Min specs for Laptop

[Tophe]

Hi Everyone looking to buy a new laptop, quite tempted by a mac but price and jumping into the unknown are putting me off a bit so re a Windows type of one what is the minimum spec I should be looking for and any model recommendations?
My requirements: mainly for business so all normal applications to run quite fast, battery life would be a main priority, a bit of gaming but not the main requirement, obviously decent amount of memory and HD space needed also, question never had a laptop before so can you hook up a mouse and a big monitor as well out of interest?

Kind Regards

 

[Alexrose1uk]

For your requirements, anything with Core 2 Duo @ 2Ghz, 2GB RAM and a decent size HDD should be enough for the business side of things. If you want to game, you'd also need a dedicated graphics card, something along the lines of a ATI 4650/NV 9600 or higher.

Cost wise you're looking about £500-600, with a moderate battery, and yes you can usually hook up an external monitor and USB mouse no problem at all.

 

[Tophe]

Thanks Alexroseuk1 for your quick reply and your insight, any particular models you favour, i've looked at Acer, Samsung models but are they really any good?
some reviews seem to think so Acer 8930g and Samsung R610 are thought of quite highly!

 

[Alexrose1uk]

Acer have a moderate reputation, they produce good laptops, for reasonable prices which are often let down by poor build quality, they have been getting better as of late. Samsung are usually pretty decent, HP and Toshiba, as well as Lenovo are very well built, as goes with thier reputation, although obviously they all have the occasional duff batch. Sony, unless you go for an expensive model; or a business range design really ARE NOT worth the cash, the build quality on them has been getting worse and worse in recent years; and they're no less resistant to failure than anyone else, despite thier high cost. Dell vary from design to design, but aren't actually that bad.

If you're looking for this for a business, I'd take a look into seeing whether you can buy through a business outlet, if the ones on OcUK don't suit you, as business laptops, while usually more expensive, tend to come with longer battery life, and oft times better build quality in the first place [for example the Toughbook series].

Don't get yourself pulled into spending absolutely tons of money, just make sure all the basics are there, without paying harshly over the top.

I don't particularly favour any particular brand, and I haven't had reason to overtly investigate the current lines in the price area you're looking at in the last month or two. Also, this may sound silly, but if theres an extended warranty option, it might be well worth your time to consider it. Having a warranty longer than 1 year, especially if you get accidental damage cover, can be surprisingly useful on a laptop, and much more so than a desktop.

 

[Tophe]

Thanks again, like te extended warrenty bit thanks for that def see the advantage, might look a bit more at Samsung and HP

Regards

 

[MagicBoy]

Acer have a moderate reputation, they produce good laptops, for reasonable prices which are often let down by poor build quality, they have been getting better as of late. Samsung are usually pretty decent, HP and Toshiba, as well as Lenovo are very well built, as goes with thier reputation, although obviously they all have the occasional duff batch. Sony, unless you go for an expensive model; or a business range design really ARE NOT worth the cash, the build quality on them has been getting worse and worse in recent years; and they're no less resistant to failure than anyone else, despite thier high cost. Dell vary from design to design, but aren't actually that bad.

This is pretty much on the money. I'd go with a Lenovo as top choice, then HP. Apple make good laptops if you can afford them.

They will be prising a MacBook Pro and "old" IBM T43 out of my cold head hands!