Looking for tips which laptop to buy.

[Linux_Fan]

Hi!
I'm a new member of TH forums so I would like to say hello to every user reading this post
The reason for posting is very simple - I'm going top buy a new laptop. It will be my first computer of this kind, so before I'm going to spend some (quite much for my capabilities) money, I decided to ask some more experienced users for their opinion. Because I've read the FAQ which is sticked to this board the first thing I'm going to do is to answer the questions posted there, so here we go

1_What is your budget?

I'm not going to spend more than 800 euro.

2_What is the size of the notebook that you are considering?

Medium size, but I don't know if I've understood the question...

3_What screen resolution do you want?

I'm looking for a laptop with screen diameter of 15,4 inches; resolution is less important, as I know they could differ among those of the same diameter.

4_Do you need a portable or desktop replacement laptop?

Something in between, more portable though.

5_How much battery life do you need?

Two hours will do.

6_Do you want to play games with your laptop? If so then please list the games that you want to with the settings that you want for these games. (Low,Medium or High)?

Yes, but not very "demanding" games on highest resolution. I'm looking to play "Sid Meier's Civilization IV", "Enemy Territory: Quake Wars" and upcoming "Fallout 3".

7_What other tasks do you want to do with your laptop? (Photo / Video editing, surfing the web, playing music, watching movies, Etc.)

All of them mentioned above I guess a laptop capable of running quite new games would be also capable of displaying DVDs

8_How much storage (H.D.D Capacity) do you need?

Not less than 250 GB.

9_If you are considering specific sites to buy from, please post the links to them.

I would rather buy it in an English, Dutch or Polish Internet shop.

10_How long do you want to keep your laptop?

At least 4 years.

11_If you would like to mention some other things about purchasing your ideal laptop, post them.

Minimum 2 GB of RAM, Bluetooth, preferable HDMI included and of course two-core processor.

12_Please tell us about the brands that you prefer to buy from them and the brands that you don't like and explain the reasons.

I would prefer ASUS, Toshiba or MSI because I've heard those companies made good quality products. Of the same reason I would not buy an Acer.

13_What country do you live in?

Poland, but I have the possibility to buy my laptop in the UK or The Netherlands.


I also made some research on my own and I've found two models that attracted me most, and these are MSI's Megabooks GX600P or GX710-series. The first one has a GeForce Go 8600 graphics card of which I've read some unfavourable opinions (overheating). Is it true? What do you think of my initial choices? Any other suggestions?

Can't wait for your tips

 

[Maziar]

Hello and welcome to the forums mate
Take a look @ DELL XPS M1530.

 

[Linux_Fan]

Thanks for your reply Maziar. Really appreciate it
In search of a best pick for me I've also run into the model you mentioned. It looks quite solid and nice, seems fast enough for my needs, but... I could afford only the cheapest model of four presented here and for more or less the same price it
1. has Intel® Core™ 2 Duo Processor T5750 comparing to T8100 in MSI's MegaBook GX600P-208NL
2. hasn't numeric keypad (major setback for me).

The other thing which bothers me in both of these laptops is GeForce Go 8600 graphics card. I've read that 8400 and 8600-series have been released with some construction defects leading to overheating. Have anyone experienced this? What is a good replacement for 8600M GT?

 

[Maziar]

A good replacement for 8600MGT is 8800MGTX :d

 

[Linux_Fan]

Yea...right

What do you think of Toshiba Satellite A300-16I and Toshiba Satellite A300D-14R?

 

[Maziar]

they are good too, HD 3650 performs like a 8600MGT,and fortunately it doesnt have the"Faulty" problems of Nvidia 8600MGT.