The Great 'Cheapest Decent Laptop' Hunt

chr1s_2

painfulcost wrote:

i am looking for a laptop for my wife( architect) . got only less than £1000 to spend. She needs to use a lot of Photoshop and Autocad softwares running at the same time. I myself wants to use the laptop to burn dvd from our family videocam( grandparents live too far away). Which one should i get. Heard of gateway laptop ? any goodor should i go for something else?
.

This will depend on a few factors really. What version of AutoCAD will she be running? And does she use 3D or 2D in AutoCAD? That's going to be your main concern.

If it's 2D, then your system requirements are lower (http://usa.autodesk.com/adsk/servlet/index?siteID=123112&id=5127273.

With regards to your dvd burning, that's not hard to find nowadays, even in cheap laptops. I have a Gateway laptop that I bought from Staples for £499 that has a high brighness 14.1" widescreen TFT, builit-in wireless, 512Mb RAM and a DVD Rewriter.

So, find out about the 2D/3D question first and go from there. If you require 3D, then you're going to be a lot more stretched in your budget (it might be better to concider a desktop machine for your wifes' work, and a cheap laptop if you require a mobile computer). However, if you only require 2D, then you have a bit more freedom. Running photoshop and AutoCAD will mean you'll need to buy a laptop with a lot of RAM. The more the better. I'd be looking for something with at least 1Gb that would be able to take more if possible. If you're storing a lot of drawings and photos, you'll also need a fairly big hard drive (unless you're prepared to burn stuff off to DVD every so often). You're other issue is going to be screen size. I don't know any people who run CAD on much less than a 17" TFT (minimum).

As a rough idea, have a look at this: http://www.europc.co.uk/pages/ProductDetail.aspx?PID=61864. It's got 3yrs Dell cover, 2Ghz Pentium M, 1Gb RAM, 15.4" Widescreen display, 100Gb HDD, DVD Rewriter, 128Mb graphics card. That's just one example. Looking on Dell's website, you could spec up a Lattitude with a 17" Widescreen display, Intel Core CPU and 2Gb RAM for around the same price (you'd have to drop the 3yr warrenty though).

So, again, this advice depends on your wife's version of AutoCAD and what she wants to do with it.

Hope this helps,
Chris.

tomS_4

Though to run two memory/processor heavy apps at the same time is going to be a bit of a strain.. if you can find a duo core with 1gb for the price it would be a good bet.. but i'm not sure you can.

Also, for photoshop and autocad work i'd think you'd need a big monitor.. 17" at least.. which is going to push the prices up yet again i'm afraid.
I'd consider the desktop option if it is at all feasible.

John_M_Business

I'd echo all the comments made here. You need a strong processor and probably at least a Gig of RAM to be able to manage these kinds of softwares quickly without crashes / slowdown (you could argue that on a 'cost' of time, every slowdown / crash could be offset by buying a better spec solution).

Equally you do need a 17" display for this kind of work - again that extra spend is SO worth it when it comes to the long-term view (I've got a 19" screen (though with a desktop) and I am glad every day that I do - my eyes are less shot by the end of it, and I can see more on screen without squinting! I'm getting a 17" XPS next week - but then that's over £1500 ex VAT).

And if you need the warranty then you are going to go over £1k and there's not much you can do about it. Unless you go for a model that's less 'mainstream' but then that's a dangerous game to play...

BTW is the £1k inc or ex VAT? I have assumed inc... If it is ex VAT you just might be able to swing it.

codetown

painfulcost wrote:

i am looking for a laptop for my wife( architect) . got only less than £1000 to spend. She needs to use a lot of Photoshop and Autocad softwares running at the same time. I myself wants to use the laptop to burn dvd from our family videocam( grandparents live too far away). Which one should i get. Heard of gateway laptop ? any goodor should i go for something else?

Consider a bit more carefully the requiriments. In particular "running at the same time is very ambiguous). It is impossible for a person to work exactly at the same time on these two packages. probably what you mean is that she would like to keep them opened atthe same time and swicth often view from one to another. In that case, most modern processors (single core) with sufficient RAM (I would suggest 1GB as minimum) would do. You would reduce a lot the costs going with single core.
In my opinion the dual core is ONLY necessary when you have long tasks/batch heavy work going on in the background: for example if you do video resizing from multiple DVDs and leave VirtualDub running and at the same time while it wors you want also to do heavy mathematical work on your PC. In more 'normal' conditions (even professional) a good single core is more than enough and saves you a lot from the final bill.

pigeonpie

Not a techie, but a techie I know has confirmed that I was not alone with my 2 returned Dells - quite a few Dells are having problems with 17" widescreen high resolution monitors, which is something you sound like you may be looking for.
Perhaps another make of laptop would be a better idea.

John_M_Business

pigeonpie wrote:

Not a techie, but a techie I know has confirmed that I was not alone with my 2 returned Dells - quite a few Dells are having problems with 17" widescreen high resolution monitors, which is something you sound like you may be looking for.
Perhaps another make of laptop would be a better idea.

Well... it's too late now, the XPS arrived yesterday and it seems to work fine... the only problem I have is that the resolution is so good, that the windows are too small!! Particularly Firefox - where it seems I need a magnifying glass to read web-pages... ah well, I'm sure I can sort it out.

It looks 'the business' though!

sc03tye

Sorry to break into the conversation ppl! - I'm known for doing that!

Long time reader, finally managed to register on here with this piece cr*p laptop.

Past month, 2 months, I been searching for a new laptop to replace this Acer TM 220 (Which I was given). The battery no longer works and the memory has HAD it.

After much deliberation, I've been looking for a single core, 512-1gb ram, half workable gfx (to play a tiny bit of the older 3d games - soldier of fortune 2, red faction, sims - not TOO demanding?) feature I'd love would to have a biometric reader (for Internet Banking especially - I can never remember the logon ID's!!). Anything else like mem card readers, bluetooth is a welcome bonus.

What I've seen that take my eye - HP NX6125 - older but looks nice and got the bio reader and OK gfx - I've read. (around £600). Also seen what I still can decide is a gr8 bargain at comet (I'm sure you've seen) the Acer 5622 Dual Core laptop (£750).

I'm lost and tired from looking around. Can anyone help me decide!??

P.S There are no reviews of the Acer 5622 - I know they release alot of laptops but, there isnt one..English review anywhere. Whats going on. Is it a missing gem lol?

Cheers

Adam

John_LG

Welcome to the debate Adam!
This thread seems to have taken many different routes in the 30 odd pages, this is a welcome twist back to 'normal' priced laptops! Certainly the bio-reader is mainly found on HP laptops, but I wonder if a plug in usb might give you more choice? Then you could go for a 'cheaper' laptop option.

http://www.aria.co.uk/ProductsList.asp?Name=digimate+laptop
I quite like this M-3616 model. Centrino 1.6GHz, 40GB HDD, DVD/CD RW, 256RAM, Firewire, 3in1 card reader, 4usb + 2yr collect and return warranty for about £500. Add on to that XP Home (£58) and 256 more RAM (£15) and you've got a nice little laptop with a good spec, for £580. Very light at 2.4kg. It can take up to 2GB RAM if you required.
The M-4522 doesn't have wireless, or card reader, but is on offer at £340 on their specials page, so adding XP and RAM to this would be cheaper (about £415). Giving you money to buy a wireless card if required, or a usb bio reader.
http://www.dabs.com/ProductView.aspx?Quicklinx=4142&CategorySelectedId=11119&NavigationKey=11119&InMerch=1
Dabs sell the microsoft biometric reader at £30 - but there must be others, and cheaper, around.
Hope that helps in some way - or at least promotes some discussion.
People have fav websites they like to use, preferred companies, which others hate- at end of the day you'll have to go for which feels best to you. Good luck!

sc03tye

Thx for getting the new 'twist' going John! - I've noticed that as well, didn't quite know what was going on in the forum to be honest.

I hadn't really thought of the usb bio reader - but this may well be a simple solution (although it does mean something else to carry around).

As for the laptop suggestion, I'd never seen that supplier before - and it doesn't look 'too' bad, and with the card reader (:eek: ) i was a bit shocked to see on the cheaper machine. Centrino, good processor to have as well. Only real downfall would be no WIFI and gfx, would possible have been better to have the shared 128mb rather than 64mb - though if RAM upgraded, maybe that could be adjusted in the BIOS.

In comparision, maybe the HP is still a good buy John? Bluetooth, 128mb gfx (shared but not on motherboard I understand...), can get 60gb drive, and the int. bio reader, with WIFI. Not centrino, but is AMD Turion 64 -which is f-proof for Vista. Its just pressing that 'Buy Now' button!! :think:

John_LG

You're right, the HP looks a lovely laptop, although with VAT it's going to be more like £650, but it least it has a year 'proper' warranty - and I've always gone with AMD processors before, just trying to be devil's advocate by considering a cheaper option... which while I'm at it - I'd normally ask ppl if they're sure they don't want a desktop (cheaper and easier to upgrade)... but I'm confident you know exactly what you want already - maybe that 'buy now' button isn't too far off? What ever you choose that RAM upgrade is vital - but buying it separately will be cheaper than from HP, although you may invalidate warranty by fitting it yourself...
... oh just buy it, it's the weekend!:beer: