HELP! Laptop terminal...

StuntMonkey

StuntMonkey

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Alex Burge
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Hi guys,

been having nothing but trouble with my laptop today and i have had about enough!
to be fair she has done me good service and has been dropped a few times, its chocerbloc with crap and its generally on its arse!

basically i want some help with getting a new one.
i have seen a few similar threads on here lately but nothing that has helped me.

i am currently using an Acer 5103WLMI which has been great for the lat few years.

i have about £400 i can spare and whatever i get will be used as my main computer. i must admit it will mainly be used for web surfing but as i am learning it should increasingly be used for photo editing too.
i must admit i am a sod for having lot of things open at once so it will need to be capable of dealing with that without telling me the 'virtual memory is running low!'.

i have been looking around and the only one that has really caught me eye is the HP G70-111EM which is on offer at comet atm,

http://www.comet.co.uk/shopcomet/product/500097/HP-G70-111EM/tab/reviews#reviews

now, i really am not in any way technically minded to say the least!
does this look like a good spec? are there far better machines out there for the money?

come on guys please :help: and do feel free to flame me if i am looking at completely the wrong thing :lol:
 
That looks to be a great machine. Plus, if it's comet, you can go and check it out yourself.

It'd totally fly with XP on it though, wowsers....
 
i have heard alot of bad things about Vista... is it really that bad? :shrug:
also im worried about software compatibility? should i be?
 
Don't get me wrong, I'm no Vista hater - what I DO see though is the potential of todays machines when running an OS that isn't such a resource-hog.

I doubt you'd have massive compatibility issues, but post up the main programs you use and someone will be able to help.

Cheers,
James
 
i mainly use the thing to surf the net and as we speak have 2 windows open both with 3 tabs open in them.
facebook is nearly always open as is TalkPhotography and msn.

software wise i am trying to get my head around lighroom, have PS elements and also have iTunes open most of the time... thats about it really
ooo and office.

im sure i read somewhere that you can choose whether to run Vista or 'downgrade' to XP with a new machine :thinking:
 
the only thing i would point out is that the video card is using shared graphics memory!

so the system comes with 3gb of ram but the video card is going to nick 1277mb of that for itself! so you only get to use about half that 3gb for applications!!!!
 
martynbez said:
the only thing i would point out is that the video card is using shared graphics memory!

so the system comes with 3gb of ram but the video card is going to nick 1277mb of that for itself! so you only get to use about half that 3gb for applications!!!!
Click to expand...



ok... i take it thats a bad thing? if so can it be altered?

:lol:
 
Surely it can't be using over a gigabyte of system RAM for video? That's nuts.

I would expect that it can be adjusted. 256mb would be perfectly ample, leaving you LOADS of system RAM spare.

Cheers,
James
 
thats how i'm reading the spec's off the website! if u can adjust it it would be worth checking before you buy it!

seems a little crazy to me too!
 
It seems to be a bit of a waste to dump the Acer laptop as that is still a respectable machine.

If the only thing wrong with it is the speed then a format and reinstall might help as you say it's full of junk, combine that with a memory upgrade to 2GB and it should be running quicker than when you got it. I'd suggest visiting www.crucial for the memory.

If all that daunts you could you ask a more pc savvy friend to do it? Then after all that if it's not how you like it you will have a clean laptop to sell on or give away.

That HP laptop would be a good as a desktop replacement machine, it might be a bit heavy/bulky to cart around places. It is well specced so it should run Vista nicely, i don't know how good the screen will be for editing photos though.

Don't worry about Vista, it's no more difficult to use than XP and your software will more than likely run.
 
lepster74 said:
It seems to be a bit of a waste to dump the Acer laptop as that is still a respectable machine.

If the only thing wrong with it is the speed then a format and reinstall might help as you say it's full of junk, combine that with a memory upgrade to 2GB and it should be running quicker than when you got it. I'd suggest visiting www.crucial for the memory.

If all that daunts you could you ask a more pc savvy friend to do it? Then after all that if it's not how you like it you will have a clean laptop to sell on or give away.

That HP laptop would be a good as a desktop replacement machine, it might be a bit heavy/bulky to cart around places. It is well specced so it should run Vista nicely, i don't know how good the screen will be for editing photos though.

Don't worry about Vista, it's no more difficult to use than XP and your software will more than likely run.
Click to expand...


Thats a very good point lepster. as silly as it sounds i hadnt even thought of it! :p
Think my friend Mark will be getting a call in the morning...
 
Just googled your existing machine spec. Nothing wrong with that! £40 or so on RAM and maybe a newer, faster hard drive (or even just a reformat) and it'll fly!

Cheers,
James
 
Thats me told then :nuts:

Thanks for your help guys :thumbs:

i will get on it next week. think im going to invest in one of the WD 1TB drives in another thread to back everything upto and get this thing serviced :lol:
 
StuntMonkey said:
Thats a very good point lepster. as silly as it sounds i hadnt even thought of it! :p
Think my friend Mark will be getting a call in the morning...
Click to expand...

Once the hardware lust strikes all rational thought goes out of the window. :lol:

Just be sure to back up all your personal files if you can, and stuff like settings for websites and email accounts (usernames/passwords). That will save you lots of wailing and gnashing of teeth later on, i speak from experience here. :lol:
 
If you do decide to get a laptop, this one from Currys is a good deal.

http://www.currys.co.uk/martprd/product/seo/908015

It is also an HP model G70-120ea. Same features as the other one plus a seperate graphics card and bluray drive for £469.

I am typing this on it now and its very nice.:)
 
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