PC advice

Gents, some help please

I currently run a self built desktop with an athlon 3700+ processor, 256mb graphics 160Gb HDD and lots of RAM.

I want to reduce the space and make my computer portable. I would like to come as close to this performance or better with a new Laptop.

I would also like to use it for streaming music and internet radio through a Squeezebox, so a decent internal sound card would be a bonus. But this is a secondary aim really and I'd be happy to go outboard if it (the dac) wasn't too big. I've got an 840C and could feed a digital out through it's dac. I realise that I'll probably have to take a hit on the Graphics .

I'd like to spend up to 800GPB

Any recommendations for machines out there now?

I'd try an Apple if someone could mention the benefits of one. (I know it may cost more).

Cheers

 

1) You don't need a decent soundcard ( in fact you don't need a soundcard at all) to use the Squeezebox. It has its own DAC and you just send it music files via a ethernet ( wired or wireless).

2) Prices of Macbooks have come down recently - standard Macbook starts at £700 quid but this one looks a little under specced in terms of HDD space and memmory. benefits are subjective but include stability, good looks and being more user friendly ( I have a PC and a Mac Mini, but being very used to PC am not draw in by the usability claims of Macs - ask Rob Holt he has a macbook and PC as well)

3) You can get a very good laptop for £800. Actually you may only need to spend £500 to 600 to get comparable power to what you have. Check out Dell or my preference would be Lenovo or Toshiba. Just make sure it has a Dual Core pentium processor, about 2Gb of RAM and 160GB HDD and you will be fine (don't go for the cheaper Celeron based models)

 

http://www.laptopsdirect.co.uk/Lenovo_ThinkPad_T61_8898_UZ26DUK/version.asp

Above is an excellent machine, and comes with free upgrade of memmory to 2GB.

Dell equivalents are cheaper but I think these are better quality
( I have a T60 which is the predessor to this one)

 

Thanks for that, I've just had a quick look, does this look like a better spec:

http://www.laptopsdirect.co.uk/Acer_Aspire_9815WKHi_LX.AF60U.023/version.asp

 

Well, yes and no depending on your priorities.

Lenovo plus points:
1) Better quality overall
2) Better CPU T7250 vs T7200 but not a lot in it
3) Memmory - same if you take free upgrade to 2Gb for the Lenovo
4) DVD drive - Lenovo has a writer compared to Acer's Read only drive
5) Warranty - 3 years vs Acers 1 year (see point on quality)

Acers plus points
1) Bigger screen - 20" widescreen vs 14" normal on Lenovo BUT you need to check the quality of the screen as these can vary significantly
2) better graphics
3) Bigger HDD 240Gb vs 160GB
4) Built in camera
5) built in TV card
6) Flash card reader
7) remote control
8) OS is Vista compared to Lenovo XP

If you plan to use all the multimedia stuff then fine although I would shop around, look at reviews or ask at a specialist PC forum such as WWw.forums.hexus.net

The Acer on the face of it sounds like better value but I would be vary of huge build quality issues.

By the way shop around as well, i only chose that site as an example, i would also check www.ebuyer.com and www.scan.co.uk

You can get free delivery at Scan if you have a certain number of posts on AV Forums

 

Thanks again.

 

First and primary benefit - they work

I have a macbook pro which I use for audio recording in a home studio and also have an iMac which I use for general home use and postings on internet fora... I'd advocate having a look at iMacs - you get a lot for your money - what they lack in portability they gain in screen estate and they are just as tidy as a laptop sat on your desk. Of course, if you need portability, then laptops are the way to go - the macbook pro is pricier but the spec upgrade is worth it IMO.

 

I'd go for the Lenovo every time, although dont discount dell or HP. The big guys (and Acer are big too) do get the cream of the crop from the suppliers.

 

oh and as an aside, £800 gets you heck of a lot of desktop PC compared with a laptop. If you don't really have a need to carry it about you could just get a new motherboard, ram, graphics card, CPU and cooler and you will probably need a new PSU as well. Most mobos these days have pretty good onboard sound, and gigabit LAN. And you can get 500Gb SATAII HDD for less than 45 quid (Samsung Spinpoint FI 500GB on Scan now for £42)

You can't really compare a laptop screen to a proper screen, even justbeing able to position key board and screen optimally makes a huge difference

 

I've been very impressed with my HP business laptop. 100% reliable (NEVER crashed, in about 2 years!) and its performance is pretty good too. A newer model of what I have I think would do you very nicely. I'll see what they have out... something like this maybe, I can't think what else you might desire from a laptop? http://h10010.www1.hp.com/wwpc/uk/e...7-179483-179483-179483-80247595-81445480.html

I would format it right away though, and put XP or Ubuntu on it. Vista is a broken piece of ****

Or as Kenan says, if you don't really need to carry it you might be better off wit hsomething else. IF you just want a smaller computer how about this - http://www.engadget.com/2007/12/10/vias-artigo-pico-itx-ultra-compact-barebones/

 

I'm with you there buddy, VISTA IS A PILE OF SHIT, I've been living with it for about a year and I hate it, if I hadn't paid good money for it I probably would have dumped it by now. Anyone got a licensed copy of XP they don't want?

 

Agreed the Compaq/HP laptops are also very good quality. At one stage Compaq used to be in the top two in terms of quality laptops (with Toshiba). Then came Sony with their Vaio (and IBM with the Thinkpads) which I also used to own which I have to say was also excellent.

Being a laptop user for some time now i've tried a lot of them and if I was buying I'd be looking at the following brands: Compaq/HP, Toshiba, Sony, IBM (now Lenovo). Haven't any experience of Dell though other than having set up software on it for a friend - was not really impressed with the build quality but I haven't used it for any length of time so maybe I'm being a bit harsh on them.

 

Scott,
I have just purchased a lenovo NG1DNUK from insight ThinkPad R61e and it is a bit cheaper than seen on the IBM site.

The service from Insight was first rate with the order place after lunch one day and the kit arrived via a white van just before noon the next day. Not much else to say other than the quality of the IBM kit was all that I had expected with the screen and keyboard a joy to use. Only bit of a problem is I have to get used to working via the little red nipple again!

I plan to use this a general machine booting between Vista, Ubuntu & FreeBSD so can offer no advice upon sound or additional video cards. I would also suggest with ram prices being quite low that you go for 4Gb.

 

I may be mistaken, however i believe that the Lenovo machines are made by dell (the base stations where i work certainly are).
It seems odd though that dell would sell their own cheaper

 

IBM used to make their own laptops on Greenock in Scotland.

Now that its Lenovo they are probably made elsewhere as I can't imagine that its cost effective - no oppressive regime to stifle labourers freedom

Just checked the back of my T43 and its made in........you guessed it China.

 

Oh and one annoying thing about the Thinkpads is they refuse to pander to Microsoft by having a Micrsoft button on the keyboard. Very annoying if you are used to one. I'm sure its possible to map a button to serve as a MS button but I couldn't really be bothered.

 

They also don't have a touchpad, do they? My brother uses the little rubber dot thing all the time. My HP has both, which is nice.

 

My T43 has a touchpad as well as the red "nipple" so I guess they are now making them with both