel® graphics media accelerator X3100 with up to 256MB shared video memory
Hard Drive Size 120GB - mine is 140gb which is split into two drives (a 95gb and 45gb)
Hard Drive Type 2.5 inch 5400rpm SATA
Laptop Colour Black/silver
Memory Features SO-Dimm DDR2
Memory Size 1GB - Mine is a 2gb not 1gb
Number of USB Ports 4x USB 2.0
Operating System Windows Vista Home Basic
Optical Drive DVD Dual Layer Rewriter
Optical Drive Bluray Compatible No
Optical Drive HD Compatible No
Optical Drive Lightscribe Compatible No
Output VGA
Processor Intel Celeron
Processor Bus 533MHz
Processor Cache 512 KB
Processor Model Number T1400
Processor Speed 1.73GHz
Product Depth 26 cm
Product Height 3.4 cm
Product Width 35.5 cm
Remote Control Included No
Screen Size 15.4"
Screen Type WXGA brilliantview widescreen
Software Load Vista home basic, internet security suite with free updates for 90 days, DVD burning and playing SW
User Model Easy Yes
Wired Networking Port Yes
Wireless Built in Yes
Wireless Features Integrated 802.11 b/g

Occono

Well, your graphics card there isn't for gaming, obviously.

I was told to go for a 540m, bare minimum, which the 630m is just a rename of....the 525m might be good enough though, I suppose.

Howlin1

I am also looking at
http://www.pcworld.ie/Product/SAMSUNG-Series-3-NP305V5A-156andquot-Laptop-Silver/310468/301
http://www.pcworld.ie/Product/SAMSUNG-Series-7-NP700Z5AA01DX-156andquot-Laptop/307998/301#product-information
http://www.harveynorman.ie/l755-1lq.html
http://www.harveynorman.ie/acer-5560g.html
http://www.harveynorman.ie/acer-5750-i7b.html
http://www.harveynorman.ie/computing/computers/laptops/sony-laptop-vpcf23b9e-b.html - a little more than I said I know.

Occono

Do you want to only order from PC World/Harvey Norman?

Saveonlaptops is cheaper, but I'm annoyed at them for recognizing my debit card as a credit card, which costs more....that bugs me enough to put off buying it

Howlin1

I don't know. I was just showing them because I found them on that website. I'll be trying to find where ever is selling it the cheapest.

Occono

Ah, well check saveonlaptops, they have cheaper gaming laptops, if you're looking for that.

They have a good reputation.

savagecabbages

Coming in at the top of your budget is this an Asus N55SL: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Asus which I'm hoping to order tomorrow:D It has a fairly decent graphics card for the money -a 635M. I'm looking for more or less the same as you from a laptop, and after much research I've settled on this.

Jarren

www.amazon.de/gp/aw/d/B00603IN00/ref=mp_s_a_50?qid=1339564133&sr=1-50

www.amazon.co.uk/Lenovo-Ideapad-15-6-inch-Laptop-Gunmetal/dp/B00829IDLY/ref=sr_1_9?s=computers&ie=UTF8&qid=1339565093&sr=1-9

h57xiucj2z946q

Will be following this thread.. after 4 years, the Nvidia GPU in my XPS M1530 finally crapped out on me due to the infamous overheating problem. Need a new laptop, as reflowing the GPU makes it only last a day or 2.

I usually get from http://stores.ebay.ie/eComputers-LTD - looking at the Dell XPS 15 now, however I have read reports online about over-heating problems with these too.

Jarren

Stephanie Sweet Beard wrote: »

Will be following this thread.. after 4 years, the Nvidia GPU in my XPS M1530 finally crapped out on me due to the infamous overheating problem. Need a new laptop, as reflowing the GPU makes it only last a day or 2.

I usually get from http://stores.ebay.ie/eComputers-LTD - looking at the Dell XPS 15 now, however I have read reports online about over-heating problems with these too.

What do you need your lappy for?
What is your budget?

h57xiucj2z946q

€600-800

Just home use. Usually use it for programming, music, videos, running various unix/linux distros. Used to play the odd game on the XPS M1530, but the machine used to fry! Don't think I will bother with games too much now to be honest.

Jarren

http://www.amazon.de/Samsung-NP300V5A-S03DE-Notebook-2670QM-NVIDIA/dp/B006QKQ7SC/ref=sr_1_1?s=computers&ie=UTF8&qid=1339593652&sr=1-1

Decent CPU, add maybe additional 4 RAM and you are ready to roll .

It comes with a German keyboard layout btw

or you can get this Acer


http://www.amazon.co.uk/Acer-i7-2670QM-Processor-GeForce-Windows/dp/B005U9YA52/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1339594099&sr=8-2

Howlin1

Atm would it be best to wait for a few weeks/a month or two for new laptops to come out and get the current laptops a bit cheaper?

Howlin1

So out of the ones posted above, is there any that would suite me best?

Howlin1

I've seen http://www.saveonlaptops.co.uk/Acer_Aspire_5755G_1114405.html that laptop on saveonlaptops, it looks good to me, but I'm not too sure if it really is or not.

Specifications
Processor Intel® Core™ i7-2670QM Quad Core (2.2 GHz, Intel Sandy Bridge Architecture, 6 MB L3 cache, Features Intel Turbo Boost up to 3.1GHz)
Screen 15.6" (Acer CineCrystal, 1366x768 HD, High Brightness, LED Backlit)
Operating System Windows 7 Home Premium Edition 64-bit
RAM 6GB
Hard Drive 750GB
Optical Drive DVD Rewriter (Records DVDs 8x & CDs 24x & Dual Layer Super Multi)
Graphics Dedicated (NVIDIA® GeForce® GT 540M with 1GB DDR Dedicated Memory)
Wireless LAN Wireless (802.11b/g/n Wireless)
Network Card 10/100/1000 Gigabit Fast Ethernet
Integrated Webcam Integrated Webcam with Microphone
Card Reader 4-in-1 card reader (MS, MS Pro, MMC, SD)
USB Ports 2x USB 2.0, 1x USB 3.0
Speakers Integrated Sound System
VGA Port 1 External VGA Port
Kensington Lock Kensington lock slot
Charge Time 2.5 Hours
HDMI 1x HDMI Port
Warranty 12 Months Acer Collect & Return
Battery Life 4-5 Hours (Upto 4.5 Hour Battery Life)
Weight 2-3 Kg (This Model 2.5 Kg)

Occono

Howlin1 wrote: »

I've seen http://www.saveonlaptops.co.uk/Acer_Aspire_5755G_1114405.html that laptop on saveonlaptops, it looks good to me, but I'm not too sure if it really is or not.

Specifications
Processor Intel® Core™ i7-2670QM Quad Core (2.2 GHz, Intel Sandy Bridge Architecture, 6 MB L3 cache, Features Intel Turbo Boost up to 3.1GHz)
Screen 15.6" (Acer CineCrystal, 1366x768 HD, High Brightness, LED Backlit)
Operating System Windows 7 Home Premium Edition 64-bit
RAM 6GB
Hard Drive 750GB
Optical Drive DVD Rewriter (Records DVDs 8x & CDs 24x & Dual Layer Super Multi)
Graphics Dedicated (NVIDIA® GeForce® GT 540M with 1GB DDR Dedicated Memory)
Wireless LAN Wireless (802.11b/g/n Wireless)
Network Card 10/100/1000 Gigabit Fast Ethernet
Integrated Webcam Integrated Webcam with Microphone
Card Reader 4-in-1 card reader (MS, MS Pro, MMC, SD)
USB Ports 2x USB 2.0, 1x USB 3.0
Speakers Integrated Sound System
VGA Port 1 External VGA Port
Kensington Lock Kensington lock slot
Charge Time 2.5 Hours
HDMI 1x HDMI Port
Warranty 12 Months Acer Collect & Return
Battery Life 4-5 Hours (Upto 4.5 Hour Battery Life)
Weight 2-3 Kg (This Model 2.5 Kg)

You'll face a lot of surcharges (Delivery, a Credit Card charge (I have a Debit they recognize as a Credit...), and your bank's currency conversion take) with Saveonlaptops, FYI.