[RESOLVED] In the market for a new laptop...

[gep13]

I am thinking about buying a new laptop, and I am looking for some suggestions.

I don't do an excess amount of gaming, so not looking for an over the top gaming rig, mainly just for running Visual Studio, and giving presentations etc.

Budget between £500-£1000.

Thanks in advance!

Gary

[baja_yu]

What size? 13", 15", 17"?

[dilettante]

More General PC here.

[gep13]

probably a 17"

Ah, maybe you are right, perhaps the wrong forum.

[dilettante]

The screen size is a tradeoff. Bigger is less portable but it may also mean a larger and easier to use keyboard.

I found that a 17" laptop gets to be a boat anchor when traveling and they don't work well from airline seats. Maybe you ought to borrow a few sizes, even just for 30 minutes.

BTW: I love the backlit keyboard on mine. Watch out for speakers so bad they're intolerable for even casual use.

[baja_yu]

Yep. I've got a 17" MSI, full keyboard (with numeric keypad), but it's heavy as hell.

[gep13]

ah, good point.

what laptop have you got using dilettante?

[dilettante]

Nothing you'd probably be interested in. It's a Toshiba with a 15" diagonal screen and an Intel dual-core processor that I chose because it has a 3 year factory warranty and 5 hour battery.

I got tired of having other laptops die of "known problems" that could not be corrected because I was "gosh, just out of warranty." Longer warranties mean more conservative design, i.e. fewer unproven parts.

[DeanMc]

Personally I have a Toshiba Satellite L450D;

It's got an AMD Processer windows 7 and does the job.

[si_the_geek]

Thread moved from 'General Developer' forum to 'General PC' forum.

[gep13]

Thanks for moving the thread si, in hindsight, this would have been the better forum to post in, apologies!

Gary

[gep13]

Nothing you'd probably be interested in. It's a Toshiba with a 15" diagonal screen and an Intel dual-core processor that I chose because it has a 3 year factory warranty and 5 hour battery.

I got tired of having other laptops die of "known problems" that could not be corrected because I was "gosh, just out of warranty." Longer warranties mean more conservative design, i.e. fewer unproven parts.

I know what you mean, too many times I have had something break just as the warranty runs out.

Just picked up "What Laptop", so going to have a read through that and I see if anything jumps out. Looks like the Mac Book Pro is at the top of their list though, but not sure I am up for that jump!!

[gep13]

Personally I have a Toshiba Satellite L450D;

It's got an AMD Processer windows 7 and does the job.

Dean, are you happily running Visual Studio off this? Is it quite slow?

[DeanMc]

Nope, Ive got VS2010, PS and Expression Suite running fine. I also run VS and Blend together with no issues. Cracking little laptop for under €500

[DeanMc]

Heres the rating

[DeanMc]

And this is the one

http://uk.computers.toshiba-europe.c...eries/1075520/

[gep13]

Noice!! Thanks for the info, will take a look in the morning!

Gary

[Max Peck]

Gep,

I bought an Inspiron 1545 last November. I use it for everything including all my finances and primarily for software development with VS2008 / SQL2008. An excellent machine. 15.6" widescreen, plenty of horsepower and hard drive space. Has had no issues. I use the thing constantly and carry it with me all the time.

http://www.dell.com/content/products...en&s=dhs&cs=19

Also, FWIW ... here's the system performance: (I'm running Win7 Ultimate)



-Max

[DeanMc]

I love dells too thats what the missus has, of course it goes without saying that no matter what laptop you buy but a clean install on it for best performance!

[Max Peck]

I love dells too thats what the missus has, of course it goes without saying that no matter what laptop you buy but a clean install on it for best performance!

I was pleased enough with the performance of my 1545 that I bought one for my wife a couple of months ago as well. They're just solid machines. Seldom (if ever) have any problems with 'em.

-Max

[gep13]

See, I keep coming back to Dell's, but just wasn't sure for my own machine. I have recommended Dell's in the past to a few family members, mainly because they are good at what they do, and they won't be using the laptops for anything other than browsing the web.

Will have a look at the Dell website as well, see what catches my eye.

Thanks for all the info guys, much appreciated!!

Gary

[dbasnett]

I am on my third Dell Refurb laptop, and all seems well. On the previous one I had a column of pixels go out and they came to my house and fixed it.

[gep13]

I am on my third Dell Refurb laptop, and all seems well. On the previous one I had a column of pixels go out and they came to my house and fixed it.

Woah! Now that is service.

I have just found out that my work does an Employee discount scheme with Dell, so it is looking more and more like I am going that route.

Thinking the Dell Studio 15.

Gary

[Max Peck]

Woah! Now that is service.

I have just found out that my work does an Employee discount scheme with Dell, so it is looking more and more like I am going that route.

Thinking the Dell Studio 15.

Gary

You won't go wrong with that.

-Max

[JuggaloBrotha]

Just my 2 cents (I haven't read the entire thread). I find that while NetBooks are the easiest to carry (sorry no slate/mobile devices for me, I have to have a keyboard unless all I ever do is make phone calls) I find the keys are rather small and the screen gets to be hard to read.

Currently I have an Insprion 1525, which gives me the keyboard that I like and the screen is of a decent size (17" screen gets to be too big and 14" is a little small, but tolerable) and I carry a usb keypad since I dont use the keypad/numberpad very often I dont mind plugging mine in when needed. The insprion isn't too heavy either, I was able to wander around Chicago, IL for 4 or 5 hours carrying it the whole time (probably walked a good 3 miles) and it wasn't that big of a deal either, though by the end I was a little sore but then again who carrys around a full sized laptop for more than 10 to 20 mins at a time? Not many.

[dbasnett]

If you go the refurb route make sure you upgrade the warranty / service.

http://www.dell.com/us/en/dfh/notebo...55&s=dfh&cs=22

I just got a Studio 1745, 4GB, 2 [email protected]. My on-site warranty expires in June of 2012.

[gep13]

You won't go wrong with that.

-Max

I was hoping someone would say that

Just my 2 cents (I haven't read the entire thread). I find that while NetBooks are the easiest to carry (sorry no slate/mobile devices for me, I have to have a keyboard unless all I ever do is make phone calls) I find the keys are rather small and the screen gets to be hard to read.

Currently I have an Insprion 1525, which gives me the keyboard that I like and the screen is of a decent size (17" screen gets to be too big and 14" is a little small, but tolerable) and I carry a usb keypad since I dont use the keypad/numberpad very often I dont mind plugging mine in when needed. The insprion isn't too heavy either, I was able to wander around Chicago, IL for 4 or 5 hours carrying it the whole time (probably walked a good 3 miles) and it wasn't that big of a deal either, though by the end I was a little sore but then again who carrys around a full sized laptop for more than 10 to 20 mins at a time? Not many.

Agreed. Wasn't planning on going the Netbook route. From time to time, I will be firing up Visual Studio, and don't really fancy doing this on a Netbook screen.

If you go the refurb route make sure you upgrade the warranty / service.

http://www.dell.com/us/en/dfh/notebo...55&s=dfh&cs=22

I just got a Studio 1745, 4GB, 2 [email protected]. My on-site warranty expires in June of 2012.

I will look into this. I am assuming Dell in the UK will have the equivalent.

[Siddharth Rout]

I would subtly recommend Sony Vaio...

[gep13]

I would subtly recommend Sony Vaio...

Really? I had always heard that you didn't get your money's worth with Sony. You were always paying for the brand, and you could get a better specc'ed laptop elsewhere for the same money.

[Siddharth Rout]

I am using one... And I have no complaints...

[gep13]

Cool.

Do you mind saying which model?

Gary

[Siddharth Rout]

Gep: At the bottom of my signature you will see the model that I am using. That model is no longer manufactured but you can have a look at this Sony site...

This is the Indian Website. I am sure you have a website for your continent as well...

http://www.sony.co.in/productcategory/vaio-laptop

[gep13]

Doh!! Totally missed your sig sid, sorry about that.

Thank you for the info. That is an interesting set up that you have there!! Do you find this easier than say using virtualization? Or have you not played with that?

Gary

[Siddharth Rout]

No I haven't played with virtualization yet. I am happy with the triple boot option Maybe someday... I will check it out...

[baja_yu]

After trying VirtualBox, I am definitelly never going back to multi-boot systems. In my opinion there are only two advanteges of multi-boot. One, it uses less resources, as you only run one system at a time, and two, if you seriously mess up (damage) one system, you could still boot into the other.

Now having said that, the advantages of virtualization (maybe not all), convenience, as you don't have to log out of one OS to use the other, you can work simultaneously (if your hardware can take it), they don't require you to create separate partitions. They take less space, with multiboot you have to create multiple partitions and that space is gone, with VirtualBox you can for example allocate 20GB for a VM but it uses it dinamically, so it wont take the entire 20GB but just as much it needs. They are easier to back up and restore etc...

[gep13]

I was speaking to a friend of mine who was saying that he now uses Windows Server 2008 as his base OS, and he runs up lots of different virtual machines using Hyper-V.

[JuggaloBrotha]

I was speaking to a friend of mine who was saying that he now uses Windows Server 2008 as his base OS, and he runs up lots of different virtual machines using Hyper-V.

I've got a friend who does that too. The Server 2008 machine (since it's always running) takes care of autobacking up the data in the VM's for him too. I think he's got 2 Win7, an XP and a couple of Linux VM's he can spin up. He primarily uses one of the Win7 VM's as his "desktop".

[gep13]

I've got a friend who does that too. The Server 2008 machine (since it's always running) takes care of autobacking up the data in the VM's for him too. I think he's got 2 Win7, an XP and a couple of Linux VM's he can spin up. He primarily uses one of the Win7 VM's as his "desktop".

Exactly, this to me is an ideal setup. Screw around as much as you like on a your "desktop" which is a VM, and if/when something goes wrong, revert to previous version, or spin up new version. Leaves the host OS completely in tact.

Gary

[Siddharth Rout]

... In my opinion there are only two advanteges of multi-boot. One, it uses less resources, as you only run one system at a time, and two, if you seriously mess up (damage) one system, you could still boot into the other....

These are good enough reasons for me

[DeanMc]

Meh, I tried that and to be honest I don't install enough cwap ware to deal with the hassle, in the end I stuck with one version.