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  1. Member
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    I need a good laptop for when I go university, however, I can't find a good one, as there are a lack of reviews/description of them. I was thinking about getting a Dell, but everyone I know who has a Dell has bad luck with them. I am looking for a Laptop under the £500 region, 160GB+ Hard Drive, Multi Drive, Intel Core 2 Duo (2GHz), 2GB+ RAM, a good graphics card for playing most of the games today and a decent battery life (3hours+).

    I came across the ASUS F3E AP259C - But I read that the touch pad and keyboard were bad.

    I then came across the Acer TravelMate 5720G-302G16Mi - But I also read the battery life is bad, but no one says how long it actually lasts although the manufacturer says its up to 3 hours.
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  2. Member Safesurfer's Avatar
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    "Just another sheep boy, duck call, swan
    song, idiot son of donkey kong - Julian Cope"
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  3. Member
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    Nitro89

    Battery life is a black art as it depends on the power saving options you set and what you are actually doing at the time.
    Mine for example will run for 6 hours (max battery life settings) waiting for me to start work in Word but will only last an hour or so if I'm creating a DVD or less if I'm burning/validating.

    The only way to find out for sure is to buy one, charge it and use it until it dies - then you know how long it will last for you doing your thing.

    You could do worse that look at what's available in PCWorld (avoid the salespeople) and find a few you like the look of and (more important) feel of (since you will be working on it). Then look on the net for cheaper prices
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  4. Member
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    You get what you pay for. A cheap laptop might last 6 months. All the major companies make good and cheap models. I like the real IBM's. Titanium hinges! You can get a deal on one at: http://www.seattlelaptop.com/
    They have factory refurbs at a good price.

    Most laptops have never had a spare part made for them. Parts are proprietary which is always a problem. Parts are really expensive. Hard drives go out a lot due to being moved around. Backup. Good luck.
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  5. Member edDV's Avatar
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    Low-Mid end Core2Duo laptops work fine for most tasks -- except games.

    When you spec a laptop capable of adequate game play, you triple the price, increase weight and lower battery life.

    Alternate strategy, buy a low end laptop for portability and build an upgradable Shuttlebox for games.
    Recommends: Kiva.org - Loans that change lives.
    http://www.kiva.org/about
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  6. Member
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    Would you recommend a Dell laptop?

    Is Acer and Asus a good brand?
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  7. Originally Posted by Nitro89
    Would you recommend a Dell laptop?
    I only buy Dell Latitudes (last one was a 830)
    tgpo famous MAC commercial, You be the judge?
    Originally Posted by jagabo
    I use the FixEverythingThat'sWrongWithThisVideo() filter. Works perfectly every time.
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  8. Sony & Thinkpad

    They rarely come in for repair, excluding hard drives, for things that break on other brands such as HP, Compaq,Dell, Toshiba, Gateway (E-Machine) and so on.

    These other brands are always coming in for Broken hinges, Bad Mobos, Bad power connectors, etc. Mostly power connectors broken free from the Mobo or Clogged Heat sinks or both. Rarely hardwareon Sony's or thinkpads beyond the hard drive gone bad.

    You do get what you pay for. Around here Thinkpads and Sony's seem to hold their resale value better too.
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  9. Member
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    The battery life on some of the Sony VGN series is quite bad, 1.9 hours?

    What about brands like Samsung (always reliable) and Fujitsu Siemens known for their great motherboards?
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  10. Member
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    Stay away from Toshiba! The only two new ones friends bought would not even last an hour on a battery charge -without any game played.

    My el-cheepo Compaq CT700 lasts a solid 2+45, but again without any game play.
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  11. IMHO Sony makes some of the better ultralight laptops. Spare batteries for longer battery life for any brand.

    Dell for example often ships the smaller capacity battery for their economy laptops. Batteries with more capacity are available.

    Simple test find out the weight of a proposed laptop w/Necessary acessories such as you would need during the day, charger, extra battery, etc.. Then find something that weight and size. Library book for example, then borrow someones laptop bag and carry it around for a day or two. See if you really want to cart that around every day.

    Notice that the lower the cost the more the weight.
    You may then decide a ultralight laptop is for you or after a couple of days of that you may decide this weight and size is OK.

    We had a laptop in for repair this year that had a humongous screen 20+ inches, Dual hard drives that could be striped ot mirrored etc. It weighed as much as a desktop computer. Nothing you'd want to carry.

    Once you decide how much weight and bulk you can handle daily weigh your options.

    You could also go with Alienware if you really want to game on a laptop. I never liked their support however.
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  12. Member
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    I sadly don't have enough money for a Sony Laptop, I need one at a good price range with good specs, my bank is offering me £100 on any Asus Laptop priced between £500-£800. I did some research on Asus and discovered that they make high end parts for Sony, Apple etc. They sound like a decent brand. Although, I can't find any reviews on any of their laptops. For me, its got to be between an Acer Laptop and Asus laptop, if anyone has owned a laptop by them, please give me some feedback on them please.

    Or what laptop would you recommend on my price range <£500

    (I have checked a lot of review sites)
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  13. If you need warranty service which is easier to get serviced locally? That is a key question you should be thinking about.
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  14. Acer desktops are ok. You need to decide whether you want a truly portable machine or a desktop replacement. I wouldn't get too transfixed with £100 sovs off , as acer will have jacked up their prices in anticipation of this. Second hand lappy could be your saviour. Try sterlingxs.co.uk or micromart magazine.
    I own stelingxs so I stand to make cazillions from that rec.
    Corned beef is now made to a higher standard than at any time in history.
    The electronic components of the power part adopted a lot of Rubycons.
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  15. Member
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    I thought I'd give you guys a heads up on where I am now, I defo need a NEW laptop due to bad experiences with second hand machines in the past.

    I have a choice between two great machines, the:
    - Asus M51SE-AP089C
    - HP Pavillion DV6920 EA


    The Asus M51SE-AP089C will cost me £599.99 (With my student discount).
    It features:
    * 2.1 GHz Core 2 Duo Processor
    * 3072 MB DDR2 Memory
    * 320GB (5400rpm) Serial ATA Hard Disk Drive
    * ATI Radeon HD3470
    * Vista Home Premium


    The HP Pavillion DV6920 EA costs £599.99 at PC World
    * Intel Core 2 Duo Processor T5750
    * (2 Ghz, 667 Mhz, 2 MB Cache)
    * Genuine Windows Vista (R) Home Premium
    * 3 GB Memory
    * 250 GB Hard disk drive
    * Blu-ray DVD combo drive
    * 15.4" widescreen display
    * Ethernet & Wireless networking
    * Webcam with integrated microphone
    * nVidia GeForce 8400M GS graphics


    I am kind of leaning towards the Asus because its got everything apart from the Blu-Ray drive and its not from PC World (I cannot trust them anymore), however, the HP has a slightly better graphics card which I could get a lot of use of when playing games altougth both cards are similar. Specs-wise, Asus wins, but is it worth having a Blu-ray drive for that price?
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  16. If you buy the HP or the ASUS make sure you can extend the warranty through the manufacturer ---> HP can do that for sure, ASUS I don't know.

    ASUS = What processor vs HP T5750
    ASUS 320Gb vs HP 250gb
    ASUS Burner? vs HP Blu-ray DVD combo drive (Burner?)
    Screen size on either?
    Weight, heavy can be a killer when carrying the laptop around.
    Battery life and cost of spare battery.
    Who provides warranty service if needed.
    To a certain extent how do they look.


    It comes down to whether or not you think you'd want to watch BD discs.
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  17. Member
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    Asus:
    - Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo (T8100) 2.1GHz 3072KB (L2 Cache)
    - DVD Super Multi Double Layer with Lightscribe
    - Screen Size: 15.4ins TFT (Colour Shine) WXGA Colours
    - Weight: 2.96kg
    - Battery: (6Cells) 4800mAH
    - Full 2 Year Warranty
    - A replacement battery costs around £40
    - Asus looks nicest
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