Sub-£350 powerful laptops discussion

grumpycrab

I'm sure the Sony is well built but the processor is quite slow. For £450 you should be able to get an Intel i3 CPU and a dedicated graphics card (the latter will be useful for Sims 3 or an external monitor which I'd highly recommend if the laptop is used on a desk for long periods). By "long usage on the internet" I assume that means you need good battery life.

eg.1. http://www.hotukdeals.com/deals/affordable-gaming-laptop-toshiba-satellite-pro-l650-166-15-6-core-i3-330m-4gb-ra/912689
This just happens to be £450. The graphics card may be over-the-top for your needs and battery isn't brilliant. CPU is OK/good with a benchmark score of 1966 (higher the better).
Personnally, I'd chose the best CPU I could get compared to graphics card. You can compare CPUs -> http://www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu_list.php
Also, with Toshibas, you can get good value warranty extensions. ie -> http://uk.computers.toshiba-europe.com/innovation/jsp/SUPPORTSECTION/discontinuedProductPage.do?service=UK&toshibaShop=false&com.broadvision.session.new=Yes&PRODUCT_ID=1086925&tab=2#2

e.g.2. An example with a better CPU but NO dedicated graphics card. http://www.saveonlaptops.co.uk/Toshiba_Satellite_C660-1E2_1067403.html
This is £380 and benchmark 2344. This will let you play Sims 3 but at low settings only.

I'll have another look later.

attemptedangel

Grumpycrab, Looking again at the laptops you mentioned, I tak it that a faster processor is better than a larger RAM? I noticed that the one your recommended with the faster processor only has 2GB RAM.

I guess 300 - 350 is my budget, mainly because I don't think I do anything that should challenge a modern laptop, my current one is about 3 years old and I'm only replacing it because I dropped it!

DJOldskool

In My experience more RAM is better. Even low end CPUs nowadays are better than required for all but the most processor intensive apps.
Everytime I see a slow performing computer it is due to low RAM or lots of Apps open at the same time (RAM again).

edit: of course it changes a fair bit when gaming.

DJOldskool

That is a very good laptop for £450.

I am unsure whether to wait a month or so for the new intel CPUs to come out which will make the i5 laptops cheaper.

I am very tempted to buy this now as a great deal.

Decisions, decisions. Helllp!

inneed

Sorry - I've trawled through a lot of this thread, and I'm totally confused.
I'm looking for a laptop to replace my desktop. I've never used one before. I will be doing accounts, editing photos, burning cd's and dvd's, as well as the usual email, surfing and occasional streaming from bbc i player.
I can spend up to £400, and currently use a packard bell pc, which I have been really happy with.
Could anyone recommend something which would suit my needs please?
Thanks in advance.

JDPower

DJOldskool wrote: »

In My experience more RAM is better. Even low end CPUs nowadays are better than required for all but the most processor intensive apps.
Everytime I see a slow performing computer it is due to low RAM or lots of Apps open at the same time (RAM again).

But RAM can be upgraded, CPU can't

grumpycrab

JDPower wrote: »

But RAM can be upgraded, CPU can't

Yep, so RAM and DISK can be upgraded, processor and graphics cannot.
So, very basically, get the best CPU you can afford. Check processor oomph here -> http://www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu_list.php

I'm don't know a great deal about graphics. But if you're going to use a laptop on a desk for long periods a good monitor is very important. Use an existing monitor if you've got one or buy a good one for no more than £100. Integrated graphics (typcially Intel® Graphics Media Accelerator HD) should be able to drive an external monitor ok (normally generates upto 2,048 x 1,536).

If you want to play recent(ish) games a dedicated graphics card is vital.

grumpycrab

attemptedangel wrote: »

...I guess 300 - 350 is my budget,...

A Toshiba here -> http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/partNumber/5084760.htm?storeId=10001&referredURL=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.argos.co.uk%2Fstatic%2FProduct%2FpartNumber%2F5084760.htm&jspStoreDir=argos&_%24ja=tsid%3A11674%7Cprd%3A1546795&referrer=COJUN&com.ibm.commerce.context.experiment.ExperimentContext=com.ibm.commerce.context.experimentimpl.ExperimentContextImpl%405fba106d&cmpid=COJUN
(good CPU and warranty extensions are cheap BUT in theory there's a 2 year warranty in the box - if this is important to you ask or open the box @Argos)

And 2 Acers:-
http://www.saveonlaptops.co.uk/Acer_Aspire_5741Z_1072194.html
http://www.saveonlaptops.co.uk/Acer_Aspire_5741_988476.html
(memory is the only difference)

FYI the benchmark (CPU) scores for the Acers is 1405 (just ok) while the Toshiba scores 2344 (good).

donny-gal

If you are interested in reliability of a unit, you may want to look here, courtesy of CLOSED.

http://www.lebokov21.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/laptop_reliability.JPG

DG

JDPower

donny-gal wrote: »

If you are interested in reliability of a unit, you may want to look here, courtesy of CLOSED.

http://www.lebokov21.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/laptop_reliability.JPG

DG

Very interesting table, thanks.