i need advice on building the best laptop with a budget of £1000

A

ArcticMonkey

Bronze Level Poster
PlasticTastic said:
That Optimus looks like a great build :) although I would upgrade the intel 330 to the 550. it's a fair bit faster :) and yes you can install your own operating system, my friend did it. The AUO screen is apparently amazing, and if the main reason you want it is media, then you would want it. And as Adli said, the external drive is cheaper, however you'll have to carry it around with you all the time, and some even need a external power supply, so I would recommend getting an internal HDD as your second drive.

Also you can upgrade to blu-ray, it will be within your budget ;)
Click to expand...

i'll keep that in mind. cheers lad :)
 
A

ArcticMonkey

Bronze Level Poster
rubensolo said:
The 330 has a better sequential read/write performance and is rated for fewer write cycles than the 520 (330 comes with 3 years warranty and 520 with 5 years), I have both and in day to day applications I can't really tell the difference. If you are within a budget the 330 is a good choice.
Click to expand...

thanks for your input mate :)
 
A

ArcticMonkey

Bronze Level Poster
i've had a bit of a last minute change of mind. and think i should really treat my self .which one should i choose form the configurations below?

1. 1,021.00

Chassis & Display
Optimus Series: 17.3" AUO Matte Full HD Widescreen (1920x1080) (£85)

Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i7 Quad Core Mobile Processor i7-3610QM (2.30GHz) 6MB

Memory (RAM)
8GB SAMSUNG 1600MHz SODIMM DDR3 MEMORY (2 x 4GB)

Graphics Card
NVIDIA® GeForce® GT 650M - 1.0GB DDR5 Video RAM - DirectX® 11

Memory - Hard Disk
240GB INTEL® 520 SERIES SSD, SATA 6 Gb/s (upto 550MB/sR | 520MB/sW)

2nd Hard Disk
750GB WD SCORPIO BLACK WD7500BPKT, SATA 3 Gb/s, 16MB CACHE (7200 rpm)

DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
8x SATA DVD±R/RW/Dual Layer (+ 24x CD-RW)

Memory Card Reader
Internal 9 in 1 Card Reader (MMC/RSMMC/SD: Mini, XC & HC/MS: Pro & Duo)

Thermal Paste
ARCTIC MX-4 EXTREME THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY COMPOUND (£9)

Sound Card
Intel 2 Channel High Definition Audio + MIC/Headphone Jack

Bluetooth & Wireless
GIGABIT LAN & WIRELESS INTEL® N130 802.11N (150Mbps) + BLUETOOTH

USB Options
3 x USB 3.0 PORTS + 1 x USB 2.0 PORT AS STANDARD

Battery
Optimus/Voyager Series 6 Cell Lithium-ION Battery (48.84WH)

Operating System
NO OPERATING SYSTEM REQUIRED

Warranty
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour) (£5)

...............................................................................................................................................

2. £1,194.00

Chassis & Display
Vortex Series:17.3" AUO Matte Full HD LED Widescreen (1920x1080) (£85)

Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i7 Quad Core Mobile Processor i7-3610QM (2.30GHz) 6MB

Memory (RAM)
8GB SAMSUNG 1333MHz SODIMM DDR3 MEMORY (2 x 4GB)

Graphics Card
NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 670M - 1.5GB DDR5 Video RAM - DirectX® 11

Memory - Hard Disk
120GB INTEL® 330 SERIES SSD, SATA 6 Gb/s (upto 500MB/sR | 450MB/sW)

2nd Hard Disk
750GB WD SCORPIO BLACK WD7500BPKT, SATA 3 Gb/s, 16MB CACHE (7200 rpm)

DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
8x SATA DVD±R/RW/Dual Layer (+ 24x CD-RW)

Memory Card Reader
Internal 9 in 1 Card Reader (MMC/RSMMC/SD: Mini, XC & HC/MS: Pro & Duo)

Thermal Paste
ARCTIC MX-4 EXTREME THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY COMPOUND (£9)

Sound Card
Intel 5.1 Channel High Definition Audio + SPDIF/MIC/Headphone Jack

Bluetooth & Wireless
GIGABIT LAN & WIRELESS INTEL® N130 802.11N (150Mbps) + BLUETOOTH

USB Options
3 x USB 3.0 PORTS + 1 x USB 2.0 PORT AS STANDARD

Firewire
1 X 1394a FIREWIRE PORT

Battery
Vortex Series 8 Cell Lithium Ion Battery (5,200 mAh/76.96WH)

Operating System
NO OPERATING SYSTEM REQUIRED

Warranty
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour) (£5)

.......................................................................................................................................

please help! which should i go for ?

Is it worth the extra cash?
 
Last edited:
A

Adli

Enthusiast
those 2 are fairly similar. if you have the extra cash i would go for the Vortex in a heartbeat since it offers a lot more:

1) same screen, CPU, RAM, Disk Drive, Thermal Paste, Etc
2) better GPU so if you do want to game in the future it will be far more capable, just in case you get the gaming bug when an awesome new game comes out :)
3) apparently the 330 is better than the 520 SSD, so you'll get a better boot drive.
4) the Vortex has a better sound card so it will produce better sound than the Optimus out of the box.
5) backlit keyboard, because its ****ing beautiful :D
 
P

PlasticTastic

Bronze Level Poster
The Vortex is also upgradable, so if you wanna upgrade your graphics card in the future you can. While the Optimus perfectly suits your needs, if you can afford it, go for the Vortex as it'll be better in the long run.
 
A

ArcticMonkey

Bronze Level Poster
great! i could'nt resist that back lit keyboard :)

just one thing.. would you recommend dropping the ssd and upgrading the graphics card. then, buying an ssd from elsewhere cheaper?
 
P

PlasticTastic

Bronze Level Poster
ArcticMonkey said:
great! i could'nt resist that back lit keyboard :)

just one thing.. would you recommend dropping the ssd and upgrading the graphics card. then, buying an ssd from elsewhere cheaper?
Click to expand...

That's honestly up to you. You said that quick load times are a priority, so I would recommend that you go for the SSD, and with the Vortex, you can upgrade your card later if need be :)
 
keynes

keynes

Multiverse Poster
ArcticMonkey said:
great! i could'nt resist that back lit keyboard :)

just one thing.. would you recommend dropping the ssd and upgrading the graphics card. then, buying an ssd from elsewhere cheaper?
Click to expand...

Adding an SSD later on would be more cost effective than replacing a graphics card. I would get the best GPU within your budget. You mentioned 3d movies, I would suggest an nvidia card for that.
 
Last edited:
J

Jay5

Active member
As above, an SSD is not essential... Although the GFX card could be when used in certain applications, if it's for gaming, always get the best GFX your budget will allow for. Although SSD are nice and super quick, you don't need one to run and I imagine an SSD will be easier to install down the line, rather then a GFX card.
 
A

ArcticMonkey

Bronze Level Poster
Jay5 said:
As above, an SSD is not essential... Although the GFX card could be when used in certain applications, if it's for gaming, always get the best GFX your budget will allow for. Although SSD are nice and super quick, you don't need one to run and I imagine an SSD will be easier to install down the line, rather then a GFX card.
Click to expand...

i'll keep that in mind. what exactly does the graphics card do and isit only used for gaming? also, is the thermal paste really necessary?

thank you
 
keynes

keynes

Multiverse Poster
ArcticMonkey said:
thank you! one last thing, i just had a quick look on the dell website and they seem to be better value for money. are we paying too much ?
Click to expand...

Can you get the same spec with the same components at a lower price from Dell? When doing a spec in the Dell Website some components like HDD or memory are not branded so it is difficult to assess the quality of those. As a previous customer from Dell/Alienware I'd say that you get better customer care/support from PCS.
 
steaky360

steaky360

Moderator
Moderator
ArcticMonkey said:
thank you! one last thing, i just had a quick look on the dell website and they seem to be better value for money. are we paying too much ?
Click to expand...

As Ruben has just mentioned I'd doubt very much Dell is better "value for money". Perhaps for certain components they are cheaper but I cant see them offering the same level of support and care as PCS do!
I would also guess that the overall cost remains very similar!
 
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