beamer

Is this a good buy?

ACER AS9301AWS Laptop - Cheap ACER Laptops.. Buy the ACER AS9301AWS laptop at PC World.

Any advice appreciated

Daz34

For that money yeah.
For the same price you can get deals with dual core cpus and slightly bigger hard drives but then you will probably have to downsize to a 15.4" screen and integrated graphics like this one.
Depends which is more important to you.

beamer

Thanks Daz

Will it be able to be upgraded like a normal pc if needed later on?

This will be replacing my home desktop with simular spec so I can give it to my kids as theres is on its last legs

Screen size is quite important

BlkKnight

graphics card is utter ****e, but that aside, looks OK

J4CKO

iTrader: (1)

Do you really need a 17 inch display, I have just bought a 15.4 one and its fine, my previous one was 12 inches and tiny but still useable.
I though I wanted a 17 inch one until I tried to use one, they are enormous.

BlkKnight

what's your upper budget?

RUDDY

i was going to buy one of them yesterday!
i got this instead though! ADVENT 7113 Laptop - Cheap ADVENT Laptops.. Buy the ADVENT 7113 laptop at PC World.
24 hours on and im pleased i did

beamer

Really about £600ish but I do need a wireless router as well.

Iain Young

What do you want to use it for Steve?

As said above, the graphics card in that laptop is pretty ropey, and no you can't upgrade them like you can a normal desktop pc. You can usually stick in some more memory and a bigger hard drive, but that's it.

beamer

Hi Iain

Use for photography mainly+net not really into games, and I need some space hence giving the kids my pc.

RichardS2005

Currys had the same models as PC World for cheaper... well they did a month a go. My wife got this an its great for the money: Currys ...always lowering prices D=@@@@0381205062.1175801095@@@@&BV_EngineID=ccekad dkikglhedcflgceggdhhmdgml.0&page=Product&fm=1&sm=0 &tm=0&sku=535550&category_oid=-27405

Plus they would negotiate on the price so got bag/mouse etc discounted - you could try for a router I guess?

Milamber

iTrader: (2)

My laptop is a 17" widescreen version, it really isn't tremendously portable.

Iain Young

I've got a 17" Dell and lug it about all over the place. Never had a problem with portability, although it is a little heavier than a smaller screen.

If you're just using it mainly for web and for photo stuff then memory and processor speed are the two most important factors, especially if you are running Vista. Obviously you need to get the best graphics chip you can find as well (for speed of display update), but you can run photoshop quite happily on a machine with only a basic nvidia graphics chipset (like the one in the machine you mentioned). I'm running it on my work laptop which has an even slower graphics chip and photoshop runs ok.

I suspect that the spec you mentioned would be fine for what you are asking of it. I've no idea how reliable those particular machines are though...

scooberuni

I got a new Advent laptop from pc world, not too reliable though.
So far I've had a new hard drive, battery and keyboard.
All of these things went just within the one year warranty, so I'm lucky in that respect. I just don't know what's going to go next?

beamer

Thanks for all the replies chaps

Portability not really an issue, as it proberbly won't leave the house.
Not looking good for the PC world one is it!!

So ideally what spec should I be looking for?

Iain Young

Personally, I'd be looking for an Intel core duo processor. Something like the Dell Inspiron 6400

Find a Notebook, Desktop, Server, Printer, Software, Service or Monitor at Dell.

It's around your budget, has a much better graphics card etc than the PC world one, and I can vouch for the build quality (I've personally got a Dell, my work laptop is a Dell, and I'm thinking of upgrading to another one). The only downside is that the screen is only 15.4"" instead of 17". But to be honest, it doesn't make that much difference...

beamer

Thanks Iain I have been looking at Dell 6400 but get carried away on the customnizing

There are 2 one @£529 and the other @£599 with free printer I take it the 599 is better?

P_v_G

Tesco have the Acer for the same price as PCW but at a *slightly* higher spec (HDD and GFX)

Acer Aspire 9301AWSMi 17" Laptop - Tesco.Direct

GCollier

I've just bought a dell 640m (delivered yesterday) which I am very happy with. It's definitely worth phoning dell and haggling. I didn't want the printer and was offered £20 off to start with instead of the printer, ended up with £40 off after some further haggling. So far I'm more than happy with my dell and if you can negotiate a further discount on their offer price you should be able to get one within budget.

Gary.

beamer

Cheers Gary,

Had a chat with a mate of mine tonight and he said the same, phone up and haggle

Iain Young

I know where you're coming from there. I'm always the same

Yep. The 599 one has a bigger hard disc, and a far superior graphics chipset inside it. Well worth it for the extra £70 in my opinion