Looking to buy a laptop, need help.

[Blagon]

Hi guys, i'm looking to buy a new Laptop but unfortunately i don't really know where or what to look for.

I know Tom's Hardware has a good reputation so i thought i would ask on here.

1.What is your budget?
£650

2.How much battery life do you need?
Not so much, it will be run mainly from power supply

3.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)?
Yeah this is the main point of the laptop, to play games, Starcraft 2 Mainly, but others aswell, in just about every genre, graphics card is important.

4.What other tasks do you want to do with your laptop? (Photo / Video editing,watching movies, Etc.)
Nothing else is really essential, just the basics, office etc.

5.How much storage (H.D.D Capacity) do you need?
Not sure about 350gb maybe?

6.What kind of Optical drive do you need? DVD ROM/Writer,Bluray ROM/Writer,Etc ?
DVD Writer essential, blue ray would be nice.

7.What country do you live in?
England

8.Please tell us any additional information if needed.
That's about it, basically looking for a nice gaming laptop that won't be outdated in a few months for a reasonable price.
It doesn't even have to be brand new, just in good condition.
Hope you guys can help

Thanks.

 

[Maziar]

Hello and welcome to the forums
Dell Studio 17 would be a good choice
http://www1.euro.dell.com/content/topics/segtopic.aspx/minicat/services_N0074904?c=uk&cs=ukdhs1&l=en&s=dhs

 

[Blagon]

That actually looks really cool, abit over my budget though.

Shame you can't remove things like office and Mcfee though, would reduce cost a little bit.

I will have a look around though on other sites to see if i can get it cheaper, thank you for the suggestion.

Still wouldn't mind a few more reccomendations though.

 

[Maziar]

I think it just got more expensive lol,because i think the one i posted was £635, but now that i check its £679
Anyway i couldn't find any laptops with better VGA, so i say its worth it to get it.
I'll report back if i managed to find anything cheaper with a similar VGA.

 

[Blagon]

Hi again, is the Dell Studio 17 better than this one do you think?

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=250675571535&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT

 

[Blagon]

Well think i am gonna go with this one
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=150474658022&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT

More than i wanted to pay but still a good price i think.

Just wanna make sure with you techy guys that the graphics card will run the latest games and that it is a decent deal, cheers.

 

[Maziar]

4650M is a mid-range card and can handle games fine on medium settings

 

[Blagon]

Alright i'm back again, i have been back and forward between laptops now and this is about the best laptop i can find for my budget:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Dell-Studio-17-1749-Laptop-i5-2-53GHZ-320GB-4GB-1GB-ATI-/110570085769?cmd=ViewItem&pt=UK_Computing_Laptops_EH&hash=item19be7d9d89

It's still not the best grahics card in the world but i can't seem to find a better one on my budget £650 $1033

Does this seems like a good deal or could i do better?

Thanks again Maziar for the help

 

[vipers992]

I can give you a selection of Laptops, since for a while i was searching near the same price bracket, personally i wouldn't go for anything with a bigger than "15.5 screen, so here's what i reccomend:

Toshiba - I'd reccomend expanding to 4gb Ram
http://www.laptopsdirect.co.uk/Toshiba_Satellite_Pro_L650-165_Core_i3_Laptop_PSK1KE-00N014EN/version.asp?refsource=LDfroogle

My personal choice of which i've ordered, choose whatever spec you want aslong as it has a 5650 and i3 minimum
https://www.sonystyle.co.uk/SonyStyle/VAIO-Laptop-PCs/E-Series-14-15-17?config=x&csint=14003214

Or if you do want a 17" screen, there is ofcourse Dell's Studio 17 series.

 

[Blagon]

Cool thanks Vipers, i can get the sony one almost the same spec as the one i have found but it's £720, ut's bloody nice though.

Why do you not reccommend 17"? i thought it would be better no?

 

[vipers992]

Cool thanks Vipers, i can get the sony one almost the same spec as the one i have found but it's £720, ut's bloody nice though.

Why do you not reccommend 17"? i thought it would be better no?

Since i'm a student and i'd like something which didn't weigh me down and fit in my back going back and forth home ^^

Bare in mind that Dell is a refurb, and the 5650 is part of the newest 5XXX Mobility series. The 4650 is an older card, both powerful but the 5650 is better.

If you really want a Dell though, they have a new outlet selling refurbs at a discount price, i expect they update it now and again, remember though, only the Dell Studio 17 will hold a GPU good enough for Starcraft and games alike, the inspirons and studio 15's only hold intel chipsets / 5470 at most, which would struggle to run games at a playable rate.

http://outlet.euro.dell.com/Online/InventorySearch.aspx?brandId=7&c=uk&cs=ukdfh1&l=en&s=dfh

Here are benchmarks for the 5650:
http://www.notebookcheck.net/ATI-Mobility-Radeon-HD-5650.23697.0.html

On the side menu you will see a list of other GPU's, most of which have benchmarks.