Think it's about time to bite the bullet...

[Jimbhoy]

Hi,

been lurking about here for a few days now (not constantly - that would just be weird) looking at various specs for new laptop. And to be perfectly honest, I still don't have a clue.

Looking to spend, well as little as possible, but probably about £800 but can stretch this if there's a big difference in performance for a couple of £100 or so more.

Will be used for moderate gaming / work.

Thinking 15.6" screen, semi-decent graphics card, at least one HDMI slot, blue-ray drive and windows office.

Any suggestions for specs would be very much appreciated and may result in free beer.

---
Think i posted this in the wrong area - sorry, just ignore.

jim

 

[pez]

Lets have a looksie for you

What are you going to do with it. How portable has it to be. Also, are you "trying to future proof" or is this to last a year or so?

 

[Nemesis]

Ill suggest a spec in a sec (Though im more of a desktop man myself - I still know a fair bit )

However i can move your thread to the correct place

Welcome to the forums btw!!

 

[pez]

Also, have you got an OS or do you need one?

 

[Fear]

I have not really looked at laptops much for a few years until i came on here (been looking incase my old one ever gives up) but slightly over your budget have a look at this.

Chassis & Display
Enigma III 540: 15.6" Full HD LED Widescreen (1920x1080) Super Clear Glossy
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i5 Dual Core Mobile Processor i5-2540M (2.60GHz) 3MB Cache
Memory (RAM)
4GB SAMSUNG 1333MHz SODIMM DDR3 MEMORY (2 x 2GB)
Graphics Card
nVIDIA® GeForce® GT 540M - 2GB DDR3 Video RAM - DirectX® 11
Memory - Hard Disk
500GB WD SCORPIO BLACK WD5000BEKT, SATA 3 Gb/s, 16MB CACHE (7200 rpm)
DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
SONY BC-5500H 4x BLURAY ROM/DVD WRITER & CYBERLINK SOFTWARE (£84)
Memory Card Reader
Integrated 3 in 1 Memory Card Reader (SD, MMC, MS)
Bluetooth & Wireless
GIGABIT LAN & INTEL® CENTRINO® ADVANCED-N 6230 inc BLUETOOTH
USB Options
1 x USB 3.0 PORT + 2 x USB 2.0 PORTS AS STANDARD
Battery
Enigma III Series 6 Cell Lithium Ion Battery (5,100/5,200 mAh)
Power Lead & Adaptor
1 x UK Power Lead & 120W AC Adaptor
Operating System
Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit - inc DVD & Licence (£79)
Office Software
FREE Microsoft® Office Starter 2010 (Limited functionality Word & Excel)
Anti-Virus
BULLGUARD INTERNET SECURITY - FREE 90 DAY TRIAL
Notebook Mouse
INTEGRATED 2 BUTTON TOUCHPAD MOUSE
Webcam
INTEGRATED 1.3 MEGAPIXEL WEBCAM
Insurance
1 Month Free Laptop Insurance inc. Accidental Damage & Theft
Warranty
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour) (£5)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 5 to 7 working days
Quantity
1

Price: £861.00 including VAT and delivery.

 

[Jimbhoy]

Would need OS. Got Vista on current laptop and sure I've got a disk kicking about somewhere but no idea where.

Hopefully last 3 years (ish).

Home version of Office would be fine.

Doesn't have to be terribly portable, as long as I can carry it on the train, I'll be happy.

Oh, and thanks for moving post to correct area!

Jim

 

[pez]

Jim, The problem here, is that Office & OS takes off £150 - which hurts!

 

[Teaz]

This is defo to have some thought into:

Chassis & Display
Enigma III 540: 15.6" Full HD LED Widescreen (1920x1080) Super Clear Glossy

Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i7 Quad Core Mobile Processor i7-2630QM (2.00GHz) 6MB Cache

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

Graphics Card
nVIDIA® GeForce® GT 540M - 2GB DDR3 Video RAM - DirectX® 11

Memory - Hard Disk
500GB WD SCORPIO BLACK WD5000BEKT, SATA 3 Gb/s, 16MB CACHE (7200 rpm)

DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
SONY BC-5500H 4x BLURAY ROM/DVD WRITER & CYBERLINK SOFTWARE (£84)

Memory Card Reader
Integrated 3 in 1 Memory Card Reader (SD, MMC, MS)

Bluetooth & Wireless
GIGABIT LAN & WIRELESS 802.11N CARD (STANDARD)

USB Options
1 x USB 3.0 PORT + 2 x USB 2.0 PORTS AS STANDARD

Battery
Enigma III Series 6 Cell Lithium Ion Battery (5,100/5,200 mAh)

Power Lead & Adaptor
1 x UK Power Lead & 120W AC Adaptor

Operating System
Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit - inc DVD & Licence (£79)

 

[pez]

ok, this is £76 over your budget....but secures you a little in the CPU area. Also, a nice big screen Add £40 for a nice laptop bag as well


Chassis & Display
Optimus II: 17.3" Full HD LED Backlit Widescreen (1920x1080) Super Clear Glossy

Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i7 Quad Core Mobile Processor i7-2630QM (2.00GHz) 6MB Cache

Memory (RAM)
4GB SAMSUNG 1333MHz SODIMM DDR3 MEMORY (1 x 4GB)

Graphics Card
nVIDIA® GeForce® GT 540M - 1GB DDR3 Video RAM - DirectX® 11

Memory - Hard Disk
500GB WD SCORPIO BLACK WD5000BEKT, SATA 3 Gb/s, 16MB CACHE (7200 rpm)

DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
SONY BC-5500H 4x BLURAY ROM/DVD WRITER & CYBERLINK SOFTWARE (£84)

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

Bluetooth & Wireless
GIGABIT LAN & INTEL® CENTRINO® ULTIMATE-N 6300 WIRELESS upto 450Mbps

USB Options
2 x USB 3.0 PORTS + 2 x USB 2.0 PORTS AS STANDARD

Battery
Optimus Series 6 Cell Lithium-ION Battery - 48.85WH

Power Lead & Adaptor
1 x UK Power Lead & 90W AC Adaptor

Operating System
Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit - inc DVD & Licence (£79)

Office Software
FREE Microsoft® Office Starter 2010 (Limited functionality Word & Excel)

Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE

Notebook Mouse
INTEGRATED 2 BUTTON TOUCHPAD MOUSE

Webcam
INTEGRATED 1.3 MEGAPIXEL WEBCAM

Insurance
1 Month Free Laptop Insurance inc. Accidental Damage & Theft

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

Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)

Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 5 to 7 working days
Quantity 1

 

[pez]

Additional side note on the Laptop area:-

1) CPU can't be upgraded (can, but very expensive)
2) GPU Can't be upgraded (can, but very expensive)
3) If you go for 4Gig of ram, get the 1x4gig and then you can upgrade
4) Depending on you HDD Space requirements, the case will either hold 1 or 2 drives. Again, if upgrading is important, consider it

If I was you, and thought I'd have another 50-100 in 2-3 mths, I'd spend the cash on the chassis, cpu and GPU

 

[Jimbhoy]

Quite liking that Pez.

Wouldn't need the mouse (unless that comes anyway). Prefer the 1x4GB RAM as opposed to 2x2.

I'm guessing that could be upgraded in future by sticking another 2GB card in?

Without wanting to sound greedy, what would be a slight jump up from the 540M graphics card?

Again, willing to add to budget if it's worth it.

I've got laptop bags/cases comping out of my ears. Think I might need to see a Dr about that actually...

Jim

 

[Jimbhoy]

When I said, "another 2 GB card" I meant 4 GB

 

[Teaz]

if budget is an issue and the laptop is for moderate gaming with work and general use, i think this is a well round build spec for you to go for:

Chassis & Display
Enigma III 520: 15.6" HD LED Backlit Widescreen (1366x768) Super Clear Glossy

Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i7 Quad Core Mobile Processor i7-2630QM (2.00GHz) 6MB Cache

Memory (RAM)
4GB SAMSUNG 1333MHz SODIMM DDR3 MEMORY (1 x 4GB)

Graphics Card
nVIDIA® GeForce® GT 520M - 1GB DDR3 Video RAM - DirectX® 11

Memory - Hard Disk
500GB WD SCORPIO BLACK WD5000BEKT, SATA 3 Gb/s, 16MB CACHE (7200 rpm)

DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
SONY BC-5500H 4x BLURAY ROM/DVD WRITER & CYBERLINK SOFTWARE (£84)

Memory Card Reader
Integrated 3 in 1 Memory Card Reader (SD, MMC, MS)

Bluetooth & Wireless
GIGABIT LAN & INTEL® CENTRINO® ULTIMATE-N 6300 WIRELESS upto 450Mbps

USB Options
1 x USB 3.0 PORT + 2 x USB 2.0 PORTS AS STANDARD

Battery
Enigma III Series 6 Cell Lithium Ion Battery (5,100/5,200 mAh)

Power Lead & Adaptor
1 x UK Power Lead & 90W AC Adaptor

Operating System
Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit - inc DVD & Licence (£79)

Total: 778

It has all of your requirements

the gpu is not a big jump so the 520 is more than adequate.

 

[pez]

LOL

Ok, the ram upgrade is easy, and csts about £40 give or take.

I'm very biased and push people towards the Vortex II - Mainly as I have one and LOVE it. But it would blow your budget quite a bit (Starting around £1100)

 

[Jimbhoy]

Lets up the budget to nearer £1000.

 

[pez]

This is £1090

Chassis & Display
Vortex II-15: 15.6" Full HD LED Backlit 16:9 Widescreen (1920x1080) Super Clear Glossy

Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i7 Quad Core Mobile Processor i7-2630QM (2.00GHz) 6MB Cache

Memory (RAM)
4GB SAMSUNG 1333MHz SODIMM DDR3 MEMORY (1 x 4GB)

Graphics Card
1.5GB nVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 460M - DirectX® 11 (15.6" Vortex II)

Memory - Hard Disk
500GB WD SCORPIO BLACK WD5000BEKT, 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)

Bluetooth & Wireless
GIGABIT LAN & INTEL® CENTRINO® ULTIMATE-N 6300 WIRELESS upto 450Mbps

USB Options
2 x USB 3.0 PORTS + 2 x USB 2.0 PORTS AS STANDARD

Battery
Vortex Series 8 Cell Lithium Ion Battery (3,800 mAh)

Power Lead & Adaptor
1 x UK Power Lead & 180W AC Adaptor

Operating System
Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit - inc DVD & Licence (£79)

Office Software
FREE Microsoft® Office Starter 2010 (Limited functionality Word & Excel)

Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE

Notebook Mouse
INTEGRATED 2 BUTTON TOUCHPAD MOUSE

Webcam
INTEGRATED 2.0 MEGAPIXEL WEBCAM

Insurance
1 Month Free Laptop Insurance inc. Accidental Damage & Theft

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

Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)

Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 5 to 7 working days
Quantity 1

Edit: Just realised - no blue ray....but really....do you need this?

 

[Teaz]

Then you certainly cant miss this :

Chassis & Display
Optimus II: 17.3" Full HD LED Backlit Widescreen (1920x1080) Super Clear Glossy

Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i7 Quad Core Mobile Processor i7-2630QM (2.00GHz) 6MB Cache

Memory (RAM)
4GB SAMSUNG 1333MHz SODIMM DDR3 MEMORY (1 x 4GB)

Graphics Card
nVIDIA® GeForce® GT 540M - 1GB DDR3 Video RAM - DirectX® 11

Memory - Hard Disk
500GB WD SCORPIO BLACK WD5000BEKT, SATA 3 Gb/s, 16MB CACHE (7200 rpm)

DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
SONY BC-5500H 4x BLURAY ROM/DVD WRITER & CYBERLINK SOFTWARE (£84)

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

Bluetooth & Wireless
GIGABIT LAN & INTEL® CENTRINO® ULTIMATE-N 6300 WIRELESS upto 450Mbps

USB Options
2 x USB 3.0 PORTS + 2 x USB 2.0 PORTS AS STANDARD

Battery
Optimus Series 6 Cell Lithium-ION Battery - 48.85WH

Power Lead & Adaptor
1 x UK Power Lead & 90W AC Adaptor

Operating System
Genuine Windows 7 Professional 64 Bit - inc DVD & Licence (£109)

Total: 959

edit: lol didnt see your post pez. quick as ever, btw you forgot his blu ray player pez

 

[Jimbhoy]

decisions, decisions.

guessing adding blue-ray drive would up it another 100-ish.

 

[pez]

You see, this is the biggest problem with laptops. Want them to last, and play games for a while, is going to cost. I actually could have spent £1750+ with mine, but was capped at £1250

Think about what is the most important factor RIGHT NOW, and what you can add in the near future.

Sent a PM.

 

[Teaz]

what pez came up is really good but that is mainly due to the powerful gtx gpu. or you can go for a lower cpu on his config which will drop the price?