expensive laptop

**philsmove** · 2nd-July-2008, 11:00 AM

I am looking at treating my self to new notebook
Its for home use and will only be moved about the house
Its mainly going to be used for photo (and in the future probably video) editing
Looking at one these

HP Pavilion

Sony VAIO
For various reasons I will need to buy this in the next two months but probably wont be able to afford to upgrade it for a long time

Your recommendations

**DavidB** · 2nd-July-2008, 11:22 AM

Intel are just about to launch their Centrino2 platform that should provide several benefits in terms of speed & power consumption. This means that all the manufacturers will be launching new laptops in July/August, and hopefully dropping the prices of their existing ones to clear out the stock.

I used to have a Sony laptop years ago, and it was very well made and reliable. However it was expensive for the spec.

I would also look at Dell, Toshiba and Asus. If I had to buy a 17" laptop today it would be the Asus M70.

**Lou** · 2nd-July-2008, 11:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DavidB

I used to have a Sony laptop years ago, and it was very well made and reliable. However it was expensive for the spec.

I still have my Sony Vaio. I bought it, as DavidB suggests, just after the last upgrade launch, so it was a bit of a bargain (as it was the old model). I've been very happy with it. I haven't had a HP for years, so I can't comment on the current Pavillions. But when I had one, it was perfectly fine too.

**Beowulf** · 2nd-July-2008, 11:38 AM

Well if I had the money..

Alienware - Area-51 m17x 17-inch Notebook Computer

*clevedonboy* · 2nd-July-2008, 11:58 AM

Does it have to be a PC?

IMHO Apple make the best "Lifestyle" notebooks to leave around the house and they all have magnificent screens. Also if you don't seem to want to take it anywhere what about an iMac? (or do you want to swing in a hammock in the garden while surfing?)

If you really need a PC based system I can recommend Dell - bought one for Mother in law and it's very good.

**philsmove** · 2nd-July-2008, 12:19 PM

Having used PC for as long as I can remember, I am reluctant try to learn to use a new OS

I have 4 Dell desktops at work, all giving excellent service (but then so are 3 ancient ones, I bough in Old Market

Our support company are now recommending HP, as they believe if something does go wrong, HP's support is better than Dell's

But do I wait and buy one with a Centrino2 or buy an out of date and cheaper Intel® Core 2 Duo

**Aurion** · 2nd-July-2008, 12:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Beowulf

Well if I had the money..

Alienware - Area-51 m17x 17-inch Notebook Computer

Forget the laptop... who can I hire to refurbish my livingroom so when I want to log on my lap top pops out of the floor like that...

hmm might freak the cats out tho...

**DavidB** · 2nd-July-2008, 01:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by philsmove

But do I wait and buy one with a Centrino2 or buy an out of date and cheaper Intel® Core 2 Duo

Good question. If battery life was important to you, then I would suggest the Centrino2. Otherwise it comes down to how much power you need. Video editing and games are the two common applications that require the most power. A Centrino2 would almost certainly be better at video editing. However an existing spec might easily be good enough. I have never edited video on a laptop, so couldn't give any advice on this.

Another thing to consider is the availability of drivers. You would expect everything to work with the operating system they install. However in a couple of years time you might decide to upgrade to a later version, or change it completely. You might find that an older spec machine has one component that you can't get a new driver for, and with a laptop you can't usually change the component itself. Most of the current high spec machines are only 6 month old designs, so this might not be an issue.

**Tessalicious** · 2nd-July-2008, 01:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Beowulf

Well if I had the money..

Alienware - Area-51 m17x 17-inch Notebook Computer

- I so need a better job so I can afford one of those.

**Twirly** · 2nd-July-2008, 02:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Beowulf

Well if I had the money..

Alienware - Area-51 m17x 17-inch Notebook Computer

Oh goody... well you did promise me a new laptop for my birthday!

**Lynn** · 2nd-July-2008, 02:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by clevedonboy

Does it have to be a PC?

IMHO Apple make the best "Lifestyle" notebooks to leave around the house and they all have magnificent screens. Also if you don't seem to want to take it anywhere what about an iMac? (or do you want to swing in a hammock in the garden while surfing?)

And it took up until post 5 for a PC question to get a 'Macs are better' reply...

**martingold** · 2nd-July-2008, 02:32 PM

well i have only just bought myself an acer 8920g its amazing for a laptop 18.4 inch 1080p full high def screen, intel core 2 duo t9300/ 2.5 ghz, 4 gig ddr2 sdram 2x320gig hard drives NVIDIAÂ GeForce 9500M GS 512MB VRAM and vista home ultimate 64bit (no point in having 32 bit os with 4 gig of ram)

I cant recommend the supplier more highly they were extremely professional i ordered the machine on a monday afternoon they called me at home at 5.20pm to tell me it had been shipped and i recieved it at 10 am the next morning

*Lee Bartholomew* · 2nd-July-2008, 03:04 PM

Having worked in office desktop support and running my own computer repair business I can say with experiance Do Not touch Dell.

Poorly made, over priced and 'offshored' support.

**martingold** · 2nd-July-2008, 03:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lee Bartholomew

Having worked in office desktop support and running my own computer repair business I can say with experiance Do Not touch Dell.

Poorly made, over priced and 'offshored' support.

imho

**philsmove** · 2nd-July-2008, 04:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by martingold

/ vista home ultimate 64bit (no point in having 32 bit os with 4 gig of ram)

I

so are there any disadvantages with going over to 64 bit

David Franklin · 2nd-July-2008, 04:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by philsmove

so are there any disadvantages with going over to 64 bit

As far as I know, 99% of problems with 64-bit tend to be driver related. You shouldn't have any with a new laptop from a "big name" as they'll have installed all the drivers for you.

So only thing to worry about is if you have some antique piece of hardware you might need to plug into your laptop.

I think.

**DavidB** · 2nd-July-2008, 05:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by philsmove

so are there any disadvantages with going over to 64 bit

Driver support and application support.

I started to write more, but then found this article which said everything I wanted to say:
4sysops - Vista x64 contra Vista x86? Does 64-bit offer better performance than 32-bit?

Personally I would get as much memory as I could in the laptop. If it only supported 4GB then I would probably stick with Vista 32. If it supported more then I would switch to 64-bit.

**Beowulf** · 2nd-July-2008, 06:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Twirly

Oh goody... well you did promise me a new laptop for my birthday!

*clevedonboy* · 2nd-July-2008, 09:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lynn

And it took up until post 5 for a PC question to get a 'Macs are better' reply...

Ahh but the cunning thing is that I'm a confirmed PC user - I just admire the Apple style

**martingold** · 2nd-July-2008, 11:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by philsmove

so are there any disadvantages with going over to 64 bit

well i have had this machine for just over 8 weeks now with absolutey no problems whatsoever its been the best ccomputer i have ever had for not having to do any work to set it up or keep it going it worked well straight from the box

2nd-July-2008, 11:00 AM	#1 (permalink)
philsmove Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: Brizzel my love Posts: 1,791 Status: No Status Rep Power: 3 Rep.: 611	expensive laptop I am looking at treating my self to new notebook Its for home use and will only be moved about the house Its mainly going to be used for photo (and in the future probably video) editing Looking at one these HP Pavilion Sony VAIO For various reasons I will need to buy this in the next two months but probably wont be able to afford to upgrade it for a long time Your recommendations __________________ “Where the man goes, the lady must follow...” Liz , Strictly Ballroom

2nd-July-2008, 11:22 AM	#2 (permalink)
DavidB The Oracle Join Date: Feb 2002 Posts: 2,140 Status: working too hard Rep Power: 5 Rep.: 1437	Re: expensive laptop Intel are just about to launch their Centrino2 platform that should provide several benefits in terms of speed & power consumption. This means that all the manufacturers will be launching new laptops in July/August, and hopefully dropping the prices of their existing ones to clear out the stock. I used to have a Sony laptop years ago, and it was very well made and reliable. However it was expensive for the spec. I would also look at Dell, Toshiba and Asus. If I had to buy a 17" laptop today it would be the Asus M70.

2nd-July-2008, 11:38 AM	#4 (permalink)
Beowulf Senior Member Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: London Posts: 7,179 Status: Sans PC Rep Power: 5 Rep.: 1808	Re: expensive laptop Well if I had the money.. Alienware - Area-51 m17x 17-inch Notebook Computer __________________ "Makes a soft mint look hard" - Twirly

2nd-July-2008, 11:58 AM	#5 (permalink)
clevedonboy Commercial Operator Join Date: Feb 2005 Posts: 1,342 Status: No Status Rep Power: 2 Rep.: 370	Re: expensive laptop Does it have to be a PC? IMHO Apple make the best "Lifestyle" notebooks to leave around the house and they all have magnificent screens. Also if you don't seem to want to take it anywhere what about an iMac? (or do you want to swing in a hammock in the garden while surfing?) If you really need a PC based system I can recommend Dell - bought one for Mother in law and it's very good.

2nd-July-2008, 12:19 PM	#6 (permalink)
philsmove Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: Brizzel my love Posts: 1,791 Status: No Status Rep Power: 3 Rep.: 611	Re: expensive laptop Having used PC for as long as I can remember, I am reluctant try to learn to use a new OS I have 4 Dell desktops at work, all giving excellent service (but then so are 3 ancient ones, I bough in Old Market Our support company are now recommending HP, as they believe if something does go wrong, HP's support is better than Dell's But do I wait and buy one with a Centrino2 or buy an out of date and cheaper Intel® Core 2 Duo __________________ “Where the man goes, the lady must follow...” Liz , Strictly Ballroom

2nd-July-2008, 02:32 PM	#12 (permalink)
martingold Senior Member Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: braintree essex Posts: 822 Status: No Status Rep Power: 1 Rep.: 149	Re: expensive laptop well i have only just bought myself an acer 8920g its amazing for a laptop 18.4 inch 1080p full high def screen, intel core 2 duo t9300/ 2.5 ghz, 4 gig ddr2 sdram 2x320gig hard drives NVIDIAÂ GeForce 9500M GS 512MB VRAM and vista home ultimate 64bit (no point in having 32 bit os with 4 gig of ram) I cant recommend the supplier more highly they were extremely professional i ordered the machine on a monday afternoon they called me at home at 5.20pm to tell me it had been shipped and i recieved it at 10 am the next morning __________________ Keep it simple Keep it smooth

2nd-July-2008, 03:04 PM	#13 (permalink)
Lee Bartholomew Commercial Operator Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Smooth Hastings (not the bouncy part) Posts: 3,524 Status: No Status Blog Entries: 2 Rep Power: 1 Rep.: 486	Re: expensive laptop Having worked in office desktop support and running my own computer repair business I can say with experiance Do Not touch Dell. Poorly made, over priced and 'offshored' support. __________________ weasling out of doing things is what seperates us from the animals. Except the weasle.

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