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.

 

[Scoobie Dave]

Hi there

Sony, Dell and Asus all good!

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

 

[Scoobie Dave]

Does it have to be new?

Yeah, as my Dad will want a warranty.

 

[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?

 

[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.

 

[Scoobie Dave]

Another question.

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

 

[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)

 

[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.