Any opinions on this Packard Bell laptop?...

el diablo

saw this in PC World. any opinions? good or bad deal?

thanks..

PACKARD BELL MV45-120

€849.99



SAVE €100

Processor Type Intel T2050 Dual Core
Memory Size 512 mb
Memory Type DDR
Hard Drive Capacity 40 GB
Optical Drives COMBO DVD ROM CDRW
Screen Size/Type 15.4" TFT
Graphics Card Type Intel 945GM
Graphics Memory 128mb shared mb
Modem Type 56k
Wireless Enabled Yes
No. of USB Connections 4
Other Interfaces WIFI 802.11a/b/g
Battery Type Li-ion
Software Titles Included Norton Internet Security
Operating system Win XP Home
Weight 2.9 kg
Height 30 mm
Width 355 mm
Depth 250 mm

super_furry

It's not very good. For that price I'd expect 1GB of memory, a bigger hard-drive and a dedicated graphics card - not one with shared memory. There's better machines to be had here Dell

el diablo

super_furry wrote:

It's not very good. For that price I'd expect 1GB of memory, a bigger hard-drive and a dedicated graphics card - not one with shared memory. There's better machines to be had here Dell

thanks for that. not sure about Dell, though. had a Dell desktop a few years back but it was nothing but trouble.

how about Advent? you know anything about them?

ADVENT 7099

€899.97



Processor Type INTEL CORE DUO T2300
Processor speed 1660 mhz
Memory Size 512 mb
Memory Type DDR2
Hard Drive Capacity 60 Gb
Optical Drives DVDRW Dual Layer
CD-ROM Speed 48 x
CD-RW Speed. 24 x
DVD-ROM Speed 8 x
DVD-RW Speed 4 x
Screen Size/Type 15.4" Widescreen
Graphics Card Type INTEL UMA
Graphics Memory 128 Shared MB
TV-out Yes
Sound Type ADI IC CODEC
Modem Type 56k
Wireless Enabled Yes
No. of USB Connections 4
No. of Firewire Connections 1
Infrared Port Included Yes
Other Interfaces 10 / 100 Base-TX Ethernet LAN
Battery Type LI-ION
Battery life (up to) 2.5 hours
Software Titles Included MS Works 8.0

Tom Dunne

el diablo wrote:

saw this in PC World. any opinions? good or bad deal?

The general feeling is that Packard Bell are of poor quality and bad value for money, which is what I would say about PC World too.

Advent tend to be better machines for build quality.

TerrorFirmer

super_furry wrote:

It's not very good. For that price I'd expect 1GB of memory, a bigger hard-drive and a dedicated graphics card - not one with shared memory. There's better machines to be had here Dell

Thats pretty optimistic. For 849 you might get the 1Gb of ram, but not a dedicated card, and certainly not both, unless its slow DDR memory (alot of the really cheap offers in pc world for example have older slow ddr ram to make up the 1gb) or a particularly useless or old dedicated card.

Neither are great value though. PC World are generally poorly priced, although in fairness they do sometimes have good special offers.

I have an advent, apart from a dvd-rw problem I had recently its a sturdy machine.

What do you want the machine for?

el diablo

HavoK wrote:

Thats pretty optimistic. For 849 you might get the 1Gb of ram, but not a dedicated card, and certainly not both, unless its slow DDR memory (alot of the really cheap offers in pc world for example have older slow ddr ram to make up the 1gb) or a particularly useless or old dedicated card.

Neither are great value though. PC World are generally poorly priced, although in fairness they do sometimes have good special offers.

I have an advent, apart from a dvd-rw problem I had recently its a sturdy machine.

What do you want the machine for?

mainly for internet access, playing DVD's etc while I'm away from home. so my requirements would be:
512mb RAM, TFT screen, 40 GB hard drive, Intel Pentium M/Core Duo/AMD Turion, Wi/Fi enabled.

any suggestions?
thanks

woodyg

http://configure.euro.dell.com/dellstore/config.aspx?b=&c=ie&cs=iedhs1&l=en&oc=N11645&rbc=N11645&s=dhs&sbc=iedhsftdppnotebook2

el diablo

woodyg wrote:

http://configure.euro.dell.com/dellstore/config.aspx?b=&c=ie&cs=iedhs1&l=en&oc=N11645&rbc=N11645&s=dhs&sbc=iedhsftdppnotebook2

thanks for the suggestion but I'd rather not buy a Dell. I've had some trouble with their machines in the past....:rolleyes:

TerrorFirmer

Thats a shame because Dell do offer the best deals, especially with their new AMD line, which offer cheap Sempron 3500+s for the same price as the Celeron, despite being both better performers and coming with better graphics capabilities.

If they are truly your only needs a Celeron or Sempron would be perfectly sufficent, take a look at this for example from PC World:

Intel Celeron M 380 Processor 1.6GHz
512 MB RAM
40 GB Hard Drive
DVD ReWriter MultiDrive
14.1" TFT Display
64 MB Shared Graphics

For 519 euro thats relatively ok, by their usual standards, and that would easily do you for the internet and watching DVDs.

el diablo

HavoK wrote:

Thats a shame because Dell do offer the best deals, especially with their new AMD line, which offer cheap Sempron 3500+s for the same price as the Celeron, despite being both better performers and coming with better graphics capabilities.

If they are truly your only needs a Celeron or Sempron would be perfectly sufficent, take a look at this for example from PC World:

Intel Celeron M 380 Processor 1.6GHz
512 MB RAM
40 GB Hard Drive
DVD ReWriter MultiDrive
14.1" TFT Display
64 MB Shared Graphics

For 519 euro thats relatively ok, by their usual standards, and that would easily do you for the internet and watching DVDs.

what brand machine is that one for 519 euro? was hoping to avoid Sempron and Celeron but would consider them if the price was right....

woodyg

http://www.elara.ie/products/detailsfull.asp?productcode=ECE1290038&productID=S3969647

el diablo

woodyg wrote:

http://www.elara.ie/products/detailsfull.asp?productcode=ECE1290038&productID=S3969647

ok, I finally settled for this PC.

Features & Specifications
Features for this TOSHIBA A100-147
- Intel Core Duo T2050 Processor 1.6GHz
- 533 MHz FSB
- 2 MB Cache
- 1024 MB RAM
- 60 GB Hard Drive
- DVD ReWriter SuperMulti
- 15.4" Widescreen TruBrite Display
- Microsoft Windows Media Center
- 128mb Intel UMA 945 integrated Graphics
- 1 year FREE warranty

Specification for this TOSHIBA A100-147
Processor Type Intel Core Duo T2050
Processor speed 1600 mhz
Memory Size 1024 mb
Memory Type DDR
Hard Drive Capacity 60 Gb
Optical Drives DVD Super Multi Dual Layer
CD-ROM Speed 24 x
CD-RW Speed. 10 x
DVD-ROM Speed 8 x
Floppy Disk Drive No
Screen Size/Type 15.4" WXGA
Graphics Card Type Intel 945
Graphics Memory 128mb mb
TV-out Yes
Sound Type 16 bit Stereo
Modem Type 56k
Wireless Enabled Yes
No. of USB Connections 4
No. of Firewire Connections 1
Infrared Port Included No
Other Interfaces WIFI 802.11a/g
Battery Type Lithium Ion
Battery life (up to) 3.4 hours
Software Titles Included MS Works
Operating system Win XP Media Center
Weight 2.75 kg
Height 267 mm
Width 360 mm
Depth 36.8 mm
Colour Grey / Silver

cost 749.99 euro. seems pretty good to me...
and I also get a free upgrade to Windows Vista when it becomes available......(I think)
what do you reckon?

Tom Dunne

Yeah, Toshiba are up there with the best of the best.

If you are happy with it, go for it.

It has to be said, though, it's a helluva a powerful machine for just watching DVDs and surfing the internet, so ther is a good element of future-proofing here.

See how you got more for your money by staying away from PC World.

el diablo

tom dunne wrote:

Yeah, Toshiba are up there with the best of the best.

If you are happy with it, go for it.

It has to be said, though, it's a helluva a powerful machine for just watching DVDs and surfing the internet, so ther is a good element of future-proofing here.

See how you got more for your money by staying away from PC World.

yes, future proofing was a big consideration too. and actually I got it in PC World......;)

Tom Dunne

:d

el diablo

tom dunne wrote:

:d

not sure what you mean?

TerrorFirmer

Pc World do have some good offers from time to time.

Awhile ago they had a T2300 Core Duo, 1Gig ram and 256mb Geforce 7400 for 849, damn good price as well for a core duo laptop with a decent dedicated card.

Their cheap laptops are also getting better, for example today I saw a Celeron M 1.6Ghz, 512mb Ram, 40gb Hard Drive, wifi, basic job but it was only 449, not bad for a bricks and mortar store.

Their "High end" machines are hideously priced though.

el diablo

HavoK wrote:

Pc World do have some good offers from time to time.

Awhile ago they had a T2300 Core Duo, 1Gig ram and 256mb Geforce 7400 for 849, damn good price as well for a core duo laptop with a decent dedicated card.

Their cheap laptops are also getting better, for example today I saw a Celeron M 1.6Ghz, 512mb Ram, 40gb Hard Drive, wifi, basic job but it was only 449, not bad for a bricks and mortar store.

Their "High end" machines are hideously priced though.

so do you think the TOSHIBA A100-147 above is good or bad value for money?

TerrorFirmer

Yeah it was a good deal, decent specs for the price and Toshiba are a great make to boot which normally puts them a bit above some of the other brands price wise.

Tom Dunne

el diablo wrote:

not sure what you mean?

That was supposed to read


And yes, I do think you got a good price, especially for a Toshiba.

lemeister

el diablo wrote:

so do you think the TOSHIBA A100-147 above is good or bad value for money?

Hi el diablo, how are you finding the Toshiba? Happy with your purchase? I'm also considering getting this Toshiba as it seems a great spec for the price. Only minor fault I could see with it was the keyboard seemed a little loose but this might just have been the display model. Did PC World include the mce remote with the laptop?

el diablo

lemeister wrote:

Hi el diablo, how are you finding the Toshiba? Happy with your purchase? I'm also considering getting this Toshiba as it seems a great spec for the price. Only minor fault I could see with it was the keyboard seemed a little loose but this might just have been the display model. Did PC World include the mce remote with the laptop?

yep, it's great so far but I haven't had a chance to have a proper look at it. no problem with the keyboard, it seems pretty solid to me.

and there was no remote control included......

let us know if you purchase it anyway....

ItsJusMe

el diablo wrote:

yes, future proofing was a big consideration too. and actually I got it in PC World......;)

Have ya got a link to that pc ? ? ?

Was lookin around the pc world site and cant find it. . . .

lemeister

ItsJusMe wrote:

Have ya got a link to that pc ? ? ?

Was lookin around the pc world site and cant find it. . . .

It's not on the Irish site but is on the UK one (and seems more expensive!) Link

el diablo

ItsJusMe wrote:

Have ya got a link to that pc ? ? ?

Was lookin around the pc world site and cant find it. . . .

yep, it doesn't seem to be on the Irish PC World site yet. I think it just arrived new week.

TerrorFirmer

PC World website is always out of date and unreliable. Often you will not see stuff they have in-store ever up there, so do not take it as a definate that they do or don't have something.

lemeister

Another laptop for me to now consider is this offering from Aldi. It seems a little better spec wise than the Toshiba but I was also hoping to avail of PC Worlds 12 months interest free option. In a bit of a quandry - opinions?

TerrorFirmer

lemeister wrote:

Another laptop for me to now consider is this offering from Aldi. It seems a little better spec wise than the Toshiba but I was also hoping to avail of PC Worlds 12 months interest free option. In a bit of a quandry - opinions?

Actually, spec wise the Aldi laptop is inferior. It's not Dual Core.

el diablo

lemeister wrote:

Another laptop for me to now consider is this offering from Aldi. It seems a little better spec wise than the Toshiba but I was also hoping to avail of PC Worlds 12 months interest free option. In a bit of a quandry - opinions?

not sure about the spec being better. it's got a Intel® Core™ Solo T1300 1.66GHz Processor. and never heard of the brand name....

lemeister

HavoK wrote:

Actually, spec wise the Aldi laptop is inferior. It's not Dual Core.

el diabloK wrote:

not sure about the spec being better. it's got a Intel® Core™ Solo T1300 1.66GHz Processor. and never heard of the brand name....

Sold!