Getting a laptop for college...

Funkstard

Hopefully some of you can help me. I'm doing Architecture next year (well hopefully) and will be getting a laptop. The usage will be fairly heavy program wise (Photoshop, 3Dsmax, CAD) and I'll need a big harddrive, fast processor and good graphics card. It's not really the specs I've come to ask for, I'll know them myself, it's the manufacturer I'm a bit lost on. I've tried the Dell and with the specs I want the cost quickly spirals into nearly €2k. Could anyone give me some info on places/websites to buy laptops, and what manufacturer would be good for me? As in cheap...my cousin bought an Acer last year and is very happy with it.

Thanks

EDIT: A few stuff I forgot to mention; I'd be looking for a big screen..15.4" or so, and it will be used on the move (wireless hotspots, travelling home etc.) so a good battery and whatever else that entails would be necessary. I presume all decent laptops have wireless network stuff built in

Thomas_S_Hunterson

Don't buy Dell, they blow up;)

For the specs you want for CAD and the like, I would think €1500-2000 is about right for a laptop.

Tom Dunne

Funkstard wrote:

I've tried the Dell and with the specs I want the cost quickly spirals into nearly €2k. Could anyone give me some info on places/websites to buy laptops, and what manufacturer would be good for me?

TBH, you won't beat Dell for prices. Especially if you want a high performance laptop, that is the kind of money you have to spend.

Funkstard wrote:

...my cousin bought an Acer last year and is very happy with it.

Does happy equal performance? Can your cousin run 3DSmax or Autocad?

Try the laptop forum, more info over there. Also take a look at Laptopsdirect.ie - I'm a satisfied customer and would recommend them.

Lord Oz

Have a look at the Dell Precision laptops, they're good for that sort of graphical work.

Dont buy yet, many colleges offer a discount when buying laptops through them!

irlrobins

Moving to laptop forum

Funkstard

So that's how much I'll have to spend? Bollocks I really doubt my Dad will spend that much. But like, I'll have it for (hopefully) 6 years, so there's no point in compromising performance for price if it's going to be getting so much use.

dajaffa

Not sure if it's right for your needs but this is high spec imo + just under a grand http://www.laptopsdirect.ie/Acer_Aspire_5602WLMi_LX.ACT05.080/version-1.asp

Also have you considered getting a macbook/macbook pro. Apples are meant to be good for graphics stuff + there's student discounts http://store.apple.com/Apple/WebObjects/IrlInd

Funkstard

Yeh that Acer definitely looks good. The only thing is the 1.66ghz processor, others I was looking at had 2ghz or more, would 1.55ghz suffice for what I need?

It also has a built in card reader which would be brilliant for use with my phone.

And further, my dad can get the VAT back so I'm looking at €845. That would be brilliant.

Are Acer reputable laptops? My family has always had Dell desktops & laptops, but if these are good I wouldn't hesitate to go for them

As for the Apples....yeh they're great but I've always used Windows. I'm not sure what the story would be with transferring stuff from my PC to a Mac, what programs would work on a Mac and stuff like that. Maybe I would have no problems, in which case I'd definitely look into it, but at the moment I simply don't know!

TerrorFirmer

That Acer actually looks pretty good for the price. It is 1.66Ghz but its a Core Duo, i.e it has 2x1.66Ghz processors, excellent if you want to be running several demanding apps at once, which I'm sure you will given the nature of the work you'll be doing on it.

X1300 is a pretty weak card but I'm sure it'll be fine for the work you need, but I couldn't guarantee that, I don't know exactly how demanding those Apps you mentioned are on the gpu. I'm guessing they'd be fine.

Funkstard

http://configure.euro.dell.com/dellstore/config.aspx?b&c=ie&cs=iedhs1&l=en&oc=N08647&rbc=N08647&s=dhs&sbc=iedhsrsinspn_6400_1&fb=1

That's what I came up with. €1524 ex.VAT

http://www.laptopsdirect.ie/Aspire_5672WLMi_Intel_Core_Duo_LX.AA705.066/version-1.asp

€915

Thomas_S_Hunterson

Funkstard wrote:

And further, my dad can get the VAT back so I'm looking at €845. That would be brilliant.

:eek: Only if it's for business use in his company:eek:

dajaffa

Funkstard wrote:

Yeh that Acer definitely looks good. The only thing is the 1.66ghz processor, others I was looking at had 2ghz or more, would 1.55ghz suffice for what I need?

Are Acer reputable laptops? My family has always had Dell desktops & laptops, but if these are good I wouldn't hesitate to go for them

As for the Apples....yeh they're great but I've always used Windows. I'm not sure what the story would be with transferring stuff from my PC to a Mac, what programs would work on a Mac and stuff like that. Maybe I would have no problems, in which case I'd definitely look into it, but at the moment I simply don't know!

Processor is dualcore though so it's more powerful than a regular 1.66ghz processor.

Acer are reliable enough, but I've heard some ppl have problems with their customer service stuff. You can get a 3 year collect + return thing off laptopsdirect for €88 which should cover u anyway.

And compatibility-wise you can get ms office for mac. I reckon if u start a thread on the mac forum with transferring stuff. U can get loadsa programmes 4 macs anyway. But tbh I'm not a big mac person (yet) so asking on the mac forum would be your best bet for mac-type Qs

Edit: Actually for the guts of €100 you can get the X1400 card. Is it much better?

Funkstard

http://www.laptopsdirect.ie/Aspire_5672WLMi_Intel_Core_Duo_LX.AA705.066/version-1.asp

Better spec than the previous Acer.

None of the specs say the laptops have WiFi?

dajaffa

Integrated wireless 802.11b/g on all of them which is a built in wirleless card basically

TerrorFirmer

The X1400 is alot better then the X1300 but bit pricey at an extra 100....it's better, but still not a great card...

Funkstard

None of the laptops seem to have great graphics cards, and the ones that do are super expensive. I doubt I'll play games, do I need a good card for the apps I'll be running?

maidhc

Funkstard wrote:

None of the laptops seem to have great graphics cards, and the ones that do are super expensive. I doubt I'll play games, do I need a good card for the apps I'll be running?

Photoshop and like will live a happily with the most basic graphics cards! You just need plenty CPU power and RAM.

KamiKazi

http://komplett.ie/k/ki.asp?sku=321048
intel gpu though....