Another Laptop thread/opinion

[Batch]

OK, fat arse here stood on his laptop and smashed it's lovely WUXGA screen. Beleive it or not it was a genuine accident before anyone asks

Insurance will pay out up to £500 rather than repair (?!), but only in PC/World/Curries vouchers (sob)

So looking on their site, opinions on this. I guess I can live without :

Anyway £499.98:

Acer Aspire 5735-644 15.6" Laptop
    *  Intel Core 2 Duo processor T5800
    * (2.0 GHz, 800 MHz FSB, 2MB Cache)
    * Windows Vista Home Premium
    * 4GB memory
    * 500 GB Hard Drive
    * Built-in webcam
    * DVD RW SuperMulti Double Layer
    * 15.6" Screen
    * Mobile Intel GM45 Express Graphics Card
    * 3 USB Connections

OR £499.99
TOSHIBA L300-20F Laptop
    *  Intel Pentium Dual Core Processor T3400
    * (2.16 GHz, 667 MHz, L2 1MB Cache)
    * Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium Ope
    * 3GB mb Memory Size
    * 320 Gb Hard Drive Capacity
    * DVD-SuperMulti Dual Layer Optical Drives
    * 17" TFT WXGA TruBrite Screen Size/Type
    * Mobile Intel GMA 4500M Graphics Card
    * 1340 mb Graphics Memory
    * Intergrated Stereo Sound Type

   Also does anyone know if my Dell Inspiron 8600 will take a lower resolution screen, or is it BIOS locked to a 1920x1200 WUXGA. I may repair it for cheap if it will.

[Samdy Gray]

Hmm, the Acer seems slightly better spec but the Tosh has a bigger screen.

If it were me, I'd go with the Tosh.

[Nemo]

I'd go with the Toshiba also, but only because I think the build quality would be better. Specs wise they're pretty similar. I'm amazed what you can get for 500 quid now.

[Batch]

Thanks.

I haven't looked at the HP and Hewlett Packards they have as I always regarded them as a bit turd. Is that too much of a sweeping generalisation?

[Samdy Gray]

I haven't looked at the HP and Hewlett Packards they have as I always regarded them as a bit turd. Is that too much of a sweeping generalisation?

Err... HP is Hewlett Packard.

[Batch]

Err... HP is Hewlett Packard.
[/quote

DOH! I meant Packard Bell.

[Barry Scott]

I've had an HP and it was probably my favourite laptop, completely faultless. The old man has 2 of them and they're the same.

I've also owned 2 Acers over the years and i've always liked them because they're great value and no worse than say a Dell...

I'd go with the Acer because it's a higher spec and a 17" screen makes for a large laptop. I personally won't use anything over 14" though, so am slightly biased.

[Samdy Gray]

And you can't quote either.

Bad day, Batch?

[Batch]

And you can't quote either.

Bad day, Batch?

Yes,

or should that be

And you can't quote either.

Bad day, Batch?

yes

[jayohaitchenn]

Acer support is pretty good as well. Last time I had to call them I told the guy what the problem was, he accepted my analysis straight away and sent out the parts for me to repair it.

[land_of_bo]

Avoid Acer.

We've had loads of Acer laptops at work and they always go wrong after about 18 - 24 months.

Toshiba are always pretty solid, as are HP. See if you can get a Sony - I know before xmas PC Wank were doing a very good Sony for £499

[jayohaitchenn]

If you do go with Toshiba, make sure you keep the driver CD's. Their website is fucking wank.

[Barry Scott]

Avoid Acer.

We've had loads of Acer laptops at work and they always go wrong after about 18 - 24 months.

Toshiba are always pretty solid, as are HP. See if you can get a Sony - I know before xmas PC Wank were doing a very good Sony for £499

I wanted that Sony, but a friend explained that the outgoing models were strangely unreliable, so baring in mind Vista was going straight in the bin i didn't want to start having warranty/repair issues with a laptop full of cracked software. I love Sony though, i use one now and it's about 3 or 4 years old, and it's never skipped a beat.

[Simon Pieman]

I'd get the Acer as it will be faster.

[Peter Venkman]

As Si the Pie says......the Acer is a good 10-15% faster than the Tosh, bigger hard drive, more memory, yes it has a slower processor in Ghz speed but has a better FSB throughput so it will perform better.