another new laptop thread

[Kinky Tom]

so it's that time again, my laptop is looking a bit shabby, the screen is barely attached anymore - i'm using a really old ibm shell as a sort of cradle for it.  it's been brought back to life a couple of times and is now running quite slow, it is 4 years old now so it has had a fair run.

budget is up to 400 so nothing really fancy (maybe slightly higher at a push) i've found this one on dabs and seems to me to be good spec for the budget:

http://www.dabs.com/products/acer-aspire-5742-i5-480m-3gb-320gb-15-6-hd-w7hp-7GV7.html?refs=431420000-435890000

any thoughts?  other suggestions?

thanks folks!

[stfcinbmth]

Just for Info

http://smidgenpc.com/2010/05/07/laptop-reliability-ratings-which-laptop-is-really-most-reliable/

[Kinky Tom]

so maybe this:

http://www.okobe.co.uk/ws/product/ASUS+P52F+SO121X+CI5480M+2.66G+320GB+4GB+15.6IN+DVD+RW+W7P+EN/1000049884?ref=1q4bs

?

[stfcinbmth]

Win 7 Pro as well   and 8gb of ram. Wouldn't mind that one myself  

4gb ram installed, upgradable to 8 oooops

I'm sure you'll get a few more ideas tonight from some of the other regulars

[Kinky Tom]

it has only got 4 gb installed but will fit 8

what are the benefits of pro over home premium?  not used 7 at all yet so no idea...

[stfcinbmth]

http://www.neowin.net/images/uploaded/win71.PNG

[Kinky Tom]

so none really?

[Kinky Tom]

also just found that the cheapest i can get the asus for is 435, is it worth an extra £35 for the extra gb of memory and pro instead of home premium?

[stfcinbmth]

Laptops Direct or Save on Laptops?

[stfcinbmth]

I'd certainly go for the Asus over Acer. If you get it from Laptops Direct you can sign up for a Quidco account link through their site and get 2% cash back. That also applies to a lot of other online retailers inc Dabs. Use it a lot myself

[Saxondale]

I think the last new laptop thread was started by me.  The reason I needed a new laptop was that for the second time in a year the screen had broken on my acer aspire.  Im not saying you wont have a good experience and manage to get a decent quality one, but I had a very bad experience with acer.

[jonny72]

so none really?

Differences between the editions are listed here; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_7_editions.

Unless there is something specific you need on a higher edition, I wouldn't worry about it.

HP seem to have a permanent cash back offer, some details here but shop around;

http://www.laptopsdirect.co.uk/HP_Cashback_Offer/page.asp

Not that I'd recommend HP though, I set a couple of for a customer recently and the keyboard was terrible. Depends on what you want it for though and what you're used to - I never buy a laptop without checking the keyboard out as I only use laptops and can't stand a shit keyboard.

[stfcinbmth]

Hard to test the keyboard tho if you want the savings involved in buying online tho jonny. As you probably use yours for work it might not be a priority to Tom

[Kinky Tom]

nah, it's for movies, music, football manager, browsing, downloading, nothing major at all really

[stfcinbmth]

So basically Tom, you pay your money and take your chance. I'd definitely sort out a Quidco account tho, great if you buy a lot of stuff online