Help! Laptop Choice!

Myosin

Hello all,

I'm looking for a decent laptop, I've had a look at the cheap decent laptop hunt but no recommendations for buying at those places. I need a 15.4 widescreen too.

I've found these 3 at PC World:

1) EMACHINES - AMD SEMPRON 2800+ PROCESSOR LAPTOP - FREE DELIVERY
Web Exclusive
Price inc VAT
£549.99
AMD Sempron 2800+ processor
256 Mb RAM
40 Gb Hard Drive
DVD-ROM & CD-RW Drive
15.4" widescreen TFT display
Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition
32 Mb integrated graphics
1 Year FREE warranty
AC97 V. 2.1 Sound
56k, V.92 Modem
Processor Type AMD SEMPRON
Processor speed Not Specified
Memory Size 256 mb
Memory Type DDR 333
Hard Drive Capacity 40 Gb
Optical Drives COMBO
CD-ROM Speed 24 x
CD-RW Speed. 4 x
DVD-ROM Speed 8 x
DVD-RW Speed Not Specified
Floppy Disk Drive Not Specified
Screen Size/Type 15.4" WXGA
Graphics Card Type Integrated Graphics
Graphics Memory 32 Shared mb
TV-out Not Specified
Sound Type AC97 V. 2.1
Modem Type 56k, V.92
Wireless Enabled Not Specified
No. of USB Connections 3
No. of Firewire Connections Not Specified
Infrared Port Included Not Specified
Other Interfaces 10/100 Interface
Battery Type 14.8 V 4400L-ION
Battery life (up to) 3 hours
Software Titles Included WORKS 8.0, MONEY 2004
Operating system WIN XP HOME
Weight 2.99 kg
Height 33.5 mm
Width 354.5 mm
Depth 254 mm
Colour SILVER/BLACK



2) PACKARD BELL - INTEL CELERON M 360 PROCESSOR 1.40GHz LAPTOP - FREE DELIVERY
Price inc VAT £499.99
Intel Celeron M 360 Processor 1.4GHz
400 MHz FSB
1 Mb cache
256 Mb RAM
50 Gb Hard Drive
DVD ReWriter Drive
15.4" Widescreen Display
Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition
64Mb Intel 852 GM Graphics
1 year FREE warranty
Processor Type Intel Celeron M 360
Processor speed 1400 mhz
Memory Size 256 mb
Memory Type DDR
Hard Drive Capacity 50 Gb
Optical Drives DVDRW+R9
CD-ROM Speed Not Specified
CD-RW Speed. Not Specified
DVD-ROM Speed Not Specified
DVD-RW Speed Not Specified
Floppy Disk Drive No
Screen Size/Type 15.4" TFT Widescreen
Graphics Card Type Intel 852 GM
Graphics Memory 64mb shared mb
TV-out Yes
Sound Type Realtek AC 97
Modem Type 56k
Wireless Enabled Yes
No. of USB Connections 3
No. of Firewire Connections 0
Infrared Port Included No
Other Interfaces WIFI
Battery Type Li-ion
Battery life (up to) Not Specified
Software Titles Included None
Operating system Win XP Home
Weight 2.9 kg
Height 30 mm
Width 355 mm
Depth 250 mm
Colour Silver



3) PACKARD BELL - INTEL CELERON M 370 PROCESSOR 1.50GHz LAPTOP - FREE DELIVERY
Web Exclusive
Price inc VAT
£599.99
Intel Celeron M 370 Processor 1.50GHz
400 MHz FSB
1 Mb Cache
1024 Mb RAM
50 Gb Hard Drive
DVD ReWriter MultiDrive
15.4" Widescreen Display
Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition
64Mb Intel 852GM integrated graphics
1 year FREE warranty
Processor Type Intel Celeron M 370
Processor speed 1500 mhz
Memory Size 1024 mb
Memory Type DDR
Hard Drive Capacity 50 Gb
Optical Drives DVDRW+R9
CD-ROM Speed Not Specified
CD-RW Speed. Not Specified
DVD-ROM Speed Not Specified
DVD-RW Speed Not Specified
Floppy Disk Drive No
Screen Size/Type 15.4" TFT Widescreen
Graphics Card Type Intel 852 GM
Graphics Memory 64 shared mb
TV-out Yes
Sound Type Realtek AC 97
Modem Type 56k
Wireless Enabled Yes
No. of USB Connections 3
No. of Firewire Connections 0
Infrared Port Included No
Other Interfaces WIFI
Battery Type Li-ion
Battery life (up to) Not Specified
Software Titles Included Not Specified
Operating system Win XP Home
Weight 2.9 kg
Height 30 mm
Width 355 mm
Depth 250 mm
Colour Silver


I think the third one is good because of the 1024 RAM but what do you think about these?

Browntoa

what are you going to be using the laptop for ??

basic surfing/word processing ??

Image editing ??

playing games ??

all the above ?? lol

just gives us a better idea of what you need

Myosin

I'll be wordprocessing and doing internet research (basic surfing and looking at pdf files, and looking at this site too). Will also be watching streaming video reports from BBC News unless I find one with a TV card, so it should be able to handle that...

ALso some DVD playback and putting digital images from digital camera onto laptop but not editing really, just looking, and maybe a little editing if the pics are that bad

If I'm playing games it will be stuff like Sim City or Flight Simulator and I know that they are quite power hungry but again I do have a budget of £500 - £600 so games performance not that important.

I'd quite like the 15.4 widescreen though

Mr_Skint_2

Just one point.

As a laptop user myself I think they do suck a bit in the sense
of, They are a nightmare to upgrade, They get warm, Not that quiet.
and a !!!!!! to clean, You cant take a panel off to blow the dust out.

But if you need one you need one, Im gonna go desktop next time.

Myosin

It's really an issue of space. If there was more space available I'd get a desktop

Mr_Skint_2

Myosin wrote:

It's really an issue of space. If there was more space available I'd get a desktop

If I win the lottery I will get that exstension you always wanted :rotfl:

Browntoa

you need more ram then...on board graphics steals its 64mb from your ram !!

some games have a minimum spec of 128mb Graphics card these days....

Myosin

It's tricky - Dell offer double memory but otherwise their support is rubbish.

PC World have better support and ok prices but they don't upgrade the ram. Is it tricky to install another stick of ram on a laptop? I've done it with the desktop but I understand laptop's are trickier...

Mr_Skint_2

Mmmm I would go to PC world, only because if you do have a problem
you can go in store and speak to someone face to face and once
the problem is fixed you can pick it up, not only that A friend of mine
had a dell sent it for repairs 3weeks later he got it back and they had
broke the HDD and lost all his coursework, luckily he backed up.

Browntoa

guide here on how to install it

http://www.buycomputermemory.com/installing-laptop-memory.html

I would'nt waste the money on PC worlds support package if thats what you mean ?

Mr_Skint_2

Browntoa wrote:

I would'nt waste the money on PC worlds support package if thats what you mean ?

Now that is crap. Im in agreement.