Buying a laptop in france - opinions sought

skyhighflyer

Hi lads,

Currently on Erasmus in Paris and need a laptop. My old Dell just doesn't cut it anymore so looking at this one. Mainly required for studenty stuff (word processing, etc), net, DVD's possibly a few games (nothing too demanding - CS, Quake 1-3, Deus Ex) This one seems like a good deal for the price (Eur749) Opinions are most welcome.

Model: Compaq Presario Media Center v6128eu

Specs:


AMD Turion 64 Mobile MK-36, 2GHz, 512KB L2 cache

1 GB DDR2 667 MHz (2 x 512 Mo)

5 in 1 (Secure Digital, MultiMedia Card, Memory Stick, Memory Stick Pro et xD Picture Card)

CD / DVD Burner double layer

100 GB SATA (7200 RPM)

15,4" WXGATechnologie écran TFT BrightView 1280 x 800

nVidia GeForce Go 6150

Microsoft Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005, Works 8.0, Sonic Digital MediaPlus, HP Photosmart Premier, Norton Internet Security 2006

bbbbb

Are you buying this in Ireland or France?

Not sure if it still applies, but last time I looked French keyboards were AZERTY with shifted numbers...

skyhighflyer

bbbbb wrote:

Are you buying this in Ireland or France?

Not sure if it still applies, but last time I looked French keyboards were AZERTY with shifted numbers...

You're right but you can order them with QWERTY keyboards from the main high street stores like Fnac, PC City, etc I'm told. Wouldn't necessarily bother me either way. What do you think of the specs?

Yes, I will be buying it here in France.

tywy

Aw, I love Fnac, I miss Fnac

back on top, that looks like a good enough deal...

realblackstuff

The Turion runs quite hot (watch the goolies!), and battery life isn't all that great with a 7200rpm hard disk. But the specs look fine otherwise and the price is right (thank you Bruce).
If you buy at fnac, you get an all-in-one printer with it for the same price!

TerrorFirmer

Not a bad price, but a friend of mine got a pretty much identical machine apart from having an ati X200 instead of the nvidia 6150, and it cost 799, in fact it was a compaq as well.

He got it in PC World awhile back. Don't know if they still sell them, but for the sake of 50 euro I definately know I'd rather have the store nearby in the event of any problems.

edit: Oh sorry, if you're spending any amount of time in Paris I suppose then yes there's no reason not to go for it.

skyhighflyer

Thanks for that lads. Another problem has arisen in that the salesman offered me a very fast Turion x 2 for Eur999 knocked down from Eur1299 cos its an ex demo. Still seeing the number of annoying French kids poking around the laptops on display Id say i'll pass :rolleyes:

realblackstuff

You could consider buying it, then get a UK or US replacement keyboard for it.