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What Laptop to buy??

Comments

  • Registered Users Posts: 904 ✭✭✭buzzerxx


    Any suggestions appreciated,especially about playing music through amp and displaying wma on projector screen.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 1,240 ✭✭✭tywy


    €3000 is a whole lotta money for what you want a laptop for...

    If I had that money I'd buy a Macbook Pro, but you're looking to a) play wmas and b) want windows media centre...so that's not gonna do ya.

    I wouldn't go to PC World to find a laptop.

    Try www.elara.ie www.komplett.ie www.laptopsdirect.ie and www.dell.ie

    A Sony Vaio might be what you're looking for...


  • Registered Users Posts: 904 ✭✭✭buzzerxx


    thanks for ur tips.


  • Registered Users Posts: 23,212 ✭✭✭✭Tom Dunne


    buzzerxx wrote:
    Any suggestions appreciated,especially about playing music through amp and displaying wma on projector screen.

    Wouldn't I just love to have 3000 to spend on a laptop. I would be divorced, simple as that. :D

    Anyway, specifically regarding playing music through the amp and displaying on a projector - there is nothing special you need. I have this setup with my HP laptop and a 5.1 USB sound card, hooked up to my projector via the VGA output. Completely off topic, but if you like music and music videos and have a projector, check out Yahoo Launchcast. They have streaming audio and music videos - you get to chose what they play. Works wonders with the projector.

    Regarding the actual purchase of the laptop - you generally speaking get better value buying on line. PC World are, how can I put this, not the best value.

    You should get at least 2Gb of RAM for that money, along with a large (100Gb+) hard drive. Do a search for Havok's posts on graphics cards in laptops - he has some great posts on the subject and knows his stuff.

    Regarding Windows Media Center, check out the free alternatives such as GB PVR (what I use on my system) and Media Portal.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 1,723 ✭✭✭empirix


    For 3k you could get the top of the range blue ray Sony Vaio - won't be beaten, comes in at a cool €2800


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  • Registered Users Posts: 4,142 ✭✭✭TempestSabre


    http://www.peats.com/cgi-bin/shop/db.cgi?view=1&id=9730&type=6&path=14x164x433

    They had a 2GB/200GB on in the shop that wasn't much more.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 29,930 ✭✭✭✭TerrorFirmer


    Sweet lord, a 3k budget for a laptop.

    With that price you could get not only a great laptop, but a nice desktop as well....

    But if you truly want it all in the laptop, you won't even need to pay that much....2k would get you a fairly formidable gaming beast, and whilst "gaming" may not be what you have in mind, a laptop geared towards gaming is always the most future proof of all, especially if you don't actually play any games...

    Be careful what you spend it on though....as I said, you really don't need anywhere near 3k unless you are really determined to just blow your money! And furthermore, paying 3k now, regardless, the laptop will loose its value at an extraordinary rate, so be wary of that as well when buying.

    It's good that you don't particularly care about mobility, because all the best powerhouses are quite heavy too.

    At this point though it's worth asking do you truly need all these extras in your laptop - because if you don't play games, you would get a very capable laptop that will suffice for several years at least, for about 1k.

    On that note, all those laptops you've linked to from PC World are overpriced. The Dell XPS is a perfect example of how you can easily spend 3k, but again, I would say you would be absolutely wasting your money if you aren't a gamer.

    One tip - if you go with Dell, do not pay them for memory upgrades. They charge 2x what it costs elsewhere - you're better off buying your laptop, and purchasing and installing extra memory yourself.

    Let us know what sort of machines you are narrowing it down to!

    edit: Considering its a Vaio, that machine you've linked to there Tempest is quite nice....though I think for the same price you'd get a slight better 9400 from dell. Vaio does look much nicer though...


  • Registered Users Posts: 4,142 ✭✭✭TempestSabre


    I've a slightly different viewpoint.

    Theres no such thing as future proof theres only fit for task. Personally I think gaming laptops become obsolete fastest of all. The most useful laptops are the ones which are the most portable, longest battery life etc. You can always use them for office work, web and email etc. The least portable laptops (desktop replacements & gaming laptops) become pointless once you can't play the majority of games on them, and vs a desktop with a flatscreen they make no economic sense at anytime, but especially once they are a year or more old.

    You might argue that the most powerful laptop will be able to run future OS'es better like Vista. But when you can still run XP on a PII 400mhz well enough to use as a Office machine you don't really "need" the latest OS to get you email and do some word processing.

    That said I ran a desktop replacement for over a year and it was fine. I was willing to pay a premium at the time for a machine like that. So it was fit for task at that time.


  • Registered Users Posts: 2,010 ✭✭✭Dr_Teeth


    Buy a Macbook Pro tbh. If you really need Windows, installing it and making the machine dual-boot (or even better, have both OSes running side by side) is a snap. PC laptops are ugly and poo imo. :)

    Teeth.


  • Registered Users Posts: 4,142 ✭✭✭TempestSabre


    The random shutdown in the middle of working on something is a feature of Macbook's I couldn't warm to myself. :D

    http://www.appledefects.com/?cat=6
    http://tinyurl.com/laecv
    http://tinyurl.com/ffcsp


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  • Registered Users Posts: 304 ✭✭Rags


    Would have to recommend you take a look at Dell's precision m90. Got one myself. 2 gigs of ram. 512mb Graphics card. Duo core processor. 100 gig hardrive. For future proofing you cant really get better then that.


  • Registered Users Posts: 214 ✭✭nah_biy!


    what I wouldn't give for a €3000 laptop :(


  • Registered Users Posts: 6,163 ✭✭✭ZENER


    The random shutdown in the middle of working on something is a feature of Macbook's I couldn't warm to myself. :D

    http://www.appledefects.com/?cat=6
    http://tinyurl.com/laecv
    http://tinyurl.com/ffcsp


    Yeah dead right too, why have it just shut down when you can also have it explode too like a Dell ???!!!

    Seriously though, this problen has been pretty much ironed out in the later versions of the MacBook and MacBook Pro but will, unfortunately, mar the MacBooks and MacBook Pros in the same way as the poor battery life of early iPods. Thankfully this hasn't seriously affected the popularity of the iPod range and the standard will continue to be raised for others to aspire to for the benefit of all consumers.

    Apple have accepted that there were/are problems with some notebooks and by and large sorted these problems out.

    I bought a MacBook Pro myself and it hasn't misbehaved once - even when running Windows XP ! A quality machine without the ugly stickers and multicolored connectors of some wintel devices. If I had too choose something else though, the Sony Viao range would be my choice (provided it didn't come with an exploding battery that is ;) ).

    My 2c.

    ZEN


  • Registered Users Posts: 3,356 ✭✭✭seraphimvc


    3k budget???:D

    well,if you are not an advance computer user,but just looking for a really good quality laptop for a normal user,go for

    an iBook(Apple,white,thin,cool looking,highperformance laptop,but you need to get used to MacOS anyway)
    or
    a Thinkpad(IBM,black,most secure+no one can actually pouch the laptop,very good wifi tech(especially latest models),long battery life,well,choose whatever highclass model to suit yourself).

    one of the reason that i recommend both of them because once you got a problem on your laptop,the companies above give you very good After-sales Service and of course fees are already covered in the warranty,which is very convenient for a normal computer user(which normally you get stuck if you face a problem,but now you only need to dial a call).

    Never ever think of Sony VAIO unless you have no choice or just simply attracted by its look,they have serious hardware problems(eg.their batteries are really bad,speakers problem...you need to choose very careful if you are planning to get one).And once your VAIO broke,you have to send to french(?i think)to repair,which takes you weeks to wait for it.

    I personally think that spending 3000 on a laptop AT THIS TIME is very risky.
    MSVista is coming out,Apple announced that we can run windows on Mac machines...so...we have no idea what will be the trends of the market of the computer in the future half year.I am sure you wont want to see that you spent 3000 to get a laptop then half year later its price drop to 1500 due to its tech(eg.a laptop can run XP is a trends now,BUT it can't run Vista in the future,which makes it a rubbish in the shop--they throw it with a cheap price).:p


  • Registered Users Posts: 6,762 ✭✭✭WizZard


    TBH.

    Have one at work - class...


  • Registered Users Posts: 3,356 ✭✭✭seraphimvc


    WizZard wrote:
    TBH.

    Have one at work - class...

    ohmygod...that thing is simply gorgeous....emm....deliciously as well....:D


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 29,930 ✭✭✭✭TerrorFirmer


    That is cool, I looked at those before but too heavy, and not exactly as mobile as a "laptop" should be...


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 10,012 ✭✭✭✭thebman


    I've a slightly different viewpoint.

    Theres no such thing as future proof theres only fit for task. Personally I think gaming laptops become obsolete fastest of all. The most useful laptops are the ones which are the most portable, longest battery life etc. You can always use them for office work, web and email etc. The least portable laptops (desktop replacements & gaming laptops) become pointless once you can't play the majority of games on them, and vs a desktop with a flatscreen they make no economic sense at anytime, but especially once they are a year or more old.

    You might argue that the most powerful laptop will be able to run future OS'es better like Vista. But when you can still run XP on a PII 400mhz well enough to use as a Office machine you don't really "need" the latest OS to get you email and do some word processing.

    That said I ran a desktop replacement for over a year and it was fine. I was willing to pay a premium at the time for a machine like that. So it was fit for task at that time.

    Yeah this assumes you don't need to do any image editing or anything that requires power like computer scientist related tasks and are just an average user.

    personally I bought a gaming laptop for 1600 Euro a couple of years ago and it's still running the latest games (on lowest settings but I'm not fussy). You don't need to spend much more than that if your going to shop around.

    I bought a Dell Latitude D810 and it is a quality laptop. I've been knocked off my bike with it in my bag and landed on it and it was fine. Not a bother on it (couple of scratches though).

    The trick to buying Dell assuming your willing to (this really applies to any laptop though) is to type the model number in quotes like "Latitude D810" into google followed by problems. With Dell if there are any serious issues with it they will most likely pop up and I kid you not will most likely be posts in the Dell customer forum complaining about it. Then read an online review to make sure the layout etc.. is good and assuming it's clear there, your good to go.

    Anything else is asking for trouble. Don't buy a brand new model of laptop (new chassis's are asking for trouble). They are always little problems that need to be ironed out with them like any product (the first iPod was also crap).

    Sony laptops may be nice to look at but I've heard horrible things about the support on them (but only from US users).

    For your money you could get a Macbook and if you have windows handy, install it on it. Not really a great option though.

    Toshiba laptops are quality. My brothers business runs on one model (which I can't remember) and they don't give any bother. They are also decent looking as in better than Dell.


  • Registered Users Posts: 4,142 ✭✭✭TempestSabre


    Very few people do serious image editing or scientific analyse that needs anything beyond a basic machine.


  • Registered Users Posts: 904 ✭✭✭buzzerxx


    Hello,thanks for the feedback.I've finally decided on this http://www.laptopsdirect.ie/Sony_Vaio_AR21s_Laptop_VGN-AR21S/version-1.asp
    ordered it at 4pm today and they say i should get it monday:)


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  • Registered Users Posts: 4,142 ✭✭✭TempestSabre


    buzzerxx wrote:
    Hello,thanks for the feedback.I've finally decided on this http://www.laptopsdirect.ie/Sony_Vaio_AR21s_Laptop_VGN-AR21S/version-1.asp
    ordered it at 4pm today and they say i should get it monday:)

    Beast of a machine.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 29,930 ✭✭✭✭TerrorFirmer


    Nice machine but you are paying about 800 of that solely for the Bluray drive, which I think is a tad too early to be forking out for so extravagently...


  • Registered Users Posts: 23,212 ✭✭✭✭Tom Dunne


    buzzerxx wrote:
    Hello,thanks for the feedback.I've finally decided on this http://www.laptopsdirect.ie/Sony_Vaio_AR21s_Laptop_VGN-AR21S/version-1.asp
    ordered it at 4pm today and they say i should get it monday:)

    :eek:


  • Registered Users Posts: 6,762 ✭✭✭WizZard


    Nice buy - expensive though! :)
    Hope you got the 3 year warranty though, especially when you've spent so much


  • Registered Users Posts: 3,356 ✭✭✭seraphimvc


    sony 's battery recall operation is everywhere now........

    just be careful because it may explode........if your battery is infected...;)


  • Registered Users Posts: 4,142 ✭✭✭TempestSabre


    seraphimvc wrote:
    sony 's battery recall operation is everywhere now........

    just be careful because it may explode........if your battery is infected...;)

    Thought that was a feature of all laptops these days.


  • Registered Users Posts: 904 ✭✭✭buzzerxx


    I still have the sony vaio, it got the blue screen of death though in 2012.

    I cant believe i spent so much on a laptop just cos it had bluray player.

    Celtic Tiger times were mental.


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