Reply to: Which laptop?

[Fred Bloggs]

I don't suppose Samsung actually make them? Just buy them in and badge them?

[Clippy]

This looks quite good:

Samsung Q210

Anyone any experience of Samsung laptops?

[pmeswani]

Appreciate the pointers given.

Pretty much agree with points raised but am behind the times in grpahics card technology.

One point raised was not needing a HD based graphics card. Is this HD as in Hi Definition?

I would watch the occassional DVD on my lappy and output to a Samsung SM2032MW monitor.

Would I be able to do this without a HD based card?

If you are watching just DVD's, then you won't need a High Definition card (HD for short as you guessed. ). However, if you are going to watch the DVD's on your TV, and your TV does not have a VGA port but has a HDMI port (most HD TV's will have a VGA Port), then there is a justification for a HD based graphics card. But if you are going for a HD graphics card, then you are better off going for a laptop with Blu-ray drive. I doubt that you will find many laptops with a HD graphics card and a standard DVD drive.

[Bear]

I agree, I am very pleased with my Dell XPS1330 - can't fault it!!

Try and upgrade it to 4GB RAM and it should fly, oh and if you think you ever might be tempted to play any kind of 3D game, get the 256GB dedicated graphics card. Mine has the 128MB dedicated which runs most games, but some of the new ones require a 256GB!

- That's quite a jump!!

[Clippy]

Appreciate the pointers given.

Pretty much agree with points raised but am behind the times in grpahics card technology.

One point raised was not needing a HD based graphics card. Is this HD as in Hi Definition?

I would watch the occassional DVD on my lappy and output to a Samsung SM2032MW monitor.

Would I be able to do this without a HD based card?

[bogeyman]

MacBook Pro - just don't apply the security updates

[JoJoGabor]

I agree, I am very pleased with my Dell XPS1330 - can't fault it!!

Try and upgrade it to 4GB RAM and it should fly, oh and if you think you ever might be tempted to play any kind of 3D game, get the 256GB dedicated graphics card. Mine has the 128MB dedicated which runs most games, but some of the new ones require a 256GB!

[Jaws]

9. Chose MS XP Professional, unless you are prepared to use Vista, and if you go down the route of Vista, in which case go for Home Premium or Ultimate.

I'd recommend Business edition over Home Premium any day. If you do end up doing any development on the Home Premium edition you are likely to become frustrated with its limitations. The business edition is supposed to be the equivalent to XP Pro.

[pmeswani]

To add to pmeswani's post

Don't go for Vista Ultimate if it's just for the encryption features. Truecrypt is excellent and free for disk encryption.

PS In case you wondered, you should be encrypting these days if it's for work at all. Loss of information is only something you can get away with when employed by the government.

I would personally suggest spending £100 (or thereabouts) on getting PGP Desktop Suite, which is far better than TrueCrypt (See http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/07...s_crypto_flaw/, http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/03...ffer_unveiled/ and http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/02...f_unbitlocker/). But that's a topic for a different thread.

The main reason for going down the route of Ultimate is the Aero functionality as well as IIS functionality, especially if you are doing some testing that requires it.

[London75]

To add to pmeswani's post

Don't go for Vista Ultimate if it's just for the encryption features. Truecrypt is excellent and free for disk encryption.

PS In case you wondered, you should be encrypting these days if it's for work at all. Loss of information is only something you can get away with when employed by the government.

[pmeswani]

Generally, what should I be looking for in a laptop?

I'm not as clued up on hardware as I used to be.

I only need it for general office type use.

You need to identify what you want to use it for. As you mentioned above, you plan to use it for Office work. So a Laptop, in my opinion, should have

1. 2GB of memory as minimum, 4GB would be ideal, especially if you are using Vista.

2. ATI graphics chip (nowt wrong with NVidia but is more suited for gamers, HD based graphics card should not be needed, unless your work is around watching Movies).

3. An Ethernet Port as minimum and Wireless an added bonus.

4. 160GB hard drive as minimum.

5. Ideally 15" TFT Screen, but you are the best judge on what size suits you,

6. MS Office 2007 rather than Works (but you may want to buy Office as an add-on or use OpenOffice, whatever turns you on).

7. 3 USB slots as minimum.

8. DVD Writeable drive (Re-writer is a bonus and Blu-Ray a luxury, unless you are working in a field that requires it).

9. Chose MS XP Professional, unless you are prepared to use Vista, and if you go down the route of Vista, in which case go for Home Premium or Ultimate.

Hope that is what you are after.

[teclo]

I would suggest a Lenovo Thinkpad of some sort. Having used some pretty horrible and downright unusable Dells, Compaq/HPs and Toshibas over the years I would buy another Lenovo. Solidly build, reliable and looks good too.

Check Dabs to see what they have going there.

[Clippy]

With that model I'd make sure it has the WXGA+ (1440x900) screen.

When I was looking for a new laptop a couple of months ago, the Dell Vostro caught my attention. Plenty cheap with all the right bits, though I think it was 15" not 14.1". Even had an option for a silly 1920x1200 screen, if you've got superpower eyesight!

What I did find was the more expensive they are the lighter, and smaller you can get the same screen resolution, storage space, and generally only skimp on the cpu, but with a laptop that's a reasonable sacrifice unless it's a desktop replacement.

e.g. there are 12/13" lappies around (for about a grand plus) that offer everything these 14/15" ones do, but in a smaller, lighter, sexier package. Think Macbook Air, but with a DVD-RW, and gigabit ethernet connection!

Overall, for price, and spec, Dells are hard to beat.

Generally, what should I be looking for in a laptop?

I'm not as clued up on hardware as I used to be.

I only need it for general office type use.

[London75]

I can't sing the praises of my Dell XPS M1530 enough, very quick, very upgradeable and good price. All the business features including finger scanner but with the ability to play the odd game to boot.

I bought a cheap one (£540) and upgraded via ebay so Dual Core 2.5GHz and 4GB RAM now.

[Jaws]

I recently bought the following : http://www.dabs.com/productview.aspx...nKey=378890000

1680x1050 resolution and works fine for development (including using Virtual PC) - I've used it for hours with no eyestrain. I think the price was a little lower when I bought it though, I bought an additional 2GB ram + a cheap bag with it for £750 total. Note that at that resolution it will struggle with modern games.