Laptop purchase

johnyccc · 2 Jun 2012 at 14:10

Hello all. I am currently looking to buy a laptop, with a budget of ~ 350 although I would be prepared to spend a little more if the deal was a good one. However I know next to nothing about hardware/specs :confused:

It will be mainly used for browsing and some basic video editing (virtualdub). I am not a big gamer but if it could manage Minecraft that would be an advantage. It seems a laptop with an i3 is the best I could get in this price range. However, there seems dozens of different models with fairly similar specs.
At present, I have found the following:

Toshiba Satellite Pro C660-2JR (£360)

Processor

2nd Generation Intel Core i3 2350M Processor
clock speed : 2.30 GHz
Front Side Bus : 1333 MHz
3rd level cache : 3 MB

Memory

6GB DDR3 RAM 1333MHz
Expandable to 8GB
Configuration 2GB + 4GB

Display

15.6” Toshiba TruBrite HD TFT High Brightness display
16 : 9 aspect ratio
LED backlighting
Resolution : 1366 x 768

Graphics

Intel HD Graphics 3000
memory : up to 1,696 MB shared memory from 4 GB system memory installed (with pre-installed 64-bit operating system)
memory type : shared

But I have been unable to find any reviews for this specific model. Does anyone know if it would be any good?
In addition, given my budget/requirements, what should I prioritise? For example, I have seen some with less memory at a lower clock speed but with a dedicated GPU.

Thanks in advance!

CEUOTC · 2 Jun 2012 at 17:27

Inspiron 15R - N5110

Inspiron 15R - N5110
Processor: Intel Core i3-2330M (2.20GHz, 3MB cache, Dual Core)
Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium
4 GB DDR3 SDRAM 1333MHz (1 DIMMs)
640 GB SATA Hard Drive (5400 RPM)
8X DVD+/- RW Drive
Display: 15.6in High Definition (720p) LED Display with TrueLife
Graphics: 1 GB Nvidia GeForce GT 525M
English Genuine Windows 7 SP1 Home Premium (64Bit OS)
Wireless: Intel Centrino Wireless-N 1030 (1x2 b/g/n+ Bluetooth Combo Card)
LCD Back Cover : Diamond Black Switch Cover [Switchable Lid]
6 Cell Primary Battery, 48W

£368.03 vat+del

Regards.

C.

johnyccc · 2 Jun 2012 at 18:26

Thanks for looking. Could you send me a link on my msn email when you have a moment? I can't seem to find it.
thx

Scrutinize · 2 Jun 2012 at 19:52

Take the Satellite Pro. Toshiba Satellite Pro (the pro bit is important) laptops are designed with small business in mind, they look the part, are well made and from experience are much more reliable than the dell home laptops.

Cheap to buy the extended warranty direct from Toshiba too if you wanted, usually £50 iirc.

As a rule, unless you need a gaming machine the best value sub £500 brands to buy are:

Lenovo ThinkPad
Toshiba Satellite Pro
HP ProBook

Any of those three and you really shouldn’t go wrong.

johnyccc · 5 Jun 2012 at 16:21

Thx for advice! I have also seen the following:

HP Pavilion g6-1331ea 15.6" Laptop - Silver
Quad-core AMD A8-3520M processor
Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium 64-bit
Memory: 6GB
Hard drive: 750GB
Graphics: AMD Radeon™ HD 6620G +
7450M Dual GPU graphics

I'm guessing this will be better than the Toshiba for games but how would the two compare for video editing etc?
Thx all

CEUOTC · 5 Jun 2012 at 22:50

AMD A8-3520M.

Intel Core i3-2350M.

In terms of raw processing power the i3-2350M is better.

However the combination of AMD Radeon HD 6620G + 7450M provide greater GPU performance which can be harnessed for applications other than gaming when compared to the Intel HD Graphics 3000 on the Intel chip.

The laptop Inspiron 15R - N5110 which l initially posted provides great power for the price with the Intel Core i3-2330M + 1 GB Nvidia GeForce GT 525M.

To find this laptop you will NEED to look for it. For the money you can't beat it for what it brings to the table.

Regards.

C.