I am buying a laptop and have narrowed my options to two

Heikki

I'm a first year at college and looking to splash out on a decent laptop to see me through the next four years. It's coming out of my loan so I hope to make a solid investment and choose one that will last me.

They are both 14'' laptops around the same price.

The first is a Sony Vaio Fit, available from sony.ie.
http://www.sony.ie/product/vn-fit/tab/overview

It has an intel core i7 2Ghz with 4mb smartcache,
intel HD 4000, 500 GB HDD & 8GB SDD & two 4GB Rams (8GB Ram)..

Also Sony Imagination software and a two year warranty. It is 739 Euro.

The other is a HP EnvyTouchsmart Sleekbook 4-1203sa
from PC World.
http://www.pcworld.ie/Product/ENVY-TouchSmart-14andquot-Touchscreen-Sleekbook-41203sa-Laptop-Silver/314624/104.9

It has an intel core i5 1.8Ghz with 3mb cache,
touchscreen, 500 GB HDD & 6GB Ram..

It also has Beats Audio and a subwoofer and a HD webcam..
But only a one year warranty. And is 700 Euro after cashback.

I'm strongly leaning towards the Vaio but would like any help from anyone who has a good knowledge of computers.. Cheers :pac:

kitnan

I'd recommend the Sony out of the two of them. It's an aluminum casing which means it's going to last a lot longer. What I do recommend is that you get the NVIDIA GeForce® GT 735M 1 GB, as the system should still have Intel HD Graphics 4000 anyway (pretty sure it's built into the processor), but the Nivida Chip is dedicated graphics, which makes it much more powerful and is much nicer if you're planning the odd game here and there - Even if you're not, it'll future proof the laptop anyway.

The reason i'm not recommending the HP is because the particular i5 it uses is an ultra-low voltage one, now this does increase the battery life, but it's slower than a regular i5 processor, i'm also not a fan of the build quality of HP laptops, they do look great, but i've found from different ones i've seen that they start to look very tacky after a few years use

Torqay

kitnan wrote: »

The reason i'm not recommending the HP is because the particular i5 it uses is an ultra-low voltage one, now this does increase the battery life, but it's slower than a regular i5 processor

The very same goes for the "particular processors" in the SONY, all ULVs.

scobyobrien

Heikki wrote: »

They are both 14'' laptops around the same price.

The first is a Sony Vaio Fit, available from sony.ie.
http://www.sony.ie/product/vn-fit/tab/overview

It has an intel core i7 2Ghz with 4mb smartcache,
intel HD 4000, 500 GB HDD & 8GB SDD & two 4GB Rams (8GB Ram)..

Also Sony Imagination software and a two year warranty. It is 739 Euro.

Does the spec of your laptop for the sony not bring it to €919 for the i7, 500gb and 8gb of ram???

Unless I am missing something here.:)

kitnan

Torqay wrote: »

The very same goes for the "particular processors" in the SONY, all ULVs.

Lol, i was trying to figure out why i didn't notice that....'conveniently', Sony don't say which variant of i7 it is...thanks for pointing that out

kitnan

scobyobrien wrote: »

Does the spec of your laptop for the sony not bring it to €919 for the i7, 500gb and 8gb of ram???

Unless I am missing something here.:)

Unless there's student discount in with that or something?

Torqay

kitnan wrote: »

Lol, i was trying to figure out why i didn't notice that....'conveniently', Sony don't say which variant of i7 it is...thanks for pointing that out

Well, Sony says up to Core i7, but the specs start with a Core i3, hence the lower basic price, from €739.

Heikki

kitnan wrote: »

I'd recommend the Sony out of the two of them. It's an aluminum casing which means it's going to last a lot longer. What I do recommend is that you get the NVIDIA GeForce® GT 735M 1 GB, as the system should still have Intel HD Graphics 4000 anyway (pretty sure it's built into the processor), but the Nivida Chip is dedicated graphics, which makes it much more powerful and is much nicer if you're planning the odd game here and there - Even if you're not, it'll future proof the laptop anyway.

The reason i'm not recommending the HP is because the particular i5 it uses is an ultra-low voltage one, now this does increase the battery life, but it's slower than a regular i5 processor, i'm also not a fan of the build quality of HP laptops, they do look great, but i've found from different ones i've seen that they start to look very tacky after a few years use

Thank you for the substantial reply.. What do you mean by future proof regarding the NVIDIA GeForce® GT 735M 1 GB.. I don't usually play games, apart from GTA on PS3 but I do watch football and tv on the internet.. Would this add to the visual expiriance for these.. Is It a form of HD.. Excuse my ignorance.. I know 50 Euro is not much but need to make sure It'll be a wise investment :cool:

Heikki

kitnan wrote: »

Unless there's student discount in with that or something?

The website offers free upgrades on different parts of the laptop.. One week It may be a free touch screen upgrade.. Last week It was the processer and the double ram.. So over 200 Euro in total I think.. I get up to a further 10% reduction with my student number but I'm not sure if It's exactly 10%..

cantescape

I have a Sony Vaio that is now two and a half years old. It is only used at home for browsing etc, never had any abuse. After one year and nine months it developed faults with internal cables. The shop where I bought it just filled me with BS and lies.

Sony are overpriced and over rated. Don't fall for the slick marketing, they are just mediocre at best. There has to be something better on the market.