My head hurts.....What Laptop

Brocks

Brocks

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I want a simple laptop to use on my travels for photo editing and keeping in touch.

Budget aroud £500-£550

Running:

PSE8
Canon Software
Photomatix
itunes

Photos are on WD passports

I've found a refurbed Dell Studio 1558 with i3 and 1Gb graphic card and a 15" screen for 510 ish I also found a Sony offer on an E series Vaio for £470 (that said, think seams to send you to a laptop for £650!

I guess I need a separate Graphic Card and as good a processor as I can get. I've tried reading reviews and write ups and they are so contradictory. One review says the Dell studio is fantastic, another says its unreliabel and overheats. Who do I believe?

Where is the oracle of knowledge? What brands do I consider/avoid?
 
I can't help with specific recommendations, but if you are not interested in playing games with 3D graphics, I don't think you need a separate graphics card. For your photo editing needs I would say fast processor and plenty of RAM.
If I am talking rubbish then at least I have bumped your thread up and someone more knowledgable can correct me!
 
You dont need a dedicated graphics card for photo editing, im currently using a Professional Business class Dell Latitude E6500 which anyone will tell you is absolutly bombproof, i edit on the move and it flies with Elememts 8, photomechanic, lightroom in fact anything you throw at is a breeze.

Did i mention it's for sale an just about in your budget, comes with 31 month top class next day full cover business warranty

And the screen is Matte and to die for http://www.talkphotography.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=251165
 
Gary Coyle said:
You dont need a dedicated graphics card for photo editing, im currently using a Professional Business class Dell Latitude E6500 which anyone will tell you is absolutly bombproof, i edit on the move and it flies with Elememts 8, photomechanic, lightroom in fact anything you throw at is a breeze.

Did i mention it's for sale an just about in your budget, comes with 31 month top class next day full cover business warranty

And the screen is Matte and to die for http://www.talkphotography.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=251165
Click to expand...

the latitudes are solid as a rock.
 
Gary Coyle said:
You dont need a dedicated graphics card for photo editing, im currently using a Professional Business class Dell Latitude E6500 which anyone will tell you is absolutly bombproof, i edit on the move and it flies with Elememts 8, photomechanic, lightroom in fact anything you throw at is a breeze.

Did i mention it's for sale an just about in your budget, comes with 31 month top class next day full cover business warranty

And the screen is Matte and to die for http://www.talkphotography.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=251165
Click to expand...

Subtle...Nice try!

neil_g said:
the latitudes are solid as a rock.
Click to expand...

I'm replacing the D600. It's been a great tool but alas the wireless and modem are no longer up for it and the power on switch has a dodgy daughterboard. Dell is a favourate ATM.

neil_g said:
ooh no.. not toshiba ;)

http://www.talkphotography.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=174752&highlight=toshiba
Click to expand...

I'm on a tosh right now. Way too heavy for travel considering I travel with my personal and business laptops. I have the amount of junk that arrives on the toshiba too.



I've found two machines of interest now. Both Dell.

•Inspiron 1564 : Intel i5-430M(2.26GHz) Mobile CPU
•English Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium (64 BIT)
•English Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium (64 BIT)
•Hard Drive : 320GB Serial ATA (5400RPM)
•6144MB (1x2048 + 1x4096)
•MOD,DVD+/-RW,8X,HLDS,BARE,INSP
•15.6in High Definition (1366X768) WLED
•Obsidian Black
•512 MB ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4330

£550

Latitude 6510 with a 1080 screen for about the same.

E6510, i7 (i think), 1080 screen 4gb Ram,
 
The Inspiron are Dells budget range of machines and are filled with unbranded parts, built with cheap plastic panels and all the screws are inserted into plastic gromets which lead to them stripping the threads, budget machine and budget parts and build.

I doubt you'll get a Lattitude with a 1080 screen for anywhere under £1500, the cheapest Latitude i7 E6510 option with a 1080 screen and 4gb Ram comes in at £1400 plus Vat and delivery which is £1,675

If you can buy a new latitude e5610 i7 for about £550 with a high def screen then please buy 2 and ill buy one from you for £900. you might be lucky and pick up an i5 for around £700 but it will be an imported jobby with the switched USA keyboard and power supply, buy these at your peril as the UK power supply overheats the US machines and Dell wont touch it under warranty, you might find one of these on ebay or from one of the so caller "Official Dell Resellers" Dell DONT actually have "Official Resellers"
 
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i would not touch dell ever.
sony vaio are class with great screens and colours straight out of the box.

we now run 3 sony vaio's. best laptop ever.
 
r1andy said:
i would not touch dell ever.
Click to expand...

care to give us some facts with that reasoning? professionally i wouldnt recommend anything other than the dell latitude for a business class bombproof laptop and my guess would be that anyone whos experienced them would agree. we've got about 150 of them across different generations/models in circulation at work at the present time.

how many of them have had faults that were not caused by user damage.. my guess 1%

sony vaio are class with great screens and colours straight out of the box.

we now run 3 sony vaio's. best laptop ever.
Click to expand...

disagree. unreliable (i know at least 4 people who've owned vaios and 100% of those have had at least 1 fault), expensive to fix and overpriced generally.
 
neil_g said:
care to give us some facts with that reasoning? professionally i wouldnt recommend anything other than the dell latitude for a business class bombproof laptop and my guess would be that anyone whos experienced them would agree. we've got about 150 of them across different generations/models in circulation at work at the present time.

how many of them have had faults that were not caused by user damage.. my guess 1%



disagree. unreliable (i know at least 4 people who've owned vaios and 100% of those have had at least 1 fault), expensive to fix and overpriced generally.
Click to expand...

Only ever owned 1 sony vaio and the processor fried after about 16 months, nice x-black screens but those reflections kill it under anything brighter than candle light, flimsy build compared to Latitudes and theres no way you can match the Pro business warranties from the Latitudes which are transferrable to new owners unlike Sony
 
Owned and used approx 15 Latitudes either personal use or through work, only had a single problem the one time when a Latitude E4300 was taken by someone else at work, he complained it wouldnt boot up, as he was on the road Dell sent a techie to him within 3 hours and fixed it on the spot (Ram had unseated after being dropped) they also replaced at no cost the ever so slightly dented sreeen bezel at a later date.
 
Funnily enough I came on here to plug the dell laptop up for sale as above

r1andy said:
i would not touch dell ever.
sony vaio are class with great screens and colours straight out of the box.

we now run 3 sony vaio's. best laptop ever.
Click to expand...

Nice laptops but overpriced for what they are. We've had huge issues with 3 different models, mostly due to components failing on the motherboard that are situated next to the CPU and overheating.

We have over 200 Dell laptops on site with very few issues that's aren't user related. Add to that their support and it makes sense.
 
dell insurance is pretty poo-hot too.. they're normally out next day with new case parts/screens etc.

i did have to send my old D830 back to them for a wfew days after i lost an entire mug of coffee inside it. they replaced pretty much everything below the screen lol
 
Gary Coyle said:
The Inspiron are Dells budget range of machines and are filled with unbranded parts, built with cheap plastic panels and all the screws are inserted into plastic gromets which lead to them stripping the threads, budget machine and budget parts and build.

I doubt you'll get a Lattitude with a 1080 screen for anywhere under £1500, the cheapest Latitude i7 E6510 option with a 1080 screen and 4gb Ram comes in at £1400 plus Vat and delivery which is £1,675

If you can buy a new latitude e5610 i7 for about £550 with a high def screen then please buy 2 and ill buy one from you for £900. you might be lucky and pick up an i5 for around £700 but it will be an imported jobby with the switched USA keyboard and power supply, buy these at your peril as the UK power supply overheats the US machines and Dell wont touch it under warranty, you might find one of these on ebay or from one of the so caller "Official Dell Resellers" Dell DONT actually have "Official Resellers"
Click to expand...

I found 4 on the Dell Outlet. However this morning they've been sold. :bonk:

This is the spec I can get from them now:

* BASE,NBK,CTO,E6510
* Processor : One Intel Core i5-540M(2.53GHz 3MB Dual Core)
* Windows 7 Professional (64 BIT)
* 4096MB (2x2048) 1067MHz DDR3 Dual Channel
* DVD (8X)
* 15.6in HD (1366X768) WLED with TrueLife

*£503.45


r1andy said:
i would not touch dell ever.
sony vaio are class with great screens and colours straight out of the box.

we now run 3 sony vaio's. best laptop ever.
Click to expand...

The doo look good but, as mentioned above, I've not heard good things about the Sonys and the price puts me off. Brother in law had one and gave it to the mother in law after two years. My Dell D600 is still more reliable.
 
This is the spec I can get from them now:

* BASE,NBK,CTO,E6510
* Processor : One Intel Core i5-540M(2.53GHz 3MB Dual Core)
* Windows 7 Professional (64 BIT)
* 4096MB (2x2048) 1067MHz DDR3 Dual Channel
* DVD (8X)
* 15.6in HD (1366X768) WLED with TrueLife

*£503.45
Click to expand...

Just spotted it, Poor screen option, no bluetooth, no wireless module, the cheapest graphics option but otherwise decent spec :lol:, just be aware the new 6510 series of Latitudes dont have a magnesium lid, its plastic painted to look like brushed metal
 
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From personal experience I'd say go with a Dell.
I see a lot of laptops in need of aid, and I also get asked to supply english Laptops (for keyboard + software) and 30 or so down the line have not had a major hardware problems with any of them (the odd memory stick or H drive going toes up).
However the number of screen problems I've seen with Compaqs and HP's (invertors and cables) beggars belief! Thank god for ebay parts suppliers!

I'd not be so quick to write off the inspiron range either, though I would say reformat and reinstall windows as soon as you get it out of the box, to get rid of the rubbish all the manufacturers load their lappies up with :shake:

Tara
 
A friend came over to my house at Easter I think it was to see if I could fix their Sony laptop that they bought in '07. For starters the thing looked a wreck, however I don't know how well she treated it. Anyway, the graphics chip was fried, garbled text on the screen the second you switched it on.
 
Gary Coyle said:
If you can buy a new latitude e5610 i7 for about £550 with a high def screen then please buy 2 and ill buy one from you for £900.
Click to expand...

BASE,NBK,CTO,E6510
Windows 7 Professional (64 BIT)
4096MB (2x2048) 1067MHz DDR3 Dual Channel
Optical Drive : 8X DVD+/-RW Drive no software15.6 Widescreen Full High Definition (1920X1080) WLED with TrueLife

Price incl.VAT and excl.del: £489.22 ;)
 
That sounds a good deal but unfortunatly with the Outlet you dont get to find the true spec until you unbox it, it doesnt even list what the processor is, theres no info about wireless/bluetooth/graphics/ hard drive capacity, hard drive speed, wether or not its the free fall sensor model or even if it has one installed, first one i ever bought didn't even have a wireless card installed, truelife = Glossy = No thanks

Like i said, on the surface it seems a good deal
 
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I'm going to call them at lunch time to see if they can expand on the spec. It almost sounds like it hasn't even got a processor! It almost sounds too good to be true and I know a saying to that effect!
 
Brocks said:
I'm going to call them at lunch time to see if they can expand on the spec. It almost sounds like it hasn't even got a processor! It almost sounds too good to be true and I know a saying to that effect!
Click to expand...
Quite a few Dell outlet items are not what they seem, refurbishment simply means checking the contents and putting in new sealed software discs, you need to ask why theres loads of these systems being returned in the first place, i'll let you into a little secret here as to why i have a good grounding in Dells, i have a relative who works in the Irish repackaging and distrubition depot. ;)
 
Gary can you get them to open the box for me then? :lol:

Phone query was successful..NOT!:bang:

The website has two phone numbers......

Number one = German/Dutch answer machine.

Number two = Call centre in asia......after spaking to 3 people who could not help me except to order a brand new machine. Given a third number

Number three = message in american that the number has been replaced by....Number 4!

Number 4 = asia again.....Cannot help me heres an email address!

If this is the hassle for a sale.....what happens when I get a defect?:thinking:
 
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