Advice on buying laptop

T

TomKat

Registered User
Messages
22
WE want to buy a laptop for Christmas, for home use,
the usual..download music, videos , photos etc with a
bit of office work.
Can anyone make my job easier, we want to spend to to
€1,000 and have narrowed it down to
1) The Sony VGN-N11M/W @ €999
2) Dell 1501 €1028 this inc printer
3) Compaq C350EA @ €849

I've also been looking at the deals that Tesco have €799
for complete package inc printer/scanner, travel bag
or the Siemens one from Dunnes for €649 with no extras

Please HELP !!!
 
Re: Advice on buying laptop... PLEASE

johndoe64 said:
what are the configurations of each?
Click to expand...

[FONT=verdana,arial,helvetica][SIZE=+1]Sony VGN-N11M/W[/SIZE][/FONT][broken link removed][broken link removed][broken link removed]
[FONT=verdana,arial,helvetica]Outsanding Value For Money
€825.62 €999.00 inc. VAT[/FONT]
The best ever value Vaio laptop at under €1000 the VGN-N11M/W features a dual core Intel processor as well as 512MB of DDR2 memory and a very generous 80GB hard drive.
  • Intel Core Duo T2050 Processor
  • Windows Media Centre Edition 2005
  • Microsoft Vista Compatible
  • 15.4" X-Black Widescreen LCD Display
  • Generous 80GB SATA Hard Drive
  • Dual Layer DVD-Rewriter
  • Wireless Connectivity 802.11 B/G
  • Firewire and USB2.0 Connections
  • Memory Stick Slot
  • Built-in 56k Modem
  • Built-in 10/100 Ethernet Card
  • VGA Output for External Monitor
  • SD Card Slot
  • Express Card Slot
  • Kensington Lock Compatible
InspironTM 6400
Intel® Centrino® Duo Mobile Technology with Intel® Core™2 Duo Processor T5500 (1.66GHz 2MB L2 Cache 667Mhz FSB)
Genuine Windows® XP Media Center Edition 2005
1024MB 533MHz DDR2 SDRAM (2 x 512MB)
15.4" Widescreen WXGA (1280x800)
120GB SATA Hard Drive (5,400rpm)

COMPAQ C350EA - SAVE €150!!€849.99
Intel Core Duo T2050 Processor 1.60GHz
533 MHz FSB, 2MB Cache
1024 MB RAM, 120 GB Hard Drive
DVD ReWriter MultiDrive
15.4" Widescreen HD Brightview Display
128MB IMA 950 Shared Graphics

Microsoft Windows Media Center

spacer.gif
 
Re: Advice on buying laptop... PLEASE

For normal home use laptop, you need to look at

screensize : min 15"
RAM: min 1gb
CPU: Theres so many out there theyre like mobile phone packages trying to see which is better, any recent chipset will do just make sure its got mobile technology to cater for wifi, im not sure the dunnes one has that.
Disk size: min 80gb, this will fill up quick enough.
DVD RW
case: essential for a laptop,

Id say once you get something to fill the above criteria then youll be ok. The aldi one last week for 769e was a real good buy.

edit: just seen the above spec for the sony, you could easily get an 80gb laptop with the same spec for around the 750-800 marke and pick up a 250Gb external drive for 120e. more bang for your buck
 
Re: Advice on buying laptop... PLEASE

Essential features in my opinion are as follows:
wireless connectivity built in,
DVD writer
largest screen possible.

If you have these then it will still be a useful desirable item a couple of years down the line when you want to sell it on.
 
Re: Advice on buying laptop... PLEASE

just having a quick look at these, I would say the best one there would be the Dell, can't be certain I'm looking at the same one on the Dell site but if I am then you are getting 2yrs Onsite warranty as well, the others are 1yr Return to base.
 
Re: Advice on buying laptop... PLEASE

johndoe64 said:
just having a quick look at these, I would say the best one there would be the Dell, can't be certain I'm looking at the same one on the Dell site but if I am then you are getting 2yrs Onsite warranty as well, the others are 1yr Return to base.
Click to expand...


The actual quote from Dell is €1000 inc all-in-one printer and
Trulife screen, 1 year warranty and will have free upgrade to Vista,
but I quiet fancy the Sony with the Express card slots and
LCD screen !!!
 
Re: Advice on buying laptop... PLEASE

A Dell printer:
Even though it's free you can't afford it as it costs an arm and a leg to run.
 
Re: Advice on buying laptop... PLEASE

just though I would give my two cents here,

First of all compaq has not exested as a company for about 2.5 years so if somebody is trying to sell you and pc with the compaq logo on it chances are its at least a few years old.

I have heard that the sony laptop's can have a lot of problems hardware wise and the support in Ireand is terrible. I am open to corection on this as i have never owned one.

I usually advise my friends to go for a Dell for a few reasons. The hardware itself is realible enough and does not give much problems. If you do have trouble Dell support is great and they are currently offering a free upgrade to next day at home support. As well as that remember that Dell have about 70% of commercial market share and that has to be for a reason. Before you ask I dont work for dell but the company I work for has over 2000 of them on site and I work in support.

Oh and one other thing, unless you have a really really good reason dont get the upgrade to Vista. I have a copy of it here in work on a fairly high spec laptop and it really runs slow and it's full of bugs. XP works great and I for one will be sticking with that for a few years.

Hope this helps
 
Re: Advice on buying laptop... PLEASE

have heard of some problems with the Sony in terms of the fact that they are easily damaged when moved around, although I know it will be largely homebased.
My last 3 laptops have been Dell and not a problem to date
 
Re: Advice on buying laptop... PLEASE

Of the three, the Dell wins hands down in my opinion (I spent months deciding what laptop to buy recently and opted for a Dell Inspirion 6400 over an Acer or Sony equivilent)

The main point is - the Sony looks nicer, appears more flash, and slick, but as a result you'll pay a decent premium for the brand. The Dell is basically (Cost of commodities + slim profit margin = price).

On the three key counts the Dell beats the other too:

Processor - Dells got the newest and best model of the three
RAM - Dells got a reasonable 1Gig versus the frankly underwelming 512mb from Sony
HD - The hard drive is a decent 120Gig's (I payed over 1400 for my Inspirion just 3 months ago and its HD is just 80gigs - so thats a good deal!)

In addition, the Dell appears to have a dedicated graphics card (albeit a low end component), the Compaq does'nt have this and I can't see any mention of the sony having one either.

A was pointed out before, don't base decision on the printer... its a real gimmick. If you've any questions about the 6400, just ask me... i'm typing on one right now!
 
Re: Advice on buying laptop... PLEASE

Of the three brands listed, would recommend Dell.

Otherwise - Toshiba.

As others have said - Sony looks great, but support is poor, and parts may be expensive.
 
Re: Advice on buying laptop... PLEASE

Thanks everyone for ur help, looks like Dell is tops !!
 
Re: Advice on buying laptop... PLEASE

DublinBoy834 said:
First of all compaq has not exested as a company for about 2.5 years so if somebody is trying to sell you and pc with the compaq logo on it chances are its at least a few years old.
Click to expand...
Compaq were bought out by HP (or merged with, not entirely sure) and they continue to release new models, so it's not necessarily an old laptop.
 
Re: Advice on buying laptop... PLEASE

Avoid the Dell printer at all costs - cartridges available from Dell are dear and the usual compatible cartridges are not much less. I generally use Canon printers because of the low cartridge price.

If the printer is bundled try completing your order by phone rather than online and negotiate with the rep for extra memory or something instead. Last time, I got this as I refused to buy the laptop if they insisted on the printer! They told me it couldn't be unbundled until, faced with the loss of the sale, a supervisor okayed it.
 
Re: Advice on buying laptop... PLEASE

From what I can gather, since the merger, Compaq are targeted at the low end of the market, whilst HP is more mid to upper market. Thats just my preception, I don't know if its official policy.
 
Re: Advice on buying laptop... PLEASE

Have you thought about a Macbook?

Bit more expensive at 1,119 but it is hard to beat Apple for music, video and photos. Their preloaded iLife software handles it all beautifully IMHO. I find their office software fine for home office use.

http://www.store.apple.com/Apple/WebObjects/irlstore (www.store.apple.com/Apple/WebObjects/irlstore)
 
Re: Advice on buying laptop... PLEASE

askalot said:
Have you thought about a Macbook?http://www.store.apple.com/Apple/WebObjects/irlstore
Click to expand...

Good advice. Am a convert to OS X for a few years now and loath using windows anymore. As Askalot points out the packaged Apple software handles everything you specify wonderfully plus if you really need to you can dual boot to a windows system too.
 
Re: Advice on buying laptop... PLEASE

I have heard that Sony are a better albiet slightly more expensive option that Dell - one of the people to tell me that was working in dell (finance section - so don't think he has any further insight than anyone else on the street but anyway)

Best place to buy either, is via pigsback. Dell gets 5 pp per £1 - or use Dabs to buy a sony and get 10pp per pound - effectively 5% or 10% cashback!!

Unfortunately I only just saw that Dabs do Sony PC's ....allowing me the 10% piggypoints 2 days after I bit the bullet and ordered a Dell.
 
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