laptop . Gurus please recommend !!!

vjvjvjvj

Hi I want to buy a new lap top . I really need your feedback as I am a confused lad on this. I want to have a laptop which i will be using for development studies (dot net , db etc), Internet surfing, watching movies, DVD , music etc. So my requirement is for studies as well as entertainment also. So I am planning to go for 17 inch. I thought studio 17 from dell will be a good option but somebody told me that dell is poor in offering support and he faced lot of problem with dell lap top. But dell has come with lot of interesting offers online. For studio 17 i did not find dvd writer on it. but online advt says it has one. I went to pc shops and found HP models very slick but mouse pad was not good it was all glossy dell one was good rougher surface and it was easy . Not sure about Acer brand how good their laptops are in durability , performance etc. There is new technology also blue ray. good for watching blue ray dvds. Is there any difference between AMD and intel processor performance? My basic need is 3gb, @200 gb HD, 15-17 inch display, HP blue ray will be very expensive. I have around $1100 budget. I am not much into gaming may be occassionaly. I would like to have good sound quality. How is sony models? what impact t will have to have 17inch or should i go 15 inch. Which one do you recommend for my confused case? Should I buy online? direct from company site or from ebay or something or from shop? what are your recommendation. I am 50% studious and 50% entertainment buff so suggest accordingly. regards Vj

Dan Neely

vjvjvjvj wrote:

For studio 17 i did not find dvd writer on it. but online advt says it has one.

Did you go into the configure your own section or just look at the preconfigured sample machines list?

vjvjvjvj wrote:

Not sure about Acer brand how good their laptops are in durability , performance etc.

budget hardware. budget build quality. Fine if you mostly leave it sitting on your desk, but I'd prefer a slighly slower machine from a major brand if I was going to be carting it all over the place.

vjvjvjvj wrote:

Is there any difference between AMD and intel processor performance?

Intels somewhat faster with marginally better power consumption. I wouldn't worry about it too much though, either is fast enough.

vjvjvjvj wrote:

HP blue ray will be very expensive. I have around $1100 budget.

Skip blu ray then. It's currently priced at revenue enhancement rates. Unless you absolutely need to have BR now, wait another year or two until you can pop a cheap drive in as an upgrade.

vjvjvjvj wrote:

I would like to have good sound quality.

Onboard audio's gotten good enough that unless you've got expensive speakers attached you don't need anything else. Integrated laptop speakers are universally crap so budget for something external.

vjvjvjvj wrote:

I am not much into gaming may be occassionaly.

Consider a GF 8400//9300/9400 card. Intel sucks big time for gaming, but higher powered GPUs eat into battery life so a 9600 is probably overkill.

vjvjvjvj wrote:

How is sony models?

Sony is scum. Thier laptops are grotesquely overpriced. <blockquote class="FQ"><div class="FQA">vjvjvjvj wrote:</div>what impact t will have to have 17inch or should i go 15 inch.</blockquote> 17" laptops will be a pound or three heavier. Most of the people I know with 17" laptops regret the purchase and wish they got something smaller.

vjvjvjvj wrote:

Should I buy online? direct from company site or from ebay or something or from shop? what are your recommendation.

Retail will be almost universally glare

Christian Graus

Buy a macbook pro and use bootcamp to create a stable XP partition. Never use a bootcamp virtual machine directly, those things die like flys. But, once you have it set up right, it's a great machine.

Christian Graus Driven to the arms of OSX by Vista.

leppie

Christian Graus wrote:

those things die like flys

The flies here struggle to die!

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Snowman58

If you are going to travel with it, you may want the 15". All the 17"'s I have seen are heavy and marginal in terms of reliability (the bigger screens are easier to damage.) If you have to make a trade, go for more memory & slightly slower CPU. In side by side performance of most tasks, I have found a single CPU with a higher clock speed to be better than a dual CPU with a lower clock speed. OS = XP Pro SR3. That will depend on what you do of course.