Probably going to be picking up a new laptop in the near future.

Have been looking on amazon, play, currys etc but there are so many it's untrue!

Any recommendations - not so much on actual laptops but more in terms of what to look for in a laptop?

If I want one that performs operations quickly I should go for one with a processor that has a high speed yes?

All I use mine for is the internet, and for studying e.g. Word and Excel. I sometimes watch DVD's on it as well.

I do tend to DL a lot of sets so I should opt for one with a high capacity HD?

Anything to avoid? I heard Vista is not the best-is that true?

Any particular brands to steer clear of?

All info greatly appreciated, cheers!

Re: What to look for in a laptop?

For the things you are going to use it for id suggest this specs minimum: processor: core i3 or greater (i5 i7) display: 13-15" that can handle greater resolution than 1024*768 ram: at least 2gb harddrive: 250gb+ OS: Windows 7 Home Premium minimum, vista is dead.

regarding brands, i dont know how is it in the UK, but i'd get the one that has the best customer support since this things no matter which brand they are they tend to fail.

whats your budget?

Re: What to look for in a laptop?

Budget 3-500 pound mate

In terms of processor, what is the ranking e.g. what is above an 'i3' - is it i4 or i2??

Re: What to look for in a laptop?

Bare minimum, otherwise you might decide to upgrade in 2-3 years due to "slowness" :)

Core 2 Duo processor (or the i3 if afforded) 2-3GB RAM (hopefully upgradeable beyond 4) 250-500GB SATA Hard Drive (can always get an external, so not the biggest issue here) 15" screen; 1280×1024 resolution (play around here a bit depending on model) XP, or Win7...though if you have your own OS, just wipe the hard drive anyway...a lot of the pre-packaged stuff on there is junk to begin with.

Brand-name wise my picks nowadays are ASUS, Acer & Toshiba. HP's/Compaq's & Dell's IMO certain models have had poor design flaws or were prone to overheats...by the time you & everyone else realize it's a widespread problem, many are out of warranty and good luck trying to get it repaired :)

Try to find a service manual as well when you get one. Best thing to have and makes it a snap to repair/replace parts yourself if needed...heck I just fixed my backup HP as I had to resolder a new power jack on...old one had the pin inside bent and made the power connection intermittent. $2 part + about 3 hours total work (sucker didn't want to come off the motherboard easily :p ) = laptop fixed (vs. about 100 otherwise for shipping & "repair")

Re: What to look for in a laptop?

well, well with that budget, you could find some real nice high end rigs dude...

so, essentially....

try to get as much memory as you can possibly afford, and get a laptop with extra slots. i'd go with about 4 - 8gb ram. if you can tinker to get 12gb... do it! :lol:

solid state hd's are worth it. get at least 500gb or 1tb.

just get windows 7 professional

i'm an athlon guy, but at the moment, this i7 is the shit: Intel® Core™ i7-930 Processor (8M Cache, 2.80 GHz, 4.80 GT/s Intel® QPI)

any screen and size work -- the new standard is good on the eyes.

start by checking these sites out; do some research.

[URL="http://www.pricewatch.com"]http://www.pricewatch.com[/URL] [URL="http://www.pcrush.com/"]http://www.pcrush.com/[/URL] [URL="http://www.newegg.com/"]http://www.newegg.com/[/URL]

oh, and get a cooling pad or fan, or one of those liquid ones; this will gaurentee the life expenctancy of your laptop considerably. you can always use wood blocks to put underneath your laptop - which will let airflow circulate.

Re: What to look for in a laptop?

acer.toshiba.sony cant go wrong tbh.stay away from anything with an nvidia graphics chip.. huge problems..steer clear from hp/compaq.very sleek looking.but a real nasty piece of work underneath..do not use on a bed..always have it on a flat hard surface.dont do dell either. i fix laptops for a living.i have laptops come in for a reboot that are 5/6/7 years old and they are still running good on the battery and will go on for a long time.then you get laptops from 2 years ago that are just shite.whatever you buy treat it it with care if you want it to last..because theyre far from built to last these days.do not listen to the guy above..500gb solid state drive.£hundreds of pounds..way more than your budget..and 12gb ram.lol.for what.. mercury server. beats. and porn

Re: What to look for in a laptop?

i've seen that you've thrown in in the towel... quitter

get trolled harder. yerrrr expeirences and observations are mitigatable. oh, and porn is for the faint-hearted; is that one of the only reasons you could think of for using 12gig mem>? i see your desires

you fix laptops for a living? you prob do a shitty job.

you obviously have never worked in silicon valley before; i can think of many reasons why 12 would be instantious godmode. similitude, f john, similitude.

gaming audio engineering dj software aide whilst yee deejay ( but god forbid you're a sync faggot who needs software to beatmatch) programming internet pwnage database micro networking

running every application ALL THE TIME.

please, i know folks at microsoft, sun micro, oracle, blizzard, etc. etc. who will vouch for such T.T,

cry more

Re: What to look for in a laptop?

[QUOTE=F JOHN;902934]do not listen to the guy above..500gb solid state drive.£hundreds of pounds..way more than your budget[/QUOTE]

that rules out the possibility of you living in the states....

solid state ain't that expensive here... and his budget would suffice.

learn english, and proper syntax, chap. cheers!

Re: What to look for in a laptop?

hey greg, disregard the above trolling hard on f john.

in my opinion, just order an asus or acer (they're very dependable). keep in mind that many people get glamourized by the processor( overlooking it's specs), and forgoe the other essential componets which specialize key contrasts between each brand's flagship setup. also, don't put all your eggs in one basket; what i mean is that a laptop should not be your primary asset. look into building an actual desktop as well perhaps( you can save much fiscally - as opposed to buying retail) reseach or take a class..i can send you a pc mgmt and troubleshooting textbook, and all my notes from my com-tia classes if you want. i got a cert of specialization last year. it really doesnt take much to learn a+ and computer basics. believe me, i worked for best buy's geek squad for a little while, and it was a joke.... people blindly subvert their money, and know little, if nothing, about their own computers.

you could always get a mac book pro.... then all is easy peasy japanesey, vanilla breezy :)

don't pay retail though, that woudl blow.

Re: What to look for in a laptop?

Go ask the question on the Bedrock forum. :lol:

Re: What to look for in a laptop?

his budget is 3-500 not 3-5000 go and get 12gb of ram and a 500gb solid state drive for that price in a laptop and your doing good.fuck i must have hit a sore point for you to write that babbling bunch of shit above.didn't mean to offend you i was just being realistic i actually read his post before i posted.whereas you clearly didn't.. greg just google 500gb solid state drive and see how much it costs.again to i!!ustrious..i wasnt attacking you or trying to offend you..just trying to help the guy out

Re: What to look for in a laptop?

Lol, you could get a 1TB SSD if you have $4,500 spare :) And if all you are doing is internet and study 4gb of RAM will be plenty.

Most important thing when I got mine was the screen. Got a 15.5" full HD (1920x1080) and it looks lush, and all the pixels are great as I do a lot of computer work and always have lots of stuff open. Maybe not so good if you are not great with small text, but also has a blu-ray drive which is nice. Windows 7 (a must) is also great with widescreens as you can 'snap' left and right sides.

As for brands, I got a Sony and it came with a premium $$, but I like it. I've always had good experiences with HP, and Dell. Acers always look a bit naff imo :)

Make sure that what you get has a decent warranty, touch wood ;)

Re: What to look for in a laptop?

min specs to keep in mind are i3, min 3 gig ram (most are coming with 4 gb these days), weight (you don't want to lug a bitch around) and battery life. I bought an HP just a month ago for $850. Its a core i5, 500 gb HD, 4 gb ram, windows 7, dvd burner and 5 hr battery life (depending on use). so you could get that one for slightly north of 500 pound. I'd be careful with sony's, they can be a hit or miss. my wife and me both have sony's, my battery doesn't last longer than 20 minutes and the heatsync fan in her laptop sounds like to ball bearings are running in opposite direction rather than in sync. dell's have gone to shit in quality, the only other brand I can truly say i was happy with is Acer. my first laptop was an acer, its still lying around somewhere at home, 3 - 4 hour battery life, dvd burner, 200 gb hd, forget what processor it has but i bought it in 2005 and other than a line going down the screen (dead pixels due to hitting the screen somewhere), it still works great.

Re: What to look for in a laptop?

[QUOTE=i!!ustrious;902949]that rules out the possibility of you living in the states....

solid state ain't that expensive here... and his budget would suffice.

learn english, and proper syntax, chap. cheers![/QUOTE]

I think you are confused. A 500 GB hd is cheap, a 500 GB SSD is very expensive. Here is an example [url]http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227561[/url] 480GB SSD for 1819 USD.

Also, imho 12GB ram is overkill.

Re: What to look for in a laptop?

yep ssd just doesn't come cheap no matter where you are.

Re: What to look for in a laptop?

lol F John. oh... oh i dont have sore spots, and i!!ustrious don't get mad

this is fucking funny; come on dude, you serisouly couldn't tell i was trolling for laughs, and absolutely joking about 12gb and solid state? didn't mean to call the guillable police, but dayyumm.

blabbing? aye yo i swift blab quick yo :WinkNSmi:

[IMG]http://imgur.com/fGuG6.jpg[/IMG]

oh, and hertic, don't get sucked in too :lol:

protip: don't shop at newegg; you can find much better prices elsewhere. just sayin'

Re: What to look for in a laptop?

close but no cigar on the ssd:

Price $129.99

[QUOTE] Seagate 500GB (ST95005620AS) 7200rpm SATA2 32MB Solid State Hybrid Drive (2.5 inch)[/QUOTE] [QUOTE]Product Info:

Specifications Mfr Part Number: ST95005620AS Capacity: 500 GB Rotational Speed: 7200 rpm Cache: 32 MB Interface: SATA 3Gb/s Max. External Transfer Rate: 300 MB/s Seek Time: Average Latency: 4.17 ms Random Read Seek Time: 11.0 ms Random Write Seek Time: 13.0 ms Power Management: 5V start max current: 1.0A Average idle power: 0.8W Average operating power: 1.1W Average seek power: 2.2W Shock: Operating: 350G @ 2ms Non-operating: 1000G @ 1ms Dimensions(WxLxH): 2.75 x 3.951 x 0.370 inch / 69.85 x 100.35 x 9.5 mm Weight: 0.238 lbs / 110 g RoHS Compliant

• Product descriptions and part numbers are subject to change, and may not reflect manufacturer product changes. Please check the manufacturer's website and use the item's manufacturer part number to find the most up to date product description.[/QUOTE]

[URL="http://www.pricewatch.com/gallery/hard_removable_drives/ssd_hybrid"]http://www.pricewatch.com/gallery/hard_removable_drives/ssd_hybrid[/URL]

[URL="http://www.superbiiz.com/detail.php?p=S9500620AS&c=pw&hash=44f7r3fk19L7fq%2BGgyw96ZWkEzaJn1trv6Osw0S7D2ERj2MvifwBtdiy6M3Ggfg58djm4/YUV8Ym%2BjAT9F4vBDSynaS70D1sGmwzhbe3%2Biq5ircb04mTMfbLRAGV"]http://www.superbiiz.com/detail.php?p=S9500620AS&c=pw&hash=44f7r3fk19L7fq%2BGgyw96ZWkEzaJn1trv6Osw0S7D2ERj2MvifwBtdiy6M3Ggfg58djm4/YUV8Ym%2BjAT9F4vBDSynaS70D1sGmwzhbe3%2Biq5ircb04mTMfbLRAGV[/URL]

[IMG]http://i.imgur.com/s7eEX.jpg[/IMG]

Re: What to look for in a laptop?

solid state means no moving parts meaning it does not contain the discs that are in the picture posted above.its flash based memory.like whats in a flash drive.but on a far larger scale

Re: What to look for in a laptop?

no shit sherlock?

trolled again.

Re: What to look for in a laptop?

thou shalt aspire!

[URL="http://www.superbiiz.com/detail.php?p=A5745-7531&c=pw&hash=548exERJainexmZyvJLHdzGpeEoqQwWeRU9PvtIwYUQYSILwMQCX7pJVhOQ5SKSy6ioHQiwU/IMCZxllD/ioiIb8bpIXtKgRmAKPiBJXLqIDF4IFp4MbtwcMUzu8"]http://www.superbiiz.com/detail.php?p=A5745-7531&c=pw&hash=548exERJainexmZyvJLHdzGpeEoqQwWeRU9PvtIwYUQYSILwMQCX7pJVhOQ5SKSy6ioHQiwU/IMCZxllD/ioiIb8bpIXtKgRmAKPiBJXLqIDF4IFp4MbtwcMUzu8[/URL]

[QUOTE]Acer Aspire AS5745-7531 15.6 inch Core i5-460M/ 4GB/ 500GB/ DVDRW/ W7HP Notebook Computer(Black) - AS5745-7531/LX.PTW02.061[/QUOTE]

[QUOTE]Part#: A5745-7531 Package: RETAIL Manufacturer: Acer Manufacturer Part#: AS5745-7531/LX.PTW02.061 Shipping Weight: 8.80 lbs.(4.00 kg)

Price: $649.99 Free Shipping[/QUOTE]

[QUOTE]Product Info:

Specifications Mfr Part Number: AS5745-7531/LX.PTW02.061 Processor: Intel Core i5-460M Processor(2.53GHz, 3MB Smart Cache) Chipset: Mobile Intel HM55 Express Memory: 4GB DDR3 SODIMM memory, Max Capacity upto 8GB Display: 15.6" WXGA (1366 x 768) High-Brightness TFT LCD Display, w/ LED blacklight, Support Acer CineCrystal Technology Graphics Module: Integrated Intel HD Graphics Controller Hard Drive: 500GB 5400RPM SATA Hard Drive Audio: Built-in Speakers and Microphone Optical Storage: Integrated Super-Multi DVD±RW Drive Connectivity: Gigabit Ethernet; 802.11b/g/n Wireless LAN Interface: 4x USB 2.0 Ports; 1x VGA Port; 1x HDMI Port; 1x RJ45 LAN Port; 1x Microphone-in; 1x Headphone-out Card Reader: 5-in-1 Card Reader, Support MS/ MMC/ SD/ xD/ MS Pro Camera: Integrated Acer Crystal Eye WebCam Power Adapter: 65W AC adapter Battery: 6-cell Lithium ion Battery, upto 3.5 hours life time Color: Black Dimensions (WxDxH): 14.9 x 9.8 x 1.0 ~ 1.3 inch / 379 x 250 x 25.5 ~ 34.1 mm Weight: 5.7 lbs / 2.6 kg Operating System: Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit ** This item is eligible for replacement only and is NON REFUNDABLE. ** ** Product warranty is provided solely by the product manufacturer. **

• Product descriptions and part numbers are subject to change, and may not reflect manufacturer product changes. Please check the manufacturer's website and[/QUOTE]

[IMG]http://i.imgur.com/cDzTQ.jpg[/IMG]

Re: What to look for in a laptop?

[URL="http://3btech.net/msis615coi54.html"]http://3btech.net/msis615coi54.html[/URL]

[QUOTE]Manufacturer: MSI MFG Part Number: S6000-017US Condition: New Packaging: Retail Box 3B Tech Warranty: DOA 7 days Manufacturer Warranty: 1 year

Our Part Number: PL-MSI-S6000-017US Price: $ 699

This fantastic laptop is powered by an Intel Core i5-450M 2.4GHz processor, 4GB of DDR3 memory, and Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit operating system. Store your data, software, digital pictures, movies and more on a multitude of storage options including a 500GB SATA hard drive, DVD Super Multi Drive, and 3-in-1 media card reader. In addition to these hefty components, the MSI S6000-017US 9S7-16D312-017 Notebook PC has a 15.6-inch widescreen display capable of displaying high definition content. Output video to your favorite HD-ready display via the onboard HDMI output port.

Features:

High-performance Intel Core i5 processor handles the demands of today's complex software. Extra-large 4GB memory lets you run your most demanding programs. 500GB hard drive holds thousands of songs, photos and documents. Wireless-N for high-performance, cable-free networking. Lets you access wireless networks to share files, surf the Web and exchange email. Can provide improved range and speed within a Wireless-N (draft 802.11n) network, and is also compatible with 802.11b/g networks. Wired networking is supported, too. 15.6" diagonal LCD screen. LED backlighting permits a thinner and more energy-efficient design. Plays and burns CDs and DVDs. The optical drive features a slim design. Memory card reader for fast, easy photo transfers. Transfer your digital photos, music and other files from 3 types of memory cards: Secure Digital, MultiMediaCard and Memory Stick. HDMI port lets you view videos and photos on your HDTV. (HDMI cable sold separately.) Built-in webcam and microphone let you keep in touch with others via video and voice messaging. Keyboard's integrated numeric keypad speeds data entry and calculations. Slim-profile design for easy portability. Provides up to 3 hours of battery life on a single charge. Microsoft® Windows® 7 Home Premium 64-bit. The newest version of Windows makes everyday tasks simple.

$699.00 3B Tech Part Number: PL-MSI-S6000-017US[/QUOTE]

[IMG]http://i.imgur.com/Ls08i.jpg[/IMG]

Re: What to look for in a laptop?

:shock: @ this thread :lol:

Re: What to look for in a laptop?

Guys thank for all the suggestions which I'll certainly bear in mind when I come to buy :)

Re: What to look for in a laptop?

I just ordered this beast:

[IMG]http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_g5zmQjJnuLs/TIvD-ONZaQI/AAAAAAAAAg0/iHLIasEU4cI/s400/ASUS-G73JW-A1.jpg[/IMG]

Product Features and Technical Details Model: G73JW-A1 Product Features Intel Core i7-740QM (1.73GHz Quad-Core with Turbo Boost up to 2.93GHz) 8GB DDR3 1333MHz, 4 SODIMM Sockets, up to 8GB 1TB (500G 7200RPM x2) HDD; Blue-Ray Disk Combo Drive; 802.11 b/g/n Nvidia GTX 460M Graphics with 1.5GB GDDR5; Windows Home Premium 64-bit Operating System 17.3-Inch Full HD (1920x1080) LED Display; 2.0M Webcam; Gaming Backpack and Mouse Processor, Memory, and Motherboard Hardware Platform: PC Processor: 1.73 GHz Intel Core i7 Number of Processors: 4 RAM: 8 GB RAM Type: SODIMM Hard Drive Size: 1 TB Type: Serial ATA Cases and Expandability Size (LWH): 16.6 inches, 12.8 inches, 2.3 inches Weight: 8 pounds

Re: What to look for in a laptop?

Why would you get a 17.3" laptop?

17.3" and Laptop in the same sentence just don't go together. I'll never figure out these desktop replacements.

Re: What to look for in a laptop?

i have a big lap ;) Truthfully... I only use it at home and on long flights. I want something that is powerful and has a bigger screen...so for me this is perfect. I was thinking about a 18.6" but decided that would be silly.

Re: What to look for in a laptop?

Even my 13" Macbook Pro barely fits on a airplane table, that asus should pay a ticket for itself imo :p.

You know you can plug it to an external monitor right?

whats the price on that spaceship?

Re: What to look for in a laptop?

1145£