Sub-£350 powerful laptops discussion

supermonkey

Having to pick up may limit you. The best deals are often online!

portchieboy

Hi

With a £50 cash back, so just sub £400, how does this sound for a first home laptop, just for internet, simple gaming, photos (TV interface?) etc.....and taking abroad on holiday.

Product Description HP Compaq 610 - Core 2 Duo T5870 2 GHz - 15.6" TFT Dimensions (WxDxH) 37.2 cm x 25.4 cm x 3.2 cm Weight 2.5 kg Processor Intel Core 2 Duo T5870 / 2 GHz ( Dual-Core ) Hard Drive 320 GB - Serial ATA-300 - 7200 rpm Networking Network adapter - Ethernet, Fast Ethernet, IEEE
802.11b, IEEE 802.11a, IEEE 802.11g, Bluetooth 2.1
EDR Power AC 120/230 V ( 50/60 Hz ) RAM 3 GB (installed) / 4 GB (max) - DDR2 SDRAM ( 1 x 1
GB + 1 x 2 GB ) Graphics Controller Intel GMA X3100 Audio Output Sound card Localisation English / United Kingdom Recommended Use Small business, corporate business Cache Memory 2 MB - L2 Cache Optical Storage DVD±RW (±R DL) / DVD-RAM - integrated with
LightScribe Technology Display 15.6" TFT 1366 x 768 ( WXGA ) - BrightView Telecom Fax / modem - MDC - 56 Kbps Input Device Keyboard, touchpad Battery Lithium Ion Operating System Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium Built-in Devices Speaker, wireless LAN aerial, Bluetooth aerial System Type Notebook Card Reader Yes Wireless NIC Intel PRO/Wireless 3945ABG Run Time (Up To) 5 hour(s) Notebook Camera Integrated - 2 Megapixel Microsoft Office Ready Includes a preinstalled image of select 2007
Microsoft Office suites. Purchase a Medialess
License Kit (MLK) to activate the software. Memory Allocation Technology Dynamic Video Memory Technology 4.0 Environmental Standards EPA Energy Star

markl66

I can recommend the Toshiba L450D as my daughter has one. It has a good value processor, enough RAM and a good graphics chipset for games. At £329 (Dixons) it is a bargain. You dont need a dual core, the RAM and graphics chipset are the most important components, if you are running Linux, most any old hardware will go like lightning compared to Windowz. Dont know about Linux compatibility, but it should run Ubuntu fine, download the live-CD and try it first. You may need a WiFi USB stick if the onboard one doesn't work with the Linux drivers, I recommend the EDIMAX. I use Ubuntu 9.10 and Edimax on a Dell Inspiron 1525 and it works fine.

Millionaire

markl66 wrote: »

I can recommend the Toshiba L450D as my daughter has one. It has a good value processor, enough RAM and a good graphics chipset for games. At £329 (Dixons) it is a bargain. You dont need a dual core, the RAM and graphics chipset are the most important components

Going to have to totally disagree on this.

The Dual Core processor is a much better investment for £10-£20 more.

Ram is easily and cheaply upgradable at a later date if needed and integrated graphics on most machines are just fine, unless you want dedicated gaming.

The SI-42 is a crap processor, It's ranked 563 in passmark benchmarks, when for £10 -20 more you could get a Celeron Dual Core with a CPU benchmark of 2.5+ times more than the SI-42.

For a short while I had a new Toshiba running a SI-42 that I was setting up for someone and it was dog slow, a chore to use and it was glad it wasn't mine.

I know what I'd put my money on.

fairyspirit

Millionaire wrote: »

Ideally you want a Dual Core processor, From experience the single core processors are not that good and can be a chore to use.

I was going to recommend this one

with 3% Cashback via Quidco. until I read your last paragraph.

Thank you! It just scrapes into my budget with the free delivery they have this weekend. Have you ever ordered from that website before? I realise PC World and the like are crap, but at least if something goes wrong you can take it back to the shop. I don't know how reliable a website would be?

Does anyone know if you order from the Argos outlet whether you can take it back to the Argos shop if something goes wrong, or are they seperate?

supermonkey wrote: »

Having to pick up may limit you. The best deals are often online!

Yes, I suppose I could have it delivered to a friend and pick it up from them instead! Silly me.

fairyspirit

Can I just go back to the Advent Roma 1001. What would happen if it doesn't have a dual core processor? Would it make it slow for going on the internet, running Word/Excel? Or would it be more of an issue for gaming and that kind of thing?

Do either HDMI or VGA mean I can link it to the TV to play films and things?

I can't seem to find anything in my budget, and am getting frustrated!

Millionaire

fairyspirit wrote: »

Thank you! It just scrapes into my budget with the free delivery they have this weekend. Have you ever ordered from that website before? I realise PC World and the like are crap, but at least if something goes wrong you can take it back to the shop. I don't know how reliable a website would be?
.

Yes, I have ordered from them before, In fact my first ever laptop was from them for around £1500+ back in 2001:eek::D.
You can return items back it they are faulty , just check the returns procedure on the website, Not sure about Argos.

Millionaire

fairyspirit wrote: »

Can I just go back to the Advent Roma 1001. What would happen if it doesn't have a duel core processor? Would it make it slow for going on the internet, running Word/Excel? Or would it be more of an issue for gaming and that kind of thing?

Internet will be fine and running office should be fine. Main noticeable differences will be possible slower boot up/shut down, Certain applications opening slower, More heavy load on the processor when multitasking resulting in slower performance especially if a antivirus starts running in the background. Single cores tend to struggle to multi-task when AV running from my experience.

In general just a lag type of feel when using the laptop which is detrimental to the user experience IMO.

fairyspirit

Millionaire wrote: »

Internet will be fine and running office should be fine. Main noticeable differences will be possible slower boot up/shut down, Certain applications opening slower, More heavy load on the processor when multitasking resulting in slower performance especially if a antivirus starts running in the background. Single cores tend to struggle to multi-task when AV running from my experience.

In general just a lag type of feel when using the laptop which is detrimental and to the user experience IMO.

Okay, thanks very much.

So I guess after price, my priority is dual core, and whether I can connect it to the TV, as that is what is really wanted with it!

I've seen a couple with HDMI and some with VGA. Can someone confirm one of these are what is needed to connect to the TV? And on the TV end - do I connect using the scart socket? Advice very appreciated.

fairyspirit

What about this one?

Compaq Presario CQ60-430SA refurbished.
(.pcworld.co.uk/gbuk/compaq-presario-cq60-430sa-refurbished-laptop-03614235-pdt.html)

AMD Athlon™ X2 Dual-Core Processor QL-65 - 2.1 GHz - 2000 MHz HT - 1 MB L2 cache, 3GB Ram, 250GB harddrive.

Does that tick all the boxes do you think please?