Laptop advice please!

TheSwede

TheSwede

TheSwede

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Hi all,

Thinking about getting myself a laptop and like the specs on these two, but since I am a total n00b when it comes to laptops, I thought I ask you guys here since some of you are experts!

Acer AS8930G
Intel Core2 Duo processor T6600
3GB RAM
320GB Hard Drive
18.4-in Full HD 1080p Acer CineCrystal LCD
4x Blu-Ray Combo
NVIDIA GeForce 9700M GT
DVB-TV Tuner + Remote
Finger print reader
Full HD
HD webcam
Windows Vista Home Premium

HP DV7-2045EA
AMD Turion Ultra ZM-84 processor
ATI Radeon HD4530 graphics
Integrated WiFi
4GB of RAM
Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium
250GB (5400 RPM) hard drive
DVD RW Super Multi Drive with Lightscribe
17.3in display

Which one of the above two would you pick, or would you choose something else entirely? I will be using it for the normal stuff, browsing, some work (word mostly, maybe some basic web design), some gaming i.e. SimCity4, AoE III and similar, plus watching movies away from home (mostly when working nights since the TV selection is crap during nights!)

If anyone has other suggetsions, I am all ear, but would prefer a minimum of 2GB memory, 250GB HDD, 15inch screen (preferably 17' or 18'). ohhh and decent battery life, although I guess most new ones these days has that!

Thanks in advance for any and all suggestions/advice! :)

Edit: Forgot to ask, even if the laptop is supplied with a Vista OS, you can get that upgraded to a Windows 7 OS instead, right?!?
 
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I've had 2 Acer's and both broke on several occasions - the first one stopped charging on one occasion and the HDD connection came loose (!!) on another. The second one's screen stopped working for no apparent reason.

I've had a Dell for the past 18 months without a hint of a problem, and we've got numerous HP machines at work without issue either.

My advice - Get the HP - there's a reason the Acer's cheap.

You don't say how much those 2 are or what your budget is but £699 gets you a Studio 17 from Dell with this:

Components
COLORS, PATTERNS, & ARTIST DESIGNS Black chainlink edit
PROCESSOR Intel® Core™ 2 Duo Processor T6600 (2.2GHz, 800MHz, 2MB) edit
OPERATING SYSTEM Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium, 64bit, English edit
OFFICE SOFTWARE Microsoft® Works 9.0 / English - (Does not include Microsoft® Word) edit
HARDWARE SUPPORT 1 year of coverage included with your PC edit
PROTECT YOUR NEW PC McAfee® Security Centre - 15 Month Protection - English edit
ACCIDENTAL DAMAGE SUPPORT No Accidental Damage Support edit
MEMORY 4096MB 1333MHz Dual Channel DDR3 SDRAM [2x2048] edit
HARD DRIVE 320GB (7,200rpm) Serial ATA Hard Drive edit
LCD 17.3” High Definition+ (1600x900) LED with TL edit
GRAPHICS CARD 1GB ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4650 edit
OPTICAL DRIVE Fixed Internal DVD+/-RW Slot Load Drive including Software edit
PRIMARY BATTERY Primary 6-cell 56 WHr Lithium Ion battery edit
WIRELESS CONNECTIVITY Dell Wireless 1397 Mini Card (802.11 b/g) edit
WEBCAM 2.0 Mega pixel Integrated Web Camera edit
KEYBOARD Internal UK/Irish Qwerty Keyboard edit
NAPSTER PROMOTION Free Napster® with 60 Free Songs and 1 year Free Music Streaming edit
 
Yeh I'd urge you to look at the DELL website. My DELL Inspiron 6400 is still going strong and is 3 years old now. The screen flickers occasionally but not often and I expect it to last me for at least another year (when I plan on upgrading anyway).

The Acer is the better spec, but I have also heard that they aren't the most reliable of machines.
 
Acer's a built to a price, hence the cost - the service is also terrible, took more than a month on both occasions to sort out my machines
 
Hmmm after been looking around a bit more it does seem like Acer has bad customer service.. I appreciate your advices about the Dell, only trouble is that the only time I had a laptop in the past I was recommended Dell, bought one but when I had trouble with it their customer support was awful.. then again that's 9 years ago so it probably has changed by now.. ohh and it was in another country as well! In the end I bought a Compaq for my trip...

I did like the specs in the Acer as well, was actually leaning towards it before your comments here.. seems like it will be the HP.. unless I do go for Dell instead.. *sigh* Why can't it never be straight forward and easy? :o:p

To make it more confusing, what about the Samsung, are they any good? And compared with the HP, which one is the better one?

Samsung R720
Intel Core 2 Duo P7350 processor
4Gb DDR2 RAM
320Gb SATA hard drive
17.3in LED HD+ (1600 x 900, 16:9) display
Bluray read and DVD multi R/W drive
ATI Radeon HD4330 512Mb graphics
1.3Mp webcam
802.11 b/g/n MIMO WiFi
4USB
3-in-1 slot
HDMI
Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium

Sorry for forgetting the budget last time.. uhmm would prefer not to have to go over £700 but might if its tempting enough!
 
Dell's customer service is notoriously iffy, but they get the job done.

On the phone you're going to get through to someone who barely speaks english, but once you convince them there's a problem and if you've got an in home warranty, they'll send a decent engineer out pretty quickly.

The Samsungs are pretty nice machines - I got my Mum an R610 which is a lovely little laptop - fingerprint magnet though!

Are you sure you want to pay the extra for a 17"? They're pretty bulky... I just paid 800 ish for an XPS 16 with a P7450, 4gb RAM, 500gb 7200rpm HDD (this makes a real difference on a laptop over 5400rpm), a 1gb Radeon 4670, Win7 Home Premium and a TV tuner :)
 
Thanks for your advice iaind, still not decided yet.. in regards to the RPM on the HDD, not sure if I will be effected that much but will bare it in mind.. might upgrade to a new HDD later on and if so get a 7200RPM one..

Got another question in regards to laptops.. trying to figure out which one is the better card between a ATI Radeon HD4530/HD4330 (guessing the 4530 is slightly better then the 4330, no?) and a GeForce 9300M GS graphics card.. any ideas? :confused:
 
Thanks iaind, so according to that site both the ATI cards are better then the nVidia.. hmmm interesting.. and on a sire note.. the Acer graphics card comes on 42th place at the same site.. but then again, by the sounds of things their build quality is not the best.. Seems like it will be the HP then by looks of things..

Ohhh if I do get the HP which has a normal DVD drive, can I on a later date change it to a BlueRay drive? I know with RAM and HDD's I can.. not sure about the drives though..

Edit: Forgot to ask, when it comes to battery life.. is more cells better? An example is the HP has a 8-cell Lithium-Ion (Li-Ion) battery and the Samsung has a 6 Cell (something, don't say on their website..) but would I be correct to assume that the battery life on the HP would be better?!?
 
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I just bought a studio 15 from dell.. it's got wayyyy better specs than other laptops I could find in the price range (was comparing it to some sonys and toshibas). If you play with the specs online you can choose add ons according to what's important to you. And I have a personal vendetta against HP after my £1200 laptop brought me nothing but trouble for a year and a half..eventually they bought it back off me for full price but it was a long hard struggle.
 
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