Which laptop would you choose from these 2...?

moob_2

Mizz_Pink wrote:

We have directed lots of customers to acernotebooks and we have had nothing but good feedback, which is why we continue to recommend them.

Sorry to hear about your problems Moob.

I'm sure many have good experiences with them, but equally, there seems to be a rather large number that don't. They only link to one review centre on their website, and for good reason. If one were to search 'reviews laptopsdirect' in google, you would see there is an entirely different opinion and the general consensus is that they're incredibly poor - especially customer service related.

CAT-THE-FIFTH

drunknmunky wrote:

Afterrnoon all, I orginally posted this on the 'cheap laptop hunt' page, but seeing as this isnt exactly cheap, and question I have is quite technical, I thought I may have more luck here...

I'm looking to get a laptop and have narrowed my search down to the following 2:

ACER 5102 £499

- AMD Turion 64 x2 Dual Core Processor 1.6GHz
- 512 MB Cache
- 1024 MB RAM
- 120 GB Hard Drive
- 256MB Shared graphics
- Screen size 15.4" WXGA Widescreen TFT Screen with CrystalBrite Technology
- DVD Dual Layer Drive
- Built-in wireless networking
- Battery life 2:30 hours
- Laptop weight 2.85 kg

Full Spec: http://www.comet.co.uk/cometbrowse/p...=specification

ADVENT 7111 £479

- Intel Core Duo T2050 Processor 1.60GHz
- 2 MB Cache
- 1024 MB RAM
- 80 GB Hard Drive
- 128 MB Intel UMA Integrated graphics
- 15.4" Widescreen Display
- DVD Dual Layer Drive
- Built-in wireless networking
- No. of Firewire Connections 1
- Battery life 3:00 hours
- Laptop weight 2.7 kg

Full Spec: http://www.pcworld.co.uk/martprd/sto...null&tm=n ull

The main problem I'm having in choosing between the 2 is that the Acer one only has 512 cache (will this make a big difference?), but comes with 256Mb graphics.
However the Advent has a 2MB cache but only 128MB graphics.

(The hard drive size, laptop weight, battery life, £20 pound difference etc aren't that important to me)

The laptop will be used for filesharing, watching DVD's and a small amount of gaming.

So which should I go for?
Any ideas much appreciated....

The AMD processor has 512kb cache btw not 512mb!! The Core Duo is faster than the x2 and gives the notebook better battery life due to its lower power consumption.

http://xtreview.com/review81.htm

However the integrated graphics on the Acer are much better as they are ATI x300 based than that of the Advent which is Intel based.

http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/359

drunknmunky

Thanks for all the advice everyone, it really is appreciated.

Just one final question, this laptop...

http://www.comet.co.uk/cometbrowse/product.do?sku=325481&tab=specification

...has 512MB ATI1400 Mobile dynamic graphics.
How does dynamic graphics differ from dedicated? are they better?
Will they make much difference compared to 256 ATI1100 shared graphics?

I will be using it mainly for watching dvd's/tv but also a small amount of online gaming (pro evo 5)

I'm off to comet tomorrow to make my choice! so any advice is much appreciated.
Thanks

CAT-THE-FIFTH

drunknmunky wrote:

Thanks for all the advice everyone, it really is appreciated.

Just one final question, this laptop...

http://www.comet.co.uk/cometbrowse/product.do?sku=325481&tab=specification

...has 512MB ATI1400 Mobile dynamic graphics.
How does dynamic graphics differ from dedicated? are they better?
Will they make much difference compared to 256 ATI1100 shared graphics?

I will be using it mainly for watching dvd's/tv but also a small amount of online gaming (pro evo 5)

I'm off to comet tomorrow to make my choice! so any advice is much appreciated.
Thanks

The X1400 has its own video memory and does not need to use the systems RAM unlike the shared graphics for most purposes.However if it the application needs more graphics memory it can use the system RAM as well.
With regards to gaming it will be better but it is relatively weak graphics card. Go for something like a X1600 or even 7600 series graphics card in a notebook!

Some more technical details are here:

http://www.tabletpcreview.com/?newsID=449


These links show some of the scores relative to other graphics cards:

http://www.laptoplogic.com/resources/detail.php?id=37&page=4

http://www.notebookreview.com/default.asp?newsID=3263&review=Acer+Aspire+5112

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=37790