Why are laptops so ugly?

Tommy B · 8 Jan 2007 at 09:30

If you want to spend in the region of £2000 on a power-laptop, why are they are all hideous?

Can you not buy one with the looks of Kiera Knightly but the fighting skills of Bruce Lee on steroids?

Surely there must be a make out there that do "average non-geeky" looking laptops which, under the bonnet, actually pack a hell of a punch?

I mean XPS, Alienware... Yes, very powerful, but I'm completely put off by how 'pimped out of the box' they are. I guess it's not my sort of thing. I'd prefer to have something that looks like a MacBook Pro, where people think it looks nice but don't realise how damn powerful it actually is.

Cheers,

naro · 8 Jan 2007 at 09:32

i htink you can try the Acer Ferrari 1000 series

http://www.acer.co.uk/acereuro/page...en&ctx3=-1&ctx4=United+Kingdom&crc=3709801388

syke · 8 Jan 2007 at 09:39

I think the Rock Laptops are decent looking due to the slimness. They also pack a huge punch of power too.

semi-pro waster · 8 Jan 2007 at 09:48

If you like the look of the Macbook Pros (and they are powerful enough) then why don't you just get one of them? Or do you just want a gaming laptop? In which case have a tour of all the major manufacturers and see what customisation options they offer. Savrow are fairly small but their laptops are usually quite understated.

daven1986 · 8 Jan 2007 at 09:57

the macbooks are pretty good for casual gaming too but they are probably the best looking laptops.

daven

Tommy B · 8 Jan 2007 at 10:34

Syk3 said:
I think the Rock Laptops are decent looking due to the slimness. They also pack a huge punch of power too.

Absolutely perfect. I've never heard of them before but the prices seem reasonable and the design is nice too. "xtreme ctx pro/thinnest 17" gaming notebook on steroids" caught my eye

Whilst we're on this subject, which is better:

Intel Core 2 Duo T7400 2.16GHz
1GB DDR2 667MHz (512MB x2)

[OR]

Intel Core 2 Duo T7200 2.00GHz
2GB DDR2 667MHz (1GB x2)

If you like the look of the Macbook Pros (and they are powerful enough) then why don't you just get one of them? Or do you just want a gaming laptop? In which case have a tour of all the major manufacturers and see what customisation options they offer. Savrow are fairly small but their laptops are usually quite understated.

From what I understand, there is a programme called Bootcamp that can run Windows and Windows games. However, even the most expensive Macbook only has an X1600 graphics card, which won't exactly cut it. Whilst I do hardly any gaming any more, if I'm going to buy a really powerful laptop I might as well get into it again.

syke · 8 Jan 2007 at 10:40

Tommy B said:
Whilst we're on this subject, which is better:

Intel Core 2 Duo T7400 2.16GHz
1GB DDR2 667MHz (512MB x2)

[OR]

Intel Core 2 Duo T7200 2.00GHz
2GB DDR2 667MHz (1GB x2)

Personally, i like to have the extra RAM. Im not sure if everyone would agree, but having dual core aswell as 2GB Ram is benefitial.

I went for a 1.86GHz C2D and 2GB Ram in my laptop.

Rock are a very good brand btw..they make top end laptops.

This for a desktop replacement?

Btw, you've probably seen but you can configure the spec (you probably already have). With that i would choose a large HDD

GAMEfreak · 8 Jan 2007 at 10:41

yeah bootcamp is nice. but you will be limited gfx wise. look for laptop barebones and get building lol :rolleyes:

handy laptop building linky

Tommy B · 8 Jan 2007 at 10:45

Syk3 said:
Personally, i like to have the extra RAM. Im not sure if everyone would agree, but having dual core aswell as 2GB Ram is benefitial.

I went for a 1.86GHz C2D and 2GB Ram in my laptop.

Rock are a very good brand btw..they make top end laptops.

This for a desktop replacement?

Yeah, but also for Uni when I start next September/October. As long as it will be better than my current system (64 3500+ X1900XT 1GB Ram etc) then I'll be happy. I also don't think I'll buy it until June or July so hopefully by then Rock will offer Direct X10/ HD-DVD laptops.

The thing is my music library is about 80GB now so I might be looking for a safe, secure external HD too.

syke · 8 Jan 2007 at 10:46

Tommy B said:
Yeah, but also for Uni when I start next September/October. As long as it will be better than my current system (64 3500+ X1900XT 1GB Ram etc) then I'll be happy. I also don't think I'll buy it until June or July so hopefully by then Rock will offer Direct X10/ HD-DVD laptops.

The thing is my music library is about 80GB now so I might be looking for a safe, secure external HD too.

Yeah, this will definately be a replacement.
They come with 7950GTX's (i think) and also give you the freedom to add a second HDD.

Your budget £2000?

Edit: Just had a look and for £1700-800 you can get a 160GB HDD with Go 7950GTX. This could replace a desktop anytime. Aswell as that..as you said an external could also be used too.

The C2D 2.16GHz is very fast. AFAIK the cache is 4MB too.

Tommy B · 8 Jan 2007 at 10:48

GAMEfreak said:
yeah bootcamp is nice. but you will be limited gfx wise. look for laptop barebones and get building lol

handy laptop building linky

Having built my current PC I've had nothing but problems. Perhaps I was unlucky with the particular hardware combinations, but it caused me a lot of stress and in the end my dad (doctor) got one of his patients, who presumably does it for a living, to look at it. I built it fine and initially there were no problems, but after a while it started going wrong. Needless to say, I don't really want to go through the stress again and I'd be much happier paying out for one.

Tommy B · 8 Jan 2007 at 10:51

Syk3 said:
Yeah, this will definately be a replacement.
They come with 7950GTX's (i think) and also give you the freedom to add a second HDD.

Your budget £2000?

£1700 tops. Although Ideally I'd spend £1500, which will get:

Intel Core 2 Duo T7200 2.00GHz
NVIDIA GeForce 7950 Go GTX 512MB
WSXGA+ X-Glass rock logo
2GB DDR2 667MHz (1GB x2)
100GB 7200rpm SATA
8x +/- Dual Layer DVD Writer
Windows XP Home (Free Vista Upgrade)

Now that to me looks very nice. Not sure about the processor though. Hopefully by the time I buy the thing in July those specs will be much, much better.

syke · 8 Jan 2007 at 10:52

Tommy B said:
£1700 tops. Although Ideally I'd spend £1500, which will get:

Intel Core 2 Duo T7200 2.00GHz
NVIDIA GeForce 7950 Go GTX 512MB
WSXGA+ X-Glass rock logo
2GB DDR2 667MHz (1GB x2)
100GB 7200rpm SATA
8x +/- Dual Layer DVD Writer
Windows XP Home (Free Vista Upgrade)

Now that to me looks very nice. Not sure about the processor though. Hopefully by the time I buy the thing in July those specs will be much, much better.

Bare in mind, thats C2D (much faster than previous).

Why not try and ge the 2.16GHz as its got a 4MB Cache.

That Processor is TOP end btw.

Tommy B · 8 Jan 2007 at 10:56

Syk3 said:
Bare in mind, thats C2D (much faster than previous).

Why not try and ge the 2.16GHz as its got a 4MB Cache.

That Processor is TOP end btw.

Ah. I didn't notice that. I suppose the 4MB cache is a must, but is it worth sacrificing the ram for?

syke · 8 Jan 2007 at 10:57

Tommy B said:
Ah. I didn't notice that. I suppose the 4MB cache is a must, but is it worth sacrificing the ram for?

Hmm. So £1700 is about max?

For just under you could get the higher processor.

Although, it is not needed. As the other one has a 2MB Cache IIRC.

Tommy B · 8 Jan 2007 at 10:59

Syk3 said:
Hmm. So £1700 is about max?

For just under you could get the higher processor.

Although, it is not needed. As the other one has a 2MB Cache IIRC.

I could get the 4MB cache one AND the 2GB of ram for £1700. I don't even know why I'm thinking about this now because I wont be buying it for a long time yet

Still, does anyone care to speculate on what will be available in July for the same price?

syke · 8 Jan 2007 at 11:00

Tommy B said:
I could get the 4MB cache one AND the 2GB of ram for £1700. I don't even know why I'm thinking about this now because I wont be buying it for a long time yet

Still, does anyone care to speculate on what will be available in July for the same price?

OH didnt realise it was for July

By then prices would have dropped and MAYBE the introduction of DX10 Cards.

If prices drop as they have been, that system may be able to be had for £1200 or so.

Duradrum · 8 Jan 2007 at 11:56

I have just purchased the following today for £839 including delivery:

Dell Inspiron 6400

- 2.0 Intel Core 2 Duo 667mhz 4mb cache
- 2 GIG DDR2 Memory
- 120GB Hard Drive
- XP Professional
- 9 Cell Battery
- DVDRW Drive
- 1680x1050 True-Life Screen (Glossy Black)
- 256MB ATI® MOBILITY™ RADEON® X1400 graphics card, PCI-Express x16
- Built in Wireless
- BRAND NEW, BOXED AND SEALED
- 2 Year ONSITE Warranty by Dell
- FREE XP Pro to Vista Business Upgrade on www.dellvistaupgrade.

Not as good a graphics card as whats listed above, but at 15.4" your kind of limited to what card you can get. I think its a great deal though

It does look very bland though!

semi-pro waster · 8 Jan 2007 at 12:55

Duradrum said:
It does look very bland though!

If Dell use the same keyboard on all their consumer laptops then it isn't very much fun to type on at all and the touchpad sucks, my mate has one pretty similar but with an even worse graphics card :eek:

. The specifications are pretty decent though and hopefully yours will have a better keyboard.

Tommy B, for what it is worth the extra 2mb cache is equivalent to approximately 400mhz in overclocking terms (very roughly speaking) although not all applications need 4mb at all.

Duradrum · 8 Jan 2007 at 12:59

FYI, all core 2 duo's over 2gig have 4 meg cache I thinkI think all Core 2 Duo's over 2gig have 4mb cache.