Buying a Laptop

[Nolan]

Now that I can tell more about it, that Acer Ferrari is quite nice. It has ATI integrated graphics (better than Intel easily) and the resolution is a nice 1366x768 which should give a adequate amount of workspace.

 

Remember, it's all really up to you, no one can make the decision for you. Go with what you'll like.

[PeeJ]

I seem to be edging towards the Acer Ferrari down to the spec for the price. Any previous experience with Acer? Would you recommend Acer?

[Nolan]

I've never had an Acer, other members here have owned them before and some say they're terrible and others don't. McPhee has said before that the Ferrari line seems to be of better quality than most other Acers.

[RoadKill]

I hear nothing but bad, bad, bad about dell laptops.

 

(sorry my input is nothing really besides that)

 

You know one person that had a Dell laptop that broke?

 

I've worked with literally hundreds of Dell Latitudes over the years, and I have nothing but glowing recommendation for their hardware

[Ten10]

I second a bad experience with my old Acer laptop. They say first impressions mean everything and well as my first ever laptop acer blew it. I looked after the thing like it was my own child, but just before my warranty ran out (thank God) the keyboard decided to stop working. I had to sent it to them twice before they acknowledged there was a problem with it. Then after my warranty ran out the laptop started overheating under load and I had to under clock my processor (WTF who underclocks a processor) then the hinge cracked a few month later and I got a HP laptop to replace it and have nothing but praise for them. Good customer service support. I'd say the only upside to acer was their customer support is based in the UK.

[Nolan]

(WTF who underclocks a processor)

 

Plenty of people, for a variety of reasons.

 

Less heat

Longer life

Better Stability

Less power consumed

 

In fact, AMD has coolnquiet which automatically underclocks a CPU when a PC is just idling and all that speed isn't needed and I know that Core 2 Duo's do the same thing. I just don't know what they call it.

[PeeJ]

one thing I was wondering about the Toshiba laptop I linked previously and have re-linked below, is the processor quite good for multi-tasking? I am reading that it is only 1 core, does this make a huge difference?

 

http://www.pcworld.co.uk/martprd/store/pcw_page.jsp?BV_SessionID=@@@@1080722074.1259880136@@@@&BV_EngineID=ccdkadeimkddlmfcflgceggdhhmdfoj.0&page=Product&fm=null&sm=null&tm=null&sku=642252&category_oid=-36730

[Ten10]

Processor is pretty slow at only 1.3Ghz. I guess they in a way tried to compensate for that with a larger than average amount of ram. But I wouldn't waste my time. At that price cnet had a kick ass laptop as the one to buy for this christmas: a kick ass 16 incher with a lot under the bonnet for the price. Cnet UK

 

@leetpants: My laptop apparently had AMD cool and quiet technology but my memories of it are only hot and noisy.

 

Under clocking your processor is the last thing you want to do if like me you used your laptop for programming, gaming and even writing a disc. Under clocking my laptop from 1.8 to 1.6 ( only safe step I could chose from were either 1.6 or 800mhz) laptop was still running at about 82 degrees idle. 90 on load. Also had to stop playing anything because it ran so choppy. But that was the past. The laptop was a faithful servant until just before the warranty ended. Maybe it did me a favour.

[Pookiablo]

Haven't bothered reading all the thread but saw the first few original posts. Do not buy Dell! Or buy at your own peril!

 

I spent £1270 on one of their top of the range XPS laptop systems a few years back and earlier this year, the graphics card completely died on me (one of the best laptop GPUs back at the time) and Dell being typical Dell tried offloading a replacement card to me for £361! For a card that was 3-4 years old. They also have a monopoly on their spare parts (except RAM) so trying to fix broken parts outside your warranty is usually difficult and very, very expensive!

 

After mucho research it would seem that loads of people suffered the same problem that I did - I imagine it's because so much was rammed inside the bloody thing that cooling was an issue, thus, the card constantly overheated when using the laptop for even the most menial things and after a while it just died. We opened it up to find it covered in scorch marks. I'd go as far to suggest that it's a deliberate design error so as to ensure that something goes wrong with it.

 

All in all, was it worth the amount of money? No. I expected it to last much longer. Also, Dell customer service is extraordinarily shite.

[Gizmo]

Haven't bothered reading all the thread but saw the first few original posts. Do not buy Dell! Or buy at your own peril!

 

I spent £1270 on one of their top of the range XPS laptop systems a few years back and earlier this year, the graphics card completely died on me (one of the best laptop GPUs back at the time) and Dell being typical Dell tried offloading a replacement card to me for £361! For a card that was 3-4 years old. They also have a monopoly on their spare parts (except RAM) so trying to fix broken parts outside your warranty is usually difficult and very, very expensive!

 

After mucho research it would seem that loads of people suffered the same problem that I did - I imagine it's because so much was rammed inside the bloody thing that cooling was an issue, thus, the card constantly overheated when using the laptop for even the most menial things and after a while it just died. We opened it up to find it covered in scorch marks. I'd go as far to suggest that it's a deliberate design error so as to ensure that something goes wrong with it.

 

All in all, was it worth the amount of money? No. I expected it to last much longer. Also, Dell customer service is extraordinarily shite.

 

Bit late now :p

 

I'm loving it so far, but we'll see how it goes reliability wise.

[Nolan]

one thing I was wondering about the Toshiba laptop I linked previously and have re-linked below, is the processor quite good for multi-tasking? I am reading that it is only 1 core, does this make a huge difference?

 

http://www.pcworld.co.uk/martprd/store/pcw_page.jsp?BV_SessionID=@@@@1080722074.1259880136@@@@&BV_EngineID=ccdkadeimkddlmfcflgceggdhhmdfoj.0&page=Product&fm=null&sm=null&tm=null&sku=642252&category_oid=-36730

 

In the realm of ultra-portables and netbooks single core is about the only way they are without going to higher prices.

 

Processor is pretty slow at only 1.3Ghz. I guess they in a way tried to compensate for that with a larger than average amount of ram. But I wouldn't waste my time. At that price cnet had a kick ass laptop as the one to buy for this christmas: a kick ass 16 incher with a lot under the bonnet for the price. Cnet UK

 

@leetpants: My laptop apparently had AMD cool and quiet technology but my memories of it are only hot and noisy.

 

Under clocking your processor is the last thing you want to do if like me you used your laptop for programming, gaming and even writing a disc. Under clocking my laptop from 1.8 to 1.6 ( only safe step I could chose from were either 1.6 or 800mhz) laptop was still running at about 82 degrees idle. 90 on load. Also had to stop playing anything because it ran so choppy. But that was the past. The laptop was a faithful servant until just before the warranty ended. Maybe it did me a favour.

 

Well, firstly he's looking at getting something smaller than his current 15.6" laptop with good battery life.

 

Secondly, laptops usually run hotter, although your temps are pretty high, perhaps it was dust or poor assembly (too much/little thermal paste).

 

I'm actually surprised you could underclock your laptop, usually options like those are locked on laptops.

[Raining_again]

Haven't bothered reading all the thread but saw the first few original posts. Do not buy Dell! Or buy at your own peril!

 

I spent £1270 on one of their top of the range XPS laptop systems a few years back and earlier this year, the graphics card completely died on me (one of the best laptop GPUs back at the time) and Dell being typical Dell tried offloading a replacement card to me for £361! For a card that was 3-4 years old. They also have a monopoly on their spare parts (except RAM) so trying to fix broken parts outside your warranty is usually difficult and very, very expensive!

 

After mucho research it would seem that loads of people suffered the same problem that I did - I imagine it's because so much was rammed inside the bloody thing that cooling was an issue, thus, the card constantly overheated when using the laptop for even the most menial things and after a while it just died. We opened it up to find it covered in scorch marks. I'd go as far to suggest that it's a deliberate design error so as to ensure that something goes wrong with it.

 

All in all, was it worth the amount of money? No. I expected it to last much longer. Also, Dell customer service is extraordinarily shite.

 

To be fair, hardware doesn't last that long, I think I'd be pretty happy with 3-4 years use out of a laptop like that (heck any laptop). High spec laptops always go like that because of the nature of the hardware. If you want a "high spec" machine to last you are far far better getting a computer. Because you can amend the airflow with custom coolers/fans/etc.

 

just as an example - most hard-disks have a life span (with moderate/heavy use) of about 5/6 years. So if it wasn't the graphics card it woulda been the hard disk before too long.

 

Fixing laptops are always a nightmare because they are specifically made! Its not really like a computer where you can slot any type of graphics card in.

[Caris]

Wait for the ASUS 1201N.

[RoadKill]

I second a bad experience with my old Acer laptop. They say first impressions mean everything and well as my first ever laptop acer blew it. I looked after the thing like it was my own child, but just before my warranty ran out (thank God) the keyboard decided to stop working. I had to sent it to them twice before they acknowledged there was a problem with it. Then after my warranty ran out the laptop started overheating under load and I had to under clock my processor (WTF who underclocks a processor) then the hinge cracked a few month later and I got a HP laptop to replace it and have nothing but praise for them. Good customer service support. I'd say the only upside to acer was their customer support is based in the UK.

 

I have a pile of laptops at work (acers) that have all the same hinge/screen surround failure.

 

Some of the hinges even snap, yes, the metal. I don't think much of acer build quality, but they ARE cheap.

 

Also, the person with the failed graphics card in the dell, if it's a swappable module, just buy one off ebay, they're piss easy to fit. Also, EVERY LAPTOP MANUFACTURER has a "monopoly" on their parts, because they're almost always custom designs, so that statement means absolutely nothing

[PeeJ]

Well I settled on a nice wee Samsung N140 from Comet for £300.

 

Does exactly everything I wanted it to do and to my surprise Windows 7 Starter is not as annoying as I first thought it would of been. Delighted with my choice. Thanks for all the tips and help folks.