15.4" laptop from reputable brand that packs a punch?

Marcos · 5 Sep 2007 at 10:53

Looking at about £700 max for a 15.4" laptop with a hefty graphics card and hopefully not too heavy.

So far the only thing that seems to be really good is the sony Vaio FZ18 with and 8400GT card, £690 delivered

I've been using 13" laptops for a while now and i have no problems with them but now that i dont need the portability i may aswell get something a bit better for the eyes and get more power while i'm at it. I've been using sony for years now and they havent let me down but who else does laptops with proper gfx cards?

GuruJockStrap · 5 Sep 2007 at 10:59

Dell Vostro range.

Marcos · 5 Sep 2007 at 11:01

GuruJockStrap said:
Dell Vostro range.

Are Dell doing well now? design and reliability-wise? Its been a while since i've had a look there

i know they are one of the few companies that were at all able to compete with sony's S series 13" laptops

EDIT: just tried speccing one up, can't match the Vaio's spec for the money

Marcos · 5 Sep 2007 at 11:12

wait, tried again and yeah, its pretty good, good spec etc, comes up a bit more expensive than the sony. But its an option nonetheless

ohhhh....its the 3yr warranty bumping up the price

GuruJockStrap · 5 Sep 2007 at 11:42

Take that off and its drops by around £150.

You get the superior nVidia 8600GT GPU as well.

Marcos · 5 Sep 2007 at 11:54

GuruJockStrap said:
Take that off and its drops by around £150.

You get the superior nVidia 8600GT GPU as well.

Now its just a case of whether i want to use a fairly ugly all black laptop for a few years, or the much nicer looking slimmer lighter sony

benjo plz. · 5 Sep 2007 at 12:06

ZooStorm

GuruJockStrap · 5 Sep 2007 at 12:31

Marcos said:
Now its just a case of whether i want to use a fairly ugly all black laptop for a few years, or the much nicer looking slimmer lighter sony

I wouldn't say the the Vostro is an ugly laptop but obviously it doesn't have the style/dimensions of the Sony.

I was tempted to get an Sony Vaio FZ but went for the Vostro eventually. The Vostro cost me £550 and was superior specification wise to the Sony, which cost an extra £150 at the time. The Vostro had the superior GPU, HD and RAM size. Sure the Vostro is a bit thicker but it doesn't matter to me as it'll live on my desk the majority of the time. Would much rather have the superior spec than shave a few mm's off the thickness.

waso_dude · 5 Sep 2007 at 12:54

toshiba ones are good value for money

might be worth the look

Mr Jack · 5 Sep 2007 at 12:58

+1 for Vostro. I plan on getting one next month (assuming nothing better appears in the meantime, etc.)

benjo plz. · 5 Sep 2007 at 13:46

here's the specs of the ZooStorm 6623

Processor - Intel Core 2 Duo T7500 (Speed - 2.2GHz Dual Core CPU)
2GB DDR2 RAM
250GB SATA Hard Drive
15.4 inch TFT display
Widescreen - WXGA (1280 x 800)
Graphics Processor - nVidia 8600MGS
Audio controller - Azalia 5.1 analogue with 2 x 1W stereo
Optical Drive - DVD +/- RW DL
Operating System - Microsoft Windows Vista Premium
Wireless LAN - Built in Wireless LAN 802.11g 54Mbps
Battery Life: Up to 3 Hours depending on usage
Weight - Kg 2.9

I / O Ports
Audio jacks :
1 x Line-out / 1 x Mic-In / 1 x S/PDIF / 1 x VGA / 1 x 54mm Expresscard Slot
4 x USB 2.0 / 1 x RJ-11 (modem) / 1 x RJ-45 (lan)
1 x mini PCI WiFi (wi-fi antenna)

Security
1 x Kensington lock port

Not bad for £660

GuruJockStrap · 5 Sep 2007 at 13:56

Good deal on that Zoostorm. Pity there's no 8600GT though.

Still happy with my £525 Vostro though.

Marcos · 5 Sep 2007 at 19:02

Phnom_Penh said:
here's the specs of the ZooStorm 6623

Processor - Intel Core 2 Duo T7500 (Speed - 2.2GHz Dual Core CPU)
2GB DDR2 RAM
250GB SATA Hard Drive
15.4 inch TFT display
Widescreen - WXGA (1280 x 800)
Graphics Processor - nVidia 8600MGS
Audio controller - Azalia 5.1 analogue with 2 x 1W stereo
Optical Drive - DVD +/- RW DL
Operating System - Microsoft Windows Vista Premium
Wireless LAN - Built in Wireless LAN 802.11g 54Mbps
Battery Life: Up to 3 Hours depending on usage
Weight - Kg 2.9

I / O Ports
Audio jacks :
1 x Line-out / 1 x Mic-In / 1 x S/PDIF / 1 x VGA / 1 x 54mm Expresscard Slot
4 x USB 2.0 / 1 x RJ-11 (modem) / 1 x RJ-45 (lan)
1 x mini PCI WiFi (wi-fi antenna)

Security
1 x Kensington lock port

Not bad for £660

does that gfx card compete with the 8400 GT and 8600 GT?

also, i've never heard of zoostorm :confused:

GuruJockStrap · 5 Sep 2007 at 19:34

Check out the nVidia site: http://www.nvidia.com/object/geforce_8600M.html

Marcos · 13 Sep 2007 at 15:44

Cheapest i can spec an 8600GT Vostro with the good display is £750

Damn, £50 less for the much nicer sony with the 8400GT instead

Mr. Brightside · 4 Oct 2007 at 23:07

Another vote for the Vostro. I've had my Vostro 1500 exactly a week today. It's fully specced except for the RAM - didn't fancy paying £300 for 4gB.

It replaced my Inspiron 6000 and I have to say it's an awesome machine. Best build quality I've ever seen in a laptop, awesome fast and good value for money. I paid £950 for this and I'd say it's worth every penny.

Raikiri · 4 Oct 2007 at 23:12

Marcos said:
Cheapest i can spec an 8600GT Vostro with the good display is £750

Damn, £50 less for the much nicer sony with the 8400GT instead

1.6ghz core 2 duo
2gb ram
8600GT 256mb
15.4 inch 1440x900 with truelife (I wouldn't get the 1680x1050 as the graphics will struggle with more recent titles)
160gb HD
9 cell battery

£633 delivered

Remember the 1 year warranty.