i5 Laptop.

nudger

Seen this, what you think.

Acer Aspire V3-571
Intel® Core™ i5-3210M Dual Core Processor
15.6" HD Screen
Microsoft Windows 8 64-bit
8GB DDR3 RAM
750GB HDD
DVD Rewriter
Integrated Graphics
Bluetooth 4 | USB3 | HDMI
NX.RYFEK.016
£399.97

20+
In Stock

Whats your opinion, it will be just used for general browsing, streaming, bit of work stuff.
Speed is important to me as I have no patience, I know an i3 would probably do but I fancy the i5.

mcw92

Assume this is the one your on about :
Acer Aspire

This would be grand for everyday use yes.

Delivery is 10£ from there remember.
8GB is unnecessary for your use, but no harm to have really.

nudger

mcw92 wrote: »

Assume this is the one your on about :
Acer Aspire

This would be grand for everyday use yes.

Delivery is 10£ from there remember.
8GB is unnecessary for your use, but no harm to have really.

It's to replace an old pc so decided to go that bit extra.

Any thoughts on something else, willing to go to say €700 but thought the spec for that price was very good.

mcw92

nudger wrote: »

It's to replace an old pc so decided to go that bit extra.

Any thoughts on something else, willing to go to say €700 but thought the spec for that price was very good.

It is fine for what you have stated.
You will always get a much faster laptop for a higher budget though.

I could find a better, faster model for the 700€ you have said, but the 400£ model is fine.

I will still take a look around though for the 700€ budget.

EDIT :

The biggest way you could see a speed increase would be a SSD HD.
You could buy a 128GB SSD, or a 256GB SSD yourself separately, depending on how much space you need.
You could then buy an enclosure for the old HD, and use it as an external HD.

Installing the SSD is relatively easy, but requires you to reinstall windows again.

If you wanted the 256GB SSD, you could buy a laptop for around 400-450 pounds.
Then add another 125£ for this drive from Amazon, You need to buy it from Amazon here though.
So total would be 575£. Around 670€.

If you dont need 256GB,
This 128GB SSD is only 67£, bought here from amazon so that leaves you with around 500-530£ to spend on a laptop.


Then you could buy an enclosure for your original laptop HD, and use it as an external drive.

So you have a few options to choose really

nudger

I was following the ssd thread and had a look on youtube to see what needs doing and what the performance would be like but as I have never taken one apart kinda don't want to pull a brand new laptop apart and the guarantee is gone.
I think for the money the Acer is pretty good, never used an Acer before, I have a "house" Lenovo z570 which is fine when I can get at it which is seldom.

Any issues with Acer, reviews/reliability/build seem good.

mcw92

nudger wrote: »

I was following the ssd thread and had a look on youtube to see what needs doing and what the performance would be like but as I have never taken one apart kinda don't want to pull a brand new laptop apart and the guarantee is gone.
I think for the money the Acer is pretty good, never used an Acer before, I have a "house" Lenovo z570 which is fine when I can get at it which is seldom.

Any issues with Acer, reviews/reliability/build seem good.

Yes you could always replace the HD with an SSD later on if you wanted.

No experience with Acer myself tbh sorry.

nudger

mcw92 wrote: »

Yes you could always replace the HD with an SSD later on if you wanted.

No experience with Acer myself tbh sorry.

Thanks, I also have a samsung n150 plus for the kids which has gone very slow, might try a 120 ssd in that as a dry run, not the end of the world if I cook it up.
Would it speed it up or is there another quick fix?
It a 1GB, 160GB.

mcw92

nudger wrote: »

Thanks, I also have a samsung n150 plus for the kids which has gone very slow, might try a 120 ssd in that as a dry run, not the end of the world if I cook it up.
Would it speed it up or is there another quick fix?
It a 1GB, 160GB.

Does that run Windows 7 Starter yes?
You could try a running the OS Recovery to reset the system to original settings(a fresh install of windows)
This would remove any virus that may slow it down if thats the case.
It would defo have a speed increase for a while anyways, but that is because all the programs you have installed since you got the laptop would be gone, aswel as your files and updates.

You could also upgrade the Ram to 2GB, this would stop slow down as much when you are running a few programs, or have numerous internet tabs open. etc.

As for installing an SSD in it, it would improve speeds yes, start up times, program launches, etc.
But i dont think the difference would be huge tbh, it would be limited by the processor and ram.
Start Up would be the biggest difference, maybe 10 seconds faster or more.

EoghanIRL

Integrated graphics are the only Down point to be honest .

mcw92

EoghanIRL wrote: »

Integrated graphics are the only Down point to be honest .

The integrated graphics are fine for what he wants.
No need for a dedicated card for everyday use.

nudger

mcw92 wrote: »

Does that run Windows 7 Started yes?
You could try a running the OS Recovery to reset the system to original settings(a fresh install of windows)
This would remove any virus that may slow it down if thats the case.
It would defo have a speed increase for a while anyways, but that is because all the programs you have installed since you got the laptop would be gone, aswel as your files and updates.

You could also upgrade the Ram to 2GB, this would stop slow down as much when you are running a few programs, or have numerous internet tabs open. etc.

As for installing an SSD in it, it would improve speeds yes, start up times, program launches, etc.
But i dont think the difference would be huge tbh, it would be limited by the processor and ram.
Start Up would be the biggest difference, maybe 10 seconds faster or more.

Excuse my ignorance but if I copied my files to a ex hd do I download the OS recovery or is it a disc.
Do I then need a disc to reinstall windows 7 starter or is that also a download.
Do I call the kids for this. :pac:

mcw92

nudger wrote: »

Excuse my ignorance but if I copied my files to a ex hd do I download the OS recovery or is it a disc.
Do I then need a disc to reinstall windows 7 starter or is that also a download.
Do I call the kids for this. :pac:

Yes, backup all needed files to a ext HD. Make note of your installed programs.

Now, some Samsung's have a program called Samsung Recovery installed.
Run this program and it should give options like Basic Restore and Complete Restore.
Not sure what each does, but i think it is complete restore you want.(Restore to factory settings,remove all user data)

Click this, follow instructions and thats it. Done. Laptop will restart or ask to restart, boot into recovery installation and you just follow the steps.
You dont need a disk(not that the laptop takes one anyways), download or even a serial.

If you dont have Samsung Recovery let me know.

FunkyDa2

Is this one any good? http://www.amazon.co.uk/Fujitsu-LIFEBOOK-AH532-15-6-inch-Laptop/dp/B00BQ9I100/ref=pd_sim_sbs_computers_1

nudger

Thanks a lot mcw92, might have to give you a shout as I go through it if that's all right.

n

mcw92

nudger wrote: »

Thanks a lot mcw92, might have to give you a shout as I go through it if that's all right.

n

Thats no problem, hope you get it sorted easily.

mcw92

FunkyDa2 wrote: »

Is this one any good? http://www.amazon.co.uk/Fujitsu-LIFEBOOK-AH532-15-6-inch-Laptop/dp/B00BQ9I100/ref=pd_sim_sbs_computers_1

That seems like a good deal alright.
Wouldn't be sure about Fujitsu, but the specs seem solid for the price.

A similar spec one on two other websites i checked went for 20-40£ more nearly.

Reviews seem good too.

nudger

A friend has told me they had to return their Acer twice with screen problems, anyone have this problem?
Spotted this thought it was good value anyone have one?

http://www.saveonlaptops.co.uk/Lenovo_G580_1366467.html

Does it have bluetooth, doesn't mention in the speck.

ciano1

nudger wrote: »

A friend has told me they had to return their Acer twice with screen problems, anyone have this problem?
Spotted this thought it was good value anyone have one?

http://www.saveonlaptops.co.uk/Lenovo_G580_1366467.html

I'm torn between the above Lenovo and this ASUS http://www.saveonlaptops.co.uk/ASUS_K55A-SX376H_red_1337331.html

Both the same price. ASUS has i5, 6gb ram, 500gb hdd and is a sexy looking little machine vs the Lenovo which has an i3, 8gb ram and 1tb hdd.

Anyone have any experience with ASUS laptops?

nudger

ciano1 wrote: »

I'm torn between the above Lenovo and this ASUS http://www.saveonlaptops.co.uk/ASUS_K55A-SX376H_red_1337331.html

Both the same price. ASUS has i5, 6gb ram, 500gb hdd and is a sexy looking little machine vs the Lenovo which has an i3, 8gb ram and 1tb hdd.

Anyone have any experience with ASUS laptops?

Have only read reviews which have all been very good, seem to be the BMW'S of laptops build wise, but lenovo have a similar rep.
I have had a lenovo for about 2 years with no problems, have noticed that the battery needs a charge quite a lot lately, it's on at least 12 hours a day.
The lenovo has a better battery life.

looking_around

lenovo is better value for money. (although the I5 will likely be quicker)

But Asus is a very good brand with excellent customer service.

Mumha

Originally I bought a Toshiba A660 laptop 3 years ago with i7, 4GB ram and a 500GB HD. As I subsequently found out, it doesn't have enough of a side grill for the hot air to escape plus the thermal paste disintegrates easily, so every so often it conks out. It cost me over €1000 at the time, so it was a fairly shoddy product to produce by Toshiba. I had paid €300 to PCWorld for maintenance, only to discover that they send it over to the UK to be fixed and I wouldn't have it back for 28 working days ! A waste of time when you need the laptop for work, so they're off my list as well now.

I'm really interested in the pcspecialist offers but I have a question or two. I think I'll get a HD and a SSD

1) Which is better and more reliable ?

1TB WD SCORPIO BLUE WD10JPVT, SATA 3 Gb/s, 8MB CACHE (5400 rpm)

or

1TB SEAGATE HYBRID GEN3 SSHD Drive, SATA 6 Gb/s, 64MB CACHE (5400 rpm)

2) Which is better and more reliable ?

240GB INTEL® 520 SERIES SSD, SATA 6 Gb/s (upto 550MB/sR | 520MB/sW)

or

240GB KINGSTON HYPERX 3K SSD, SATA 6 Gb/s (upto 555MB/sR | 510MB/sW)

3) Is there a difference in buying one of

240GB INTEL® 520 SERIES SSD, SATA 6 Gb/s (upto 550MB/sR | 520MB/sW)
240GB KINGSTON HYPERX 3K SSD, SATA 6 Gb/s (upto 555MB/sR | 510MB/sW)

than a Cache / Storage Drive

256GB Crucial M4 mSATA Solid State Drive (upto 500MB/sR | 260MB/sW)

And if there is, what one would I be better getting ?

Thanks in advance.

Mumha

Le bump

Barr

ciano1 wrote: »

I'm torn between the above Lenovo and this ASUS http://www.saveonlaptops.co.uk/ASUS_K55A-SX376H_red_1337331.html

Both the same price. ASUS has i5, 6gb ram, 500gb hdd and is a sexy looking little machine vs the Lenovo which has an i3, 8gb ram and 1tb hdd.

Anyone have any experience with ASUS laptops?

Both appear good value. One thing with the ASUS, it does not have an inbuilt microphone which would be a disadvantage in my book.

I’m surprised it is not standard at the price.

Barr

This appears to be another good option

http://www.saveonlaptops.co.uk/Acer_Aspire_E1-571_1339149.html

What is the general consensus of Acer as a make ?