Thoughts?

[todd89]

Some of you will notice that I've had a complete change of heart. I basically just want to know if its overkill having the Kingston 120gb ssd as well as any other comments. General usage such as Internet browsing, studying and listening to music simultaneously.


Chassis & Display
Enigma III 540: 15.6" Glossy FHD LED (1920x1080) (Special Offer)
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i5 Dual Core Mobile Processor i5-2520M (2.50GHz) 3MB Cache
Memory (RAM)
4GB SAMSUNG 1333MHz SODIMM DDR3 MEMORY (1 x 4GB)
Graphics Card
nVIDIA® GeForce® GT 540M - 2GB DDR3 Video RAM - DirectX® 11
Memory - Hard Disk
120GB KINGSTON HYPERX SSD, SATA 6 Gb/s (upto 555MB/sR | 510MB/sW)
DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
8x SATA DVD±R/RW/Dual Layer (+ 24x CD-RW)
Memory Card Reader
Integrated 3 in 1 Memory Card Reader (SD, MMC, MS)
Sound Card
Intel 2 Channel High Definition Audio + MIC/Headphone Jack
Bluetooth & Wireless
ENIGMA GIGABIT LAN & WIRELESS 802.11N + BLUETOOTH 3.0
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
Keyboard Language
INTEGRATED UK KEYBOARD
Notebook Mouse
INTEGRATED 2 BUTTON TOUCHPAD MOUSE
Webcam
INTEGRATED 1.3 MEGAPIXEL WEBCAM
Warranty
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour) (£5)
Insurance
1 Month Free Laptop Insurance inc. Accidental Damage & Theft
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 5 to 7 working days
Quantity
1

Price: £784.00 including VAT and delivery.

 

[AshleyUK]

I have an SSD in my Vortex II, it is amazing not just for boot times but program loading operating e.t.c would recommend all the time, however in your case with the rest of the spec mainly CPU lacking slightly I would defintly say for a better all round Laptop you should drop the SSD and upgrade the i5 to atleast a Quad Core, would give you alot more noticable performance in real world environment.

However if your budget could wiggle enough the SSD and i5 quad core would be great.

 

[tom_gr7]

todd, I'd go for this mate, its a lil cheaper at £739

Chassis & Display
Enigma III 540: 15.6" Glossy FHD LED (1920x1080) (Special Offer)

Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i7 Quad Core Mobile Processor i7-2670QM (2.20GHz) 6MB

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

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

Memory - Hard Disk
500GB WD SCORPIO BLACK WD5000BPKT, 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
Integrated 3 in 1 Memory Card Reader (SD, MMC, MS)

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

Bluetooth & Wireless
ENIGMA GIGABIT LAN & WIRELESS 802.11N + BLUETOOTH 3.0

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
NO OFFICE SOFTWARE

Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE

Keyboard Language
INTEGRATED UK KEYBOARD

Notebook Mouse
INTEGRATED 2 BUTTON TOUCHPAD MOUSE

Webcam
INTEGRATED 1.3 MEGAPIXEL WEBCAM

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

 

[dangro474]

SSD's are great for loading applications faster.

That's all.

They do not improve the performance of the applications themselves.

A game that takes 20 seconds to load on a platter drive may take only 8 seconds to load on a decent SSD... but seriously, we're talking about saving seconds, and not frequently at that.

If you are working to a specific budget, an SSD is the LAST component you should be considering.

If you are planning to game on your laptop at all (i realise that you did not list it as one of your uses in the OP), i would strongly recommend investing the amount that you would have spent on an SSD towards upgrading your chassis to at least an Optimus II, as the 555M GT GPU is far superior to the 540M GT, or a matte screen.

Tom's spec above seems optimal for you.

 

[Music Guy123]

I personnaly love SSDs and would recommend them if you can afford them. However, start with Tom's spec, the black Scorpio is still a very fast drive, if you can afford it go with the SSD, if not, you will still be fine without it. Enjoy your laptop, I am sure you won't be dissapointed!

 

[todd89]

Will I get the warranty that comes with the ssd if I decide on one? Any noticeable difference between the 80, 120 intel and Kingston ssd?

 

[tom_gr7]

I was having a play on the site, for £828, that's a bigger screen and better gpu. So for a lil more you could get something like this,

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

Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i7 Quad Core Mobile Processor i7-2670QM (2.20GHz) 6MB

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

Graphics Card
nVIDIA® GeForce® GT 555M - 2GB DDR3 Video RAM - DirectX® 11

Memory - Hard Disk
500GB WD SCORPIO BLACK WD5000BPKT, 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 802.11N CARD INC. BLUETOOTH 3.0

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

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

Power Lead & Adaptor
1 x UK Power Lead & 90W Adaptor (GT 540M) / 120W Adaptor (GT 555M)

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

Office Software
NO OFFICE SOFTWARE

Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE

Keyboard Language
INTEGRATED UK KEYBOARD WITH NUMBER PAD

Notebook Mouse
INTEGRATED 2 BUTTON TOUCHPAD MOUSE

Webcam
INTEGRATED 1.3 MEGAPIXEL WEBCAM

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

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

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

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

 

[todd89]

I'm cool just playing games on a console, so with that said, I'll go for an ssd; trouble is, which ssd do I go for?

80gb/320 intel
120gb/320 intel
120gb hyperx Kingston

I'll be purchasing an external hard drive down the line as it will come in handy using between other computers.

 

[AndyL]

I would opt for an Intel SSD as they tend to be the most reliable.