TFMF Posted May 20, 2007 Share Posted May 20, 2007 My laptop started smoking :( It was damned scary, but i hope i haven't lost all the data :( Time for a new laptop, i think. I bought my previous laptop 3 years ago and it was mainly for gaming. However, now that i have a gaming PC, i'd rather get a laptop that could handle lots of internet/work related tasks (such as Word/Spreadsheets/other such applications) quickly - that sort of thing. Any suggestions? Price range...well i'm not too sure, Bellow £700, perhaps? Thanks for any help! :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Megalith Posted May 20, 2007 Share Posted May 20, 2007 Laptops are designed for occasional usage tbh lol there are some very nice laptops under £700 and they come with vista premium nowadays. If you need a machine for regular usage then i would get a pc instead dude. is the laptop toast? it might be fixable, if it can be fixed keep it for occasional use and yep get a pc for the demanding admin responsibilities :P Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TFMF Posted May 20, 2007 Author Share Posted May 20, 2007 Hmmm...i'd prefer a laptop...but i suppose a computer would be better if laptop's aren't designed for lots of use... And i do not want Vista. ;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Megalith Posted May 20, 2007 Share Posted May 20, 2007 lol i understand not wanting vista(i would sooner eat my right arm than get it also lol), you would save £100 getting the machine with no OS btw. however it is a good guide for getting a laptop/PC some come with Vista Basic and yeah avoid such a machine. How bad is it damaged? i've fixed a few laptops over the years and it might only cost £50 to get it repaired. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TFMF Posted May 20, 2007 Author Share Posted May 20, 2007 Getting it without an OS might be an option actually. To be honest, although it wasn't smoking all that badly, i would like a completely new machine. I made some mistakes in buying this one and it's deffinitely showing its age (i'm surprised somthing like this hasn't happened before - it had major cooling issues) Like i said, the old laptop was meant for gaming, but it's useless at that now. And it's not very good at the 'work' thing either. I need somthing new. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hilander72 Posted May 20, 2007 Share Posted May 20, 2007 My "new" PC is mostly used for the CPU demanding stuff (encoding, games). The "old" one is on 24/7 (running silently, casefan only) witch I use for the stuff I'm doing right now (browsing) and a few other thing (;)). If you intend to use the laptop ALOT, then you should consider one that doesn't get hot (=Low Power Usage). (=low performance CPU, not to much RAM, small HD, simple Graphics card, etc...) One additional advantage with a low power model is battery time... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Megalith Posted May 20, 2007 Share Posted May 20, 2007 My "new" PC is mostly used for the CPU demanding stuff (encoding, games). The "old" one is on 24/7 (running silently, casefan only) witch I use for the stuff I'm doing right now (browsing) and a few other thing (;)). If you intend to use the laptop ALOT, then you should consider one that doesn't get hot (=Low Power Usage). (=low performance CPU, not to much RAM, small HD, simple Graphics card, etc...) One additional advantage with a low power model is battery time... Yeah this is exactly right, the newer laptops not only are more efficient but they do have great stats and a price tag in the region you are looking for. Laptops when all is said and done are designed to run from a battery and occasional psu use. It also still is the case that pound for pound you get better value with a pc. as to where to get the pc/laptop from tbh these days it doesn't really matter. As Hilander says look for efficiency (new equipment has a rating nowadays (in the UK) ) if you do plan to get a laptop. You can also get Laptop cooling stations (essentially its a load of fans that you stick the laptop on(seen these in pc world for about 50 quid). something like this would be useful if you want to prolong the life of the laptop. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TetsuoShima Posted May 20, 2007 Share Posted May 20, 2007 LOL, indeed, considering you have a P4 in your laptop, I'm surprised it lasted this long with your usage pattern. ;D If you get a new one, make sure you get one with an Intel Core generation processor. If you don't plan on doing any 'real' gaming, get one that has an onboard/onchipset videocard. Sure, they suck in general, but the consume less power (= less heat, longer battery life) and you wouldn't be using most of the dedicated graphics anyway. You don't need a high end processor in a laptop, if you only plan on using it for 'standard office work'. If you want to be able to easy carry it along, get one that has a smaller screen size (though less comfortable to work with for longer times). It all depends on how you intend to use it really. Make sure you get a good battery and a large hard disk. For XP 1GB of RAM and Vista 2GB. In my experience it's best to combine Intel processors with Intel chipsets. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
QUEENSPOCK Posted May 20, 2007 Share Posted May 20, 2007 It is because of all the stuff you download it is copyright getting its own back anyhow my laptop is really good like it is always cool etc and it wasn't expensive and it has windows XP on it however like it does like games very much :p anyhow the link i pmed you go for a dell i mean 3 years technical help etc so if it breaks or anything happens they will give you a new one plus you can customise it well under 700 pounds and the still come with windows xp Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ulysses Posted May 20, 2007 Share Posted May 20, 2007 I have had Dells before and they have been quite reliable and good after sales service, the last one i bought I had to pay 50 quid delivery but coz they didnt deliver on the agreed day I had the 50 quid refunded without any hassle (I did tell them I lost a day at work to wait for it). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
QUEENSPOCK Posted May 20, 2007 Share Posted May 20, 2007 well they where really nice on the phone gave a free video card Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bones2097 Posted May 20, 2007 Share Posted May 20, 2007 dude! mines almost 3 yrs old ::) but i'm surprised with mine its a p4 3gig & a cheapy acer btw... anyway T, cause your a mate & if you can spare an extra £50.. get this cause this is what i'm gona get next in a few months time.... by now you should have realized you want a machine with a good battery life... http://www.pcworld.co.uk/martprd/store/pcw_page.jsp?BV_SessionID=@@@@0027888474.1179662313@@@@&BV_EngineID=cccfaddkmemligkcflgceggdhhmdfhk.0&page=Product&fm=null&sm=null&tm=null&sku=219392&category_oid=-27757 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gamer98 Posted May 20, 2007 Share Posted May 20, 2007 Good Battery life is great but you have to think also how many times than not you are going to be by an outlet. I thought battery life was a must too cause I was going to be in class but I found very fast unless I am out in a park outlets are everywhere lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TFMF Posted May 20, 2007 Author Share Posted May 20, 2007 LOL' date=' indeed, considering you have a P4 in your laptop, I'm surprised it lasted this long with your usage pattern.[/quote'] So true! :D And yep, on board graphics is somthing i'd consider. How would it be for playing videos? It is because of all the stuff you download it is copyright getting its own back I should ban you just for the comment. dude! mines almost 3 yrs old Mine's 3 and a half - you haven't got long left to live :P But thanks for that link - i'd actually day that that laptop would be perfect were it not for Vista and the DVD writer (These are things i don't need and could cut down the cost a bit) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Megalith Posted May 20, 2007 Share Posted May 20, 2007 dvd writers are standard on laptops nowadays dude. its probably more expensive for a cd player. :P but yeah get it with no software on it and it would save some. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TetsuoShima Posted May 20, 2007 Share Posted May 20, 2007 The one in the link is a 12.1" screen, most likely 1280x800/768 resolution, I can pretty much guarantee you, that you don't want to be working on that laptop for long periods of time in a stretch. Your eyes will pretty much die on you. ;D Short periods of time is ok though and it also makes carrying it much easier. What you do have is that once you go below 14" screensize, price actually goes up again! I can recommend Toshiba as a laptop brand, but the good laptops aren't the cheapest of course. Video will play just fine on on-chip graphics, only thing that will not play fine is HD resolution h.264 and HD resolution VC1 and comparable. If you play normal resolution (640x480) or in that neighbourhood, video will be just fine even with those advanced codecs. More simple codecs will play HD resolution just fine too. I would go with a core 2 duo (if it fits in the budget) along with an intel integrated graphics chip and a 14" screen plus 1GB RAM, big hard disk and good battery, so you can at least watch a few videos without having to plug it in. If you're going to college next year, you'll be happy you took a big hard disk and a good battery (depends on the local situation of course). I can't actually give you links, since I'd simply be pulling them of google myself (since we live in different countries), you may as well do that yourself, eh! ;D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gamer98 Posted May 20, 2007 Share Posted May 20, 2007 I can recommend Toshiba as a laptop brand, but the good laptops aren't the cheapest of course. I can also recommend them, I have one and I am glad I went with it has been working great for almost a year with no problems. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bones2097 Posted May 20, 2007 Share Posted May 20, 2007 ahh i don't care if its a small screen :P cus it would be a welcome change from lugging my 3kg laptop.. + book & an umbrella (<--- a must in the UK it only stopped raining yesterday...lol).... my back!!!!! k wot bout these cheap & cheerful........... http://www.dabs.com/productview.aspx?Quicklinx=4BL8&CategorySelectedId=11105&PageMode=1&NavigationKey=11105,389130000 http://www.dabs.com/productview.aspx?Quicklinx=4FW6&CategorySelectedId=11105&PageMode=1&NavigationKey=11105,389130000 http://www.dabs.com/productview.aspx?Quicklinx=4BLL&CategorySelectedId=11105&PageMode=1&NavigationKey=11105,388230000#specifications this one seems good.. HP-1.8Ghz CD2, & XP Pro!!! & 4.8Hrs batt!!! http://www.dabs.com/productview.aspx?Quicklinx=4FMX&CategorySelectedId=11105&PageMode=1&NavigationKey=11105,388230000 *edit* btw regaurding your data.. it should be fine... just buy a 2.5" hdd enclosure & put your hdd in it... job done! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Megalith Posted May 20, 2007 Share Posted May 20, 2007 btw regaurding your data.. it should be fine... just buy a 2.5" hdd enclosure & put your hdd in it... job done! yep i forgot to say this. You can get external enclosures that can connect up to your usb. Very useful kit indeed. i have a 40Gig laptop HDD i use like this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TFMF Posted May 21, 2007 Author Share Posted May 21, 2007 I'm on my laptop at the moment. It's working ok right now, but the monitor is having problems (whenever i move it the colour goes mad) and we had to remove the battery - it's useless right now anyway. I'm going to start backing up everything - even though it's working ok at the moment, i can't see it lasting much longer. It still has cooling issues. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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