Laptop spec advice sought
 

Hi All,

Finally getting around to replacing the old faithful PC. Would like a laptop now - saves space, option of taking it places (though the intention is more for it to be a desktop replacement).

My useage: Predominantly office based tasks and surfing the net. However, I'd like to get into video/image editing, which has been of interest to me for ages, but not feasible owing to the spec of "Old Faithful". Also not averse to playing games, though accept that a laptop will have a limited lifespan in that respect owing to problems upgrading it.

I tend to go with the philosophy: get the best you can afford. I did this last time with the PC and -bless it- it's still ok for the basics 6 years on!

To this end I've found a very nice Dell system- bit of a monster, actually- for a very good price on Ebay. At £1299 its certainly not cheap, but I can see this doing everything that's asked of it for some time, and then some. It also comes with Dell's 3 year fix at home warranty.

Here's the link.

eBay.co.uk: Dell Inspiron XPS M1710 2,16 Core 2, VISTA, 2GB, 3YR, (item 110099651798 end time 29-Mar-07 22:00:00 BST)

Would appreciate any feedback from the knowledgable.

Best wishes,

Paul

Thats a pretty good price on that lap top. I checked the Dell site and to buy it from them would cost you around £1,550.


A similar spec from Evesham comes in at £1,549

A good spec too. You are doing the right thing going for 2GB memory. The only thing I would say is the HDD might be slightly on the small side. But then you could buy a external drive to use as a file bank.

Cheers Pete. I thought that was a keen price for that spec too. I've also been looking at Evesham and Rock, who seem to do quality systems, but I am tempted to go back to Dell. They have their detractors, but IME they really know how to spec and assemble a PC that'll last. The 3 yr on-site warranty is a bonus too (just in case)

It was a little more than I planned on spending, but I really don't see the point of scrimping on RAM and a graphics card when even Windows is specifying quite a jucy system as min requirements for Vista, which -as we all know- you'll want to exceed by some margin if you don't want your PC to run slowly) :)

If I start filling the hard drive, Ill do as you suggest and go for a USB storage jobbie

Ns04

It will run vista like a dream. I am running Vista ultimate on a T5500 core2duo laptop with a gig of RAM and a 7400GO 256MB Gfx card, and it runs fine.

The Dell 9400 is exactly the same as the XPS 1710 except for the LED's and a slightly different cover.

Make sure you get a "True-life" screen as they are fantastic.

The 7950GTX is quite a big upgrade from the 7900GS - but the 7900 should be fine for your needs.

Later on in the laptops life, you can upgrade the card to a 7900GTX which is a slightly underclocked version of the 7950.

I'm going through the same decision making as you. This is probabily what I'm going to end up with:

eBay.co.uk: Dell Inspiron 9400 ,2GIG DDR,160HD,LAPTOP,7900 GS,VISTA (item 110107880398 end time 05-Apr-07 16:28:20 BST)

Yep, they do look very similar; the only three notable exceptions being the processor (nominally slower) graphics card (not as good, but adequate as you say) and the one year RTB warranty (you get 3 years on site with the more expensive system). The M1170 also looks nicer IMO

Is that worth £299.....hmm, probably not quite. :) None the less, I think I'll stick with that for the time being.

The offer you point to is good though - just have a feeling I'd miss the better spec and security of the warranty!!

Ns04