Sub-£350 powerful laptops discussion

jaydeeuk1

techtitch wrote: »

Anyone got a Medion Akoya willing to share their impressions? They have been described as cheap and tacky on these forums (unf not in much detail), but I read what seemed to be a pretty detailed and balanced review of one on TrustedReviews and they came out well, especially if you compare same-priced machines (can't include link but Google 'Medion Akoya S5610 TrustedReviews' if interested).

Also, I'm pretty geeky but I can't keep up with all the CPU families Intel Celeron vs Centrino, Dual vs Duo, GHz vs power consumption, and then AMD... - anyone come across a simple chart? I want a reasonable spec but only for music production, everything else I do is lightweight.

Thanks for any thoughts at all
Chris

For CPU performance comparion, I use the link below as a quick reference.

http://www.cpubenchmark.net/

Theres a chart for graphics, but i doubt that will have any benefit to yourself. What software are you using?

techtitch

jaydeeuk1 wrote: »

For CPU performance comparion, I use the link below as a quick reference.

cpubenchmark.net/ [had to remove to submit]

Theres a chart for graphics, but i doubt that will have any benefit to yourself. What software are you using?

That's perfect! Thanks very much for the link!

I use mostly Sony ACID Pro 7 with various synthesisers and VST plugins (seems to be the cheapest full feature DAW and I'd recommend it). I sometimes use TotalRecorder (but wouldn't recommend it), CDex (would recommend), and LAME, and to get a cheap good keyboard, I bought a Yamaha PSR313 and a cheapy MIDI interface from ebay. Would definitely recommend this route - the £120 MIDI keyboards are incredibly basic, not even touch sensitive. The PSR313 is touch sensitive, feels nice, also works without a computer for improv, (and has loads of functionality and teaching modes and sounds nice), and has a MIDI mode, for £130.

My refusing-to-boot old laptop coped just about to play a fairly complex music project in real-time - around 10 tracks, all filtered, beatmapped, stretched, etc, and it had 2GB RAM and a Pentium M 2.13 GHz, which on those brilliant charts is rank 599, avg CPU speed 1046 GHz, passmark CPU score 529. Was a Dell Precision M20 and I'd recommend them if they weren't now dated - bounced on my back cycling about 50 miles a week through rush hour London traffic for 5 years, worked flawlessly until the motherboard went 6 months ago, and now the hard disk.

In terms of general software favourites, these are the ones that I've come to love over the years: ACID; Garritan ARIA, NI Guitar Combos, Submersible KitCore; CDex (rip CDs); Rainlender (beautiful calendar); Notepad++ (simple text); MyPhoneExplorer (if you've a Sony Eric phone); Thunderbird (email); Chrome (fast browser); Firefox (capable browser - PaleMoon version is faster on PCs); VLC (playing vids); Lame (making mp3s); NeoMem &/or Zotero (taking notes); PureText (removing formatting when you paste - more handy than it sounds); Foobar2000 (light & flexible for playing music); Skype; FileZilla (if you FTP); Vee Pees Random File Copier http://www.elisanet.fi/veepee/otherhtml/RFC.htm (for copying random music to your music player); WAMPServer (for web development); Paint.NET (simple photo editor); FastStone Photo Resizer (batch photo processor - bulk resize, compress, crop, etc); InfraRecorder, or imgburn if you've win 7, (for CD burning); Spotify (free music); djDecks (great cheap djing software that allows virtual vinyl for about ~£20); TortoiseSVN (for easily storing different versions of documents you're working on); FlickrDown (for bulk downloading flickr photos); MPUI (for playing mobile phone vids); GIMP (advanced image editing); AVG (free antivirus); RevoUninstaller (keeps your PC healthier by improving uninstall); Defraggler (defragment so speed your disks); MozBackup (for easy setting up of Thunderbird email and Firefox); Unlocker Assistant (only use if you know what you're doing); TeraCopy (advanced file copying/moving); OverDisk (for seeing where your disk space has gone); MozyHome (EXCELLENT free 2GB backup system); PrimoPDF http://www.primopdf.com/index.aspx (for creating PDFs)

Fellwalker

z1000000 wrote: »

Hi
My laptop was getting old and slow, really it was just full up with music.

A full hard drive will NOT have much effect on speed. Unless it is so full and so fragmented that the windows swap file cannot run properly. It is more likely programs you have installed that are running all the time. Lots of software installs "quick start" modules that only take up a small amount of memory and processor time, but when you add them up...
In windows XP I used to find that the quick indexer was a culprit, as were some anti-virus programs. Other culprits include HP (and perhaps other makes) printers, scanners, camera links, music players, TomTom. If slow running is a concern, search the internet for removing windows start up programs, or disabling. BE CAREFUL, but if you follow for example howtogeek.com, they have simple steps with pictures. (sorry I cannot post links)

I got an external hard drive and put everything I wanted on to that, anything else I deleted. These HD's are cheap and besides, everyone should back up important stuff like docs and photos off their computer. Now, all my stuff is kept on the Ext HD.

And hopefully you back up your ext HD?

Then I followed Martin's advice and looked at alternate software, (in the Freebie section).

Good idea. If you replace old software, be sure to uninstall the old stuff, else it contributes to the above slow down.

I ended up changing to Linux. Yes Linux is different from Windows and Mac, but it's not hard to use and comes as standard on some phones and netbooks now. I have a full version, that has a full office package, internet, music and dvd's, Skype and can edit photos. Like Apple machines, I don't need an Anti Virus,

Utter rubbish. This is a myth perpetrated by virus writers. Viruses attack ALL machines, and as Apple and Linux become more popular, they will get more attention and more viruses targeted at them. A good anti virus program is essential, as is a firewall (either in your router or computer), cookie manager, pop up manager, and perhaps anti spam.

benz

I'm going to be working in Europe for a while and to keep in touch with home I need a laptop, for emails/surfing/skype/writing etc.. I would buy a notebook but from what I can see they don't have an internal CD-RW (for photos) or DVD player. I will be constantly traveling so need something robust.

As always when buying a gadget it pays to buy something decent, but being constantly on the move don't want to buy anything too tempting......... Price doesn't really matter, but I don't want to spend a fortune.

Searching this forum I've gleaned that it should have Windows 7 and 6 cell batteries.

Anyone have any recommendations?

Thanks

z1000000

You are of course right Fellwalker, all computers and mobile devices are at risk of viruses and malware.
I didn't mean to start a thread on security as there are other threads here to discuss that.


I was trying to comment on moneysaving. It amazes that people buy new computers with huge empty hard

drives. Then they spend the next few months trying to fill those hard drives with music, movies, games,

downloaded funny clips from Youtube, occasionally some important paperwork and documents, and often

illegal copies of software they just may need one day. As you point out, many people will install new software

without removing the old stuff. Is it any wonder the machine doesn't run quiet as snappy when it was new and

empty?


I'm suggesting a little housekeeping and common sense may keep the machine running a little longer.


And when the nice person in the computer superstore tells you your machine is too old to play the latest

games or run the very newest software, it doesn't mean the machine is junk. People can surf the net and

listen to music on low powered older machines. Let's face it, a £200 netbook or even a smart phone will

do those things.

Snooze

benz wrote: »

I'm going to be working in Europe for a while and to keep in touch with home I need a laptop, for emails/surfing/skype/writing etc.. I would buy a notebook but from what I can see they don't have an internal CD-RW (for photos) or DVD player. I will be constantly traveling so need something robust.

As always when buying a gadget it pays to buy something decent, but being constantly on the move don't want to buy anything too tempting......... Price doesn't really matter, but I don't want to spend a fortune.

Searching this forum I've gleaned that it should have Windows 7 and 6 cell batteries.

Anyone have any recommendations?

Thanks

This not enough to go on really! "Price doesn't matter" - you've got a choice of several thousand laptops then, including Mac's.

If you're not bothered about flashy casings and prefer reliability and build quality coupled with good spec then personally I'd be looking at a Lenovo ThinkPad of some description, possibly a W700 (17" screen) or if that's too heavy/bulky then maybe a T or W500 (15" screen).

benz

Snooze wrote: »

This not enough to go on really! "Price doesn't matter" - you've got a choice of several thousand laptops then, including Mac's.).

OK let's say £400

Thanks, Benz

Snooze

benz wrote: »

OK let's say £400

Thanks, Benz

Alright, stick your mouse over here http://www.ebuyer.com/store/Computer/cat/Laptops

I'd probably buy either the Asus at the top (Asus are decent build quality and good reliability) or the Compaq CQ61-424SA. Personally I'd probably go for the Compaq as I've got two already (different models) and never had any trouble with them, but I'd happily take the Asus.

The Compaq is slightly better value for money as it has massive storage, but realistically unless you like to download the entire internet every day you're never going to come close to using 500 gig of storage. (I have an 80 gig HDD in my (XP) desktop PC here and like to do some movie & music downloading etc, but I'm only using 55% of its capacity).

I'd wouldn't touch Acer's personally. I've had two in the not too distant past and had problems with both (fan picking up, motherboard fault, power adapter socket pin snapped off on both). They are cheap components in shiny cases and that's why they're cheap. I've no doubt that this post will receive a ton of "I've got an Acer and never had any problems with it" replies but that's my personal opinion and I'm entitled to it

z1000000

I could do with some help please on new laptops.


I've been using the benchmark tool above. It seems the Intel T4400 has a CPU mark of around 1500, while and newer i3 330 has a CPU mark of 2000 so about a third faster.


Reading this thread and other stuff online, Toshiba and Lenovo seem to be reliable well regarded makes, although my old Dell has been a good tool over the years. I'm not so sure about HP though.


Pricerunner are showing laptops with the Intel T4400 for £375 and above, yet you can get laptops with the i3 330 for a few pounds more.


Amazon have the Toshiba L500 with the i3 for £409 and Pixmania have an HP for £385. The Dell is about £450 but Quidco may reduce that.


Should I go for something with the newer i3 chip or would a T4400 chip with extra RAM be about the same performance wise, and does anyone know which would be better out of these three?


Many thanks...


HP G62-107SA Intel Core i3, 2.13GHz / 2GB / 250GB / LED15.6 / DVDRW / Win 7 Home Premium
http://www.pricerunner.co.uk/pl/27-2612541/Laptop-Computers/HP-G62-107SA-Compare-Priceswww.pricerunner.co.uk




Toshiba Satellite L500-1XC Intel Core i3-330M 2.13GHz / 2GB / 320GB / LED15.6 / DVDRW / Win 7 Home Premium
http://www.pricerunner.co.uk/pl/27-2589651/Laptop-Computers/Toshiba-Satellite-L500-1XC-Intel-Core-i3-330M-2.13GHz-2GB-320GB-LED15.6-DVDRW-Win-7-Home-Premium-Compare-Priceswww.pricerunner.co.uk




Dell Inspiron 1564 Intel Core i3 330M 2.13GHz / 3GB / 250GB / LED15.6 / DVDRW / Win 7 Home Premium
http://www.pricerunner.co.uk/pl/27-2574737/Laptop-Computers/Dell-Inspiron-1564-Intel-Core-i3-330M-2.13GHz-3GB-250GB-LED15.6-DVDRW-Win-7-Home-Premium-Compare-Priceswww.pricerunner.co.uk

dreghorn

Daughter got a HP G6062ea about 2 years ago cd stopped working graphics are now flashing and the sound card is no longer recognised she has been in touch with hp for the last month and as yet no joy