LATEST DELL DEAL Great Laptop £292 Delivered !

miss_not_alotofmoneypenny

http://configure.euro.dell.com/dellstore/config.aspx?b=&c=uk&cs=ukdhs1&kc=N4XENT01&l=en&oc=N07646&rbc=N07646&s=dhs&~ck=expbuy3

^^^DEll price 429£ for:
Intel Pentium Dual Core Processor T2080-1.73GHz, 533 MHz FSB, 1MB Cache-Genuine Windows Vista Home Premium-1024MB RAM-120GB Hard Drive-DVD ReWriter MultiDrive-15.4" BrightView Widescreen-GMA 950 Shared Graphics-Wireless Enabled-1 Year Free Warranty

http://www.pcworld.co.uk/martprd/store/pcw_page.jsp?BV_SessionID=@@@@2022676135.1184405894@@@@&BV_EngineID=ccdjaddlhekihdicflgceggdhhmdgml.0&page=Product&sku=256230&fm=null&sm=null&tm=null&tabIndex=1

^^^PCWOrld price 279£ for:
Intel Pentium Dual Core Processor T2080-1.73GHz, 533 MHz FSB, 1MB Cache-Genuine Windows Vista Home Premium-1024MB RAM-120GB Hard Drive-DVD ReWriter MultiDrive-15.4" BrightView Widescreen-GMA 950 Shared Graphics-Wireless Enabled-1 Year Free Warranty

Can't really say much else to be honest apart from :
Same Spec
Only difference is the 150£ extra you pay at DELL.

davemuk

miss_not_alotofmoneypenny wrote: »

I'm not saying there's actually anything wrong with dells, just saying there not as good value as a lot of people tend to think.

Here's the conclusion of the most comprehensive AMD vs INTEL i've seen.
http://www.techreport.com/reviews/2007q1/cpus/index.x?pg=14

Here's the start of the testing http://www.techreport.com/reviews/2007q1/cpus/index.x?pg=1 (about 20 pages long)but if you look through you see the difference.

AMD's use a lot more power (50Watts in general in item ) Which not only cost's more to run but more importantly for laptops, cuts the battery time. But when a corperation can't compete with a competitor, they no choice but to slash prices or risk major market loss.

I would highly recommend buying a refurbished laptop from PC World because,

1. You get better spec
2. If you buy online and have the item delivered, if you have any problems with it, you don't have to send it off. Just take it to your local PC World store.
3. No phoning Indian call centres that haven't gotta clue and who you can't understand.

4. Take a look at this http://www.pcworld.co.uk/martprd/store/pcw_page.jsp?BV_SessionID=@@@@2022676135.1184405894@@@@&BV_EngineID=ccdjaddlhekihdicflgceggdhhmdgml.0&page=Product&fm=null&sm=null&tm=null&sku=256230&category_oid=-28487 intel dual core for 279£ was in stock yesterday, sold out now though.

5. you have 14 days after the laptop has been delivered to take it back to pc world store for a full refund , no questions asked (Provided it is in "as new" condition.

If you're going to use a tech review to support your "argument" please use one that actually compares like for like. Your review compares DESKTOP CPU's and not mobile.

Your claim that AMD CPU's use more power than Intel is true in certain cases. Don't always look only at the TDP, in a low useage enviroment current desktop AMD CPU's actually use less power and the new Core 2 duo's (ideal for office work), however if you're going to be using your PC heavily like encoding video or gamming for example the Core 2 duo's are more efficient. Mobile CPU's use consideraly less power anyway as they are tweaked to slow down on lighter loads.

Your alternative laptop choice does not use a core 2 duo chip, it's only a pentium dual core. On the point of dual core, it's a laptop!. You're not going to max out two cores surfing or doing office task. The software industry is still heavily based around single threaded programs(and won't change anytime soon) which unless you're in to Adobe Photoshop or video encoding, you're not going to see any huge benefit. I would take more memory over two cores for a basic laptop, especially if you're planning on using Vista.

Speed wise a core 2 duo is quicker but you're not going to see/feel a significant difference in a basic laptop. Rendering a web page may come in 1th of a second quicker but most of the time your reading what's on the screen or typing out a document.

Dave

miss_not_alotofmoneypenny

davemuk wrote: »

If you're going to use a tech review to support your "argument" please use one that actually compares like for like. Your review compares DESKTOP CPU's and not mobile.

Your claim that AMD CPU's use more power than Intel is true in certain cases. Don't always look only at the TDP, in a low useage enviroment current desktop AMD CPU's actually use less power and the new Core 2 duo's (ideal for office work), however if you're going to be using your PC heavily like encoding video or gamming for example the Core 2 duo's are more efficient. Mobile CPU's use consideraly less power anyway as they are tweaked to slow down on lighter loads.

Your alternative laptop choice does not use a core 2 duo chip, it's only a pentium dual core. On the point of dual core, it's a laptop!. You're not going to max out two cores surfing or doing office task. The software industry is still heavily based around single threaded programs(and won't change anytime soon) which unless you're in to Adobe Photoshop or video encoding, you're not going to see any huge benefit. I would take more memory over two cores for a basic laptop, especially if you're planning on using Vista.

Speed wise a core 2 duo is quicker but you're not going to see/feel a significant difference in a basic laptop. Rendering a web page may come in 1th of a second quicker but most of the time your reading what's on the screen or typing out a document.

Dave

The reason I used desktop CPU's is that there are no fully comprehensive benchmarks for the mobile cpu's as there are for the desktop cpu's with as broad a range of testing and such detail as the one I posted. However the same general results would apply as they use the same architecture as their mobile counter parts, here's a general Intel core duo Mobile vs AMD x2 mobile article
http://www.tomshardware.com/2007/02/27/dual_core_notebook_cpus_explored/.

As regards power consumption to make things simple, over a year general usage Intel would use less energy and therefore be more efficient then a equal PERFORMING AMDx2 cpu.

The alternative link I post was a not a link to a specific laptop, it was to the PcWorld refurbished laptop page where there are lots of different laptops. But the link I posted above is a good comparison for the Dell / Shopping for a bargain.(In that case saving 150£).

Multi-core applications are the future and drastically improve performance , and you don't need to use specially designed apps to benefit. If you have ever used a single core processor and have it max out with one app, the whole computer slows down. Doesn’t happen with dual core.

But the main point I want to make is people should get the best specification they can for the money they spent at the time.

Why pay 429£ for core duo From dell when you can get a laptop with exactly the same specs from Pcworld for 279£?

Why get a laptop top for 292£ from dell with weak specs like the AMD processor ,when you could get better specs for the same price if you shop around?

In the long term being fussy now and getting the best possible spec for your money will benefit you in the long as your laptop will not become obsolete and impractical to use as fast.

And with computer's it's so confusing for people who aren’t really interested in computers but just want to use them for they want to and don't know the difference between dual core, single core, amd ,Intel, as well as all the different model numbers and what they mean.

careym

I was looking at that 279 compaq refurb on PCworld, but by the time i made my mind up it had gone. :mad:

The rest of the refurbs they have currently dont seem to be as good. Maybe ill wait a bit more.

Froggitt

First, theres nothing wrong with the AMD chip. They have been much better bang per buck for some time now......right from laptops thru to servers.

Second, dont worry about PC World running out of laptops being sold off cheap.........

mjr600

miss_not_alotofmoneypenny

Keeping it simple, your arguements are flawed for a great many reasons including the power of CPU's and the users needs from budget laptops.

More seriously however is to suggest buying from a DSG outlet is a wise move.

jordy32

I bought 2 of the £279 Pcworld Compaqs over the last few weeks. One came absolutely spot on whilst the other had numerous keys not working. Pcworld won't take a refurb back at a store so a wait for dhl labels in on the cards for a return.

That said, after checking it wasn't the controller tracked it down to the keyboard ribbon cable being loose and fixed it myself.

Good value if you choose well and get a good one. The previous styling of the 6400 and 1501 put me off the Dell, but things look to be slowly improving with the new range from what I have seen.

bigtel_2

Ordered this today with extras it came to £363.08

For that price I couldn't find anything better for what I want it for plus it looks a lot better than cheaper laptops at that price.

xplo5iv

Unlike desktops where 'spec' is (almost) everything, with little difference between manufacturers, laptops are completely different. Quality laptops (e.g. Dell) have better designed cooling etc, and last longer than cheapy ones. At work we use Dell as the corporate laptop, and we see very few failures at all, whereas I know of a good few people whose cheap laptops have failed, despite such private laptops having a much easier life!
Worth considering...

miss_not_alotofmoneypenny

Froggitt wrote: »

First, there’s nothing wrong with the AMD chip. They have been much better bang per buck for some time now......right from laptops thru to servers.

Froggitt wrote: »

Second, don’t worry about PC World running out of laptops being sold off cheap.........

Not really from the reports and reviews I have seen. I tend to look for comprehensive benchmarks/reports from multiple sources and make sure they all confirm what I say before I type it. I'd compare AMD vs. Intel to getting a car with aircon as an Intel , or a car without aircon for 5 pounds less, makes sense to get aircon for 5 pounds more. 3 years ago I would have said get AMD but times change. Who knows in a few months AMD could release something better than Intel, but at the moment Intel is the way to go if you can get the spec you want for the same price, i.e. if you can get same graphics/drive/os/screen type/media output, card reader but could an Intel core duo instead , that would be the way I would go. It’s all about shopping around, just because AMD is knocking out cheap processors because Intel are much better doesn’t mean that Intel are charging over the top for theirs because there not. Infact they apparently cut the prices in April. It's all about getting a good deal for like for like whoever it's from. I'm happy with my Philips x57(paid 499, pcworld recently reduced the price to 599 brand new,was 740£ brand new at the time i bought it though, mine was a recon,dell equivalent was about 700) and Acer 5633wmli(although i wouldnt recommend it,the screen is not very good) and my custom desktop with core duo e6600,512mb 8800gtx.

@careym, id agree with jordy , You have to choose right, i've seen a few sold out on there that are not really a bargain. But everytime they do get good laptops for good prices there gone sometimes within a few hours for really good bargains. Don't buy because you think it might sell out soon until you have cheked it out properly to make sure it really is good value.

EDIT: Would just add for a general opinion/pros/cons/advice on a particular brand go here http://www.pcadvisor.co.uk/search/index.cfm then hit search forums and type the brand into search box.