Looking for a desktop replacement lappie

Snapshot

Snapshot

Snapshot

Soldato
Joined
11 Oct 2006
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Location
Wiltshire
I'm looking for a good laptop I can use somewhere else in the house than my workroom which is currently around 30C. Basic spec is 17" 1920 x (whatever) screen, i5-520 CPU minimum, 4GB RAM minimum. So far, in the around £1250 range, I've found:

Acer Aspire 8942G
Dell Studio 17
Sony Vaio E series

Downsides of the Acer are size & weight; downsides of the Dell are spongy keyboard, no Blu-ray drive & expensive RAM upgrade from 4GB (but I can handle that myself). Not enough reviews of the 17" version of the Sony to get a full picture but no obvious problems.

Is there anything else I should be considering in the same sort of range? Any preferences between the three I've found? I'm not a gamer so don't need a high-end GPU.
 
For £1250 you could hardly call the laptop you'd get a desktop replacement...

Kobalt's 15" G860 comes in just under budget at £1,222.49 exc. delivery, and the 17.3" G870 just over at £1,289 exc. delivery :)

In honesty the size and weight of a computer shouldn't matter if it's just a desktop replacement and you're not carrying it around
 
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HP Pavilion DV8-1110EA

HP DV8-1110ea, ideal desktop replacement.

  • Screen size - 18.4 in - 1920 x 1080
  • Processor - Intel Core i7 I7-720QM - 1.6 GHz
  • RAM - 4 GB
  • Hard Drive - 640 GB
  • Operating System - Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit Edition
  • Optical Drive - DVD±RW (±R DL) / DVD-RAM / BD-ROM
  • Graphics - NVIDIA GeForce GT 230M
Sony also do some nice 18" screen versions too.
 
I would look into the kobalt range mentioned above (i would if i could afford it). alternatively look at the mesh ultima 17", it is only an i5 430m but it does com in under grand with a cracking gpu
 
bigsharn said:
For £1250 you could hardly call the laptop you'd get a desktop replacement...

Kobalt's 15" G860 comes in just under budget at £1,222.49 exc. delivery, and the 17.3" G870 just over at £1,289 exc. delivery :)

In honesty the size and weight of a computer shouldn't matter if it's just a desktop replacement and you're not carrying it around
Click to expand...

£1250 isn't fixed and I can afford to go a fair bit higher if I need to. The G870 came to about £1500 once I configured it which would be okay but the company seems to be suffering from its recent move si I'd need to wait to see how things go.

Its_Me said:
HP Pavilion DV8-1110EA

HP DV8-1110ea, ideal desktop replacement.

  • Screen size - 18.4 in - 1920 x 1080
  • Processor - Intel Core i7 I7-720QM - 1.6 GHz
  • RAM - 4 GB
  • Hard Drive - 640 GB
  • Operating System - Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit Edition
  • Optical Drive - DVD±RW (±R DL) / DVD-RAM / BD-ROM
  • Graphics - NVIDIA GeForce GT 230M
Sony also do some nice 18" screen versions too.
Click to expand...
HP now added to the list athough I suspect I'll be better off with a fast dual CPU than a slower quad. A good deal available at the purple shirts at the mo....

Can't find anything larger than 17.3" on Sony's web site.
 
Snapshot said:
£1250 isn't fixed and I can afford to go a fair bit higher if I need to. The G870 came to about £1500 once I configured it which would be okay but the company seems to be suffering from its recent move si I'd need to wait to see how things go.

HP now added to the list athough I suspect I'll be better off with a fast dual CPU than a slower quad. A good deal available at the purple shirts at the mo....

Can't find anything larger than 17.3" on Sony's web site.
Click to expand...
sorry mis type on the sony screen sizes, was jus confirming your options there.
I had an Acer for about 3years, and whilst it lasted my kids abuse, it was only used for cbbies/iplayer sites - I would avoid for a high use desktop replacement, the build quality is just not there.
Another point around this issue though is how long you want this to last? I can see the advantage of buying a budget unit, with the view to a faster replacement knowing its lifespan will be shorter - obv that is for you to decide, my thoughts has always been 3years.
Anyway, back to the i7's, don't be fooled by the low frequency shown in quad, most apps will still run on a single core, and in that instance they turbo up to over 3Ghz.
Its true an i5 would be still more then reasonable(as my 2 laptops use), but if I purchased specified for desktop replacement (primarily), I would have gone with an i7 over the i5.
 
It's not going to be a full-time replacement as I'll be keeping my Q9450 and i7-860 PCs. I'm also too used to having dual screens and my ancient Northgate Omnikey keyboard to want a lappie full time. But I don't want to compromise too much on performance and it has to be a good step up from my current Acer 5633 (also three years old). I think the ideal CPU would be an i7-620 and Kobalt's benchmakrs seem to bear this out.

@Tripp: The Mesh doesn't make it as the screen's not 1920 wide and CPU is much more important than GPU for my needs but thanks for the suggestion.
 
If you want some portability then, and ofc that would mean some battery life - keep away from the i7's.
It seems to me your looking along the lines of an i5/5650 17" unit for your needs, so it seems something from the Studio 1749 or HP Dv7 would be ideal.
 
If its not a full time replacement then is is worth spending over a grand for laptop? a dell 1749 with a 5650gpu upgraded 1920x1080 screen and and upgraded i5 should do ya nicely
 
If I remember rightly, the way that Turboboost works, you get an i7 720 and it shuts down the cores not in use, giving the other cores a boost in clock speed. If you're after a fast dual rather than a slow quad that HP still might be worth a look
 
Thanks. I hadn't looked into turboboost so didn't know that was how it worked. Seems to re-inforce that a fast dual is better than a slow quad for my needs as the dual's clock speed starts where the quad stops. Still not many lapdogs with full HD 17" screen and an i7-620m though. The Studio 17 seems to be the obvious one although I'm leaning towards the Sony E series at the moment - it's 'only' an i5-520m but there's a free upgrade to a blu-ray writer for the next few days.
 
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Next time you're in a purple shop, take a look at the Sony F series and see if the 16.4" screen at 1920x1080 is unsuitable compared to a 17". The F is a lot better than the E in some ways, and is more portable.

One major advantage for the E, though, is that it can accomodate two drives. This means you can put in a small SSD for the OS and major apps, and keep a large HDD for mass storage. An SSD will transform a laptop from a slug into a zippy, fast thing.

Most of the Sony Vaio range is at the point of a "refresh" at the moment, so it may be worth looking at what the "new" models bring. Usually it's not much but they do tend to address any glaring faults in the earlier releases. I wouldn't be surprised if the Blu-Ray offer is to help clear stock of the EC1s ready for the EC2s.
 
Unfortunately, my local purple shop doesn't stock anything with a 1920 x 1080 screen. (Checks again - oh, there's a cut-down version with an i5-520 instead of the usual i7-720 in stock for only £899. I'll have to see if I can get there after work tomorrow.) I know the F series did well in a recent PC Pro test.

The current E series was only announced in February so probably isn't due for replacement yet, even given the way some manufacturers run their update cycles but I'll keep an eye out.
 
If it's just the heat being bad in the office, you could save a little money and just get some cheap AC in there? Portable ones go for as little as a few hundred, and for less than the laptops you are looking at you could probably even get a small split system if you shopped around... plus this way you wouldn't need to compromise on screen size or performance at all: you could use the more powerful PC with dual screens that you prefer. :)

A few years ago I was in the exact same situation as you (hot workroom), and I've never regretted buying the AC for a minute. :)
I also bought a nice 18.4in desktop replacement laptop for playing games at work (it's quiet lately) but when you're used to the power and upgradeabillity of desktops... laptops can't compare for the price.

Plus you would never have to worry about heat again: even if it got even hotter in every other room in the house, as it probably will before summer is out, you'd always have a refuge from it. :)

P.S. Nice little rifle... do you use it for targets or pest control? :) Use a Weihrauch hw97K myself... or the 12gauge when I need a little more oomph. :)
 
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Snapshot said:
The current E series was only announced in February so probably isn't due for replacement yet, even given the way some manufacturers run their update cycles but I'll keep an eye out.
Click to expand...

The EB and EC 2s are on their way in as the 1s are on their way out:

http://www.sony.co.uk/product/vn-e-series

The 14" EAs are still current. There's new AMD powered EEs and EFs coming too. Getting quite complicated.

Definitely worth comparing an F with an E; there's quite a difference in build quality. The F can also be had with a matte screen (or at least it could before the refresh malarky; not sure now).
 
Stickman said:
If it's just the heat being bad in the office, you could save a little money and just get some cheap AC in there? Portable ones go for as little as a few hundred, and for less than the laptops you are looking at you could probably even get a small split system if you shopped around... plus this way you wouldn't need to compromise on screen size or performance at all: you could use the more powerful PC with dual screens that you prefer. :)

<snip>
P.S. Nice little rifle... do you use it for targets or pest control? :) Use a Weihrauch hw97K myself... or the 12gauge when I need a little more oomph. :)
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Not a bad idea but I'm not sure Mrs Snapshot will approve. I might ask when I'm feeling brave. ;)

The MFR is used for everything - HFT mostly but any squirrel in our garden is doomed and we've a ratting session on a chicken farm on Tuesday. I only own airguns but shoot .22RF in the local miniature rifle league plus I handle everything when I'm at work.

Outpost262 said:
The EB and EC 2s are on their way in as the 1s are on their way out:

http://www.sony.co.uk/product/vn-e-series

The 14" EAs are still current. There's new AMD powered EEs and EFs coming too. Getting quite complicated.

Definitely worth comparing an F with an E; there's quite a difference in build quality. The F can also be had with a matte screen (or at least it could before the refresh malarky; not sure now).
Click to expand...
Thanks for that. There's so lttle detail at the moment that I can't see a 2 that's better than the '1' I'm looking at; quite the opposite, in fact.
 
Snapshot said:
Not a bad idea but I'm not sure Mrs Snapshot will approve. I might ask when I'm feeling brave. ;)
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Hehe, I know what you mean... had to do a little convincing to get mine installed. :) The portable units are cheaper, less hassle and easier to install... but the compressor is often inside with them, making them noisier so I prefer the split systems... but you'd enjoy either type. :)

Snapshot said:
The MFR is used for everything - HFT mostly.
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Interesting... I'd not seen that sport before. We do something that looks similar with the shotguns.... work a course through similated environments (woods, buildings, whatever) taking out predefined targets from various positions. What's HFT stand for? :) I might be interested if there's anything in my area... the ammo's a lot cheaper. :D
 
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Stickman said:
Interesting... I'd not seen that sport before. We do something that looks similar with the shotguns.... work a course through similated environments (woods, buildings, whatever) taking out predefined targets from various positions. What's HFT stand for? :) I might be interested if there's anything in my area... the ammo's a lot cheaper. :D
Click to expand...
HFT = Hunter Field Target and there are active clubs at Kibworth & Ilkeston. Email me if you want more details.
 
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