Buying a Latpot!!

[stjohn]

alo alo!! so im in the market for one... only really have under a grand or so to spend... was just wondering what u guys thought about my shopping so far.

asuslaptops.co.uk, have a decent special .
http://www.asuslaptop.co.uk/proddetail.php?prod=Asus_Laptop_G1SN-AK014C&cat=17
with the sterling as it is, it seems to be a good deal. £800 sterling


the other one i was looking at is dell believe it or not. i worked out a nice one, 2.25ghz dual core (intel p8400) 4gb ram, 250 7200rpm hd.... etc for €929.

theyre the best 2 i can find really... pricewise. id be happy with an asus i think, but id like the 17" screen too.. and dont really mind the extra weight.

any thoughts? any other sites i should look at, uk or irish... should i avoid Dell? u think these machine would be ok to install XP pro?

thanks in advance guys

[BloodStar]

i would go for dell xps.

[stjohn]

XPS you say? is there any major difference between them and other packages?
there is a different chip alright, but the one i priced earlier does not seem too different. its a core 2 duo... just a slight different speed, bus speed and cache.

[djfilthmonger]

i would stay away from , dell, my parents went through about 4 of them in the last few years and i still have the same laptop. sony viao-sorted

[BloodStar]

dell has good support + XPS has very good benchmark, but isn't that overpriced like Sony Vaio.
http://www.notebookreview.com/default.asp?newsID=4135

I see HP Pavilion dv5t looks even better for very nice price
http://www.notebookreview.com/default.asp?newsID=4555&review=HP+Pavilion+dv5t

[djfilthmonger]

as you say sony viao are over priced, I have had no problems at all, i have a few years now. so happy to spend a bit extra on a make i can trust.

[Jay Pace]

I'd avoid Dell.

Not bad, good prices etc but they are not built to last. They're built to be replaced in a couple of years, and they cut every corner they can during the build. My ibook is 4 years old and still outperforms a 6 month old dell in terms of performance and reliability.

[acidsaturation]

Kind of agree about Dell... never used one for music but we have them at work and they are a nightmare! Just permanently in and out of repair.

[DJPAUZE]

I have a Dell lappy currently. An inspiron 9400 to be exact. I have sent it in to the depot about 3 times in 2 yrs for repairing the video card. All in all, I have been pretty pleased with it. Speed has been great (duo core), graphics card is an nvidia 7900gs. Spent about 2 grand on it with extended warranty.

When buying any laptop, go for the extended warranty. It usually covers your adaptor, screen and keyboard, all which are easily broken.

Hope that helps!

Pauze

[BloodStar]

if the laptop is working fine for 2 years, it's enough, tho.

that's how i do with my desktop. changing for new model every 2or3 years. would like to see how you guys producing on 5 years old laptops.

[Jay Pace]

2 years is short lifespan for a laptop though.

A desktop you can upgrade easily enough. A laptop you're stuck with for a while, until you sell it and buy a new one.

Makes more sense to buy a laptop that will last without hassles IMO. Good service centres are important, but I'd rather it just wasn't prone to breaking.

[eppertheleper]

Not sure about laptops, but I bought a tower earlier this year after LOTS of comparison shopping. HP had the best prices with regards to getting the most powerful processor, fastest memory, etc. for the least amount of money.

Go to the various websites and do the "build your own" process. You can put together what you need and compare prices with equal parts across brands.