Is this a good value laptop?

TheFlyingGerbil

I am spending my parents' money on a laptop for my brother's christmas present so I am totally stressing that I may be wasting their money!

It's an Acer Aspire 5633 (details here)

15.4" widescreen
Intel Core 2 Duo T5500 (1.66GHz 667Mhz FSB)
2GB ram
120gb HDD
shared graphics
media card reader etc.

for £450

He wants it for storing music, university work and playing a few games (I think just Football management sims, no FPS or anything like that). What confuses me is that a lot of games (even the older ones) say they need a 2GHz processor so does that mean this wouldn't run them?

The specs of laptops don't seem to change much until you start paying £200 more so I don't understand what the difference in the price range is. Is it just the make/software you get with it? Or am I missing something. Someone please relieve my stress as I have to start choosing one for myself next!

Joe

fguk

That laptop spec looks great.

Will do music, football management games, and the uni work no problem.

The 2Ghz requirement harks back to when CPU clock speed was everything, nowadays the Intel Core and AMD processors use "cleverness" to be quick, not just raw horespower. The thing that is likely to hold back the playing of games on this laptop is the graphics power, which is normal for most laptops. However as I said, should be able to play football sims no problem.

Acer is a good make, you wont go far wrong, and if it comes from Comet, there will be a shop somewhere near him to get some help if required when he is at Uni. PS, if he needs Office as a separate purchase, make sure to get Student and Teacher edition.

TheFlyingGerbil

thanks fguk. I just felt a physical wave of relief wash over me. I guess I have that mental block that there is some nirvana of an internet site that sells everything at rock bottom prices - I think those days are gone now and if you look around in 'proper' shops yuo seem to be able to get just as good bargains.

Joe