OT: Which Laptop

[exwrx]

I have decided to buy a laptop.

Let me start by saying that my knowledge of this stuff is almost non-existent. I know as much about computers as my mother in law knows about cars.

The easiest way to do this is probably to list what i want to do with the thing:

- its for home use ie net, email, typing some letters, playing games, maybe burning some CD's and DVD's down the track;

- it will be moved around the house but I wont be carrying it to work so it doesnt matter if its not easily portable, but portable nevertheless;

- I want a relatively big screen ie 17 inch;

- I am not made of money, so budget is probably 2.5K max.

That's about it. I dont need something that can bring down small planes, just something basic and reliable which I can take into whatever room of the house I want. A work colleague recommended the Acer Desknote Aspire series which comes with a 17 inch screen and 3 gig for 2.8K. See it here: http://www.cybershop.net.au/as1700.htm

Any thoughts or comments appreciated, including the best place to purchase something like this, taking into account price and service.

Thanks

[MAGS]

Mate...this is a long one but hope this helps.

I'm been playing with computers for quite some time and I'm very impressed with DELL laptops. For value for money, you can not beat it. I don't care what anybody else says, they're dead set the best value for money I know. Acers, Toshibas and IBM (if you can find them) are way too expensive for what you get.

I'm an overpaid uni-student atm, in my 4th year of Elec Eng. I've had my little PIII-1.13GHz since day one, and it hasn't skipped a beat (crashes etc). The DVD-Rom burnt out (it's been constantly flogged) about 6 months back, I rang DELL up, the next day the guy was out, fixed it there and then, no questions. Out of the 22 other mature age students, 14 of them have gone out an bought one over the last 4 years, with no complaints. Order times are great, the best the boys have got was three days, and they get built in Malaysia. Highly recommend ringing them up and squeeze them for eveything you can. You can always get a better price then what is online. www.dell.com.au (I think).

Now down to the details. If you're going for games, do not buy a Centrino as they are nowhere near as powerful as a P4, standard speed is 3.2GHz for laptops, but make sure that the CPU is designated as P4M #.#GHz, then "M" means mobile. This means it creates less heat, therefore run no problems, a couple of other laptop brands use the P4 #.#GHz and they'll have overheating problems.

Don't get anything less then 512MB of RAM (should be PC-3200, I think), I've got 128MB and I'm running out of memory (but I do a lot of Mathematical crap). Hard Drive should be around the 40Gb mark and I'll be honest, all my engineering crap (programs/docs etc) is on my laptop with about 5 Gb of music and I still have 8Gb free on my 18Gb HDD. Screen's get up to the 15.4" wide screen (which is impressive), I think the best TFT screen for DELL is the XGA+ (it's been a while since I've looked at them).

Now video cards, I'm pretty sure the DELLs come with a 64 or 128Mb Radeon 9800Pro, now this card is a kick arse gaming card. I have the 128Mb on the desktop and it blows my mind on the smoothness at high res. I've heard good things about nVidia, but I'm not sure if DELL offer them. You'll get a really good machine for around the $2.5K.

I don't think I've missed anything, connections-wise, depends on the model you get. I've got the old Inspiron 8100, but each model has it's limitations on upgrades. If you want anymore advice, I'm more than happy to give my thoughts. Just PM me.

Sorry to those for the long-winded reply, but I thought I'd type it all here.

[VYSSBlack]

Yeah what MAGS said, cant go wrong with Dell. Ive had half a doven laptops and my last job I had a Dell and it was a good laptop. Got a new job and they gave me a HP compaq and its the cheapest piece of trash that Ive ever had, poor screen quality, touchpad clicks never work and the button is intermittent too. I wish I had my Dell back.

[team illucid]

Now down to the details. If you're going for games, do not buy a Centrino as they are nowhere near as powerful as a P4, .

Actually, the centrino is fine as a games CPU .. as long as you have a good video card ... the GPU on the video card does all the work, the CPU is a passenger in games playing nowadays ...

Exwrx, are you buying for work (ie salary sacrificing, use mostly for work purposes) because you can get a laptop effectively at 49% of its retail value ...

if not, check out www.p4laptops.com.au they are awesome ... this is where the Tier 1 suppliers (Dell,HP, etc) base their laptops from ...

You are better sacrficing raw CPU speed for more RAM if money is tight, as it gives the best bang for buck.

If you have any specific questions PM me

cheers and good luck

[CV888]

Have a look at tpg.com.au they have/had a pretty good offer on a laptop (under $1400). I got one for my wife, she has been using it for about 3 months with no problems at all.

Cheers

Michael

[Black Betty]

This is a good buy not 17" screen but most 17" screen will be more expensive as 17" are the upmarket computers. Any questions contact me.

Asus A25H Notebook P4 2.8 60GB 256MB DVD-R 15" TFT WXPP Bag/Mouse
Price $2,499.00


Processor: Intel Pentium 4 2.8Ghz
Memory: 256MB DDR Ram
Storage: 60Gb Hard Drive
Optical Drive: DVD-R/-RW
Screen: 15" Active TFT Screen

A200H SERIES:

Processor & Sockets Intel® Pentium®4.
FC-FGA2 478 Package with Socket478
0.13ìProcess
-Pentium 4 , 533Mhz FSB, 512K Cache–DTP up to 2.8 GHz
-Celeron value, 400Mhz FSB, 128K Cache–DTP 2.8+GHz
Support OS Microsoft® Windows® XP Home/Professional Edition
Chipset & BIOS Chipset:
- SiS M650+ SiS962
BIOS:
- AWARD BIOS code
- 2MB Flash EPROM
- PMU, Plug & Play
Main Memory Two SO-DIMM socket for expansion up to 1024 MB
DDR 266 SDRAM
Display 14.1" /15.0" active matrix color TFT
14.1" XGA & 15.0" XGA ,SXGA+
Graphics &Video Module UMA. Integrated with N.B. Shared memory support 16/32/64 MB
-Auto-detect function
Default 32MB when total memory >=192MB,Shared Memory Size can up to 64MB
CRT Display Modes VGA 640 x 480, 256/32K/64K/16.7M colors
SVGA 800 x 600 256/32K/64K/16.7M colors
XGA 1024 x 768 256/32K/64K/16.7M colors
SXGA 1280 x 1024 256/32K/64K/16.7M colors
UXGA 1600x1200 256/32K/64K/16.7M colors
PC Card Slot PCMCIA 2.1 compliant
One Type II
Non-ZV port

Multi-Card Reader One built-in card reader support (optional)
-MMC/ SD
-Memory Stick

Hard Disk Drive -2.5"9.5 mm IDE HDD with Ultra DMA100 supported
-20/ 40/60/80 GB
-Fixed type, easy for BTO
IrDA (reserved as optional) SIR-115.2Kbps supported
Modem/FAX& LAN -AC97 s/w MODEM and 10/100BaseT PCI LAN on board
-Worldwide regulation, CTR21, JATE, FCC,DGT,A-Tick,.etc passed (TW/PRC/EU/US)
Optical Storage Device -5.25" 12.7mm 24 X CD-ROM
-5.25" 12.7mm 8X (max.) DVD-ROM drive
-5.25" 12.7mm 8X/ 24X24X24X (max.) DVD combo drive
-DVD-RW
-Fixed Type

LED Status Indicator Power-on/Suspend
Bat. Charging/full/low
Storage device access
Cap. Lock
Scroll Lock
Num Lock
E-mail in box
Wireless indicator
On-screen-Display Brightness
Display selection LCD/Ext. Monitor/TV-out
LCD on/off
AC adapter plug in/ Battery in use
Volume On/Off
Volume Up/Down
Power4 Gear indicator
Fan fail warming with long "beep" sound
Interface -One EPP/ECP Parallel port/D-sub 25-pin
-One Headphone-out jack
-One Microphone-in jack
-One Lin-in Jack
-One VGA port/Mini D-sub 15-pin for external DDC monitor
-One Video Connector which including S-Video and Composite video signal
-One RJ11 Modem jack for phone line
-One RJ45 LAN Jack for LAN insert
-5 USB 2.0 ports
-One IEEE 1394 port
-One SIR port
-One 3-in-1 Card Reader (MMC/SD/MS)
(By Selected Model)
Audio DJ Audio-DJ for play/pause, stop, forward, rewind
Keyboard -19 mm full size 88key with MS-Windows function keys
-3mm travel
Audio -AC 97 S/W audio
-SoundBlaster Pro Compatible
-Build-in stereo speakers (1W)
Hot Keys Instant launch Keys:
-4 buttons
-Email, Internet, programmable App, Power4 Gear
Function Keys
-Fn+F1 suspend switch
-Fn+F2 Wireless switch
-Fn+F5 Brightness down
-Fn+F6 Brightness up
-Fn+F7 LCD on/off
-Fn+F8 LCD/CRT/TV-out switch display
-Fn+F10 Volume on/mute
-Fn+F11 Volume down
-Fn+F12 Volume up

Power Management -Full feature ACPI power management, supports Stand-by, Suspend to Disk, and Suspend to RAM
-MDP 2003 compatible
Battery Pack& Life 8 cells, 4400mAh, 65Whrs
AC adapter Output: 19V DC, 6.3A, 120W
Pointing Device Built-in Touch pad pointing device
2 click buttons with scroll key

Thermal Solution ADTD (Developed by ASUS)
Security Pre-OS Authentication by programmable key code
BIOS Booting User Password Protection
HDD User Password Protection and Security Lock
Kensington Lock hole provided
Dimensions 328 x 270 x 27-42mm (W x D x H, typical)
Weight -3.1 kg (w/ 14.1" LCD, 9.5mm HDD, 8 x DVD-ROM and 8 cells Li-Ion battery pack)
-3.3 kg (w/ 15.0" LCD, 9.5mm HDD, 8 x DVD-ROM and 8 cells Li-Ion battery pack)
Optional Item:IEEE 802.11a/b Wireless LAN (Factory option) -MiniPCI I/F.
-Built-in antenna
-IEEE 802.11b
-Wireless Certification: TWN, CHN, FCC, European

[BlueSS]

Have to agree the Dell laptops are extremely good money, i think the starting price is arround $1300 which for a laptop is bloody good. We have a fair few of them at work and never have any problems with them.

[COSMOS]

go Dell

we buy a few of them at work (60,000 globally) and they are reliable and great value for money.

can go wrong - i also have one at home for my wife. It was 2 weeks out of warranty when i reported dead pixels on screen. THE NEXT DAY they were at my house with a new screen.

After sales service is where the value always is

t

[OscarTheGrouch]

Yep, I'm a huge fan of Dell notebooks - their warranty service is pretty decent by all accounts too.

I've had mine for over a year now and it's been a great little machine.... just a shame the damn things depreciate so much - that's technology for you though I guess...

[dooma]

I am going to jump on the Dell bandwagon - pricing is damn keen, even compared to the wholesale we get through work, and service really impressed me. Had a problem with one, rang Dell, in under 24 hours had a tech in our office to replace the keyboard, all fixed. Haven't seen service like that for a long time.

[KeenGolfer]

Dell are good, I have one. You might also want to check Cougar Computers (http://www.cougar.com.au/index.cfm?id=65&Hware=LAP) - very good service. This Asus (http://www.cougar.com.au/index.cfm?ID=33&PART=11436&RequestTimeout=120) laptop would probably suit you.

[team illucid]

Interesting that everyone has such a good experience with Dell support - the dipshit they sent us to fix a laptop fried 2 mobos and a GB of ram before he realised that the power supply was "off" - we have over 2600 Dell's in Australia, and the failure rate is only about 3% (usually RAM) - which is fairly similar across all manufacturers ...

In the last 4 years I have had an Acer, 2 x IBM, a Dell and currently a Sony Vaio (best laptop - worst after sales service) ...

My next laptop will be an ASUS ...

[onezero]

I got a VAIO Z1 (1.7 Centrino) about 7-8 months ago, but my requirements were it had to be very light/portable... can't complain at all, it's f'n fantastic.

If you can find the extra cash then hit up a VAIO (a bit out of the price range you gave), I highly recommend them to everyone now. Otherwise look to Toshiba; a few of my mates of got them as more desktop replacements rather than to be mobile, and from what I can tell, don't have any issues.

[6LtrLimo]

I recently brought a BenQ Joybook 8100. Its bloody great. I got it at the right price and it has all the features I require. Dont ask me much more about it because I have very basic knowledge of these things.

[exwrx]

Thanks for the input guys, gives me lots of information to research.

If anyone else has any views, keep them coming.

[team illucid]

A good place to look at this time of the year also is ebay ... there are a few people like myself that upgrade each year to reduce Taxable income, and therefore sell of their laptops for the depreciated value (e.g. my last laptop cost me 5700.00 and I sold it in June for 2700.00 - because I claimed the 3000.00 back on my Tax) ...

just another thought to consider ...

[MAGS]

I got a VAIO Z1 (1.7 Centrino) about 7-8 months ago, but my requirements were it had to be very light/portable... can't complain at all, it's f'n fantastic.

If you can find the extra cash then hit up a VAIO (a bit out of the price range you gave), I highly recommend them to everyone now. Otherwise look to Toshiba; a few of my mates of got them as more desktop replacements rather than to be mobile, and from what I can tell, don't have any issues.

Toshibas are damn expensive for what you get, desktop replacement go the DELL Inspiron 8500 (I think)... as they are not very mobile at all... 60mm thick apparently...

[KeenGolfer]

Toshibas are damn expensive for what you get, desktop replacement go the DELL Inspiron 8500 (I think)... as they are not very mobile at all... 60mm thick apparently...
I have an Inspiron 8200 - pretty much the same as the 8500. With the lid closed it's about 38mm thick. I've lugged mine to/from Europe 2 times in a laptop backpack along with digital camera, web cam, all my software etc, and whilst the bag is reasonably heavy with all the crap in it, it can be done. If you just had the laptop without all the extra crap I always take, it would be perfectly mobile and easy to carry.

[VXSS]

Toshibas are damn expensive for what you get, desktop replacement go the DELL Inspiron 8500 (I think)... as they are not very mobile at all... 60mm thick apparently...

Go DELL :thumbsup:

I had a Dell Inspiron 8200 0r 8500 on order the price was heaps cheap compared to what it was worth nearly $1000 - $1200 off.

Someone basically optioned it up to the max and then they cancelled and it was place in inventory called DELL FACTORY OUTLET.

C link

http://www1.ap.dell.com/content/topics/segtopic.aspx/products/quickship/au/en/inspiron?c=au&l=en&s=dfo

Anyway nearly bought but I saw one in the Trading Post and thought I'd have a look at it, it was to heavy and bulkly, did not like it at all. So I cancelled the order placed and order a Dell Inspiron 4150 :D, by far the best laptop I have ever owned, its over a year old never missed a beat, no service calls made :D.

I feel u do not really need a screen bigger than 14".

I have owned 2 x IBM's 600 & 600E nice machines but very pricey and u get have the capacity of ram, hard drive etc etc compared to Dell notebooks.

Also have owned a Dell Inspiron 3700 another excellent notebook.

There r 3 different types of notebooks or laptops Inspiron,Lattitude, Precision.

Inspiron is for Home / Office.

Cheers

John

[team illucid]

Just a point with screens, it is the pixel resolution that determines whether or not it is a good quality screen, not the size ...
for a 14" you want 1280x1024,
15" and 15.4" screens should be 1400 x 1050 (which is widescreen),
16" and 17" need 1600x1200.

This is where good video cards come into their forte.

cheers

[VXSS]

Just a point with screens, it is the pixel resolution that determines whether or not it is a good quality screen, not the size ...
for a 14" you want 1280x1024,
15" and 15.4" screens should be 1400 x 1050 (which is widescreen),
16" and 17" need 1600x1200.

This is where good video cards come into their forte.

cheers


Yeah I agree, I optioned mine up to Super XGA+ 14.1" screen 1400 x 1050 and also went for a Ultra ATA 40GB Hard drive.

[onezero]

Toshibas are damn expensive for what you get, desktop replacement go the DELL Inspiron 8500 (I think)... as they are not very mobile at all... 60mm thick apparently...

Sorry, I didn't know they were pricey - I just remember one particular friend's face when I told him what I paid for mine, and just assumed Toshiba's were a whole lot less. :lol:

[MAGS]

Just a point with screens, it is the pixel resolution that determines whether or not it is a good quality screen, not the size ...
for a 14" you want 1280x1024,
15" and 15.4" screens should be 1400 x 1050 (which is widescreen),
16" and 17" need 1600x1200.

This is where good video cards come into their forte.

cheers

Hate to disagree with you on that one TeamIllucid, I'm sure that there are different quality screens. DELL screens come in the same size with different screen quality, and hence the better resolutions as the higher res on the lower quality screen look like shite (and some don't even have the option)... with my work mates I was telling you all about, two of them got the same laptop except for the screen quality (I think one was XGA and the other S-XGA) and the difference was substantial... even at the same resolution...

I will put a side note on this comment, I do a bit of design work (circuits and stuff) on mine and I'm very picky when it comes to screen quality/resolution, as if you're staring at it for long periods you don't want to get a headache.

Just my thoughts.

[MAGS]

I have an Inspiron 8200 - pretty much the same as the 8500. With the lid closed it's about 38mm thick. I've lugged mine to/from Europe 2 times in a laptop backpack along with digital camera, web cam, all my software etc, and whilst the bag is reasonably heavy with all the crap in it, it can be done. If you just had the laptop without all the extra crap I always take, it would be perfectly mobile and easy to carry.

I've got the old 8100, it's the same size (38mm thick, 7 lb or something) and I agree that a backpack is the best way to carry it around. I lug my brick around everyday at work and with the Targus backpack, it's not very noticeable...

[team illucid]

Hate to disagree with you on that one TeamIllucid, ...

(I think one was XGA and the other S-XGA) and the difference was substantial... even at the same resolution...

I will put a side note on this comment, I do a bit of design work (circuits and stuff) on mine and I'm very picky when it comes to screen quality/resolution, as if you're staring at it for long periods you don't want to get a headache.

Disagreement is the spice of life ... actually I may confused you a bit ... the quality of the screen is meant to read as higher pixel per inch ... also XGA == 1024x768 resolution, and the sxga is 1280x1024 ... TFT screens are built for a native resolution and dont handle changes very well (ie going down from 1280x1024 to 1024x768 - they get fuzzy and look shit)

I do computer network design documents on my laptop at 1600x1200 resolution, as well as design websites and graphics ... quite often spend 12-14 hours straight staring at the screen, so I understand what you mean as far as headaches are concerned ...

I have a 15" sxga Dell Latitude supplied by work, which personally I think is crap for what I have to do, and I have a 16.1" Sony Vaio (that I bought myself) which is a great laptop, but does not have good driver support from Sony.

like I said, good luck, try as many as you can before purchase, and you should be happy with what you buy.

cheers

[kaniSS-81]

I hope I dont upset the Dell users here, but I was considering a DELL at one stage aswell an M60 workstation Laptop..... but I heard so many stories abut there products being flimzy and not up to scratch in quality...
So It detered me from buying DELL forever...

If your going to buy something I would sugest getting a Laptop that is a little heavier and thicker in size..and better quality you will be much happier.


Anyway sorry to the Dell users, I wasnt bagging it out :)

[Gee]

We've run a pair of Dell Inspiron 8600's for at least 12 months now. Happy enough to have recently purchased another one.

With Pent.M's for the portability, they can be well specified, nice 15.4 WUXGA run comfortably at 1920X1200 these machines live hard lives (carried somewhere everyday... airport luggage.. carried on bikes.. even in backpacks jogging home from work, hell one of them even goes home in a Ford most days). The older two have only had two service needs.. one optical drive change (had ripped a lot of CD's and DVD's) and one keyboard (...think lunch at desk most days). Both delivered in 24-48 hours. As far as this model goes, talk that Dell build quality is a concern is just talk.

We've bought a couple of desktops (one's a big banger but the other a more modest model) and are equally satisfied with both. Good luck.

[darcy]

I've got a Dell Inspiron 8600 that I've had for almost 2 years now.

I wen't for a 15" UXGA screen (1600x1200) and spend all day staring at my screen doing a lot of CAD drafting, and I wouldn't go for anything less res i don't think.

Only issues I've had are, a motherboard failed at about 6months (can't remember exactly) and a pixel in the middel of the screen died from the mouse in the keyboard rubbing it. Both items replaced under warranty, with next day onsite service. With the warranty service I couldn't be happier.

It travels to and from work everyday, not always the kindiest with it either, and had not other problems.

I would recccommend one.

my 2c

D'Arcy