Powerful laptop?

Mint_Sauce

Mint_Sauce

Mint_Sauce

Soldato
Joined
25 Sep 2003
Posts
3,750
Location
Manchester
Looking to buy a nice laptop, something with a large HDD and 2gb ram. Games arn't a priority. Photoshop and other CPU/HDD intensive apps will take preference as it's going to be more of a personal workhorse.

What can you all recommend? I've never gone in to the world of laptops so it's all pretty new to me. :)

Size/weight isn't too important. Screensize and sheer power is. Non shared GFX ram would be a nice bonus as well. Probably looking to spend around £700 although a friend can get me one from the states so around $1400?

Anything I should look out for or any new tech that's pretty good that I should go with??
 
Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo T5500 1.66Ghz 667 FSB 2MB L2 Cache
RAM: 2048MB DDR2-533MHz
Hard Drive: 160 GB 5400rpm
Screen: 17" TFT 1440 x 900
Optical Drive: DVD±RW Super Multi Dual Layer
Graphics: NVidia GeForce Go7300 supporting 400MB TurboCache
Wireless LAN: 802.11a/b/g
Warranty: 1 Year - Upgradeable to 3 Years!

Acer Aspire 9423WSMi - LX.AWZ0X.044
£740 inc

looks ok?
 
I considered getting one shipped over from the US via a friend but decided agains't this in the end after weighing up all the pro's and cons on a nice spreadsheet :)

Ended up seriously considering a Dell but in the end discarded the idea deciding a desktop was a better choice.

If you really need one though seriously consider the Dells. I like the Inspiron 9400 model personally but it is a little over £700 if you want all the above mentioned.

Also a nice laptop from squiffy there :)
 
squiffy said:
What about this one?

http://oldcomputers.net/osborne.html

:D
Click to expand...

lol, I already have one a little like that in the loft!! :D

It runs some strange version of DOS (might not even be dos!)

That Acer looks good! Any others to consider? Are Acer generally regarded as the best for laptops? Which other manufacurers should I consider?

Thanks, want to get my hands on one soon to free me from this dull bedroom. :)
 
Last edited:
Found this laptop, looks like it gets good ratings. No idea who these Zoo people are though.

Zoostorm 4-7702 17" Advanced Pro Laptop - 2GB, 160GB, Core 2 Duo T7400 DVDRW

Little bit more than £700 but should pack enough power and have a decent screen size for graphics. Going to keep looking then make a decision and order tomorrow I think. Any other suggestions?
 
Mint_Sauce said:
That Acer looks good! Any others to consider? Are Acer generally regarded as the best for laptops? Which other manufacurers should I consider?
Click to expand...

Acer have just climbed to the third spot in the worldwide PC market (apparently, according to their website).

Also, they've just produced a new laptop called the Aspire 5920, with excellent specs, for a reasonable price :

Acer Aspire 5920 Intel Santa Rosa Laptop :

Specifications :
2GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T7300; Windows Vista Home Premium; 2GB DDR2 RAM; 160GB hard drive; 15.4in Acer CrystalBrite TFT LCD; 256MB nVidia GeForce 8600M; DVD-SuperMulti optical drive; 802.11a/b/g/Draft N; Bluetooth; 0.3 megapixel camera; 1 year Carry In International travelers warranty, 364mm x 270mm x 31mm; 3kg

£799 inc VAT

source : http://www.pcadvisor.co.uk/reviews/index.cfm?reviewid=859

I haven't found anywhere selling it yet, as it's new.

Edit : it's only 15.4" screen, so might not be what you're looking for. Also, if you buy a laptop from the states, there will be no £ sign on the keyboard, which is incredibly infuriating!!
 
Last edited:
Thanks, looks like a nice system but 15" might not be big enough for what I have in mind for it. Yeah, the US layout would probably annoy me a bit. :)

Can't decide between the Acer and the Zoostorm one, probably go with the Zoostorm..
 
Hi,

Im also looking for a laptop, but im my case I want to play games. Don't think I could go with out games for 3 months lol.

Don't know if you have had a look at them but ROCK do some very nice laptops as well.

At the moment I am really really tempted by an Apple Macbook Pro, only thing about that is the GFX isn't wonderful :( Hey ho don't need it till around August so im hoping something will turn up.
 
AFK_Matrix, I would have a look at the Zoostorms. After doing some research they seem to have the highest specs for the money.

I literally just ordered this one:

Zoostorm 4-7702 17" Advanced Pro Laptop - 2GB, 160GB, Core 2 Duo T7400 DVDRW

Processor Type - Core Duo T7400
Processor Speed - 2.16GHz CPU
RAM - 2GB
Hard Drive - 160GB 2.5" SATA
Display - 17 inch WXGA+ TFT display
Widescreen Type - WXGA (1440 x 900)
Video Chipset - ATi X1600
Video - RAM 256MB
Optical Drive - DVD+/RW Double Layer
Operating System - Microsoft Windows XP Pro
Wireless LAN - Built in Wireless LAN 802.11g 54Mbps
Weight - Kg 3.30
Dimensions (HxWxD): 37x365x252mm
Weight: 3.3kg
Battery Life: 2.3 hours

Can't be bad for £873 delivered. Should be good for gaming too but if it's purely for gaming you're looking at spending at least £1300 I would think.

I did look at Rock and they do look nice, they are more expensive than The Zoostorms but then the service they give is amazing apparently. The XCTX-PRO-T74 is very nice but at £1500+ a bit more than I want to spend, could be perfect for your gaming though?

The manufacturers that seem to give the best hardware for the money are: Rock, Acer and Zoostorm from what I've seen. The HPs and Vaios etc all seem pretty low spec for the money. Perhaps it's because of the name??
 
Last edited:
Yeah thats a pretty awesome spec, just a bit wairy as never heard of Zoomstrom before. Let me know how it goes, hows the quality, service etc?

Had a quick look at the zoomstrom laptops and my only thing with them are the GFX which is the same as the apple laptops, a x1600. I know for a fact I can get a dell with the Go 7950 GFX in it for £1600 which is pretty good, and i'll phone them up and try and blag some money of that lol.

I also thought about buying from the US as im going for a conference there in August and then a 3month stay from September, but if its true that I won't get the pound key on the laptop thats a no no.

Rock are tempting but im pretty sure there warranty won't cover me if it goes **** up in the US, where as I think Dells might.

Anyway will see what apple bring out at there conferance thing in June.
 
i know every one is banging on about the lack of the pound key but you can get windows to set the $ sign as the £ sign and if your any good at typing you will get use to it i do not even look at my keyboard anymore, so basic it will annoy you for about a week and then you will get the hang of it, and im sure the money you will save or the extra preformace you get from your lap across the pond will out way it with in a week
 
ali825 said:
i know every one is banging on about the lack of the pound key but you can get windows to set the $ sign as the £ sign and if your any good at typing you will get use to it i do not even look at my keyboard anymore, so basic it will annoy you for about a week and then you will get the hang of it, and im sure the money you will save or the extra preformace you get from your lap across the pond will out way it with in a week
Click to expand...

I tried for ages to do this, but couldn't find out how. I posted on these forums too, but no-one seemed to know.

I agree that you do get used to it though, as my US keyboard had the @ and the " swapped over. When I eventually got a UK keyboard, it took me a couple of weeks of mis-typing email addresses before I remembered!
 
Acer Aspire 9425WSMI

* Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo T7200 2Ghz 667 FSB 4MB L2 Cache
* RAM: 2048MB DDR2
* Hard Drive: 200GB 5400rpm
* Screen: 17" TFT 1440 x 900
* Optical Drive: DVD±RW Super Multi Dual Layer
* Graphics: NVidia GeForce Go7300 128MB
* Wireless LAN: 802.11a/b/g
* Warranty: 1 Year - Upgradeable to 3 Years!
* Operating System: Windows Vista Home Premium Edition

£879.97 inc VAT
 
I would'nt just look for laptops with 2gb already installed as memory prices are so low it would probably be cheaper in a lot of cases to buy the extra gig seperate.

I've just got a Dell Inspiron 9400

- 1.6ghz dual core
- 160gig h/drive
- 256mb 7900gs
- 17" widescreen
- 1gig ddr2

Paid about £650 for it and bought an extra gig somewhere else.

Can play games full candy etc.
 
malccy said:
I would'nt just look for laptops with 2gb already installed as memory prices are so low it would probably be cheaper in a lot of cases to buy the extra gig seperate.

I've just got a Dell Inspiron 9400

- 1.6ghz dual core
- 160gig h/drive
- 256mb 7900gs
- 17" widescreen
- 1gig ddr2

Paid about £650 for it and bought an extra gig somewhere else.

Can play games full candy etc.
Click to expand...

Hes not looking to game so the processor and ram are priority over gfx.
 
Apple have recently updated there Macbook range....maybe worth a look? Atleast you know that you are getting quality and good service.

Posting using my macbook pro now, would never go back to a windows laptop. :D
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom