R Lee
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Registered: 15th Aug 03
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Can anybody suggest a good spec laptop for me please?
I'd be using it as a general computer, gaming, web, etc.
I've been looking at Sony AW series, Dell XPS/Alienware, Novatec(sp), and various others.
Price in the region of £2k ish
What would you choose? 
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Daveskater
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Registered: 29th Apr 08
Location: Oxford, UK Drives: Jap wagon
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Out of that list the only one I would go with is Alienware.
Numberwang!
Originally posted by AlunJ
I like you Dave, you are a man of men
Originally Whatapp'd by Neo
Dave's maybe capable of a drive-by cuddle
Look at my pictures
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noshua
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Registered: 19th Nov 08
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I wouldn't bother, they're not laptops - they're bricks, and hot ones at that.
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R Lee
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Registered: 15th Aug 03
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Not bothered about the size of it.
Bigger the screen, the better!
I want to carry it about on the odd occassion though. As long as it weighs no more than 5kg, i'm happy.
We're talking purely spec if i'm honest.
Oh, and the alienware is 4gb down on RAM compared to some others?
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Daveskater
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Registered: 29th Apr 08
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 I don't know that much about Alienware laptops tbh but I know enough to stay away from the others.
This is what a mate in the PC repair business said when I asked about who makes good laptops. Being in the repair business he obviously goes off of how many he gets in for repair and what's wrong with them.
"Off the top of my head, persistent problems with machines
HP: Graphics, batteries, PSU cable connection fail common
Toshiba: Graphics, especially Nvidia, keyboards are fragile, batteries short lived, PSU cable connection fail is common
E-machines: overheating and subsequent component failure
Acer: batteries have poor output and are short lived, PSU cable connection fail is also common
Sony: batteries - some have even exploded!
Samsung: nothing, nada, nix. Except those nice shiny cases are a b ugger for fingerprints!
IBM.Denovo: cases and hinges fragile
Compaq: cases disintegrating especially the old ones."
Numberwang!
Originally posted by AlunJ
I like you Dave, you are a man of men
Originally Whatapp'd by Neo
Dave's maybe capable of a drive-by cuddle
Look at my pictures
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Dom
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Registered: 13th Sep 03
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quote:
Originally posted by Daveskater
Out of that list the only one I would go with is Alienware.
wouldn't bother, they last about an hour if that on battery - they are basically pc's in small boxes, pointless. Would stick with a Dell or Sony
another suggestion, Macbook Pro? if you wait a few months i think they get 'refreshed' again so you'll be able to pick up the older (current) model for cheaps 
[Edited on 05-01-2010 by Dom]
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ed
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Registered: 10th Sep 03
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Macbook. Nothing comes close to the build quality of one/
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Simon
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Registered: 24th Apr 03
Location: Oxfordshire
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I would never spend that sort of money on a laptop. Laptops in my opinion are such short lived items its just not worth it unless you have enough money to just chuck about
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Dom
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Registered: 13th Sep 03
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quote:
Originally posted by ed
Macbook. Nothing comes close to the build quality of one/
wouldn't say they were impressive - i had one for a while and it lived in a padded-bag 90% of the time in a drawer, yet the case still managed to crack. Apple didn't want to know either, apart from they wanted £200 odd for a new case 
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ed
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Registered: 10th Sep 03
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The old polycarb ones were still better than anything else available though. The new billet ally ones are fantastically well built. If you compare, say, my £900 Dell XPS M1330 with a £1000 Macbook then you begin to wonder where your money went on the Dell. it's a pile of shit and it's been falling to bits from day one. The manufacturing of it is unacceptably poor and the choice of materials is plain pathetic.
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Daveskater
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Registered: 29th Apr 08
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quote:
Originally posted by ed
it's a pile of shit and it's been falling to bits from day one. The manufacturing of it is unacceptably poor and the choice of materials is plain pathetic.
Dell all over really.
Numberwang!
Originally posted by AlunJ
I like you Dave, you are a man of men
Originally Whatapp'd by Neo
Dave's maybe capable of a drive-by cuddle
Look at my pictures
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ed
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Registered: 10th Sep 03
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IBM Thinkpads are very good actually. In fact, you work for Sony they wont give you a Vaio, you'll be issued with an IBM.
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Dom
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quote:
Originally posted by ed
The old polycarb ones were still better than anything else available though. The new billet ally ones are fantastically well built. If you compare, say, my £900 Dell XPS M1330 with a £1000 Macbook then you begin to wonder where your money went on the Dell. it's a pile of shit and it's been falling to bits from day one. The manufacturing of it is unacceptably poor and the choice of materials is plain pathetic.
See i have a 18month old Dell here (runs OSX as well  ) and it gets chucked about, apart from scratches it's a solid little unit. My Macbook on the other hand, was a white polycarb, lastest about a year before problems starting showing up left, right and centre. The new alu Macbooks(Pro) look lovely, but i know from a few friends that they dent really easily.
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jamied
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Registered: 27th Oct 03
Location: Marbella,Spain Drives: C63
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I would never spend a lot on a laptop anymore. they just arent built to last and pretty much all the top spec ones get way too hot.
I bought a HP gloss black laptop top of the range 3years ago and after 11months of light usage it beeped 3x when u switched it on.
Sent back to Dabs and received a full refund.
I then waited a bit and bought a HP DV9000 series 17" gaming laptop and after only 8months and been kept on a laptop cooler the wireless failed and then a week later the same 3 beeps. Sent this to HP and they said the board cpu an gfx were knackered and so replaced under warranty. Then to cap it all off 2months ago it did the same. I know so many people with HPs that do the same, my mates and dads and mine just to start. I just think of them now as kinda disposable after couple years usage.
Next one I get I am getting from Dell and recommend everybody to always upgrade to the 3 year warranty, with any make or manufacturer!
[Edited on 05-01-2010 by jamied]
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mwg
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Registered: 19th Feb 04
Location: South Lakes
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I had a problem with my Dell just the other week that it wouldn't start up properly that then magically fixed itself.
I think its more to do with Vista which I am finding generally crap and going to try upgrading to Windows 7 before long.
The build quality of my Studio 15 seems fine, had it over a year now, nothing fallen off, doesn't get particularly hot, battery life is ok, very quiet and its not heavy. I got a good spec on it (4GB ram, Blu-ray drive etc.) but I dont think it would be good enough for what you need it for if you are looking at spending 2k. I was originally going to go for a Vaio but for the money the spec wasn't as good.
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ed
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Registered: 10th Sep 03
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quote:
Originally posted by Dom
quote:
Originally posted by ed
The old polycarb ones were still better than anything else available though. The new billet ally ones are fantastically well built. If you compare, say, my £900 Dell XPS M1330 with a £1000 Macbook then you begin to wonder where your money went on the Dell. it's a pile of shit and it's been falling to bits from day one. The manufacturing of it is unacceptably poor and the choice of materials is plain pathetic.
See i have a 18month old Dell here (runs OSX as well ) and it gets chucked about, apart from scratches it's a solid little unit. My Macbook on the other hand, was a white polycarb, lastest about a year before problems starting showing up left, right and centre. The new alu Macbooks(Pro) look lovely, but i know from a few friends that they dent really easily.
Really? My sister's got one so I've compared the two. That's why I was so pissed off with the Dell because they're the same money and I think the Macs better. They must have to be pretty rough on the Mac to dent it, where as I dropped my vernier calipers on the pressed metal part of the keyboard and it put two massive dents in it because it's made out of the same stuff as a takeaway curry tray.
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R Lee
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Registered: 15th Aug 03
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The cost isn't too much of an issue here. I'm prepared to spend my cash on something I want rather than settle for something I don't want.
I've already looked at Macs, but I'm not sure about the gaming side of it?
I've had 2 VAIO's already, and they've been alright, but just getting old now.
ACER are poop IMO, I've had 2 break down on me too.
Dell XPS and Alienware, are essentially the same, aren't they?
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Reecemac
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Registered: 7th Jun 06
Location: Essex
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quote:
Originally posted by ed
Macbook. Nothing comes close to the build quality of one/
Il second this, literally the best laptop iv ever used/owned I have the newest mb pro and its amazing. Also iv scratched it really hard on the edge on a metal chair and scraped it loads and theres not a single mark on it, id really recommend it to anyone and will definitely be getting a mac for my next laptop.
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Reecemac
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Registered: 7th Jun 06
Location: Essex
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For the gaming side you can always install bootcamp and win 7 and use that for games, thats what i do.
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R Lee
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Registered: 15th Aug 03
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Tell me more about bootcamp, please
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Dom
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Registered: 13th Sep 03
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quote:
Originally posted by R Lee
Tell me more about bootcamp, please
allows you to install windows, so you run OSX and Windows side by side, as if you were dual booting on any other system.
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R Lee
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Registered: 15th Aug 03
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Macs still don't come with Blu-ray though 
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Daveskater
Premium Member
Registered: 29th Apr 08
Location: Oxford, UK Drives: Jap wagon
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quote:
Originally posted by jamied
I bought a HP gloss black laptop top of the range 3years ago and after 11months of light usage it beeped 3x when u switched it on.
I then waited a bit and bought a HP DV9000 series 17" gaming laptop and after only 8months ... the same 3 beeps. Sent this to HP and they said the board cpu an gfx were knackered and so replaced under warranty. Then to cap it all off 2months ago it did the same. I know so many people with HPs that do the same, my mates and dads and mine just to start.
quote:
Originally posted by Daveskater
"Off the top of my head, persistent problems with machines
HP: Graphics"
Three beeps from the system speaker at POST means a graphics error on most BIOS's.
Numberwang!
Originally posted by AlunJ
I like you Dave, you are a man of men
Originally Whatapp'd by Neo
Dave's maybe capable of a drive-by cuddle
Look at my pictures
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ed
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Registered: 10th Sep 03
User status: Offline
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quote:
Originally posted by R Lee
Macs still don't come with Blu-ray though
Optical media, thats like sooo last century 
Bit of a problem though if it's your primary computer...
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Kurt
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Registered: 23rd Oct 05
Location: Hi
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my acer has never really gone wrong.. its an aspire 5610 and i added more ram.. only problem i get is that it overheats and shuts off occasionally.. when using really greedy programs.. it is like 5 years old or so now though
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