Laptop recomendations
- Thread starter TedTheDog
- Start date
Insane
Wait... whatwhat?
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Satellite Pro M30 P-M 725 1.6GHz/ XP Pro/ 512MB/ 60GB/ 15.4W-TFT/ DVD-CDRW/ 802.11bg/ OneNote
we recently had one pass through our hands as a "presentation" laptop, slightly lower spec than that. it even managed to load up and "play" Doom3 (ok, it was never higher than 20fps, but it ran!)
only problem is that it doesnt fit too well into many laptop bags
we recently had one pass through our hands as a "presentation" laptop, slightly lower spec than that. it even managed to load up and "play" Doom3 (ok, it was never higher than 20fps, but it ran!)
only problem is that it doesnt fit too well into many laptop bags
old.user4556
Has a sexy sister. I am also a Bodhi wannabee.
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You read my mind Insane, that was exactly the laptop I had in mind when I read TTD's requirements.
This Toshiba line of laptop is a standard issue at work (although I think they have more memory, bigger hard disks and faster processors), but the general laptop is quality.
Of course, I don't know about other alternatives but I can vouch for this laptop. Movies look great and it also has S-Video out incase you wanted to take it to a mate's and plug it into their TV to watch films, or even a plasma/projector/LCD TV.
Nice piece of kit.
This Toshiba line of laptop is a standard issue at work (although I think they have more memory, bigger hard disks and faster processors), but the general laptop is quality.
Of course, I don't know about other alternatives but I can vouch for this laptop. Movies look great and it also has S-Video out incase you wanted to take it to a mate's and plug it into their TV to watch films, or even a plasma/projector/LCD TV.
Nice piece of kit.
Hi Ted
I don't know what your budget is, but Dell have recently released their Inspiron 9200. It's based around Intel Centrino technology, features 128MB ATI Radeon 9700 graphics as standard, and comes with a 17" display. Only a few have started shipping but feedback has been very good thus far. It weighs 3.5kg, so it's heavy, but far lighter than other 17" laptops (early Acer models weighed 7kg, now thankfully down to around 4kg). Battery life is around 3hrs with the standard battery, over 5hrs with an upgrade.
Sadly the offers have changed this week which has bumped the price up by around £97, so if you were interested, then you may want to hang fire (or if you have contacts in the US, grab one from there, where they are considerably cheaper to start with, and then have around 25% off with the right coupons).
One other range of laptops you may wish to consider is the Acer Aspire 1680 series. Again, Intel Centrino technology, but with 15" screens and 64MB Radeon 9700 Graphics. Prices start around £750, which I don't think is too bad if you say it quick. Acer's whole range tend to be fairly good value for money, offering everything from Centrino through to Athlon 64 systems, even a few Pentium 4 Prescott systems with PCI-Express graphics. Shop Acer seem to offer competitive prices.
If you wanted to be prudent, Intel are planning to launch the next revision of Centrino around January (though it has slipped many times). The FSB speed will rise from 400mhz to 533mhz, onboard audio should be available with 7.1, HD etc. support, and the wireless will be upgraded to support 802.11g as standard. ATI and nVidia's new graphics will also be more widely available then (Mobility Radeon x300, x600 and x800 for ATI, GeForce 6800 Go for nVidia, and presumably other variants). That said, prices for new tech. is always high, so again it comes down to your budget (and your patience).
Kind Regards
Jonty
P.S. Toshiba and many other brands rock, I only mention the two above due to some recent research I conducted (you could even build your own laptop if you wanted to be particularly cool/technical).
I don't know what your budget is, but Dell have recently released their Inspiron 9200. It's based around Intel Centrino technology, features 128MB ATI Radeon 9700 graphics as standard, and comes with a 17" display. Only a few have started shipping but feedback has been very good thus far. It weighs 3.5kg, so it's heavy, but far lighter than other 17" laptops (early Acer models weighed 7kg, now thankfully down to around 4kg). Battery life is around 3hrs with the standard battery, over 5hrs with an upgrade.
Sadly the offers have changed this week which has bumped the price up by around £97, so if you were interested, then you may want to hang fire (or if you have contacts in the US, grab one from there, where they are considerably cheaper to start with, and then have around 25% off with the right coupons).
One other range of laptops you may wish to consider is the Acer Aspire 1680 series. Again, Intel Centrino technology, but with 15" screens and 64MB Radeon 9700 Graphics. Prices start around £750, which I don't think is too bad if you say it quick. Acer's whole range tend to be fairly good value for money, offering everything from Centrino through to Athlon 64 systems, even a few Pentium 4 Prescott systems with PCI-Express graphics. Shop Acer seem to offer competitive prices.
If you wanted to be prudent, Intel are planning to launch the next revision of Centrino around January (though it has slipped many times). The FSB speed will rise from 400mhz to 533mhz, onboard audio should be available with 7.1, HD etc. support, and the wireless will be upgraded to support 802.11g as standard. ATI and nVidia's new graphics will also be more widely available then (Mobility Radeon x300, x600 and x800 for ATI, GeForce 6800 Go for nVidia, and presumably other variants). That said, prices for new tech. is always high, so again it comes down to your budget (and your patience
).Kind Regards
Jonty
P.S. Toshiba and many other brands rock, I only mention the two above due to some recent research I conducted (you could even build your own laptop if you wanted to be particularly cool/technical
).
TedTheDog
Fred's & Barry's co-founder
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Heh, its a complicated world!
Ta for this lads, the Tosh looks very nice, the Dell looks nice, the new tech coming "soon" looks nicer. Its all so complicated.
I think i'll take up fishing.
Actually, I think I'll wait til Feb next year and revisit this then on Jonty's advice.
Ta for this lads, the Tosh looks very nice, the Dell looks nice, the new tech coming "soon" looks nicer. Its all so complicated.
I think i'll take up fishing.
Actually, I think I'll wait til Feb next year and revisit this then on Jonty's advice.
Goodness *feels honoured at having such sway*
I'm not saying don't buy now, just that new tech. is on the horizon (isn't it always?) so you could get perhaps an even more powerful system, or one of the existing systems at a better price. But that's not to say today's laptops will be in any way defunct (I've recently treated myself, so I certainly hope not).
Good luck with it all
I'm not saying don't buy now, just that new tech. is on the horizon (isn't it always?) so you could get perhaps an even more powerful system, or one of the existing systems at a better price. But that's not to say today's laptops will be in any way defunct (I've recently treated myself, so I certainly hope not
).Good luck with it all
djpringle
Pork Smuggler
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Bodhi
Once agreed with Scouse and a LibDem at same time
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TedTheDog
Fred's & Barry's co-founder
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My god, that Ixius really does blur the line between a desktop and a laptop. Bit expensive for me, but perhaps I should be saving up instead of dismissing the idea.....
And yes bods, I work for Sony and the Vaio's are right up there on my list. When i get back to work I'll dig out the staff purchase options on them.
All in all, I think its worth waiting until early next year so I'll stick to that plan and save up (just given up booze and that'll bring in £150+ a month. Can you guess why I had to give up booze? )
And yes bods, I work for Sony and the Vaio's are right up there on my list. When i get back to work I'll dig out the staff purchase options on them.
All in all, I think its worth waiting until early next year so I'll stick to that plan and save up (just given up booze and that'll bring in £150+ a month. Can you guess why I had to give up booze?
)