What laptop to buy???

martineire

Hi I'm looking to buy a laptop mainly just for searching the Internet, watching YouTube, uploading music and photos. I have a budget of €500-€600. What is the best laptop out there to suit my needs. I just don't want to buy a piece of S**T. Sorry I know very little about laptop :-(

Any advice
Thanks

Torqay

Quad Core i7 Acer laptop, €580 @ SOL, currently the best deal under 600 yoyos.

TommyTheGun

Torqay wrote: »

Quad Core i7 Acer laptop, €580 @ SOL, currently the best deal under 600 yoyos.

Hi Torqay,

Your posts seem to push this laptop a lot! which is fine btw, It's a nice machine by all accounts.

So the q I ask is, if there was room in the budget, how much of a % increase/decrease would you grade the following 2 laptops in performance against the acer, as regards to the % increase in price. As in would you get much much more bang for your buck for a relatively smaller increase in price

1.
http://www.saveonlaptops.co.uk/ACER-V3-571G-NX.M69EK.001_1318329.html

2.
http://www.saveonlaptops.co.uk/MSI-CX61-CX61_2OD-011UK_1389668.html

Thanks,
Tom

Torqay

TommyTheGun wrote: »

Your posts seem to push this laptop a lot!

I have no affiliation with SOL or Acer, I'm not even particularly fond of this brand but one has to admit, at this price it is currently the best deal with respect to the performance.

TommyTheGun wrote: »

So the q I ask is, if there was room in the budget, how much of a % increase/decrease would you grade the following 2 laptops in performance against the acer, as regards to the % increase in price. As in would you get much much more bang for your buck for a relatively smaller increase in price

1.
http://www.saveonlaptops.co.uk/ACER-V3-571G-NX.M69EK.001_1318329.html

2.
http://www.saveonlaptops.co.uk/MSI-CX61-CX61_2OD-011UK_1389668.html

Thanks,
Tom

1. The Acer V series got the better looks and USB 3.0. This model also has more RAM and a bigger hard drive too. Never mind the GT 710M graphics, it's a joke. If you are on a budget on don't need USB 3.0, then the E series is the better choice, system memory and HDD can easily upgraded if required.

2. The MSI comes with a latest Haswell processor and a reasonably good graphics card. But 850 yoyos is quite a step up from 500-600. And for your purposes you don't necessarly need the power of a mid-range graphics card. You wouldn't even need a quad Core i7 but it certainly is "future-proof".

TommyTheGun

Hi Torqay,

How would you rate the v5 series as an alternative? a few more € has come up in the budget and looking for something slimmer now with a bit more portability. came across this:

http://www.notebookcheck.net/Review-Acer-Aspire-V5-573G-54208G50aii-Notebook.99264.0.html

sold here w/o OS:

http://www.cyberport.de/acer-aspire-v5-573g-54208g50aii-silber-core-i5-4200u-8gb-full-hd-gt750m-1C26-8TV_1688.html

Torqay

That Haswell Core i5-4200U is no better than an older Ivy Bridge Core i3 (a lot worse actually when on battery power). It's supposed to be a battery saver, why they fitted a GT 750M then is beyond me (Dell does the same with their new Inspirons).

The price is OK though for the specs... full HD display, backlit keyboard (QWERTZ?).

TommyTheGun

Torqay wrote: »

That Haswell Core i5-4200U is no better than an older Ivy Bridge Core i3 (a lot worse actually when on battery power). It's supposed to be a battery saver, why they fitted a GT 750M then is beyond me (Dell does the same with their new Inspirons).

The price is OK though for the specs... full HD display, backlit keyboard (QWERTZ?).

so you would'nt recommend then?

I was thinking I liked the style and the fact there was a better graphics card

Torqay

Well, the call is yours really.

The specs are decent enough. You wouldn't get a full HD display, backlit keyboard and a GT 750M anywhere in Ireland or the UK for €670. The processor is a bit disappointing though, a regular Core i5 would make a helluva difference and is probably cheaper than its ULV cousin.

And remember, that keyboard might have the German layout.

TommyTheGun

Torqay wrote: »

Well, the call is yours really.

The specs are decent enough. You wouldn't get a full HD display, backlit keyboard and a GT 750M anywhere in Ireland or the UK for €670. The processor is a bit disappointing though, a regular Core i5 would make a helluva difference and is probably cheaper than its ULV cousin.

And remember, that keyboard might have the German layout.

Then what about those ones from pc specialist that you recommend in other threads with the i7?

If it was you and your call?

Galway K9

lenovo think pad or idea pad....they will last for ages

Torqay

Galway K9 wrote: »

lenovo think pad or idea pad....they will last for ages

ThinkPad T ftw!

TommyTheGun

Torqay wrote: »

ThinkPad T ftw!

a bit out of my budget !!

Torqay

TommyTheGun wrote: »

Then what about those ones from pc specialist that you recommend in other threads with the i7?

You can't compare a Core i5 ULV with a quad Core i7, they're 150% faster.

PC Specialist don't really do budget laptops, their offers become interesting if you want to spend €800 or more.

Can you elaborate on what exactly you'd expect from your new laptop and how much you're willing to pay for it.

TommyTheGun

Torqay wrote: »

You can't compare a Core i5 ULV with a quad Core i7, they're 150% faster.

PC Specialist don't really do budget laptops, their offers become interesting if you want to spend €800 or more.

Can you elaborate what exactly you'd expect from your new laptop and how much you're willing to pay for it.

something that's not going to annoy the hell out of me for a starters by taking ages to do absolutely anything like my now old XPS 1330

slim, able to use for SOME 3d modelling down the line again, decent screen, 15",NOT touchscreen ( i have an annoying asus pad that will do for now)

willing to go up to €750-800 if its nice and sleek and slim

Torqay

Here is the thing, 3D modelling requires a lot of processing power (i.e. a quad Core i7) and a decent graphics card would come in handy too (preferably some enterprise grade GPU). Then you want it fast and responsive, which means a solid state drive. And a decent screen (1920x1080?).

All this for 800 yoyos? I'm afraid this is not possible. And never mind "sleek and slim", you could not possibly get adequate cooling.

Torqay

Maybe the Brute in a Suit is for you

This baby's got it all: slim and sleek, processing and graphics power in abundance, full HD display. With 8 GB RAM, 500GB hybrid drive it will cost you €967 (without OS).

TommyTheGun

Torqay wrote: »

Here is the thing, 3D modelling requires a lot of processing power (i.e. a quad Core i7) and a decent graphics card would come in handy too (preferably some enterprise grade GPU). Then you want it fast and responsive, which means a solid state drive. And a decent screen (1920x1080?).

All this for 800 yoyos? I'm afraid this is not possible. And never mind "sleek and slim", you could not possibly get adequate cooling.

The 3d modelling is more a past time for me rather than a business, it's something I enjoyed in college and I do for myself, but haven't for a while and just want to develop my skills again at a future date.

The Dell XPS i bought in 2007, i'm pretty sure its 1.8GHz core 2 duo processor with Nvidia 8600 graphics if that means anything to you????? and that did a job on the 3d modelling back then although not without its issues at times. Granted, I paid a helluva wedge of cash for it back then, but surely with technological improvements, something these days could do a similar if not better job for a cheaper price

Doesn't have to be an amazing machine, but a powerful enough, quick, and lightweight would be a bonus. I dont do gaming or any of that, so the most load it would be under is a small bit of 3d stuff (solidworks etc...) when i have the time

Thanks for all your info, very helpful

Tom

Torqay

Well, Intel HD 4600 is for superior to the old 8600, so anything with a Haswell processor, plenty RAM and a solid state drive should be fine.

TommyTheGun

Torqay wrote: »

Well, Intel HD 4600 is for superior to the old 8600, so anything with a Haswell processor, plenty RAM and a solid state drive should be fine.

As you may well by now , I'm not knowledgeable about this but i found this:

http://shop.lenovo.com/ierewards/ie/en/laptops/ideapad/z-series/z500/#customize

€699-discount = approx €595

think i prefer it to the Acer you like on SOL

Torqay

Yep, very good deal but the IdeaPad G series is anything but "slim and sleek". The G series is Lenovo's budget range, they are actually quite heavy and only have the standard 1366x768 display resolution.

And then there is that platter hard disk drive. You really want to replace it with a solid state drive (256GB drives cost ~€150) if you want "fast and responsive" and you want to upgrade the RAM to at least 8GB (or better 16GB). So, there's another €200 yoyos (if you can do it yourself and don't have to pay someone to do it for you, that is).

TommyTheGun

it's the Z series tho?

Im not looking for absolutely amazing, if you'd see the state of my XPS im using, you'd see that anything at this stage would make it look like your Lenovo T series!

:-)

Torqay

Right, that link wouldn't work for me at first.

Although of the older Ivy Bridge generation, the Core i7-3632QM is still a fine processor. and it does have a dedicated graphics card. Perfectly fine for what you have in mind (except the display maybe). But again, you'd want more RAM and a proper SSD (see above).

If you want a full HD display (1366x768 just suxx for design work) and a solid state drive, you'll need to invest more than 600 yoyos, simple as that.

TommyTheGun

Torqay wrote: »

Right, that link wouldn't work for me at first.

Although of the older Ivy Bridge generation, the Core i7-3632QM is still a fine processor. and it does have a dedicated graphics card. Perfectly fine for what you have in mind (except the display maybe). But again, you'd want more RAM and a proper SSD (see above).

If you want a full HD display (1366x768 just suxx for design work) and a solid state drive, you'll need to invest more than 600 yoyos, simple as that.

after all that:
com.digitalriver.inventory.InventoryException: We're sorry but IdeaPad Z500 is currently out of stock and cannot be added to your basket. We apologise for any inconvenience.

terrible website

Torqay

Well, it was an old model anyway.

TommyTheGun

Torqay wrote: »

Well, it was an old model anyway.

why bother have it on website then and have all the hassles of getting to checkout. frustrating

I liked the specs, not too worried if its old, liked the design. back to drawing board again now