Which Laptop?

ifigureditout

hi everyone, new member here.

I'm wanting a laptop as a replacement for a desktop and i have a few specific requirements. needs to be a fast smooth running laptop that isnt troubled by a few programs running at one time.

1gb ram
decent processor
good enough graphics for most games, nothing too challenging
bluetooth
wanting it for DVDs
ideally wanting xp mce

ones i'm thinking about at the moment are:

Sony Vaio VGN FE21H, details on this site

http://shop.sonystyle-europe.com/SonyStyle/b2c/readshop.do;jsessionid=ID3002DB0.04962754548648618End;sapj2ee_*=3002?z_Forward=setDefCatalog2&servername=www.sonystyle.co.uk&drc=def&url=www.sonystyle.co.uk&SonyForward=Z_MapURL&redirected=true&nextExecute=/catalog/z_InitShopISAEntry.do&shopId=SST_GB_EN

dont worry ive found it alot cheaper than that (£820)

and:

http://www1.euro.dell.com/content/products/productdetails.aspx/inspn_9400?c=uk&l=en&s=dhs&cs=ukdhs1

with a few tweeks to bring it up to performance.

love the look of the sony but both my brother and dad have dells and have not had a single problem with them. also was wondering all about this dual core processor thingy? now i know a bit about computers but was just wondering if i would notice a big drop in performance from a desktop? i only have a celeron 2.8ghz but its just that 1.66ghz seems low?

can someone explain this to me and also if either of these are good? and if not what else is there that can meet these requirements sub £1000.

thanks in advance

Kilty_2

ifigureditout wrote:

now i know a bit about computers but was just wondering if i would notice a big drop in performance from a desktop? i only have a celeron 2.8ghz but its just that 1.66ghz seems low?

From a Celeron to a 1.66Ghz Core Duo you would see a massive increase in performance.

It has far more Level 2 cache and two cores means that you can run more programs at once; delegating them to each core as necessary.

ifigureditout

but what about when running a single program and running multiple applications is not needed? is it still faster. just wondering if it will behave just as fast as a half decent desktop in normal use?

Kilty_2

It will behave as fast if not faster than a half decent desktop yes.

It will put a 2.8ghz Celeron under the table and still have plenty of power left, I can say that without a shadow of a doubt. The new mobile chipsets give some higher end P4 desktop chips a serious run for their money.

BUT - single core setups are set to fall in price, so if you do not need the multitasking aspects of dual core, spend a bit less for a nice single core Pentium-M/Centrino.

ifigureditout

cheers for clearing that up for me. just out of interest, do you think the sony is the better option? im swaying towards it i think

Kilty_2

The Sony offering looks very nice yeah, good graphics chipset which will run a lot of games with ease, more than adequate HDD, RAM etc.

Although if you were to opt for a single core laptop you could probably find something a fair bit cheaper with the same specification in the other departments.

ifigureditout

so does anyone else have any thoughts or recommend any other laptops. any good places to look for this laptop because cheapest ive found it is £920

garcia

Sony Vaio VGN FE21H @ Dabs

£909.45

(there's also a used/returned model for £873, which given the warranty is only 90 days could possibly be haggled down)

tawnyowls

Acer are good value - give you a lot of power for the price, but someone else was complaining about the quality of the speakers.