Posted December 16, 2009 Hi, my mum is wanting a laptop this christmas. She has her heart set on the HP Pavilion dv6 design. So this brings the price to about £400-500. My problem is that there are so many different models I don't know which one to pick for her. Since she is only using it for ebay I think it's overkill but as I said she wants this design... So naturally I want her to have the best one she can since she's paying so much over the odds. I found 3 that seem ok but i'm unsure as some have ddr2 and some ddr3 whilst some have dedicated graphics and some don't Can you help me please :P? Either tell me the best out these 3 or can you help me find the best dv6 model for the price. Ignoring HDD space as that's negligable to my mum. The price limit is ideally £500 but as in one of the link we can stretch to about £530. Thanks ^_^ http://h10010.www1.hp.com/wwpc/uk/en/ho/WF06b/321957-321957-3329744-64354-64354-4011364-4036199.html http://h10010.www1.hp.com/wwpc/uk/en/ho/WF06a/321957-321957-3329744-64354-64354-3999443.html http://h10010.www1.hp.com/wwpc/uk/en/ho/WF06a/321957-321957-3329744-64354-64354-3872814.html Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted December 16, 2009 Well I would says that the 1300 and the 1200 are near enough the same spec. Personally I would go for the 1300 as it will make better use of that memory. And although it doesn't have a graphics option as good as the 1200, unless your mum became a gamer over night, it doesn't really matter. Like for like the 1300 (obviously higher number and all) is the better of the two. If you can stretch to the 2030sa then go for it but I wouldn't bother. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted December 16, 2009 (edited) It's an unforseeable event the gaming thing lol, recently she's gone ds mad and plays it all the time. She may demand I find games for her -_-. So if I did go for the 2030 is it the best out the three? Or is the intel one with the ddr3 ram better? Edit: By better I mean faster sorry. Edited December 16, 2009 by Stewilo2005 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted December 16, 2009 If gaming isn't an issue then performance wise I'd go for the 1300 as core 2 duo tends to offer more performance even with the lower clock speed. However according to bench marks the graphics capability of the 1300 means the most you could hope to play in terms of games in sims 3 at low detail. But it will still be good for Movies, youtube, Photoshop, fireworks and such applications. The 2030sa has much more gaming performance with the 4530. Below are links to an overview of the graphics capability of each card. 2030sa HD4530: http://www.notebookcheck.net/AMD-ATI-Mobility-Radeon-HD-4530.13972.0.html 1300 GMA 4500HD: http://www.notebookcheck.net/Intel-Graphics-Media-Accelerator-4500MHD-GMA-X4500MHD.9883.0.html Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted December 17, 2009 Well I would says that the 1300 and the 1200 are near enough the same spec. Personally I would go for the 1300 as it will make better use of that memory. And although it doesn't have a graphics option as good as the 1200, unless your mum became a gamer over night, it doesn't really matter. Like for like the 1300 (obviously higher number and all) is the better of the two. If you can stretch to the 2030sa then go for it but I wouldn't bother. No, just no. The intel CPU is certainly not better if even the as good as. It's a pentium, not a core 2 duo. DDR2 vs DDR3 is just plain irrelevant. Most applications won't take advantage of the additional throughput granted by the DDR3, in addition to the fact that the CPU it's paired with really wouldn't allow the DDR3 to shine anyways. The speed is likely quite close to the same, but the graphics aren't much lower. The biggest difference is Windows 7 and the Harddrive is 7200RPM instead of 5400, neither are big deals. The difference between 2030 and 1200 is slight CPU speeds(and the revision one is a new process) and the same Win 7/HDD speed. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted December 17, 2009 (edited) Dude I seriously didn't notice the P word. But seriously I would prefer the 64 bit OS compared to the 32 bit to take advantage of the 4GB of ram. IF gaming is out of the equation. Edited December 17, 2009 by Ten10 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted December 17, 2009 I was really just no-ing the "Higher number=better". Then I listed the main differences of all 3. As for 32bit-64bit. When it comes down to basic computing the 3.25GB is more than plenty. As stated, his Mom will mostly just be using it for ebay. Since this is about her needs and wants and not yours 32/64 seems irrelevant. Win 7/Windows Vista however is a greater argument as Win 7 is much friendlier to use. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted December 17, 2009 ^ I was about to say the same thing, seems silly to have 4gb and then have 32bit vista of all things. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted December 17, 2009 Hi, thanks for all your help. I decided to go for the 2030sa, that way if she does randomly decide she wants to play games she can. You never know with my mum, she's a strange one. I can't believe it myself £500 for an ebay laptop lol it's crazy but she lives in a world where you pay like double for something because it's shiny . It's a hard model to find anywhere ... are Play.com good to buy a laptop from? I've found it on there you see for £499. Or should I use Staples/ BT shop? My only concern is that the shipping will damage it from Play. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted December 17, 2009 I would get it through play.com as I've never had any problems with them. Just make sure that whoever signs for it when it arrives marks unchecked next to the signature. If there is anything wrong with the laptop play.com refund the cost of shipping it back to them. Although if you want it under the tree for Christmas it might be a bit late. I personally wouldn't buy a laptop from ebay unless it is a merchant account with decent feedback and not based in Hong Kong etc. As for BT shop can't vouch for them since I've never used their service. Staples online is offering free next day delivery, but I don't know how much your particular model costs. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted December 17, 2009 Play are good buying from, I refuse through them messing other orders up but 99% for everyone else they work great. Never buy something so expensive from eBay. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted December 17, 2009 I'd never buy anything like this from ebay, when I said ebay laptop i meant a laptop for ebay as in browsing. It's insane what he's willing to pay for a laptop that's going to be used for basic things. Recently my dad's money is burning a hole in his pocket though. I'm like buy me stuff too please and he's like no ... We decided on Staples, if quidco works it'll be worth it, if not they're not bothered either way that they payed £30 more than Play for next day delivery. These people are crazy, that £30 could buy me a game or two :P. It was £499 on Play and £529 on Staples. My dad didn't want to risk not having it on Christmas day. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted December 17, 2009 If you haven't ordered yet you may be able to pick up a free laptop bag or heated massage cushion: http://www.hotukdeals.com/all/vouchers/new?expired=false&mf=154 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted December 18, 2009 Ooo thank you for those, I used the laptop bag one, she'd probably use it a lot more than the cushion. Thank you very much for your help, that's why I like these forums best out of most i've joined, everyone is so nice ^_^ and all help each other out here. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted December 18, 2009 What's wrong with buying expensive stuff on eBay? I bought a TV from them once, it was about £180 and arrived in about 20 hours, in great condition. Also I know someone who has bought a car on eBay and was happy with it! That's about as expensive as you can get on there! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted December 18, 2009 Loads of businesses are also on eBay. Not only do these have to follow all the legal policies that the other online stores have to follow (regarding returns, refunds, etc) but they also have to follow eBay's policies. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted December 18, 2009 I generally don't like eBay so I never encourage it, bleh bleh haha ^_^ Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
