Acer 9360g or HP DV7-1003ea

GaryWolf · 20 Feb 2009 at 08:54

Hello,

I thought I would seek advice from the people here.

I am looking at purchasing a laptop and have narrowed down my choices.
It needs to have at least a 2.0ghz processor and preferably a P series rather than T intel one, 3 or 4GB ram, 9600m graphics card or ATI equivalent. minimum 15 inch monitor. Things like Blueray are nice but i can upgrade the drive one day. I also have a love of sound, hopefully none of these have tin can quality speakers or sound.
Budget £700 max

By the way is the P7350 centrino 2?

The two models I have found are as follows:

Acer 9360G - LX.AVBOX.001

P7350 2.0Ghz 3mb cache 1066mhz bus
3GB Ram DDR2 667mhz
16 inch 1366 x 768
DVD
Graphics 9600m GS 512 VRAM DDR2

(i much prefer the spec on the newer 6935 but they replaced the really useful numeric keypad with that awful cinedash touch pad)

HP DV7-1004EA FP865EA

P7350 2.0Ghz 3mb cache 1066mhz bus
4GB Ram DDR2 667mhz
17 inch 1440 X 900
DVD
Graphics 9600M GT 512 VRAM ( unknown if ddr2 or ddr3)

I am looking for something that is a bit of a desktop replacement, reasonable gaming, maybe supreme commander or COD4 on medium settings?

GaryWolf · 20 Feb 2009 at 12:32

While I think the acer wins on the athetically pleasing side of things, the HP does seem to have a bit of an edge on features for the price point.

I am now looking at the DV5-1011EA ?
While only 15inch of screen, its not the end of the world for gaming, but the specs seem pretty good for something that will be a little more portable too.

DV5-1011EA

P7350
4GB 800mhz ( upgradable to 8gb in future, good for win7 maybe?)
blue-ray
9600m GT 512mb
display 1280 x 800.

whats the difference over the DV5 and 7 ranges anyway, seem to be finding them a bit of a muddle.

GaryWolf · 20 Feb 2009 at 13:36

most of the DV5 and 7 model numbers seem to be sold out or just not available. Some of the newer updated ones are having lesser graphics fitted with the focus being on things like blue-ray.
what model number did you get?

GaryWolf · 20 Feb 2009 at 16:58

leaning more towards the HP DV7 1004.

Will it be easy to upgrade to a blueray drive later on if i decide to, im assuming its a standard laptop fit?

Anyone had any experience with the HP DV7 series screens, I keep reading that they have a lot of glare, is this only an outdoors issue?

Does the silver look too shiney or does it have a classy look and feel ?

GaryWolf · 23 Feb 2009 at 12:16

Thanks for your help and messages.
Managed to pick up a DV5-1010, 15" (decided i wanted more portability), P7530, blue-ray, 4GB, 9600m GT 512mb.

Looking forward to its arrival.

GaryWolf · 25 Feb 2009 at 09:07

I managed to get a "reconditioned" DV5-1010 for £500.
Taking a bit of a risk as it said it could have some minor cosmetic damage.
The thing is faultless,not one mark, good as new.
Only annoying thing was that it didnt set up properly first time, so i used the recovery partition to set it up from scratch myself and its worked beautifully.
Really pleased with it, runs so smooth.

I feel like I got a bargain for a new, P7350, 4gb, blueray, 9600m gt 512mb laptop.
Im going to try a few games on it tonight, see how it performs.