eetaylog Posted July 10, 2009 Share Posted July 10, 2009 Ive havent bought a laptop for years as ive only ever used desktops. I want to get one now though but the market has moved on a bit, so can anyone recommend a decent one please. Im looking to spend around £400 and it has to be either Sony, Dell or Toshiba as i can get them through work, and i want the minimum specs to be: - Dual Core Processor (core2duo ideally, but id like it to be at least 2Mb Cache)- 2Gb RAM- WiFi connectivity- At least 15" screen Other than that though im not really fussed about the specs, i can upgrade the HDD and optical drives if need be. Ive been having a look around, and the Dell inspirons and Sony Vaio's look good. Ideas? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mutley Posted July 10, 2009 Share Posted July 10, 2009 i like sony stuff but id never buy a sony laptop. over expensive for the same stuff as everyone else... personally id buy a dell out of the options youve chosen. best driver support out of the 3 as well IMO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stu Posted July 10, 2009 Share Posted July 10, 2009 I'd go for Toshiba out of those options. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eetaylog Posted July 10, 2009 Author Share Posted July 10, 2009 (edited) i like sony stuff but id never buy a sony laptop. over expensive for the same stuff as everyone else... personally id buy a dell out of the options youve chosen. best driver support out of the 3 as well IMO ive heard that some laptops dont have much driver support for downgrading to XP, do you know if that applies to the Dells as this is probably what ill do because of vista compatability issues with some software ive got that i need to use. I'd go for Toshiba out of those options. Yeah theyre pretty good, the only problem with them is that theyre a bit bulky looking? Oh, and one other problem ive spotted is that the Dell inspirons dont seem to have wifi as standard, you have to pay a few quid extra to upgrade from the standard Dell wireless 1397 card. Not sure if this type of connectivity is capable of broadband speeds? Second in from the left... Edited July 10, 2009 by eetaylog Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mutley Posted July 10, 2009 Share Posted July 10, 2009 dells driver support is excellent always has been. toshibas are robust and well made devices but ive always found their support to be lacking.. and i used to be a toshiba approved engineer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scottg17 Posted July 10, 2009 Share Posted July 10, 2009 Click Here 2nd one across... id say thats the most bang youd get for your buck Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eetaylog Posted July 10, 2009 Author Share Posted July 10, 2009 Click Here 2nd one across... id say thats the most bang youd get for your buck That one is the one from my link above, but im not sure about the wifi connection it has. It says it comes with a dell wireless 1397 card as standard and you have to pay extra to upgrade to full wifi. Is the standard card any good compared to wifi? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scottg17 Posted July 10, 2009 Share Posted July 10, 2009 Click Here 2nd one across... id say thats the most bang youd get for your buck That one is the one from my link above, but im not sure about the wifi connection it has. It says it comes with a dell wireless 1397 card as standard and you have to pay extra to upgrade to full wifi. Is the standard card any good compared to wifi? the standard card is the same as in most laptops.It Just supports b/g Wireless (about 50 feet or so from the router) so less range if you have an N card ( i think you can get about 100ft from the router)if its just for working in an office the standard card will be more than good enough Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eetaylog Posted July 10, 2009 Author Share Posted July 10, 2009 Click Here 2nd one across... id say thats the most bang youd get for your buck That one is the one from my link above, but im not sure about the wifi connection it has. It says it comes with a dell wireless 1397 card as standard and you have to pay extra to upgrade to full wifi. Is the standard card any good compared to wifi? the standard card is the same as in most laptops.It Just supports b/g Wireless (about 50 feet or so from the router) so less range if you have an N card ( i think you can get about 100ft from the router)if its just for working in an office the standard card will be more than good enough Nice one, its for home use where we ponce off next doors wireless router so should be plenty good enough Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scottg17 Posted July 10, 2009 Share Posted July 10, 2009 lmao! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andaba Posted July 10, 2009 Share Posted July 10, 2009 I'd hold back a few months until they start putting Windows 7 on them as standard... Save yourself from the Fail OS that is Vista!! On a serious note - if your gonna be doing loads of media stuff, photoshop, some gaming etc. might be worth keeping your eyes peeled for one with a dedicated graphics chip, rather than shared memory. Vista luuuuurves to eat graphics memory. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eetaylog Posted July 11, 2009 Author Share Posted July 11, 2009 I'd hold back a few months until they start putting Windows 7 on them as standard... Save yourself from the Fail OS that is Vista!! On a serious note - if your gonna be doing loads of media stuff, photoshop, some gaming etc. might be worth keeping your eyes peeled for one with a dedicated graphics chip, rather than shared memory. Vista luuuuurves to eat graphics memory. That is EXACTLY what i was thinking, tho you can add a 256Mb graphics card for an extra 50 odd quid. I have got a spare one knocking around, but its off a hewlett packard laptop and im not sure if the graphics card slots are the same on different branded laptops? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andaba Posted July 11, 2009 Share Posted July 11, 2009 I'd pay the £50... All the stuff is so tightly packed into today's Laptops, you really affect cooling etc. if you add stuff in. Also, opening a new laptop up is gonna do wonders for your warrenty! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dutchkev Posted July 11, 2009 Share Posted July 11, 2009 the sony viao i had wasnt bad, served me well, as did the toshiba one. wish i still had my toshiba as Dell are crap! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eetaylog Posted July 11, 2009 Author Share Posted July 11, 2009 Dell are crap! Controversial. Never heard anyone say that about Dell. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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