Spec me a laptop!

http://h40059.www4.hp.com/uk/homelaptops/product.php?id=QG732EA&experience=direct looks reasonable.

 

You can usually find a discount code for the hp store online too.

 

Just noticed this which may be up your street?

http://www.hotukdeals.com/deals/dell-xps-17-laptop-i7-3gb-graphics-8gb-ram-full-hd-screen-764-delivered-dell-store-1182503

 

Cheers for that.

This was mentioned earlier in the thread. Sounds like a known unit:

Difference is the hotdeals one is showing with:

1TB (5,400rpm) Serial ATA Dual HDD - (2x500GB)

... rather than a 256 SSD. I presume this is a factory spec difference on apparently similar models?


On another topic, some of these new machines come without a 15-pin VGA outlet, just the HDMI Video out instead, forcing extra new screen purchases on top!

 

As with most Dell stuff you can customise the product, i just tried to change the HDD option to SSD but there was no option to. That's not to say that other Dell resellers wouldn't customise it though.

As for the HDMI, you could use a HDMI>DVI/VGA converter, but still an added expense.

 

what do you guys think of the Asus N55sl? the I7 version with 2gb graphics 750gb hdd and 6gb ram (can be uped to 8gb for 36


i know its a 15" monitor but i im not sure if i'll want a 17, it will be for cad though..

http://www.dabs.com/products/asus-n...le&utm_medium=product+search&utm_content=Q200

 

Chris. Im pretty sure the dual hard drive option is by no means slow. The dual HD option works in RAID 0 striping for faster running! Access speed and file transfer is way way quicker than a single HD. Hard drives all the way for me until SSD's come down in price.

Maybe in the future when the SSD's come down in price, you could then purchase two SSD's and run them in a RAID 0 configuration too. SSD's just have a larger cache as far as I know.

SSD your going to be running out of space in no time at all.

I think the lack of a VGA connector is replaced with a mini display port connector, similar to the ones found on some top range desktop HD5850's and the like. I think their a pain in the **** to find. I suppose ebay would have some leads.

 

Cheers Barry, so divided opinion on SSD.

I'm all for fast access, but if they're not big enough at this price range, then it's for another day. Bloke in John Lewis said I was talking 2k machines when I mentioned SSD.

This lack of VGA connectivity is going to be a pain. I was told there was no way of getting an HDMI output to talk to VGA. I wonder if the Dell XPS has VGA. Must check that and machine dimensions, as some of these laptops are getting too big.

 

2000 for a laptop, wow!! And as for size, yes they are huge. They should be called tabletops, not laptops

Im assuming the extra monitors you have at home do not have any DVI inputs? The HDMI to DVI adapter leads are common and inexpensive.

If the Dell XPS has only HDMI and display port outputs it could cost a little more money , but I think it can be done.. Display port to VGA, looks something like this.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/DISPLAY-P...uting_CablesConnectors_RL&hash=item1c21a4c741

Ive been reading about these only supporting Mac operating systems, but Im sure they would work with windows too, I cant see why not.

 

I came across this one today:

http://www.anvika.com/product/lenovo-ideapad-z570-15-6-i7-w7hp-8gb-750gb-black/len14024/

Lenovo aka IBM.

The only thing I could criticise was the 750GB drive (1TB seems to be benchmark for the front runners).

Other than that, it seemed to tick all the boxes being i7 with 8GB RAM, familiar 2670QM chip spec. The physical width was good (width was 376mm, just 20mm wider than my existing Dell), 3 USBs, etc.

So, throwing it out there, would anyone care to criticise it? Tell me where it comes up short?

TIA

 

Morning Chris

Thats a damn good price for that, beating Ebuyer by 20, though not sure on the total total price including everything else if you know what I mean.

Specs are good. Top processor. Very good battery life it seems. Whats the norm for battery duration these days?

With a 750Gb drive you'd be hard pushed to fill that thing, I know I would.

Graphics should be very capable. You could say that the performance is relative to a 2007 desktop 1950 Pro, pretty quick!!

One thing to check is that the 'blue ray' drive actually plays blu-rays!! Some say they do and dont

 

Worth checking the mouse , I have a work Lenovo a,nd it's nice and fast, but the mouse operation it's shocking, I have to use a external USB mouse all the time is so annoying

 

Looks good. The only thing I'd look at is the screen resolution. What is your current machine?

 

Thanks Barry, do you mean extras like Windows 7, and whatever free software it lands with? I'm assuming in a box, paid and away with Win 7 and little else for 699.

I don't know tbh. My Dell has always been at the low battery duration level.

 

Cheers, good pointbut I've never liked mouse pads since they day the first work laptop arrived (used to say to the IT guys: 'give me a garden trowel and I'll remove it' lol). Like driving a car with a loose steering rack, so I always use a USB mouse

 

According to here, my Dell 1525 is 1280 x 800 (XGA).

The spec for the Lenovo is showing at TFT 1366 x 768 (WXGA).

How would you rate the Lenovo, given I'm trying to keep the size of the machine down to a width, rather than get into the 17" screens?

 

I don't know Lenovo personally, I normally get Dell laptops.
That said, the laptop looks fine to me. The new screen will be very similair to what you've got now.

 

Are you hinting there are far better screens out there at this size?

The machine does look "cheap" against its peers at 699, so I've half an eye on that. Sony's premium i7 offerings are ~ 1.1k, but they're far too big.

 

Does this computer HAVE to be a laptop? You seem to be looking for a performance machine, which laptops aren't unless you spend silly amounts of money vs a desktop.

 

Definitely a laptop

Will a 64-bit Windows 7 machine still talk to DTA ECU software I wonder...?