The Friday I.T. thread- help me out!

dreamizm · Post by **dreamizm** » Fri Mar 06, 2009 9:57 am

IT neeks - I need your help!

Where is the best place to buy a laptop to spec? (pref online as I am not UK based)

Here is my spec...
Windows XP (Vista suck out!)
Dual core or Quad core (Not celeron)
At least 2GB RAM
Internal drive 100GB or more
At least 3 or 4 USB ports

and possibly USB Hard Drive 750GB

Am I talking stoopid money here??

dr ddd · Post by **dr ddd** » Fri Mar 06, 2009 10:10 am

try acer? they're probably going to be the cheapest online for those sort of spec's i'd have thought.

dreamizm · Post by **dreamizm** » Fri Mar 06, 2009 10:13 am

OK bruv, anywhere to stay away from? Are DELL bait?

cal · Post by **cal** » Fri Mar 06, 2009 10:21 am

Try Toshiba. Good price, clean looks and decent hardware.
Available in most online stores.

lp · Post by lp » Fri Mar 06, 2009 10:31 am

ebay is your friend

My mate picked up an HP yesterday for around £600-650

2.2GHZ with a decent processor think it was T8 or something
4GB RAM
Dual Core
500GB Hard drive
3 USB ports IIRC (can always add a usb adapter if you need more)
Some GeForce 128mb gfx card

External hard drives are pretty cheap these days looks like you can pick up a 1 Terrabite for about 100quid these days

dr ddd · Post by **dr ddd** » Fri Mar 06, 2009 10:53 am

i've had Dell's and Toshiba... they're both great machines but the downers are that :

a) Dell are awesome but cost a bomb when they're to spec (and any upgrades/etc are locked into being done by their customer service who are extortionate)! I had mine for 7 years and did all my research coding on it- just reformatted it and gave it to a friend to make music on and he's more than happy with it

Just be careful - the really cheap models and offers you see aren't true Dell parts inside, they "outsource" the components to get these that cheap. You definitely get what you pay for with Dell (i.e. get the boss to buy it and you've got a wicked machine to play with!).

b) Toshiba are also awesome, but most people I know who've had them have had real teething problems with their new high spec machines and spent most of the first year on the phone to customer support and constantly sending them back to be fixed

Acer aren't perfect, but are pretty bloody wicked for the price, so i guess it depends what you want. They keep it cheap as building machines is what they do for other companies. I got my laptop (online, brand new) at a pretty high spec (not far off yours) about 3 years ago for £340 - and it's still my main pc and I've never had any problems with it or had to pick up the phone.

My choice would be between these three and I would say, given laptops depreciate sooo quick, go with Acer as they're the cheapest and it means you could afford another one in a few years when some new uber duper clever processor thingymajig comes out

Good luck!

magma · Post by **magma** » Fri Mar 06, 2009 11:42 am

My Dell Inspiron 1720 has been nothing but trouble... it's been sent back once for a dead screen and it's got an intermittent problem with USB (everything randomly disconnects and refuses to reconnect) that they appear to have no idea how to fix.

I think I'm going Alienware next time..

ytee · Post by **ytee** » Fri Mar 06, 2009 12:02 pm

MACBOOK.

lp · Post by lp » Fri Mar 06, 2009 12:34 pm

Oh yeah make sure you can get warranty on your laptop too, allow not having any because the majority of the time if you use the laptop quite a lot n move it around etc etc things will eventually fuck up

dreamizm · Post by **dreamizm** » Fri Mar 06, 2009 2:23 pm

Safe for the replies. Yeah i kinda had that feeling abt Dell.

Looking at the Acer Aspire.

One question still: If I want XP can I get someone to take out Vista and put in XP or is this gonna be stoopidly long.

pk- · Post by **pk-** » Fri Mar 06, 2009 2:45 pm

dreamizm wrote:Safe for the replies. Yeah i kinda had that feeling abt Dell.

Looking at the Acer Aspire.

One question still: If I want XP can I get someone to take out Vista and put in XP or is this gonna be stoopidly long.

you just boot up the XP CD and delete the partition that Vista's on. it'll take you about 30 seconds

funky stanton · Post by **funky stanton** » Fri Mar 06, 2009 3:44 pm

I just got one of these! http://www.jigsaw24.com/default.aspx?&I ... IGSP426APA

At home I have a Dell XPS laptop and it's been great, when it has gone wrong they've had a guy out to me with new parts within 24 hours. I'd definitely recommend an XPS, though I'm not sure if the support for the regular machines is quite so good.

missedthebus · Post by **missedthebus** » Mon Mar 09, 2009 10:26 pm

cal wrote:Try Toshiba. Good price, clean looks and decent hardware.
Available in most online stores.

DO NOT BUY A TOSHIBA!!!!!!!

I can absolutely assure you this as I am using my one right now.

I have managed to make it last 4 years, however ive had to send it back each year consecutively since I bought it fir its utter shitness.

1st year - dvd drive; wirelesscard; bluetooth; bluescreening
2nd year - dvd drive; bluescreening; overheating; wirelesscard
3rd year - overheating bluescreen; wireless; usbports
4th year - they refused to extend my warrentee any further and said it was my problem now.

Massive problems with their customer support, initially put through to a call center in Turkey and the call just ended up getting put in a loop and never returned.
After serious arguments with Toshiba headoffice got them to send it to their business repiar site in the uk and it was sorted there for the 1st n second time.
Recently they seem to have relocated repairs to some contracted company that used dhl and was alot smoother both with calls and time to return.

But either way 4 returns!!! Its a fucking joke.

Dont buy a Toshiba.

I would buy a Sony they are more expensive but you pay for what you get. And definitely get it warranted with the manufacturer.

psychotronic · Post by **psychotronic** » Mon Mar 09, 2009 10:33 pm

ytee wrote:MACBOOK.

!

d_three · Post by **d_three** » Mon Mar 09, 2009 10:41 pm

dreamizm wrote:OK bruv

classic

http://www.ebuyer.com/

dr ddd · Post by **dr ddd** » Mon Mar 09, 2009 11:06 pm

d.three wrote:
dreamizm wrote:OK bruv
classic

you know it sis

The Friday I.T. thread- help me out!

The Friday I.T. thread- help me out!

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