need laptop/notebook for university

sic6six

sic6six

sic6six

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Joined
28 Dec 2003
Posts
514
Location
staffs, uk
ok im starting university in september and one of the first things i wanna get with my student loan is a laptop. im gonna be doing a computer games design course so it will need to be able to run 3DS Max and Maya and maybe a couple of games like unreal tournament 2004 and half life 2 (for the map editing programs and what not.)

it would also need wireless lan (i know that now normally come as standard)

does any one have any suggestions for this??

oh and please dont suggest a dell or an apple macintosh notebook as i cannot stand apple mac (previous experiences)

p.s sorry if this is in the wrong section i wasnt sure where to put laptop stuff
 
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A budget would be nice.

But off the top of my head Acer and Medion do some pretty powerful laptops for not too much money.

SiriusB
 
sic6six said:
ok im starting university in september and one of the first things i wanna get with my student loan is a laptop. im gonna be doing a computer games design course so it will need to be able to run 3DS Max and Maya and maybe a couple of games like unreal tournament 2004 and half life 2 (for the map editing programs and what not.)

it would also need wireless lan (i know that now normally come as standard)

does any one have any suggestions for this??

oh and please dont suggest a dell or an apple macintosh notebook as i cannot stand apple mac (previous experiences)

p.s sorry if this is in the wrong section i wasnt sure where to put laptop stuff
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Interesting... Same question for me :) What uni are you off to for GD? I'm going to wolves.

I'm looking at between 500 and 1000 quid for a laptop, preferably the lower cheaper the better. But one good for gaming is a pretty big priority. Need to deffo run HL2 and DOD source, but something with future games in mind would be awesome.
 
Medion are ruddy awful. About a year or so back I had a P4 based Medion Laptop. CD drive stopped writing CDs (not a windows problem, was hardware!)

Sent it back to them, waited 2 months, with constant calling every 2 weeks to see if they had done yet (meant to be max 28 days repair :o ). Demanded a refund and we got a cheque. Week later, the laptop came back from Germany, fixed :confused:

We ended up with a laptop and a £700 cheque!
 
orderoftheflame said:
Interesting... Same question for me :) What uni are you off to for GD? I'm going to wolves.

I'm looking at between 500 and 1000 quid for a laptop, preferably the lower cheaper the better. But one good for gaming is a pretty big priority. Need to deffo run HL2 and DOD source, but something with future games in mind would be awesome.
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im only going local. stafford uni. its about an hour and a lalf trip there and back for me on bus until i get a car
 
Processor: Intel Core Duo T2400 1.83Ghz Processor
Display: Large 17
Memory: 512Mb
Media: DVD+/-RW
Hard Drive: 80Gb
Floppy Drive: N/A 7 in 1 Media Card Reader
Modem/LAN: 56Kps, Bluetooth, 10/100/1000NIC, Triband Wireless
Power: UK A/c and Lion Battery
OS Software: XP Pro
Software: ATI Mobility Radeon X1600 with discrete PCI Expres
Connectors: 4 USB 2.0 ports, VGA, audio in/out, power, RJ-11, RJ-45, S-video TV out, Firewire (1394a)

are these specs any good for what i need?
 
Looks good. Will definitely need more RAM though, and it's unlikely you'll need XP Pro (though if that can't be changed, it doesn't matter).
 
TheVoice said:
Looks good. Will definitely need more RAM though, and it's unlikely you'll need XP Pro (though if that can't be changed, it doesn't matter).
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XP Pro will be needed if he wants to join a domain, for example, a/the university domain.
 
Ahh good point, although I can't see a Uni allowing students to plug their own PCs directly into the main Uni network. A lot of them use Novell etc so wouldn't that cause problems?

The only networks at Uni that we're allowed to connect our own PCs to are the Halls network, and the wi-fi network in the Library, both of which are purely for internet access and don't have any log-in requirements or anything.

That said, it's entirely likely that different Unis will have different rules and different networks. :)
 
ok i have just found another laptop with 1GB ram.

its a Sony VAIO model VGN-FE21M

it has an intel core duo 1.66ghz (will upgrade the processor) 1GB SDRAM, NVIDIA GeForce Go7400.

it comes in a package deal with a mouse and backpack. costing £1,135

what you guys think??
 
may come out a little over budget but this looks a good machine with 3 years warranty as standard:

Pegasus 660

Up to Intel® Core Duo T2700 Processor (2MB L2 Cache, 2 x 2.33GHz)
NVIDIA GeForce Go 7600 256MB
15.4” X-Glass Screen (1280 x 768)
Up to 2GB DDR2 533MHz RAM
Up to 120GB 5400rpm Serial ATA Hard Drive
8x Dual Layer (-/+) DVD Writer
Integrated Wireless LAN 802.11 a/b/g
1 x Firewire™, 3 x USB 2.0
4 in 1 Card Reader
3 Year C&R Parts and Labour Warranty

From £899 ex VAT £1056.33 inc VAT

you can upgrade the screen to a matt finish 1680*1050 (great for excel etc) and you can turn off the graphics card and run on onboard graphics for when in the library etc and you don't need the full wack. (Needs a quick reboot).
 
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the sony vaio is £1,135

and the HP NX9420 is £1,169.12

Both including vat.

But the sony viao has a larger HDD with it.
 
bumpage

Can any one help with this? which would be better out of the 3 (not looking at price atm but specs). Based on the fact i need it to play 3D games and run 3DS Max and Maya for my uni course
 
Don't laugh, but...

....look at the Apple Refurbished store - you might find they have Macbook Pros going for silly prices.

Core Duo, X1600, 15.4" and you can dual-boot Windows/OSX with Bootcamp.

I got mine for a 33% discount :)
 
If you want to game, then I would definately only settle for an 7600 or x1600, preferably with 256mb where possble. The x700 cards are already starting to show there age being last generation and all. Dual core, 1gb of ram and a 7200rpm 60gb drive, or 100gb 5400rpm drive should give you reasonable performance for the rest.

Also a high resolution monitor is perferable to give you more space to work with.

Try and get the best cpu you can afford too, as ram and HD are comparitively cheaper to upgrade down the line.
 
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If your going to Uni at the end of September you could wait for the new core duo 2 chips. "Memrom", i think they are called.
 
good call, they offer 64 bit (bonus for vista) and offer performance increase for the same battery consumption. (form memory around 15%)

from what i've read the price difference should be closer to the £50 mark rather than 100. Pricing shoiuld be announced on the 28th, anyone who breaks the nda before is unlikely to get stock.

if you can't wait though, core duo is still a very capable chip.

the pegasus 660 is the duo, the pegasus 665 is the duo 2. (not sure if I can link to laptop suppliers?

ALso warranty is important to consider on a £1k laptop, some suppliers offer 3 years as standard, some offer 1 year then can cost between 1-200 pounds for a further 2 years.
 
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