Laptop for ~£500

Tute · 9 Feb 2009 at 15:35

Craig321 said:
I was having a browse in a certain store just to get an idea of the size/weight etc. of the M1330 and I really like it. I'll have to see what kind of specs I can get for the price

It's a nice looking machine. There's also a Studio XPS 13 but that's going to be a few light years outside your budget.

As for specs, well, they all come with the same graphics capability I believe (8400M GS 128MB) but the rest is liable to change.

Craig321 · 9 Feb 2009 at 17:19

Tute said:
It's a nice looking machine. There's also a Studio XPS 13 but that's going to be a few light years outside your budget.

As for specs, well, they all come with the same graphics capability I believe (8400M GS 128MB) but the rest is liable to change.

Yeah, I noticed they all come with the 8400. As long as it can handle the Aero graphics properly and a few older games (e.g. Warcraft III, Diablo 2, possibly a bit of Titan Quest on lower graphics) then that's fine.

Craig.

Tute · 9 Feb 2009 at 19:59

Oh without a doubt.

Aero and those games would be fine on integrated graphics. The 8400M GS has 128MB of dedicated memory though, so it gives it a bit of punch in newer games. It's hardly going to chew Crysis up, but it'll probably give a good game of UT2004 or WoW.

I'm selling my MB as I want to upgrade to a MBP, but I have to admit i've been giving the XPS M1330 a good look-over. It's a gorgeous machine.

I can't help but feel that an upgrade to the line is imminent though, as the 8400M GS is getting on a bit now, and I expect Dell will want to remain competitive with Apple.

Craig321 · 9 Feb 2009 at 20:04

Tute said:
Oh without a doubt.

Aero and those games would be fine on integrated graphics. The 8400M GS has 128MB of dedicated memory though, so it gives it a bit of punch in newer games. It's hardly going to chew Crysis up, but it'll probably give a good game of UT2004 or WoW.

I'm selling my MB as I want to upgrade to a MBP, but I have to admit i've been giving the XPS M1330 a good look-over. It's a gorgeous machine.

I can't help but feel that an upgrade to the line is imminent though, as the 8400M GS is getting on a bit now, and I expect Dell will want to remain competitive with Apple.

Sounds good. I can get 2GHZ Core 2 Duo, 3GB RAM, Vista Premium, 250GB HDD for about £600 which is fairly good. I should be able to haggle some stuff out of them as well when I do order

Looks like a very nice laptop

Any idea on the battery life on a 6-cell?

Tute · 9 Feb 2009 at 20:21

I would hazard a fair guess at 3 hours with browsing and general use, but more like 60 to 90 minutes if gaming.

From looking through the Outlet, you can get some of the upgrades quite cheaply as well. I was seeing C2D 2.5GHz models for about £750 which is a steal if you look at the individual upgrade price.

Luffy · 9 Feb 2009 at 23:06

The XPS1330 is a great piece of kit and plays COD4 and WOW on low settings no problem.
Wait for a deal to appear on the Outlet, They had £102 before VAT off when I got mine. Currently it's £55 off and free postage which is normally £17.

Craig321 · 9 Feb 2009 at 23:50

Unfortunately I can't order just yet, hopefully soon though. When I do order I'll see what I can haggle out of them, might be able to get an upgrade for free/some money off

Sounds like a good little laptop, wasn't expecting it to be able to play CoD4 at all really, even on low settings.

Battery life sounds pretty decent as well. I'm guessing you could probably squeeze 4 hours out of the laptop if you put all the power saving features on?

Luffy · 10 Feb 2009 at 21:05

Yeh I guess 4 hrs would be about max if you have power saving options on.
It is a great looking laptop. Maybe feels a little heavier than it's claimed weight of 1.8Kg but I find it's size is a good compomise for portable gaming, internet and work but still easy enough to carry in my small rucksack with my other stuff and all for sensible money (well from the Outlet anyway lol).

I am not sure you'll get much out of the Outlet, maybe a bag or a warranty upgrade. I would suggest waiting for a £100 off deal and make sure you get the 8400GS card (it is an option so don't miss it), best CPU (P8300 minimum) you can afford and the LED backlit screen. It is easy to add RAM or a 7200rpm hard drive at a later date.

Craig321 · 10 Feb 2009 at 21:38

What kind of warranty stickers do the laptops have on them? Might go with 2GB RAM and a smallish 5400RPM drive to start with and upgrade at a later date.

mrmoose · 10 Feb 2009 at 23:42

Just managed to get an xps m1330 from dell. t9300, 4gb ram, 320gb hdd, 8400m gfx for a touch over £400. Haggled the hell out of one poor irish girl in their sales team though.

Craig321 · 11 Feb 2009 at 00:02

mrmoose said:
Just managed to get an xps m1330 from dell. t9300, 4gb ram, 320gb hdd, 8400m gfx for a touch over £400. Haggled the hell out of one poor irish girl in their sales team though.

nice. I guess you get the easy ones to haggle with, then the ones that just won't budge :rolleyes:

Luffy · 11 Feb 2009 at 12:55

mrmoose said:
Just managed to get an xps m1330 from dell. t9300, 4gb ram, 320gb hdd, 8400m gfx for a touch over £400. Haggled the hell out of one poor irish girl in their sales team though.

Cracking deal. I take it all back, haggle away lol

mrmoose · 11 Feb 2009 at 19:13

Craig321 said:
nice. I guess you get the easy ones to haggle with, then the ones that just won't budge

It took nearly 3 weeks to come as the first one I ordered got lost somehow on their systems. Got a phone call off the girl saying she can spec me another one similar, so put on my sexy phone voice and bascially flirted like mad.

paul rope · 11 Feb 2009 at 23:55

I got a Aspire 7730 for £400
It is grate laptop might be just what you need.

Luffy · 12 Feb 2009 at 20:41

paul rope said:
I got a Aspire 7730 for £400
It is grate laptop might be just what you need.

Does it have integrated graphics? if so it may not be any good for playing his games on. Have you tried any games and how have you got on with it?
Also with 17 inch screen and approx. weight of 3.8Kg I think it may be a little heavy from what he said earlier.

paul rope · 12 Feb 2009 at 22:05

Well it play CS:S and WOW

fendi · 13 Feb 2009 at 13:36

Craig321 said:
Sounds good. I can get 2GHZ Core 2 Duo, 3GB RAM, Vista Premium, 250GB HDD for about £600 which is fairly good. I should be able to haggle some stuff out of them as well when I do order

Looks like a very nice laptop

Any idea on the battery life on a 6-cell?

I got the one in my sig for £620 last year in April. It also came with a free sleeve, leather dvd wallet, 3 years onsite business warranty

. I thought it was a bargain then, I guess it still.

The 300 nitt screen is amazing, so bright and clear. 9 cell battery with power saving functions all turned on I could squeeze almost 7 hours of life

. It really doesn't stick out much, and the laptop is still super light. Running Vista Business at the time. Now switched to XP Pro.

I don't play so many games anymore but I did have Fallout 3 and CoD 4 running fine on it.

My other half is looking for a laptop (£500ish), I am trying to convince her to get one too but she has her heart set on this Toshiba U400 that she saw in a sleek black. She wants it for Sims 3 (when it comes out)/Internet. Not sure what else there to choose from for that budge in the 13.3" range.

Edit,

The HDMI comes in handy too

.