MacBook Pro replacement ???

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My trusty 4 year old Powerbook 17" is on its last legs and Im planning to replace it soon. I have used it primarily to run Windows 7 and Visual Studio 2010 and never used OS X. I got the machine discounted through a friend who worked at Apple and it has great.

I really would like to replace it for a new one but it really would be a waste of cash, so I am looking for a powerful 15" or 17" laptop that has a half decent battery.

My wife has a Samsung R530 which was very well priced but I am not sure that this is quick enough.

Any suggestions welcome?
 
think I will pop out to a <not say the name here> store for a play and see what is what.

what models of vaio/dell should i look at?
 
think I will pop out to a <not say the name here> store for a play and see what is what.

what models of vaio/dell should i look at?

For Vaio's I'd just go to a Sony centre and see what you like the look/feel of and then ask them about specs/prices. I think they sell them in John Lewis as well although I'm not 100% As for Dell I'm just flicking through their site and I'll let you know in a few minutes. Ignore my info before the edit. :p


There seems to be a decent selection it just depends on how much are you willing to spend.
 
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The Envy 14 is slowly making its way into the market. However, we've got a bum deal in the UK, where they do not provide the Radiance screen as an option, and we get the sh*te 1366 x 768 display (well, not sh*te, but Radiance would be nice).

It's pretty much a macbook pro wannabe for Win 7. The battery life takes a hit (about 4-5 hours worth), but they have a 'slice' battery that fits at the bottom of laptop.

There is also the Envy 17'', but it's more like a desktop replacement. I'd look for a combination of i5-450 / i5-520, with a 5650 / GT330 / GT335 graphics, and 60+WH battery life. That gives power and potential for mobility. You can configure a Dell Studio around that. The new HP dm6t / dm4t are quite nice, with metal chassis, and the right hardware.

The Sony's are good, but somehow they skimp on batteries, which in my eyes makes them useless. Unless you go Vaio Z and it's a whole new different ball game.
 
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Dell Latitude Series, is great for VS 2010.

I have removed the DVD drive and added an SSD for boot, its instant load times, but still have the hard disk for storage.

The E6510 can have a very nice screen resolution of 1920 x 1080 on a 15"

Also has eSata.
 
I have looked at a lot of laptops and really like the look of the VAIO VPC-EC1S1E which has the spec I am looking for and can be purchased for around the 800 quid mark which is less than half the cost of a decent apple.

Has anyone got any experience of this laptop which appears to be a very good buy?
 
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