Need a laptop £1000

Tunez

Tunez

Tunez

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Joined
1 Jun 2007
Posts
258
Ive been searching for a decent laptop and the best i could find for £1000 was the dell vostro. With the 3 year support and accidental damaged I managed to spec a:

vostro 1500
Intel® Core™ 2 Duo T7300 Processor
2 gigs of ram
160gb hd 5400rpm
8600gt graphics card

Can any1 come up with a better spec than that, i figured that the accidental damage and 3 year support would be need as i will be heading of to uni shortly and will probably be short of cash for a very long time, would you agree?

Is there a better graphics card than the 8600gt on the market for laptops at the minute?
Also will that card support an extra monitor? and would it cope well with a 22" 1680x1050 Resolution?
 
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yh but its on a competitors site so i can't link it. it's actually very similar not sure about the dell's screen though.

and the 8600 is the best DX10 card ive seen in laptops except for running two in SLi.

spec: Santa Rosa, The New Intel Technology
Genuine Windows Vista™ Home Premium
Intel® Core™2 Duo 64-Bit T7100
New Centrino Pro 2 x 1.8Ghz, 4MB Cache
New Intel® Robson technology
2GB DDRII Memory
Now with 160GB Hard Drive
512MB MXM Nvidia GeForce 8600M GT
Support DirectX10, HDMI ready
17.1" Widescreen TFT LCD Display
Super Format DVD WriterNew faster
Intel 4965ABGN Wireless LAN
Bluetooth, Card Reader & Video Camera
Free high resolution USB Mouse
Weight ~3.5Kg ,Battery Life ~ 2.5 hrs
FREE 2Years Worldwide Warranty


£999.99 inc. VAT
 
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Just a hint, don't settle for the website price.

I managed to get 3 years Next Business day support for £89 inc VAT, rather than the £140ish on the website.

Give them a phone and they WILL barter, they have a policy to never lose a sale on price alone, and they follow it.

Also you can customise extra options like have Windows Vista Home Premium installed for £10 less than Business etc.
 
o thanks for the tip!

That spec is tempting with the 512 8600gt... ill research that.

How well would the 256mb version play on the high resolution? And how would it compare with a 7900gs on a desktop?

Thanks for the replies
 
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I know its a lot more money but unless you needed the laptop fast or cant get the money id save up for an xps. choose the one via the small business notebooks and you can get a top gaming laptop for 1200 quid. You might not want that but thats the best gaming laptop about, it donest support dx10 (ive heard the 8600 gt arnt brill anyways for dx10 but correct me if im wrong). If you are prepared to wait a bit longer im sure a 8800m or maybe 9800m mobile graphics card might be released for a premium. But you might not want that tho. Id buy a 2.5 inch hdd from here as they are cheaper, instead of upgrading.
 
I'm not sure if i can link this spec i posted because it's a PC manufacturer and people post Dell and stuff all the time. and by the way it is a well known company.
 
yantorsen said:
I'm not sure if i can link this spec i posted because it's a PC manufacturer and people post Dell and stuff all the time. and by the way it is a well known company.
Click to expand...

Is that a Rock laptop you're speaking of? (Edit: Aha - the GX700).

The 17" are pretty good value but one downfall is the sheer weight and size of them... they are massive. 14" is a good compromise between size and price. The Dell Vostros are pretty good value. The 8600GT isn't meant to be too bad for mobile gaming - would run Source pretty well (even if the engine is dating a bit now)... The newer GPUs mentioned will cost a lot as you've stated.

I'm don't think you'd notice much of a difference between a 5400RPM/7200RPM hard drive on a laptop for normal use - a 7200RPM will need more juice and therefore reduce battery life.
 
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kbc said:
Is that a Rock laptop you're speaking of?

The 17" are pretty good value but one downfall is the sheer weight and size of them... they are massive. 14" is a good compromise between size and price. The Dell Vostros are pretty good value. The 8600GT isn't meant to be too bad for mobile gaming - would run Source pretty well (even if the engine is dating a bit now)... The newer GPUs mentioned will cost a lot as you've stated.

I'm don't think you'd notice much of a difference between a 5400RPM/7200RPM hard drive on a laptop for normal use - a 7200RPM will need more juice and therefore reduce battery life.
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yh yh true ad yh you're right It's a GX700 (Mesh) - althugh i think they're actually made my Asus not sure though.
 
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yantorsen said:
yh yh true. It's a Mesh - althugh i think they're actually made my Asus not sure though.
Click to expand...

It's actually the MSI MS-1719. :) And weighs in at about 3.4KG. Nonetheless, pretty impressive specs.
 
The xps would be nice but they are a little expensive, you'd be looking at minimum of 1200 for one and that dosnt include a long warranty. And for me a long warranty would b essential. I wouldnt b able to afford to replace it...

Does any1 know how the 8600 would cope with a 22" screen?
 
Tunez said:
The xps would be nice but they are a little expensive, you'd be looking at minimum of 1200 for one and that dosnt include a long warranty. And for me a long warranty would b essential. I wouldnt b able to afford to replace it...

Does any1 know how the 8600 would cope with a 22" screen?
Click to expand...

You can hook a 22" to it fine. Are you talking about gaming on an 8600 @ 1680x1050?
 
Tunez said:
yea gaming at 1680x1050...
Click to expand...

Don't expect serious eye candy or framerates at that resolution for an 8600. But it might be ok on less demanding games, you can find the 8600 implemented on some of the 15.4" models with resolutions of 1680x1050.

Please see here for more details on benchmarks.
 
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