laptops (yes, again)

[TdC]

guyzors, I am once again in the market for a laptop.

I find myself wanting to have something with a screen 13 or 14", as powerful a cpu and as much ram as possible, for around 1000euro or less. preferably less. disk size and stuff I don't really mind.

I was looking at some of the smaller Vaio's, because I can't help liking them. I like the Sony Vaio VGN-SR31M, and it's brothers like Sony Vaio VGN-SR29XN/S and less.

Anyone got a good tip, or able to tell me which one would actually be a good buy, I'd be much obliged!

 

[Fuggz]

I have a good affiliation link you can have - split the profit?

 

[TdC]

no, thanks

 

[Zenith.UK]

Not quite up to the spec of the models you suggested but this Vaio ticks the right boxes.

Sony Vaio NS11J/S
C2D T5800 2.0GHz / 4GB RAM / 320GB HDD / Intel GMA 4500MHD
Sony VAIO NS11J/S VGN-NS11J/S.CEK - Laptops Direct
£519.97 == €589.90 at today's x-rate.

Another laptop that isn't bad for the performance/price is this:
Acer Aspire 6930G
C2D T5800 2.0GHz / 3GB RAM / 250GB HDD / nVidia GeForce 9300M GS
http://www.laptopsdirect.co.uk/Acer_Aspire_6930G_Laptop_LX.AUU0X.151/version.asp
£468.97 == €532.12 at today's x-rate.

 

[TdC]

ok I've kind-of settled on this thing: VAIO : VGN-Z31MN/B : United Kingdom

except, mine would be the 21, not the 31, as aparantly that version doesn't exist in the UK. anyway the diff is that the 21 doesn't have W/WAN capabilities built in. boo hoo.

anyways, major notes are: P8600 2.4GHz C2D cpu, 4GB ram, GeForce 9300M GS (128MB dedicated) and a 13.3" screen at 1366 x 768.

anyone have a major no-no for me? otherwise it's mine tonight

 

[Cadelin]

anyone have a major no-no for me? otherwise it's mine tonight

Swaffling it will void the warranty.

 

[TdC]

*swaffles Cadelin's tea mug*

 

[Fast]

ok I've kind-of settled on this thing: VAIO : VGN-Z31MN/B : United Kingdom

And what would be the price?

 

[TdC]

1370 euros. about 5000 pounds

 

[Fast]

You have to much money

I read this review PC Pro: Product Reviews: Sony Vaio VGN-Z21MN/B seems a nice bit of kit, little low on the gfx for price imo but its Sony.

Spectrum 48k keyboard has to be a winner

 

[TdC]

I won't be playing games on it though, some browsing, coding, photo management, films, music, that kind of stuff. I require the snappy CPU, that's about it. and I find it pretty

 

[TdC]

I have it now. Zomg it's awesome! Super quick, and I'm already used to the keyboard keys. Layout is very intuitive imo.

 

[Bahumat]

Lol what is in that glass? the top looks really dirty!

Love the new keyboard layout's Sony seem to be doing. Don't know if any other brands are doing this.

 

[TdC]

hehe I'd been refilling it with espresso all day long the kbd is indeed awesome, very very intuitive. I could touch type on it in minutes.

 

[nath]

That is an absolutely lovely machine, however my inner-jew wants to remind you that you're absolutely bat-shit crazy for paying that much for any laptop.

 

[TdC]

I love it to bits. Also, I have discovered a bug: when the bios password is set, the machine doesn't recover from hibernation! Currently at a loss, prolly have to email sony o0

 

[caLLous]

Do you mean when ther bios pass is set at all (ie just to enter bios setup) or when you tell it to ask for the pass on boot? If it's the former that doesn't sound right at all, if it's the latter I've had a similar hibernation problem before.. I think I solved it by not using the bios pass hehe.. [/helpful]

I now use TrueCrypt with pre-boot authentication.. so it encrypts everything and asks for the pass before Windows starts. No probs coming out of hibernation with this setup.

I have a 3 year old VGN-SZ1XP/C (/C for teh carbon fibre!) and I still loves it I do.. It's a bit slow today (it was pre C2D :\) but it still does mostly everything I want it to and looks as lovely as the day it was new.

Your one looks great though, I'm sure the 2 of you will be very happy together

 

[TdC]

it was the boot thing, but it's been all nicely fixed in a bios update I did that came in with the VAIO update gizmo. also, yes, you're right: this laptop is everything I want in a woman....small, powerful, and made of carbon fiber

 

[Aada]

£1500 for it?

Hell you could go to Alienware (yes i know they are overpriced but atleast they use good stuff) and they could have built you a laptop that destroys that for around the same price.

Yeah i know you don't want to play games but if your going to spend that kinda of money then why skimp around whats inside?

Sony make me sick.

Still a nice looking laptop but i feel for what you paid you could have got more for your money but then who cares eh?

 

[TdC]

hmm the 1300 euros I paid is, for me, the top end of acceptable pricing for a lappy this powerful. indecently, it's still less than the Apples, I actually get more for less, and the design is absolutely on a par.

one thing I may have had an upgrade ready for, and that is the gfx card, because in other respects the 2.4GHz c2d and 4GB ram suit me fine. ofc I agree that I could have gone cheaper: there's a very decent MSI out with a higher spec than the Vaio at about 3/8s the price, but I wanted the Vaio, so go figure. Also, if I had upgraded my gfx card I'd not get the huge run time I require. On a recent assignment, my photographer on his Toshiba had to recharge about 2.5 times to my once.

on the whole, after the solving of the boot issue thing, I think it's almost a perfect laptop for my uses. you seem to make the assumption that I require blazing power and amazing graphics all of the time, but that's not the case. I don't want it to be slow, but my primary issue is longevity.

 

[Bodhi]

Good lord. Someone's finally bought a laptop that's almost as sexy as mine

 

[ramathorn]

I have been using Toshiba laptops for the past eight years or so, about four months ago I bought a Vaio VGN-AW11S (Sony Sony VAIO AW11S/B - Core 2 Duo P8400 / 2.26 GHz - ... price - Compare Sony Sony VAIO AW11S/B - Core 2 Duo P8400 / 2.26 GHz - ...s prices at CNET UK)

I love it, I dont think I would ever go back to my Toshiba (its got a nice layer of dust gathering on it). I never liked the thought of buying a Sony but the price I got this one for kinda pushed me over the edge, and boy am I glad I did.

The only gripe I have with it is how locked down the BIOS is, pretty much nothing can be changed. I also tried downgrading it to XP but when you have to load the drivers for the SATA controller it wont pick up any USB floppy disk other than a Sony one (which is massively overpriced) - or so thats what I am told. So I have to live with Vista, but it is a small price to pay for the awesome machine.