New laptop, decent spec....

PitRejection2359

Hi All

I'm about to buy a new laptop to take to sea with me (I'm in the Royal Navy), and having a desire to get something quite good I tried to read up on what was good.
A review in Computer Shopper magazine last year lead me to 'pc nextday' - their Zoostorm 2-6301 Advanced won the best £500-ish laptop, and does look really good.
Now I wanted something with a bit higher spec than that and am considering the Zoostorm 4-6610, or its counterpart the Zoostorm 4-6612, which is the same (i think) but includes an internal digital TV card, and a free upgrade to Windows VISTA for £50 more (so not a bad deal, really). Plus, with Quidcoo you can get 3% cash back.
Any thoughts or suggestions very much appreciated - I can't seem to see anything in the 'sales' that can quite compare to these. Cheers all!

Cocksy

EDIT: I Meant to put this in too - does anyone know if there is a laptop supplier that does a forces discount? I remember someone saying that Dell do it, but I can't see the detials anywhere? Cheers!

ddavis

Doesn't look bad - one word of warning for computer shopper though.. To have your product reviewed you have to pay. So to get it number 1 I wouldn't be too surprised if you could pay a few bob extra....

I think i'd go dell personally if I was taking it away - they're the only laptops i've had where there haven't been any niggling issues that need fixing.

jpieter

Personally i have been using Acer Laptops for the last six months and I am surprised and pleased with their performance. Why do you need to have a built in TV card? Anyway i would reccomend this Acer laptop ,it is a very good price and has everything that the Zoostorms have but alot cheaper and less the Tv card.

http://www.laptopsdirect.co.uk/Acer_Aspire_5633WLMi_Laptop_LX.AG50J.169/version-1.asp

I hope that you find what you are after.

PitRejection2359

Managed to find some details on the Dell site - they offer VAT free, but only when sending to a BFPO overseas, so not that useful if you are forces but based in the UK when you want to buy a laptop! Anyone else know anywhere that does a forces discount for pc's/laptops?

PitRejection2359

jpieter wrote:

Personally i have been using Acer Laptops for the last six months and I am surprised and pleased with their performance. Why do you need to have a built in TV card? Anyway i would reccomend this Acer laptop ,it is a very good price and has everything that the Zoostorms have but alot cheaper and less the Tv card.

http://www.laptopsdirect.co.uk/Acer_Aspire_5633WLMi_Laptop_LX.AG50J.169/version-1.asp

I hope that you find what you are after.

Cheers - will look at the acer. I don't necessarily need an internal TV card, but it is easier then an external one, and this price includes windows MCE with a free upgrade to Visa - that alone is worth more than the £50 difference, so I was justifying it that way in my head! Will have a look at Dell and Acer closer too! Cheers, keep the advice coming!

PitRejection2359

Just checked Dell and their closest laptop the Inspiron 6400 'upgraded' to match the same spec as the the Zoostorm 4-6610 costs £886.99 - significantly more that the pc nextday laptop, add about £60 for the external tv card to compare it to the Zoostorm 4-6612, so quite a bit more. The pc nextday laptops also have a better graphics card, and an integrated card reader not on the dell. Will check out that acer in a bit more detail - looks to be much closer than the dell to the pc nextday specs & price.

Still keep the advice coming! Cheers!