New laptop advice? (Buying Today)

Spikey · 5 Jan 2008 at 11:44

Hey guys, been looking at a new laptop from a high street department store which is selling HP DV2535EA's off in their sale for £639.99 down from £700. Just wondered if people thought it was good value? Spec's are as follows:

Intel Core Duo 2 1.67ghz CPU with Intel Centrino Technology
2GB RAM
160 GB 5400RPM HDD
DVD Writer
5 in 1 card reader
HDMI Connection
Nvidia Geforce 8400 (1280x800 res, 14.1inch screen)
Bluetooth Ready
Built in Wireless
Integrated Finger Print Scanner
Windows Vista Home Premium
VGA Port, 2x USB, S-Video, Firewire etc
Built in webcam

Is this worth the money? Have one reserved so any advice would be appreciated! thanks in advance

Nick.

gillywibble · 5 Jan 2008 at 11:47

Doesn't look a bad price.

badbob · 5 Jan 2008 at 11:50

£60 more but for £700 inc vat (also check the other thread I just posted)

Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo 2Ghz, 4MB L2 Cache
Screen: 17" Widescreen CrystalBrite Display
Hard Drive: 320GB Hard Drive (2 x 160GB)
Memory: 2048MB RAM (2 x 1GB Ram)
Optical Drive: High Defination DVD Drive
Graphics: Intel® PM965 Chipset with nVidia GeForce 8400M GS 256MB
Wireless LAN: 802.11a/b/g
Operating System: Windows Vista Home Premium
Webcam: Yes, 0.3 MegaPixel Webcam
Other Items: 1 year warranty, 6 cell battery , 5 in 1 card reader

Spikey · 5 Jan 2008 at 12:00

my only concern with the acer is the styling and the built quality in comparison to the HP which looks nice and feels well built.

badbob · 5 Jan 2008 at 12:08

#14" widescreen is too small though, going to be transported a lot, or just as a DTR/sometimes moved around? Numerical pad and DVI :-)

TheVoice · 5 Jan 2008 at 12:09

That's not a particularly great deal. Nice machine overall, but you can certainly get systems with faster CPUs for that money, especially considering it's apparently only a Core Duo and not Core 2 Duo. Would be worth checking out Dell, as there's a 10% discount code available for Inspiron and XPS orders over £599.

beermonster · 5 Jan 2008 at 12:10

you do pay abit more for the HP DV series but they are worlds apart in styling and build quality, they're a very nice package definately recommended.

badbob · 5 Jan 2008 at 12:19

Just checked Dell 1720 line, looks good too - just lacks DVI output.

Abyss · 5 Jan 2008 at 12:20

Dell Vostro 1500

Intel Core 2 Duo 2.0Ghz
3GB RAM
160 GB 5400RPM HDD
DVD Writer
Nvidia Geforce 8600GT (1280x800 res, 14.1inch screen)
Bluetooth Ready
Built in Wireless
Built in webcam

£611

That's a quicker processor, 1 gig extra ram and better graphics card (can save £40+vat if you opt for the same as the HP) for less money. Personally I would upgrade the screen to 1440x900 for £35+vat making it nigh on the same.

TheVoice · 5 Jan 2008 at 12:21

badbob said:
Just checked Dell 1720 line, looks good too - just lacks DVI output.

If he's already considering a 14" notebook, I highly doubt he'll want a 17" one.

Abyss · 5 Jan 2008 at 12:22

badbob said:
Just checked Dell 1720 line, looks good too - just lacks DVI output.

If it has HDMI you should be able to use a HDMI to DVI convertor

badbob · 5 Jan 2008 at 12:25

Abyss said:
If it has HDMI you should be able to use a HDMI to DVI convertor

Just vga out on the Dell 1720.
If he's not gaming I'd opt for faster cpu/bigger HD/more memory- if 1GB- /bigger screen. Going to find out if laptop's with 2x HD's have RAID-0, would want that as 2.5" are incredibly slow and under heavy use that's where the bottleneck occurs.

Spikey · 5 Jan 2008 at 12:32

it does have a Core 2 Duo CPU btw just re-checked the specs

I need it to be fairly small so I can transport it easily and again I do want something that looks nice! So that rules out dell on that count and the fact that I don't rate their build quality. Are HP generally good build quality? My main concerns with buying another laptop is good battery life and build quality. As my previous Fujisu-siemens laptops have literally fallen apart and the batter just about makes a year before being completely dead. Anyone ideas what sort of battery life I can expect from the HP as it's not on the specs?

TheVoice · 5 Jan 2008 at 12:38

The Vostro 1400 is a 14". Very good build quality on these new ones too; much better than the previous models (which aren't that bad either, my 630m is solid enough).

badbob · 5 Jan 2008 at 12:44

Spikey said:
it does have a Core 2 Duo CPU btw just re-checked the specs I need it to be fairly small so I can transport it easily and again I do want something that looks nice! So that rules out dell on that count and the fact that I don't rate their build quality. Are HP generally good build quality? My main concerns with buying another laptop is good battery life and build quality. As my previous Fujisu-siemens laptops have literally fallen apart and the batter just about makes a year before being completely dead. Anyone ideas what sort of battery life I can expect from the HP as it's not on the specs?

What about a Dell XPS M2010? You'll get shoulder/arm/bicep workout at the same time! (8.3 kg)

Actually not that heavy, I've carried 20kgs+ for miles without a hitch.