Laptop recommendation

[quickbuck]

Sucky thing about Sony is they don't have, I dunno how the correct word as I just got up and was up late last night, but good warranties as in if you move to another country and need your laptop serviced/fixed. That's not an issue for most here I'm sure but just more information.

HP on the other hand, when I came to Taiwan with my Compaq laptop, it had some problems, was past warranty for a year or so anyways, took it to the offical place in town and they fixed it right up and charged me a bit but nothing huge.

Fair enough...
IF I ever intended on taking my Lap top out of the country, I would look for that...
In the mean time, if I need a computer out of the country, I would just get one of the work ones

To be fair, good point.....
Not everybody enjoys the lixuries I get... Well, I've got to get some!

[scracha]

But really I'm (also) after a laptop, which should be capable of "OK" gaming. If theres a place where I can get a better deal or better spec within the price range, please let me know.
What do you think of Trademe laptops quickbuck?

trademe is mostly full of cowboys. Been there done that.


Steer clear of:
Acer
2nd hand laptops
Trademe
I'm not keen on Sony either.


This is a much better macine and it's got Win 7 pro with the XP downgrade.
http://www.pbtech.co.nz/index.php?item=NBKTOS9422

You're looking about about $1250 with 4GB of RAM on it.

Remember the nice hidden extras (Warranty, Office, Antivirus, backup drive, bag)

Honest to gawd, you really do want the factory warranty on any laptop. Worth every penny. Ask anyone who's ever had their 18 month old notebook fry and then received a $600 bill. Think of it as a running cost. Sell the laptop at the end of the 3 year warranty and you'll still get decent money for it.

Otherwise look at Asus. 2 year warranty standard. Not cheap tho aye.

[EJK]

trademe is mostly full of cowboys. Been there done that.


Steer clear of:
Acer
2nd hand laptops
Trademe
I'm not keen on Sony either.


This is a much better macine and it's got Win 7 pro with the XP downgrade.
http://www.pbtech.co.nz/index.php?item=NBKTOS9422

You're looking about about $1250 with 4GB of RAM on it.

Remember the nice hidden extras (Warranty, Office, Antivirus, backup drive, bag)

Honest to gawd, you really do want the factory warranty on any laptop. Worth every penny. Ask anyone who's ever had their 18 month old notebook fry and then received a $600 bill. Think of it as a running cost. Sell the laptop at the end of the 3 year warranty and you'll still get decent money for it.

Otherwise look at Asus. 2 year warranty standard. Not cheap tho aye.

Thanks. It's a very good laptop (DDR3 1066Mhz) but one teeny tiny uncomfort: GRAPHICS : Intel Graphics Media Accelerator GM45
I'll heed your advice on the warranty. Guess I'll be buying the Toshiba from toaster shop. I took a visit there this morning (intention to purchase) but they didn't have anything in store. It's so brand brand new that Christchurch hasn't recieved the stock yet.

Looking on the brightside, I'll be buying the latest, cheapest (nearly) and one of the most reliable brand laptop. Sounds good to me.


Comparing to my current laptop (this one I'm using to go on KB) has 1.73Ghz CPU, 512MB RAM, God-knows-what-motherboard and Integrated graphics. So it'll be a big jump and I think I'll be preety happy with it

[EJK]

Funny, I always get a better response here than Geekzone.

After a laptop between 14" and 16".
Must have eSATA
Must have HDMI
Would like serial port (remember them) but not essential
Must not be Acer
Would like it to be under 2K.

Best recommendation gets two beer tokens

Buy what I bought (from toaster shop)

After a laptop between 14" and 16". Check
Must have eSATA Check
Must have HDMI Check
Would like serial port (remember them) but not essential Check
Must not be Acer Check
Would like it to be under 2K. Check Check Check

I got the one I looked at (thread page 2) and it DOES have eSATA. Frikkn bargain.

[avgas]

I will keep this simple.....
AS CHEAP AS POSSIBLE....

Buying any brand is still a risk. Everyone (including myself) hates ACER - but the wife has had her ACER for about 6 years now - still going strong and the battery still works for about 1 hours.
I have had 3 HP/Compaqs in that time, and 2 Dells.....all had battery problems.
ASUS are nice - but used to be a real cunt to get parts. I hear thats improved somewhat.

BUY AS CHEAP AS POSSIBLE - the risks are the same
CHEAP
CHEAP DAMMIT!

[blackdog]

Ive got an ASUS laptop never had any probs with it even taken fishing

ASUS every time.

only manufacturer i know that gives a 2 yr international w'tee.

great value for money too, i got everything u require and more for less than $1500 at dick smith

[firefighter]

Which is a better processor? AMD Turion 2 Dual Core or Intel Premium Dual Core?

Also, what is this esata you speak of? I have recently brought a new laptop, with reasonably high specs, it has esata and want to know what exactly this ESATA is?

[mashman]

Which is a better processor? AMD Turion 2 Dual Core or Intel Premium Dual Core?

Also, what is this esata you speak of? I have recently brought a new laptop, with reasonably high specs, it has esata and want to know what exactly this ESATA is?

Long time since i followed processor technology... essentially i gave up as they were all pretty much of a much... but out oif habit i'd go for the AMD... mainly because they seem to perform better as they used to run cooler (this may well have changed)...

esata is an interface that allows for quicker data transfer speeds... basically does the same job as firewire, usb, usb 2 etc... but faster... in all honesty though you need a pretty high spec'd machine to notice any difference...

[scracha]

Buy what I bought (from toaster shop)
After a laptop between 14" and 16". Check
Must have eSATA Check
Must have HDMI Check
Would like serial port (remember them) but not essential Check
Must not be Acer Check
Would like it to be under 2K. Check Check Check

I got the one I looked at (thread page 2) and it DOES have eSATA. Frikkn bargain.

No Win 7 pro though so no virtual XP mode. Bugger. Dunny why they don't offer it with pro as it must make about $20 difference at the factory. Complete pisstake my Microsoft to charge about $200 to upgrade premium to pro.

Overall a good by though young sir.

Which is a better processor? AMD Turion 2 Dual Core or Intel Premium Dual Core?

The short answer is that it depends on the application and also depends on what flavour of Pentium D or Turion you go for...there are lots of variants. Laptop, then unquestionably Intel Chip. Best spend a bit more on a core 2 duo or one of the latest i3/5/7 processors though. There's a lot more to it than just the processor though. If for example the manufacturer has saved a few peso's and put the Turon in there, but spent money on things like a better hard drive (7200rpm vs 5400), motherboard and video card then the AMD could be the better buy.

Also, what is this esata you speak of? I have recently brought a new laptop, with reasonably high specs, it has esata and want to know what exactly this ESATA is?

[/quoter]
External interface for hard drives. Ignore the specs, in real terms it's about 4x faster than USB 2. The newer laptops have USB 3 which is faster but the big advantage of eSATA is that you can boot windoze off it. If you're running linux or summit then you're better off with USB 3 than eSATA.

[firefighter]

esata is an interface that allows for quicker data transfer speeds... basically does the same job as firewire, usb, usb 2 etc... but faster... in all honesty though you need a pretty high spec'd machine to notice any difference...

I'm so backwards I dunno what firewire is.......

So, you would just purchase the appropriate cable, and plug in your normal devices and it transfers data quicker than your usual USB essentially?

Does your HDD/whathaveyou that your transferring from have to support esata or does it's usual plug work fine? (sorry total newb to this esata thingee lol)

[scracha]

Pretty much. not normally "hot pluggable" like USB though. i.e. you have to have it plugged in as the machine boots up. Most eSata enclosures also support USB. I get welland ones (like these but a lot cheaper) http://ascent.co.nz/productspecifica...?ItemID=360637
You can also get ones that support firewire too if you're a macaphile.

EJK: Get yourself one of these and do the "system image" backup thingie in "Win 7 or use Macrium reflect free. Will save yourself paying cunts like me to fix it when it all goes tits up.

http://www.dse.co.nz/dse.shop/4b7204...m_campaign=HOT

[scracha]

Long time since i followed processor technology... essentially i gave up as they were all pretty much of a much... but out oif habit i'd go for the AMD... mainly because they seem to perform better as they used to run cooler (this may well have changed)...

Eh? The old Durons/Athlon/Semprons used to run super hot. And AMD fans were notoriously noisy and shite.

esata is an interface that allows for quicker data transfer speeds... basically does the same job as firewire, usb, usb 2 etc... but faster... in all honesty though you need a pretty high spec'd machine to notice any difference...

Realistically folks are loading up their machines with music and videos and plugging in drives to take their "data" to other PC's or their mates houses. Try backing up your average machine with 500GB of videos and other shite using and typical USB 2.0 setup vs typical eSATA
About 6 hours vs 1.5. VERY noticeable.

[mashman]

Eh? The old Durons/Athlon/Semprons used to run super hot. And AMD fans were notoriously noisy and shite.

I always used the Athlons and never had any probs with them running hot at all... then again though, was living in a caravan in Argyll... nothing ever got hot in that place... well nothing that'd i'd like to talk about.

Realistically folks are loading up their machines with music and videos and plugging in drives to take their "data" to other PC's or their mates houses. Try backing up your average machine with 500GB of videos and other shite using and typical USB 2.0 setup vs typical eSATA
About 6 hours vs 1.5. VERY noticeable.

Tis a very fair point. Likely why i don't follow the technology anymore... but good to know as my biggest disk was 80gig until 6 months ago... and i've never had to rebuild one yet...

[mashman]

I'm so backwards I dunno what firewire is.......

So, you would just purchase the appropriate cable, and plug in your normal devices and it transfers data quicker than your usual USB essentially?

Does your HDD/whathaveyou that your transferring from have to support esata or does it's usual plug work fine? (sorry total newb to this esata thingee lol)

Firewire was just another data transfer standard. Usually for multimedia devices. Supposedly they're trying to revamp it, beef it up somewhat...

You usually get the Sata cables with the hardware these days. Very much plug and play, but you need a PC/Laptop with the latest Sata interfaces on it to taike full advantage... upgrade upgrade upgrade...

Esata is just an external version of Sata (essentially another port like USB)... as long as you have a USB - Sata converter you should be sweet to use any USB devices and get the max out of them (depending on the speed of the hardware).

[k14]

Eh? The old Durons/Athlon/Semprons used to run super hot. And AMD fans were notoriously noisy and shite.

Yeah I think he might have confused the two main differences between intel and amd as both being for amd. The athlon's used to kick the pentium 4 butts clock for clock but they ran a lot hotter. Iirc a P4 ran around 35-40 degrees with stock heatsink, the athlons would run around 60-70 with a jet engine fan on the heatsink. Could get it down to mid 50's with an aftermarket setup which was very common for amds but most people ran the stock heatsink on the intels. Bit of history anyway

This thread has been quite interesting. As I said earlier I am still running a 4 year old dell inspiron with windows 7. I upgraded to 250gb hdd and 2gb of ram last year and it is equally as fast as my desktop which is a core 2 duo E7200 with 4gb ram running vista 64. I do pretty much only use the laptop for websurfing and watching videos though. I have been considering upgrading for a while but really there is no point. I can't see any improvement in buying a new laptop, I may be able to play some games on it but I don't play any on desktop anyway, thats what xbox is for.