Choosing a Laptop

annette curtain

hey all,
need your advice
im a multimedia student thinking about getting a computer, thing is i dont know all this computer jargon.
What would you recomend
i'd like good graphics/editing for video and sound...
dvd/cd player with burner
wireless connection
all the usual...microsoft word etc

if possible ability to choose what programs i want like textpad, dreamweaver, flash or maybe a package deal...

i know its alot to ask...

price range €2000-€2500

snappieT

Well, a decent graphics card is hard to find on a laptop. I recommend dell's Inspiron 8600c, since it has a wide screen, decent gfx card and centrino (which will incorporate wireless)

You very rarely get software included in laptop packages

palance

Theres another thread here somewhere saying that ALDI will have a new laptop deal shortly, you should wait for that. Additional software such as Word or Dreamweaver would need to be bought separately. You should talk to computer services in your college, they might be able to arrange student pricing for much of it.

annette curtain

cheers lads thanks.........keep them comming

also about the aldi dont know if i'd buy form there as if something happens im laptop less for quite a while until it gets sent back to get fixed!!

what about this>>>>

http://www1.euro.dell.com/content/products/productdetails.aspx/inspn_9200?c=ie&cs=iedhs1&l=en&s=dhs

glynf

Trying to get one ofthese at the moment.
Micro Aid quoted aprox. €1950 + Vat for the Travelmate 8104WLMi, Pentium-M 760 (2.0GHz, 533MHz FSB, 2Mb L2 Cache), Microsoft« Windows« XP Professional Edition, 100GB, 1024MB DDR2 (2*512), DVD-Super Multi, 15.4" WSXGA+ TFT, 128Mb ATI Mobility Radeon X700.

Its a well reviewed laptop, and the GPU is no slouch either

talking_walnut

Does it have to use Windows? Mac's are often better suited to multimedia applications.

(note: I'm not a mac zealot trying to line Steve Job's pockets. I don't even like them personally but they are usually better for multimedia things)

Superman

wow! I like that 8104WLMi, if i was to get a machine it would be it !
BTW it's cheaper at acernotebook.co.uk tho, £ 1441.08 = €2,080.95

good buzz!

annette curtain

sounds good i'll check it out thanks...


oh and about the windows pref yes because thats what ive always used and what im used to!!

glynf

Superman wrote:

wow! I like that 8104WLMi, if i was to get a machine it would be it !
BTW it's cheaper at acernotebook.co.uk tho, £ 1441.08 = €2,080.95

good buzz!

True its cheaper- but if any thing goes wrong chances are the customer will have to pay the shipping.

Bought a laptop from rock direct recently, and thats the way they work it

Clanc

Try this crowd in Germany for IBM ThinkPads.

The one to look out for is the T41p or higher for the best graphics performance. The T42p is newer, but really expensive still. Some of the R50's have the 128MB video as well but they're a lot heavier + bulkier than the T models (I have a T41 myself)

http://www.pro-com.org/nofost.de/pages/index_language02.aspx

Edit: I forgot to say that they sell them with English software + UK cables too

petes

Currently on a Dell 8600c..never any probs since last September (except the one os reinstall ) its fine 1.7 centrino, gig of ram ati mobility 9600..was 2200 when bought but no word/excel etc..

dawballz

I bought an Acer Ferrari 3400 recently for 1500 (Then got nabbed for 300 customs ) But it still worked out a lot cheaper than if i got it in Eire of the uk.
AMD 64 proc.
80GB HD.
128mb Radeon 9700
512MB RAM
5-in-1 Card reader(very handy for the digi cam-no need for messy cables)
wireless lan(which could be picked up in my apartment, but not anymore since i moved )
Bluetooth & Infrared(Cool when someone with a new nokia or sagem can send pics and vids..nifty)
Nice and thin(approx 3cm high)
Slot load cd & dvd writer drive.. very cool

comes with winXP pro with sp2, although I lost the disc first day

edit: here's some pics

glynf

sweet paint job.

how do you find the curved keyboard?

WillieDH

sorry mate what a manky looking rig !

annette curtain

hey where would i be able to get the acer Ferrari in ireland...looks the best so far....well to me anyway (and no its not just because of the colour!!!)




if not what about these

http://www.pcrealm.co.uk/

petes

On that site a carrycase costes €245. Does it do anything extra. No pics of it. Dont really like the ferrari one.(But who am I to say with my lovely looking Dell)

ressem

I guess that you're in a full time course. So
Biggest (legal) cost saving I can suggest is buying the student editions of
Macromedia Studio MX 2004 Student Boxed Edition £190
Office 2003 Standard for Student & Teacher Edition 2003 £95

both available from amazon.co.uk. Cost about 300 sterling instead of €1200 for retail versions. You get a form to be signed by college and sent back to the respective companies.

You don't need a 3D games oriented graphics card like radeon 9700. You'd be better spending the money on RAM. But it's difficult to find a laptop with 1GB unless you customise a Dell, or add after purchase.
Memory can be got at low cost from www.crucial.com/uk and is easy to add to a laptop.
Problem is you have to check the existing ram to see whether you need to swap out an existing chip, to replace it with a higher capacity.

This looks like the same spec give or take to the ferrari
http://www.expansys.ie/product.asp?code=115193

Or from Elara.ie,
ECS1017806 ACER - (LX.T6406.041)

Travelmate 4601WLMi, Pentium-M 730 (1.6GHz, 533MHz FSB, 2Mb L2 Cache), Microsoft« Windows« XP Professional Edition, 60GB, 512MB (2*256) DVD-Dual, 15.4" WXGA TFT, 64Mb ATI Mobility Radeon X600, Modem, LAN, Gbit 802.11b/g WLAN

€1,431.57 inc vat
€1,183.12

Or
ECS1017808 ACER - (LX.T7206.010)

Travelmate 8101WLMi, Pentium-M 730 1.6GHz 533MHz FSB 2XMb L2 Cache Microsoft« Windows« XP Professional Edition, 60GB, 512MB DDR2 (2*256), DVD-Super Multi, 15.4" WSXGA+ TFT, 128Mb ATI Mobility Radeon X700, Modem, LAN 802.11g WLAN

€1,746.20 inc vat
€1,443.14

Quick Glossary:
Pentium-M 1.6 Ghz bit is the Processor. Quicker is better for video editing, but this is OK.
60 GB is the hard drive size larger is better.
512 MB Ram is the Memory: Most important for video/graphic work.
WXGA is 1200 x 800, WSXGA means about 1600 x 1050 dots on screen. Means you can fit more menus etc on screen.

Guarantee though also involves sending to the UK, I think. You can get faster, but assuming printer, software and scanner will probably run over your budget.

dawballz

glynf wrote:

sweet paint job.

how do you find the curved keyboard?

Pait job is standard, but it's a lot nicer than the plain dull grey/black dell's etc you normally see around the place.. Not that mine gets to see much else than inside my apartment room....
Keyboard is grand, just took a little getting used to cos i used my gf's dell lappy before i got this baby.

You'd probably pay about e2200 or more to get this in ireland.. i got mine in USA as i said already for 1800 in total.. 1500 if you could manage to avoid customs(ask them to mark it as a repair or something?)

dearg_doom

annette curtain wrote:

cheers lads thanks.........keep them comming

also about the aldi dont know if i'd buy form there as if something happens im laptop less for quite a while until it gets sent back to get fixed!!

w

I'm surprised noone's said anything in favor of Aldi :rolleyes:

I got their laptop in september:

1499eurons: 1.7GHz Centrino/9700/512MB/DVD-+RW

it's the business, one problem, the trackpad needed a new driver, i got quick helpful service from the call staff, and no problems since!

they just had one out in Germany too which was 1299 and had a savage extras list, keep an eye out, I'd say that'll be out over here pretty soon:)