Dad wants a Lappy for around £500...

[Mr Paul]

He wants the best he can for his money. Now it doesn't have to be that much portable so a DTR would be fine.

Was just looking around and came up with the following, tending towards the Tosh as it have the biggest HD and a HD2400 GFX card which is excellent for his needs.

Acer Aspire 9304 - 1Gb RAM - 120Gb HD - 17" - £399
Toshiba Satellite Pro A200GE-24s - 2Gb RAM - 200Gb HD - 15.4" - £514.90
Asus F5VL-AP032C Core 2 Duo T5250 - 2Gb RAM - 160Gb HD - 15.4" - £506.57
Acer Aspire 5920 Laptop Santa Rosa 7300 - 2Gb RAM - 120 Gb HD - 15.4" - £505.13

Anyone have any other option or whats the bets out of that lot?

17" would be best, but depending on spec I'll be happy with a 15.4" (as spec is more important than screen size)

Ta

Paul

 

[Mr Paul]

What does he want to do with it? Internet browsing? Music? Word Processing?

Does he need the graphical power? Most of the 15" are only 1280x800, so screen size isn't necessarily a plus if the resolution isn't good enough for the size.

Internet, photos the odd movie. Probably a bit of word processing.

 

[Mr Paul]

Dell Vostro 1700 can be had with a 2.10GHz Core 2 Duo, 2GB of RAM, 250GB HDD, GeForce 8400M GS graphics and a 17" display for within your budget (£468).

Hmm I'll look into that

 

[Mr Paul]

Then you honestly don't need any graphical power, just go with one with at least an intel X3100 will do fine, either invest the money on build quality, screen size or more RAM/HDD/CPU.

I personally think OcUK's Belinea o.Book 3 hits the spot nicely in terms of price size e.t.c. The extra dosh can be spent on portable external HDD like the WD passport 120GB for photos, movies e.t.c. on the Go and a pair of 2x1GB DDR2 SO-Dimm RAM upgrades.

Ah, but when I go home to see my folks I may need the graphics power

 

[Mr Paul]

SYSTEM COMPONENTS

Vostro™ 1700 NB(N0317012) Qty 1
Intel® Core™ 2 Duo Processor T8100 (2.10 GHz, 3 MB L2 cache, 800 MHz FSB), Genuine Windows Vista® Business - English Unit Price £439.00
Catalog Number: 202 N0317012
Module Description Show Details
Base Intel® Core™ 2 Duo Processor T8100 (2.10 GHz, 3 MB L2 cache, 800 MHz FSB)
Microsoft Operating System Genuine Windows Vista® Business - English
Memory 2048MB 667MHz Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM (2x1024)
Keyboard Internal Keyboard - UK/Irish (QWERTY)
Video Card 128MB nVidia® GeForce® 8400M GS
Hard Drive 250GB (5400RPM) SATA Hard Drive
Modem 56.6k V.92 Capable Internal Modem & Adapter - UK
Optical Devices Fixed Internal 8X DVD+/-RW Drive including Software
Wireless Networking Intel® Pro Wireless 3945 802.11a/b/g Mini-Card - Europe
Shipping Documents English Documentation with English/Irish Power Cord
Gedis Bundle Reference N0317012
Microsoft Application Software Microsoft® Works 9.0 - English
Standard Warranty 1Yr Basic Warranty - Next Business Day
Enhanced Service Packs 1Yr Basic Warranty - Next Business Day Included - No Upgrade Selected
CompleteCare Declined CompleteCare
Protect your new PC No Security/Anti-Virus Protection - English
Power Supply 90W AC Adapter
Bluetooth No Bluetooth Upgrade
Order Information Vostro Laptop Order - UK
Primary Battery Primary 6-cell Lithium-Ion Battery (56 WHr)
Carrying Cases No Carry Case
Dell System Media Kit Resource CD - contains Diagnostics and Drivers
Colour Choice Matte Jet Black with 2.0 mega pixel camera
Online Promotion Option for GEDIS Configs Dell Internet Order.
LCD 17" Wide Screen WXGA+ (1440 x 900) Display with TrueLife™
TOTAL :£439.00

Looks pretty reasonable, fast CPU, 2Gb RAM which is fine for Vista, powerful GFX and plenty HD space. £515 inc.

I'll ask my pops what he prefers

 

[Mr Paul]

For what? Crysis?
The HD2400 or even then 8400M aren't going to be anything powerful for your "occasional" use when back home
*looks at your spec in your signature*

Better off giving your dad more space for porn, movies and photos e.t.c.

lol

I'm sure they can play UT2004 and a few others. I may even get my dad in to the odd strategy game

 

[Mr Paul]

Any more ideas?

 

[Mr Paul]

He's now decided that he only wants to spend £400 :roll:

 

[Mr Paul]

Yeah, ordered a Vostro 1700 for £375 delivered. 2Gb RAM, 1.5GHz C2D, 160Gb HD etc etc...

Thing is, it gonna take ages to get delivered