New laptop for £750, advice needed please!

PlanetGong

PlanetGong

PlanetGong

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15 Jun 2003
Posts
361
Location
Leicestershire
Hi

Looking to buy a new laptop to replace my desktop PC.

It will mainly be used for watching HD films, internet browsing, a little game playing and video processing.

What is the best laptop I can get for a max £750 budget that will fulfill these needs? I was looking on the Dell outlet site at both the XPS 15 & 17 machines, are these any good?

I am new to the laptop market so any help appreciated!

Thanks.
 
Hard to answer as you don't say anything about the games to intend to play with.

If you mean to play modern war 2 or assassin's creed 1, it would be fair enough. But if you plan to play assassin's creed 2, you will have to lower the res to 1366x768 or so...
 
To be honest I am a very occasional game player, so that really isn't my main concern. Not fussed about playing games on the highest settings etc.
 
Keep on eye on the new Sandybridge Dell.

The Samsung RF710 is a nice looking bit of kit, although the tech is a bit ancient (GT330M, and not the best performing, but you do get a bluray drive as standard, and good general quality. It doesn't do optimus so battery life is not great.

The current Dell XPS on the outlet are a good bet as well. Optimus enabled, GT420M can do gaming, and you can get a 1080p option if you are lucky, which imo is an improvement if you need screen space, but not if you favour something easier to read from distance.

In any case, if you game you'll have to game at a lower resolution, the mobile GPUs don't like high resolutions.
 
Hi. Thanks for the replies. Went a little over budget, but in the end got this from the Dell Outlet :

XPS L501X Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium (64 BIT) 1
XPS L501X
Documentation, ENGLISH
Carry Case : Not Included
Battery : Primary 6-cell 56W/HR LI-ION
Optical Drive : Tray Load Blu-ray Disc BD-Combo (Reads BD and Writes to DVD/CD)
Display : 15.6" Full HD B+RGLED True-Life (1920x1080) with 2.0 Mega Pixel Integrated Camera
Processor : Intel i7-840QM(1.86GHz) Mobile CPU
Shipping Material
Misc
Keyboard
Memory : 8GB (4x2GB) 1333MHz Dual Channel Memory
Hard Drive : 500GB 2.5inch Serial ATA II (7.200 Rpm) Hard Drive
MOD,SW,ADB,RDR,9.0,MLANG
Misc
Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium (64 BIT)
Misc
0
Misc
misc
Misc
Certified Refurbished

for £820. Not sure what all the 'misc's refer to?!
 
I would have got a sandybridge laptop mate, more powerful and less power consumption meaning your battery will last longer. SB are being rolled out by all the main manufacturers as we speak.
 
Krisali said:
I would have got a sandybridge laptop mate, more powerful and less power consumption meaning your battery will last longer. SB are being rolled out by all the main manufacturers as we speak.
Click to expand...

Depends how long I would have to wait for one really. I'll mostly be using the laptop at home so power isn't a major issue for me. This spec should still be pretty quick though?

Just checked, and to get a sandybridge with a similar spec would cost £1149 (although that would be new not 'refurb')
 
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Yeah it's a nice spec imo. Dell get a lot of stick just like most of the main manufacturers do but in my experience they are well made and the XPS range generally have a nice aesthetic about them. Out of curiosity what video card is your laptop using?
 
nv 425M with the I7 I think, but it doesn't actually say, I kind of just assumed that is what it would be as that is what others have got!
 
Should play some basic games too then quite nicely. Please let me know how you get on with the Dell.

I myself am waiting for Sony to get new parts in so I can buy myself a new Sony Vaio S 13 inch :]
 
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