Harvey Norman Sony vaio deal..

goingsolo

Hi all, lookin to get a laptop for some work at home, net searching, general stuff and wondering what people in the know think this is a decent deal? Lookin to pick up something around the €500 mark and can knock the vat off through company. (p.s. is this 23%?!)

Linky: http://www.harveynorman.ie/computing/computers/laptops/sony-e-series-i3-laptop-15-inch-white.html

Any other suggestions very much appreciated!

Thanks all,

GS

yoyo

Looks expensive to me for what it is (no dedicated video) and also I wouldn't be a fan of Sony Vaios. Get quite a few Vaios in need of repair...
Will move the the Laptop forum for you where you should get better advice

Nick

goingsolo

yoyo wrote: »

Looks expensive to me for what it is (no dedicated video) and also I wouldn't be a fan of Sony Vaios. Get quite a few Vaios in need of repair...
Will move the the Laptop forum for you where you should get better advice

Nick

Thanks yoyo/nick! any suggestions of alternatives from your experience? When you say no dedicated video...what do you mean? Main purposes for use will be work on windows & property based software- nothing major. Will be streaming football matches / films, and bit of Skype for friends abroad so camera is ideal aswell but presume this is fairly standard now.

(again apologies with the VERY limited knowledge on computery gadgets! Last laptop was a HP bought in 2007ish. Just use office computer now but need to get a laptop for home based reports etc!)

yoyo

goingsolo wrote: »

Thanks yoyo/nick! any suggestions of alternatives from your experience? When you say no dedicated video...what do you mean? Main purposes for use will be work on windows & property based software- nothing major. Will be streaming football matches / films, and bit of Skype for friends abroad so camera is ideal aswell but presume this is fairly standard now.

(again apologies with the VERY limited knowledge on computery gadgets! Last laptop was a HP bought in 2007ish. Just use office computer now but need to get a laptop for home based reports etc!)

You wouldn't need a dedicated video card for your use, but I was just pointing out that for over €500 you'd expect more than integrated video. here is a toshiba in argos that seems decent enough value. 100 quid less than the Sony and I'd go Toshiba over Sony any day of the week. Someone else may be able to advise on a better deal but to me that looks decent for €419,

Nick

Jarren

i5 sec gen cpu


http://www.argos.ie/static/Product/partNumber/5086878/Trail/searchtext%3EGREAT+DEALS+ON+LAPTOPS.htm

goingsolo

yoyo wrote: »

goingsolo wrote: »

Thanks yoyo/nick! any suggestions of alternatives from your experience? When you say no dedicated video...what do you mean? Main purposes for use will be work on windows & property based software- nothing major. Will be streaming football matches / films, and bit of Skype for friends abroad so camera is ideal aswell but presume this is fairly standard now.

(again apologies with the VERY limited knowledge on computery gadgets! Last laptop was a HP bought in 2007ish. Just use office computer now but need to get a laptop for home based reports etc!)

You wouldn't need a dedicated video card for your use, but I was just pointing out that for over €500 you'd expect more than integrated video. here is a toshiba in argos that seems decent enough value. 100 quid less than the Sony and I'd go Toshiba over Sony any day of the week. Someone else may be able to advise on a better deal but to me that looks decent for €419,

Nick

Thanks again,
Another query on what to look for before picking something out. I often need to have 6-7 different programmes open at once and juggle between different programmes for work. Could be word,excel to property software, accounts package, along with. 3-4 different websites along with others!

When I'm in the office, some computers can be DOG slow and i end up tearing my hair out, and generally not being as much done as I could with a quicker machine.

Is it the memory or what that makes a machine more capable to cope with this?

This would be vital for the one i end up going with so again, Any ideas greatly appreciated.

Cheers all,

GS

goingsolo

Oh, and budget can be doubled for the right machine! Just for this news today as company are going to look after the €€ :0)

Matt_Trakker

Stay away from Sony, sony laptops are for entertainment, not for heavy-duty work

Get a Samsung, with an i3 or i5 processor.
4gig of Ram should be more than enuff for ya too

something like this
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/SAMSUNG-NP300E5A-A02DX-INTEL-CORE-i5-2430M-15-6-LAPTOP-640GB-HDD-4GB-RAM-/200808972432?pt=UK_Computing_Laptops_EH&hash=item2ec125c090#ht_6905wt_1271

or this, but look for a new version, this one is 2nd hand
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Samsung-R540-Intel-Core-i3-500GB-HDD-4GB-RAM-Windows-7-Laptop-21661-/330781500409?pt=UK_Computing_Laptops_EH&hash=item4d041d23f9#ht_3033wt_1271

this one look decent too but it's a bit pricey
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/SAMSUNG-NP300E5A-A06DX-15-6-LAPTOP-INTEL-CORE-i5-4GB-RAM-500GB-HDMI-NEW-/261082046584?pt=UK_Computing_Laptops_EH&hash=item3cc9b3e078#ht_3114wt_1037

goingsolo

Matt_Trakker wrote: »

Stay away from Sony, sony laptops are for entertainment, not for heavy-duty work

Get a Samsung, with an i3 or i5 processor.
4gig of Ram should be more than enuff for ya too

something like this
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/SAMSUNG-NP300E5A-A02DX-INTEL-CORE-i5-2430M-15-6-LAPTOP-640GB-HDD-4GB-RAM-/200808972432?pt=UK_Computing_Laptops_EH&hash=item2ec125c090#ht_6905wt_1271

or this, but look for a new version, this one is 2nd hand
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Samsung-R540-Intel-Core-i3-500GB-HDD-4GB-RAM-Windows-7-Laptop-21661-/330781500409?pt=UK_Computing_Laptops_EH&hash=item4d041d23f9#ht_3033wt_1271

this one look decent too but it's a bit pricey
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/SAMSUNG-NP300E5A-A06DX-15-6-LAPTOP-INTEL-CORE-i5-4GB-RAM-500GB-HDMI-NEW-/261082046584?pt=UK_Computing_Laptops_EH&hash=item3cc9b3e078#ht_3114wt_1037

Sound thanks, no problem not going with Sony. TBH I really don't care what logo is on the front as long as it does what it suppose to, is very quick, and doesn't take an hour and a half to start up!! (a few perks are obviously a plus though!)

What's the deal with memory, will it effect how quickly a laptop will perform yeah? What do I need to look out for? I have a 1 TB external hard drive that I can use with it if it will help? What feature on a laptop gives it speed?

As I said, I'm not very knowledgable on IT so if you can Reccomend 3-4 that I can operate 5-6 different programmes while loggin into the office server than I'm happy!

I assume/hope that most new laptops come with windows automatically? Easily solved if not but would like to know.

Thanks all

yoyo

goingsolo wrote: »

Sound thanks, no problem not going with Sony. TBH I really don't care what logo is on the front as long as it does what it suppose to, is very quick, and doesn't take an hour and a half to start up!! (a few perks are obviously a plus though!)

What's the deal with memory, will it effect how quickly a laptop will perform yeah? What do I need to look out for? I have a 1 TB external hard drive that I can use with it if it will help? What feature on a laptop gives it speed?

As I said, I'm not very knowledgable on IT so if you can Reccomend 3-4 that I can operate 5-6 different programmes while loggin into the office server than I'm happy!

I assume/hope that most new laptops come with windows automatically? Easily solved if not but would like to know.

Thanks all

4gig RAM for Win 7 is plenty. Core i3s are a good CPU, Core i5 are even better. Check out the HP Jarren linked to, seems like very decent value for the spec. Btw RAM and hard disk can be upgraded later on quite easily, CPUs cannot generally so I would not worry so much about storage or memory.
Yep with a Core i3 or i5 multitasking will be great, Windows 7 is also very zippy. Your 1tb hard disk will be plug and play, just plug the drive in and at first the driver will install (automatically) and then your drive will appear.
Your laptop will come with Windows but not office (word, excel, powerpoit etc). To get alternatives to these programs free check out LibreOffice which is fully free.
Lastly Samsung are a good laptop brand but I wouldn't reccomend buying on ebay, well put it this way, mightn't be the easiest to send back if things don't go according to plan. So stick to the bricks & mortars or online retailers (dabs, elara, komplett etc.)

Nick

Jarren

Well,if the company is doubling the budget then you wouldn't mind getting this

Intel® Core™ i7-3610QM Quad Core Processor
17.3" HD+ Screen
Windows 7 Home Premium Edition 64-bit
6GB DDR3 RAM
1000GB HDD
Blu-Ray
Dedicated GT 650M 2GB Graphics


http://www.saveonlaptops.co.uk/Samsung_550P7C_1198887.html
About 950 Euros delivered