which laptop? help please!

[rambongo]

hi there, i need to buy laptop for about £500-£600 but have no idea which make or models are any good. what i'm looking for is something with a fast processor and memory and a good dependability track record. its quite urgent so any help would be very much appreciated!!

[BsmyeEnterprises]

I have a HP Pavilion Media Center (DV2000 series) laptop, its served me well. Something a bit like this (but worse specs as it was bought a year ago!):
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/NEW-HP-PAVILION-VERVE-SPECIAL-EDITION-LAPTOP-4-GB-RAM_W0QQitemZ170288137268QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_Com puting_Laptops_EH?hash=item170288137268&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=72%3A1300|66%3A2|65%3A12|39%3A1|240%3A13 18

[That Guy]

Go to the Dell website and look at the Vostro Range :)

Had a couple of these and they are cracking laptops!

[oldeagleeye]

In that proce range definately an ASUS.

[spreadsheetsdirect]

Just seen a 4gb Acer advertised on a Comet tv ad for less than £400 which might be worth a look.

[PureIT]

I'd stay away from ACER to be honest - I have so many in for repair. The build quality isn't very good at all especially the keyboards. Have a look at PCPro website and look at the reviews on laptops in your budget - that might give you a better idea

James

[Netfiend]

I think the best question to ask yourself is "what exactly are you going to be using your laptop for?"

My generic advice would be to go for a 'name brand', ie Dell/HP/Lenovo, as the build quality tends to be better than the budget market and they usually last longer.

[oldeagleeye]

I just looked at the John Lewis web site. They got lots of computers under £650 quid and with JL you get superb service and a free 2 year guarantee. You can get a great bit of kit for the money then and still have change. Rob

James.Pure out of hate for all things MS I am thinking of the new Macbook 13in>it looks pretty impressive with that carved out of one machined block of allumin.Is it all it's cracked up to be.It's £925 at JL and £845 at Laskeys but you don't get the 2 yr guarantee.Rob

[PureIT]

You won't go wrong with the macbook - they're built well and Mac OS has its problems but is still very stable. I'd say go for it!

Good luck

James

[oldeagleeye]

http://img159.imageshack.us/my.php?image=spellforce01lg7.jpg

[Dawg]

Hardware has feature bloat for most users just as software is bloated too. I'd have a look at the low to mid range Lenovo lappys which have great build quality and reputation. They'll do all you need and more without the Appleschmapple poundsnappers or the RAMjam burn a lap laptops. Dabs have one with 4Gb ram on a 2+ clockpseed at £658.

[Comspec]

We tend to avoid the really low end laptops, but have an offer on 3 decent models within your price range.

These can be supplied within 3 days of order.

Let me know if you want details emailed over, or just contact us via our website.

[Excel Dragon]

I am in the same boat and I have narrowed it down to this one

http://www.comet.co.uk/shopcomet/product/473375/HP-DV7-1002/tab/specification#spec (Passmark benchmark speed 1258)

an intel P7350 processor and a 17" screen. It has none of the bells and whistles like Blu Ray etc, which is fine for me as all I need is a nippy CPU for spreadsheets and a large screen for programming and demonstrating my work to my clients on