Need help picking a laptop

Forelli87 · 21 Jun 2011 at 16:50

Hi all. Long time luker, virgin of a poster. I'm a bit of a computer noob, and am therefore hesitant about which laptop to buy.

Cut a long story short: Insurance company are giving me £899 to spend at Argos for a replacement laptop. The Laptop will be primarily used for studying, surfing the web, and (if possible) some gaming.

Now, I have the following options:

-Sony Vaio VPCSB1V9E
Intel Core i5 dual core i5-2410M.
2.9GHz processor speed.
4GB DDR3 RAM memory.
500GB SATA hard drive.
AMD HD 6470M graphics card with 512MB memory.

-Sony S13V9E i5 500GB 13.3 Inch Laptop
Intel Core i5 dual core 460M.
2.53GHz processor speed.
6GB DDR3 RAM memory.
500GB SATA hard drive.
nVIDIA GeForce 310M GPU graphics card with 512MB memory.

-NEW Apple MacBook Pro MC700 13 Inch Intel Core i5.
Processor speed 2.3GHz.
4GB
320GB hard drive.
Intel HD 3000 graphics card.

The above all retail for around £1000. There are 2 more Laptops that are £1299, but are they worth the extra £300? -Apple MacBook Pro MC371 15 Inch i5 2.4GHz.
Intel Core i5.
Processor speed 2.4GHz.
4GB RAM.
320GB SATA hard drive.
nVIDIA GeForce GT330M graphics card.

-Apple MacBook Pro 13 Inch 2.7GHz Dual Core i7 500GB.
Intel Core i7 dual core.
Processor speed 2.7GHz.
4GB DDR3 RAM.
500GB SATA hard drive.
Intel HD Graphics 3000 graphics card.
384MB graphics memory.

Thank you for any help given.

Scrutinize · 21 Jun 2011 at 22:28

If you want gaming you need to 100% avoid the Intel HD 3000 integrated graphics. The GT310m will game but not wonderfully.

I would say Sony Vaio VPCSB1V9E is the best of the bunch or MBP MC371. Still not great and the new catalogue is out in a week so hold on till then as there will be some better / more up to date models and graphics cards.

PhoenixSP · 22 Jun 2011 at 01:14

Also you have the problem that if you want to game macs are not the best choice due to the rather restricted catalogue of games available for mac unless you dual boot windows.

picktooth · 22 Jun 2011 at 08:06

just them ones you picked?
just had a quick look at argos online.

hp pavillion dv6 £829
i7 core
4gb ram
1gb gfx

samsung r780v £699
i5
4gb ram
640gb hdd
1gb gfx

Django x2 · 22 Jun 2011 at 10:00

You can't just rubbish out the Intel HD 3000 for gaming. It's relies purely on what type of CPU you are running as it access the LLC directly. I think in your case though, the older games will run fine but more modern ones won't in any detail.

Black Ops for instance with a HD 3000 would run around 18fps on mid detail, but not flawlessly.

Scrutinize · 22 Jun 2011 at 10:42

Lucero said:
You can't just rubbish out the Intel HD 3000 for gaming. It's relies purely on what type of CPU you are running as it access the LLC directly. I think in your case though, the older games will run fine but more modern ones won't in any detail.

Black Ops for instance with a HD 3000 would run around 18fps on mid detail, but not flawlessly.

Which for Black Ops would be pretty unplayable. The HD3000 scores ok up to 3D mark 06 but once you hit vantage it really starts to tail off.

It has indeed come a long way from the old GMA solutions and for older games would be ok.

As a minimum benchmark you should be looking at a GT325m or better.

Forelli87 · 22 Jun 2011 at 11:03

picktooth said:
just them ones you picked?
just had a quick look at argos online.

hp pavillion dv6 £829
i7 core
4gb ram
1gb gfx

samsung r780v £699
i5
4gb ram
640gb hdd
1gb gfx

Hi. Thank you for your reply.

The reason I discarded them was because I have £899 to spend.. So I wanted to spend the full amount. However I will look at the 2 you listed- I suppose I could always spend the remainder on something else.

mrk1@1 said:
Which for Black Ops would be pretty unplayable. The HD3000 scores ok up to 3D mark 06 but once you hit vantage it really starts to tail off.

It has indeed come a long way from the old GMA solutions and for older games would be ok.

As a minimum benchmark you should be looking at a GT325m or better.

Hi Mrk and thank you for your reply.

HD3000, GT325m, doesn't really mean much to me. I'm happy to do my research, but want a little nudge in the right direction. Is there a website showing the performances of different graphics cards?

Thanks for all help give so far.

Scrutinize · 22 Jun 2011 at 11:42

Forelli87 said:
Hi. Thank you for your reply.

The reason I discarded them was because I have £899 to spend.. So I wanted to spend the full amount. However I will look at the 2 you listed- I suppose I could always spend the remainder on something else.

Hi Mrk and thank you for your reply.

HD3000, GT325m, doesn't really mean much to me. I'm happy to do my research, but want a little nudge in the right direction. Is there a website showing the performances of different graphics cards?

Thanks for all help give so far.

Here is a link to the graphics card. http://www.notebookcheck.net/NVIDIA-GeForce-GT-325M.24062.0.html A full list of notebook graphics should also load on the middle/right so you can compare where it comes in the table.

Best thing you can do is wait till the new catalogue

AbsenceJam · 22 Jun 2011 at 11:49

Lucero said:
You can't just rubbish out the Intel HD 3000 for gaming. It's relies purely on what type of CPU you are running as it access the LLC directly. I think in your case though, the older games will run fine but more modern ones won't in any detail.

Black Ops for instance with a HD 3000 would run around 18fps on mid detail, but not flawlessly.

The 3000 is complete rubbish no matter what CPU you use. And you can't play games at 18fps....

Django x2 · 22 Jun 2011 at 12:46

Thanks for echoing exactly what I said

sidethink · 22 Jun 2011 at 13:56

Some of the Dell XPS L502s would fit that budget. You can get an i5 with the 1080 screen for £929 before QuidCo and vouchers hep you out with some extra discount.

If you stretch to a 17" chassis you can have an i7 for £60 or £70 more.