Help me choose a Laptop

[Scoobie Dave]

My Dad is after getting a Laptop pc and has given me the responsibility of choosing the right one for him.
He's given me a budget of £1000 to spend and is not bothered about playing games (so having the best 3d card is not important) but he wants a laptop with a nice screen size (I suggested a 17").
Im not to sure about laptops with what is good and what to get as it's new territory for me.
So im all ears.

Any help would be very much appreciated.

 

[minority2000uk]

Well I have a HP Pavilion zv6000 which is a good laptop/ Desktop replacement and cost me £799 spec was 3200 amd 64 1gb ram 100gb hd with a bright view 15in widescreen tft.

My top laptop makers would prob be.

Toshiba (Ive had this one)
Dell (gf got 6000)
HP (Ive had this one)
Sony

Steer clear of
PackardBell
Acer

that my opinion.

if you choose a dell the 9000 series one is what you would be after and if you want the shiny screen tft version it cost you extra...

 

[Gibbo]

Hi there

Sony, Dell and Asus all good!

 

[Scoobie Dave]

Hi there

Sony, Dell and Asus all good!

Ok, so what would you recommend then Gibbo for the price?

 

[Minority]

Does it have to be new?

 

[Scoobie Dave]

Does it have to be new?

Yeah, as my Dad will want a warranty.

 

[valerian]

Acer Aspire 1654wlmi, 1gig ddr2 ram, 15.4 wide, 80gb hard drive, dvd writer, pentium m 760 2ghz, ati x300 128mb, wireless lan, £749 in *******, im impressed, although as others have said Aspire customer services are ******, you'll be hardpressed to get a better spec at this price, i know ive looked.

 

[syke]

I'd say go for the Sony Vaio, as its a good size..good specs and overall a great machine. Also if he watches some movies etc..its amazing for that .

 

[Scoobie Dave]

Dell Inspiron 9300 Pentium M 740

- Pentium M 740 1.73Ghz
- 2MB L2 Cache
- 17" WXGA Widescreen Panel
- 1024MB DDR2 Memory
- ATI Mobility Radeon X300 64MB
- 80GB IDE 5400rpm Hard Drive
- Internal 8x DVD+/-RW Drive
- Intel ProWireless 2200 802.11b/g Wireless LAN
- Internal 56k V.92 Modem
- 1yr DELL collect & return warranty (Call DELL on 0870 9080800 and have the work number from the original packaging handy)

Price: £799.00 (£938.83 Including VAT at 17.5%)

Seems quite a good deal. Is the processor any good?

 

[Gibbo]

Dell Inspiron 9300 Pentium M 740

- Pentium M 740 1.73Ghz
- 2MB L2 Cache
- 17" WXGA Widescreen Panel
- 1024MB DDR2 Memory
- ATI Mobility Radeon X300 64MB
- 80GB IDE 5400rpm Hard Drive
- Internal 8x DVD+/-RW Drive
- Intel ProWireless 2200 802.11b/g Wireless LAN
- Internal 56k V.92 Modem
- 1yr DELL collect & return warranty (Call DELL on 0870 9080800 and have the work number from the original packaging handy)

Price: £799.00 (£938.83 Including VAT at 17.5%)

Seems quite a good deal. Is the processor any good?

Yes its a quick processors and overall a very fast laptop that will also give exceptional DVD playback quality too whilst having more than enough power to do anything else. However do bear in mind its no games machines but apart from that its got ample power for everything else.

 

[Scoobie Dave]

Yes its a quick processors and overall a very fast laptop that will also give exceptional DVD playback quality too whilst having more than enough power to do anything else. However do bear in mind its no games machines but apart from that its got ample power for everything else.

Well my Dad is not going to be playing any games, so apart from that it sounds like it fits his bill nicely. I think it's cool that it has a 17" screen.

 

[stuppy]

I have a 9300 (See sig), and they are excellent machines. I got mine to replace my desktop of similar spec's and I have to say its one of the best moves computer wise I have made I use mine for gaming though (have the Geforce card installed), and it plays games exceptionally well. You'll be happy with a 9300

 

[Scoobie Dave]

Another question.

My Dad was hoping to get an internet connection via my Netgear DG834G router. Is this possible?

 

[Alex_L]

yep should be, as its a centrino laptop so has a built in wirless network card, and as I remember the netgear DG834G is a wirless router, so he shouldn't have too many problems getting it set up.

 

[Scoobie Dave]

yep should be, as its a centrino laptop so has a built in wirless network card, and as I remember the netgear DG834G is a wirless router, so he shouldn't have too many problems getting it set up.

Cool, that was the answer I was looking for.

Well I think the 9300 will be perfect for his needs (and within the budget)

 

[nickels]

Steer clear of
PackardBell
Acer

i just ordered an acer, my sister has one, been very good imo.... what is the problems with acer, i have seen a few people say steer clear however had people say there good and with my sister having good experience, i got one

 

[Scoobie Dave]

How reliable are Dell laptops, to they go wrong often or are they rock solid?

Also, how good is the collect & return 1 year warranty Dell offer. Do Dell offer good customer support?

This is the only query my Dad has (which is fair enough) apart from that I think he's ready to buy.

 

[Soul Rider]

I used to work for Unisys supplying dell warranty enginners. Dell are very hot on getting the warranty calls looked after. You cannot really fault them, very high attention to detail. we worked on many contracts and Dell were definitely one of the best at putting the customers needs first.

 

[Gibbo]

How reliable are Dell laptops, to they go wrong often or are they rock solid?

Also, how good is the collect & return 1 year warranty Dell offer. Do Dell offer good customer support?

This is the only query my Dad has (which is fair enough) apart from that I think he's ready to buy.

DELL are very good with looking after customers who purchase DELL laptops from us and themselves.
DELL build quality and reliability is also very good so hopefully you won't need to use their support services but if you should then you will be looked after.