New laptop required - anyone seen any good deals?

[Will]

I've decided that it's about time for a new laptop . One of the main reasons that I like to change to a new machine about once a year is to avoid paying for an extended warranty, as with previous experiences, laptops tend to get a bit 'tired' after a year of wear and tear (eg, keyboard, battery, charging sockets etc etc).

Anyway, current machine is doing quite well (Toshiba Satellite Pro 2.8 P4, 512MB RAM, 40GB HD, DVD-RW etc etc)

I've been having a quick browse through a few online suppliers and not seen anything that stands out as being a great deal just yet. Realistically I am looking to pay around £800-1000. I'm not particularly keen on no-name brands (particularly with a laptop) and quite like the look of some of the Sony machines, although any decent brand would suffice.

Obviously, a slight increase in spec from what I've got would be the natural way to go, a slightly bigger HD, possibly built in Wi-Fi etc would be nice.

What's the current situation with these 'mobile' type processors. Eg, I am using a P4 2.8GHz - what would be an 'equivalent' spec machine to my present machine. Would I be correct in thinking that this newer generation of processors run cooler (hence quieter, less fan noise) and are slightly more efficient?

Seen this Sony machine at Ebuyer, any opinions on this as a start to my search for a new machine?

http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/products/index.html?rb=8983056133&action=c2hvd19wcm9kdWN0X2dhbGxlcnk=&product_uid=90279

If anyone has seen any special deals recently (eg, one of the silly Dell offers etc ) please let me know

Many thanks for any help/advice,

Will

 

[Will]

Just to add, this is a better link for that Sony laptop I was considering (links straight to spec etc)

http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/prod...2hvd19wcm9kdWN0X292ZXJ2aWV3&product_uid=90279

Looks nice, good features (realistically enough for what I do!), and a fair price?

Opinions?

Will

 

[fuzzer]

ive been let down with sony laptops so often

ive been through 6 sonys , toshiba apple , compaq and ibm in tha past 3 years.

so ,im hard on laptops.

if you will trust me , buy an IBM thinkpad. solid as a rock , won't let you down

Current laptop of choice is an IBM R51 1 giggerbot of ram , built in wifi and bluetooth.

sony look good but , they look tatty after a few months of 9,10 hours a day of use.

 

[Will]

Thanks for the feedback Fuzzer - re Sony laptops!

What sort of problems did you end up with? Reckon it would still be a problem if I am buying new and keeping less than 12 months (ie, under warranty )

Know what you mean about IBM. Real 'workhorses'. Got a T42 (I think!) at work that I use, and my father does have an old Thinkpad as well. Certainly reliable so far, and they have been around for years with a good reputation.

I'll definately look into them, anyone seen any good models at a decent price?

No real complaints with the current Toshiba, other than perhaps it is a little noisy as the fans try to keep the 2.8 CPU cool!

Thanks,

Will

 

[Alfie]

ive been let down with sony laptops so often

ive been through 6 sonys , toshiba apple , compaq and ibm in tha past 3 years.

so ,im hard on laptops.

if you will trust me , buy an IBM thinkpad. solid as a rock , won't let you down

Current laptop of choice is an IBM R51 1 giggerbot of ram , built in wifi and bluetooth.

sony look good but , they look tatty after a few months of 9,10 hours a day of use.

Totally endorse what fuzzer says here. I buy lots and lots of laptops and we have had a couple of Sony's amongst them. They are unreliable. Main problems are keyboard and touchpad giving up the ghost and battery wearing out prematurely. Also had to replace a power supply on one of them.

I wont ever buy them again. As fuzzer says, Sony's look good but dont last. If you can stomach the thing being repaired under warranty a few times in the first the year which might involve it going back to the manufacturer then this wont worry you. Over the past two years I have bought over 100 laptops. 1 Dell, 2 Sony's and 100+ IBM's. The Dell is still going strong as are all the IBM's (Not one failure yet!). The Sony's have both failed.

The IBM's are not any longer strictly IBM any more. IBM sold off its PC division to Lenovo (China). All their laptops are made in china these days with an IBM badge to an IBM design. This is due to change over the next two years when the units will be badged as Lenovo. We will have to see how the quality goes further down the line.

For now though...

buy an IBM thinkpad. solid as a rock , won't let you down

Good luck

 

[peterchurch]

To chip in with the others I bought a Sony Vaio PC and a few months after I got it one of the memory chips blew. I found the fault phoned them up and asked to send a replacement memory dimm the only thing they would say was send the whole PC back to france and they would investigate. Sony products look nice but when they go wrong you might as well bin them I bought a Toshiba p30 widescreen laptop as well and it has been very good (not very light though )

Steer clear of Sony...

 

[SimonsMerc]

If you're interested in buying an IBM laptop, tell me which one and I'll find you a price from the employee purchase plan. I'm allowed to buy for "family and friends", I think the definition of friends is wide enough

-simon

 

[big x]

Funnily enough my Sony laptop crapped out yesterday with a power supply problem linked to a fractured main board and can't be repaired economically.Mind you I got over 4 years hard use from it without problems and it was a budget model so assuming something like the current budget Sony the FS215E sells for £600 the costs would run at a bearable £150 a year assuming the new model holds up. I can't see how any machine can be reliable when new models come out every six months or less.There is no time to work out the bugs...madness.


adam

 

[Sp!ke]

Whatever you get, make sure it has an extended warranty coz i've yet to see a laptop last 3 years without some kind of technical failure.

After 3 years its ready to hand down to the kids/throw away anyway.

 

[Alps]

I had an IBM X50, great little machine! currently using a Dell CX300, very good solid machine too, but the IBM was better!

 

[Will]

Thanks for all the feedback guys - It doesn't seem as if the Sony models are particularly reliable then!

Having said that, the last two previous machines (Samsung) weren't anything to write home about either. Once suffered keyboard faults, the other had a faulty screen and a charging socket, and both batteries died shortly after a year of use

I'm sure you are right Spike, regarding a laptop's 'life expectancy', hence I am looking for a new machine already and my current one isn't yet a year old.

Part of my logic is that most extended warranties seem to cost a few hundred pounds. Rather than paying this I would rather get a new (and hopefully, up-to-date machine) that comes with a new 12 month warranty anyway. Ok, I will lose a few hundred each time, but I get the benefit of a new machine and don't have to pay for an extended warranty on an ageing machine.

Thanks again everyone for your wisdom, and like I said, if anyone spots a good deal, I'd be happy to see it

Cheers,

Will

 

[mercmanuk]

i use a toshiba qosmio g 10,cant reccomend enough although a little expensive

 

[Sp!ke]

I dont think the extended warranty has to be that much money. Dell throw in a heavilly subsidised 3 year onsite warranty for about £100.

Worth its weight in gold IMO.

Make sure its onsite warranty though...

 

[Will]

Again, thanks for all the comments guys

Any opinions on this one then:

http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/prod...2hvd19wcm9kdWN0X292ZXJ2aWV3&product_uid=84841

Not sure if this one has the Bluetooth that Fuzzer mentioned in the R51, but seems like a fair price and spec?

I'll give Dell a look in the morning, if you can buy a 3yr onsite warranty for £100, that'd be money well spent I'd guess. Does it include 'wear and tear' and items such as batteries? This is my major concern with laptops, as they are often expensive and difficult to repair (keyboards, screens, sockets etc, compared to a desktop equivalent).

Cheers,

Will

 

[AJTHOMAS]

Company issued a DELL Lattitude D600 to replace my Thinkpad T series in April.

Impressed wih the Thinkpad, solidly built and looked good years down the line.
Dell doesn't look to have the same robust feel but was much cheaper.

Seems sensible to spend equivalent money on higher performance over a shorter life span than invest in top quality that becomes obsolete before it wears out.

Dell offer 7% discount if your company is a corporate customer and you quote your company name at the time of purchase --> www.dell.co.uk/epp


Go on, treat yourself, do the right thing and get a power book

 

[fuzzer]

Again, thanks for all the comments guys

Any opinions on this one then:

http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/prod...2hvd19wcm9kdWN0X292ZXJ2aWV3&product_uid=84841

Not sure if this one has the Bluetooth that Fuzzer mentioned in the R51, but seems like a fair price and spec?

I'll give Dell a look in the morning, if you can buy a 3yr onsite warranty for £100, that'd be money well spent I'd guess. Does it include 'wear and tear' and items such as batteries? This is my major concern with laptops, as they are often expensive and difficult to repair (keyboards, screens, sockets etc, compared to a desktop equivalent).

Cheers,

Will

yep , that looks similar to mine . great laptop and that 4 odd hours running time is right

 

[Will]

Just for a bit of a 'comparison' I had a quick look at some of the Dell range.

Looks as though I may be entitled to the 7% discount scheme that they offer!

Specced up (for now) a 1.73 centrino (533 FSB), 512MB RAM, 60GB HD, DVD-RW, 15.4" WXGA screen, Bluetooth, plus all the usual Dell bits (Inspiron 6000 series), works out at £670 including VAT and delivery!

Now that seems like a good deal to me -not an IBM, but surely a respectible brand at a very good price. Haven't ordered anything yet, so will have another look a bit later on

For my budget I might be able to get a nice spec machine.

Cheers,

Will

 

[AJTHOMAS]

Tread carefully in the Dell website...

Different specs & prices appear if you navigate down the different Home / SME / Large workflows.

Swap the 'extended service ' for a basic one year to save more money still.

Enjoy the hunt

 

[Sp!ke]

Swap the 'extended service ' for a basic one year to save more money still.

Enjoy the hunt

Uh Uhhhh.... not on a laptop matey.

We've bought about 2000 Dell D600's over the last 18 months and I recon about 80% of them have needed an engineer called out for various things - mostly due to a faulty design on the bluetooth dongle (new Mobo required)

Definately go 3 years warranty and each year on day 364, phone up and say your battery is dead (1 year warranty on batteries)

My D610 is about 1 month old and has already required a new HDD and a mobo... Probably unlucky but you wouldnt want that to happen on month 13 would you?

 

[saorbust]

I was looking at this laptop - anyone got any thoughts on it ?

http://www5.pc.ibm.com/uk/products.nsf/$wwwPartNumLookup/_UC3F7UK?OpenDocument

Thanks.