laptop help - what do I need ??

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stevewestern

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Right, I may be about to buy a laptop, and as I have never had one, I am in need of some guidance..
What sort of thing do i need to look for ?
My current pc is so old that anything is likely to be amazing, but any pointers would be great.
Main use would be editing photos, and music - making cd compilations etc. My pc has a dedicated soundcard (can't remember the make, but it cost a load back then) and I guess a laptop won't have such a thing - again, any advice ?
Sorry to be asking something that has been asked many times before...
 
How much can you spend?
 
You are going to need (ideally)
A lot of RAM
High End CPU
Large Screen.

This will enable you to process and burn data/images efficiently.

you may well need an additional external HDD to save rapidly filling the main drive.

Need some idea of budget though so that we can sift out where any compromises may be needed.
 
steve, Consider the following:

Will you be using it with an external monitor most of the time or when it counts?
Consider portability and screen size. If above true then consider ultra portable or sub notebook. If not then you will probably be looking at a laptop as a desktop replacement, therefore 15 or 17" screen +.
Battery life should be a serious issue. What you save on a cheap/poor performing battery you will spend on extra adaptors. Look for 4-6 hours min, and accept that will translate to 50% of quoted in real life.
Do you need to be carrying around a dvd/cd drive or can you cope with an external one.

Personally I would narrow a selection based on my lifestyle requirements and then compare things such as ram, cpu, and disk size.

Hope that helps...

oh, i forgot to mention, but is a tv/s-video out important to you? Could be useful if you are using it to display photo's on a larger screen.
 
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OK, to be honest, I have seen one for sale here on the forum, and if you take a look, you may see why it is tempting me so much - asking price is £375. It is an Acer core2duo, with 2gb memory. Sadly, only a 15inch screen.
I don't have any money, so budget is as low as possible, I have an external hard drive already, and could use my existing monitor to help with editing - one added thing is that my music and stereo are downstairs, and my pc is upstairs - having a laptop in the music room would make my life loads better, and my ears would love it !

The advantage of buying new would be credit, and more choice. This one second hand comes with some software for me to delete.
 
I have a Dell 17" (1920 x 1200), and I paid around £800 for it about five months ago.

To me as a Tog (and to you, I guess), the screen size and resolution is the most important thing, everything else is just numbers :D

The difference between it and a 15" (we also have a 15" laptop) is HUGE.

Hope this helps!
 
Those Dell ones aren't the best, extremely basic spec, also they need vat and delivery on top. By the time you've put a decent cpu and memory in your talking up to £500. If it were me I'd be looking at these click

The £549 one with core 2 duo and 3gb of ram looks a good bet
 
Sorry just looked at the first one, the second at £349 isn't so bad and comes in at under £400 inc. vat!!
 
JumboBeef said:
To me as a Tog (and to you, I guess), the screen size and resolution is the most important thing, everything else is just numbers :D
Click to expand...
I would agree to a point. I have a 12.1" screen and have no problem carrying my laptop around with my camera gear. If it were a 17" i'd be breaking my back! If I want to do serious photo editing i turn on the desktop or plug an external monitor in.
 
Oh, word of warning. CS3 is not (or wasn't a few months ago) compatible with Windows Vista Basic.

Cheers,
James
 
One thing to watch with laptops for editing is that usually the screen colour temp is usually set to 9300k with no way to change it. Calibration can help but is nowhere near perfect :(
 
Apart from that one is core duo cpu and not core 2 duo :D no wxga screen, no firewire etc, or 3 year warranty ;):D
 
And run, not walk, away from Advent gear. Terrible quality.

Cheers,
James :D
 
Moos3h said:
Oh, word of warning. CS3 is not (or wasn't a few months ago) compatible with Windows Vista Basic.

Cheers,
James
Click to expand...

Still seems to be the case....I've just put XP on a partition of my new desktop to be able to use it. Another small issue with Vista Basic is that 3Gb of RAM is the maximum it will look to use so don't be pushed into going for more if you're getting that operating system.

I've just got two new laptops (one new but second hand from Moos3h) and find that the screen on the Dell Inspiron is much clearer than the HP Invent when looking at images. Both are fine for the basics but I'd be concerned about doing any serious editing on the HP.

Bob
 
Canon Bob said:
Still seems to be the case....I've just put XP on a partition of my new desktop to be able to use it. Another small issue with Vista Basic is that 3Gb of RAM is the maximum it will look to use so don't be pushed into going for more if you're getting that operating system.

I've just got two new laptops (one new but second hand from Moos3h) and find that the screen on the Dell Inspiron is much clearer than the HP Invent when looking at images. Both are fine for the basics but I'd be concerned about doing any serious editing on the HP.

Bob
Click to expand...

It's not vista basic but any of the 32bit versions of Vista.

Only 64bit can utilise more.
 
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jamiefsmith said:
Sorry just looked at the first one, the second at £349 isn't so bad and comes in at under £400 inc. vat!!
Click to expand...


Yeah, the link was just to their deals page - changes all the time, sometimes good, sometimes not so hot. The Vostro stuff seems not to be widely advertised but can come in significantly cheaper - but as you say, you need to watch the specs.

But you can usually find e-vouchers on redhotdeals or similar to knock the spec up or the price down on the dell kit.
 
Moos3h said:
And run, not walk, away from Advent gear. Terrible quality.

Cheers,
James :D
Click to expand...

Not used one of their laptops myself but my sister has one and loves it. I don't doubt that build quality is not the best but then Acers rep on that front is crap too, what they both share is value for money.
 
Macbook pro is a lovely bit of kit but in my opinion pretty overpriced for the spec.

Unless there is a burning desire to go Mac, I'd suggest sticking to PC and grabbing a Dell, HP, Toshiba or Leonovo - It's wise to stick to the big brands. Even Acer at a push as their stuff is good value.

Cheers,
James
 
alot of home based laptops have things like sounds cards builts in, card readers and so on, the one i just got has realtak high definition audio so thats good enough for me.

look to buy at least a dual core with 2gb if running Vista, even XP look for as much as possible, at least an 80gb drive i would say, maybe 60 if you have an external drive to use but try and get the best you can for the money yours spending

i have the 16.4" screen and its fine for what it does, no problems with it. if you can use your normal monitor i would say the 15" will be fine for other things around the house and so on so size isn't a problem there in my opinion
 
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