Highest Spec Laptop..

Skyuser

I bought a laptop in PC World the other day. I asked for the highest spec laptop without going too mental in price. Was given...

Windows Vista Home Premium
Intel Core 2 Duo Processor 1.6 GHz
15.4" WXGA High Definition Brightview Widescreen Display
120GB HDD
2048MB DDR2 SDRAM
Wireless Broadband
8x DVD R/RW Double Layer
6 Cell Lithium-ion Battery
5in1 Card Reader
Pc Card Slot
224MB Graphics Memory
Expansion Port


Question 1:
How does it fair out? Has it high Spec?

Question 2:
Is the High Def screen the same as HD TV's?

Question 3:
What does the double layer do in dvd rewriter?

Nev

i spent a good week studing up this stuff cos i went out and bought my first laptop and without a care and picked the one the sales man said and it turned out to be useless i just ordered new one there monday.

pcworld salesmen will try sell u the most expensive laptop they can and are VERY pushy. i went up to there to look around for a new one and he kept tryin to make me buy this big 2300 HD screen blue ray disk laptop and i kept saying i want a small one. basically he wouldnt back off so i just left went for a dell in the end i dunno y but i got a good deal and 3 yr complete care thing and stuff also the guy was real decent on the fone and wasnt pushy threw in a few things aswell.Othere people might not agree but this is my understanding of everything. As for the spec its nice but if u paid more then 1300 or so u got ripped

There are alot of things out there to confuse u , 256 mb graphics for instance it could mean 128 dedicated and 128 shared this means its really just a 128 card because the shared memory means nothing. Also check is it on board graphics card cos if it is and u wanna play games there useless.

The HD screen simply no its another little scam its not HD its just a name they gave the screen , RAM 2 GB thats plenty.

The procesor thats another porblem now u say 1.66 ghz , the most important thing is cache now that could be 512kb of cache on each 1 of the duel processor which means u have a total of 1 MB of cache. the cache is wat processing the information for programs and stuff so the more the better PC's these days have 2MB cache is good 4MB is great.

Make sure its a DVD RW drive cos the guy was tellin me there is all this stuff on the pc and i just checked the settings and there wasnt . 6 cell is good 9 cell is ideal but its really up to use. Also u should look up reviews aswell my laptop overheated very quickly.

HDD is loads np there but when getting a laptop u shouldnt worry about that sure u can load up stuff on CD's or external HDD's

petes

How much did you pay for it?

swingking

nev wrote:

pcworld salesmen will try sell u the most expensive laptop they can and are VERY pushy.

Not only that, they will 'encourge' you to take out the cover plan. Stay away from this, it is a pile of sh1t.

This is coming from an employee of Dixons (same company as PC world)

Don't be afraid to buy from Dell, they have good prices here

Good Luck

Tom Dunne

Skyuser wrote:

I bought a laptop in PC World the other day. I asked for the highest spec laptop without going too mental in price.

Why, oh why didn't you come here first?

Skyuser wrote:

Question 1:
How does it fair out? Has it high Spec?

It's not bad, but a lot of fluffy buzzwords that are standard on most laptops (e.g. wireless broadband, card reader)

Question 2:
Is the High Def screen the same as HD TV's?

Computers and laptops have generally always had much higher definition screens than ordinary TV screens. So a dishonest salesperson could use buzzwords to wow the uninitiated.

Question 3:
What does the double layer do in dvd rewriter?

In laymans terms, it allows you store more data on a DVD. Do you really need that? Most people don't.

Also, what is with the 224Mb graphics memory? That seems like an odd number. It's usually a multiple of 64 (e.g. 64, 128, 192, 256, etc.)

petes

tom dunne wrote:

Also, what is with the 224Mb graphics memory? That seems like an odd number. It's usually a multiple of 64 (e.g. 64, 128, 192, 256, etc.)

I wondered that myself.

underpants

tom dunne wrote:

Also, what is with the 224Mb graphics memory? That seems like an odd number. It's usually a multiple of 64 (e.g. 64, 128, 192, 256, etc.)

I'd imagine its something to like the Intel® Graphics Media Accelerator 950 that allows up to 224Mb of graphics memory, meaning in reality its a lot less.
Either way, its pretty poor even for a low range laptop.

TerrorFirmer

224mb memory is the GMA950 - hope you don't plan playing any games because even something as resource friendly as the Source Engine barely crawls by on Dx7 mode on low settings. I've run Day of Defeat Source better on a Geforce 2mx (seven years old) 32mb then the gma950.

Not a terrible machine otherwise, but certainly not 'high spec' by any stretch.

garthv

Aye the gfx card is useless,
I would of gone for a higher speed core in the processor too but whatcanyado

Skyuser

€1249.99

They wanted me to take a 3 year insurance for €350 or something. I said no thanks and she said "ok, your loss" and looked at me like I was turning down a free car.

Ghost Train

Middle of the road specwise, a lot higher spec machines out there, still a good spec to go for for general use

A lot of computer/laptop screens are 16:10 instead of 16:9 so stricky not the same as hd tvs

most new dvd recorders will do dual layer, pretty much the standard

Tom Dunne

Skyuser wrote:

€1249.99

Ouch! That was a lot.

Skyuser wrote:

"ok, your loss" and looked at me like I was turning down a free car.

On the contrary, your gain.

Oracle

The DVD writer being double layer means you can burn data to double layer discs. That is 8.5Gb discs as well as the more usual (and cheaper) 4.5Gb discs. So you can almost double the amount of data you can burn on to a single disc. There's a slight catch in that DL (Double Layer) discs are more expensive. Although the bonus is most movie DVDs are over 4.5Gb in size, with a double layer burner you can burn these onto a double layer disc without any compression, and so therefore no loss of quality. Not that I'm suggesting you copy DVD movies of course.

Tomk1

I got a small phillips X65 from pcworld, they tried to get me to buy other and insurance. (NO!)
They did throw in a free laptop bag, (you could fit two X65's in it side by side).

It might not have lower specs than other laptops in the same if not lower price range.

But you have to ask is it a parable desktop-pc-home-enterainment-system with battery charger,
or a piece of really portable hardware that will do what you ask of it.
5hr battery 1.5kg.

I know bigger better etc.

but downsizing is also propress.

I mean some laptops you would almost need a wheel barrow to get them arond.
and the high spec's just idle.

So High Spec does not mean best user spec.

regards,
Tomk

jimmycrackcorm

One thing is for sure - the 1.6Ghz Core Duo is the bottom of that line.

TerrorFirmer

Skyuser wrote:

€1249.99

Ouch. That's all I can say in summary.

a147pro

Jimmycrackcorm, is that the T5500? (ie is the core due t5500 the bottom of the line)

TerrorFirmer

a147pro wrote:

Jimmycrackcorm, is that the T5500? (ie is the core due t5500 the bottom of the line)

No, what he meant was that the cpu in the laptop is the slowest one available in the Core 2 Duo range.

Oh wait sorry, I thought you were referring to a laptop model rather then the processor model.

Theres a T5200 as well, thats the slowest. 1.6Ghz compared to 1.66 in the 5500.

jimmycrackcorm

HavoK wrote:

Theres a T5200 as well, thats the slowest. 1.6Ghz compared to 1.66 in the 5500.

That 0.06 difference is worth approximately €0.06 in the price, imo.

BostonB

What is the laptop going to be used for?

The slowest cpu is usually the one with longest battery life....;)

jimmycrackcorm

swingking wrote:

Not only that, they will 'encourge' you to take out the cover plan. Stay away from this, it is a pile of sh1t.

This is coming from an employee of Dixons (same company as PC world)

Don't be afraid to buy from Dell, they have good prices here

Good Luck

I was tempted by the coverplan as a cheap means of getting a brand new laptop after three years.

Ice_Box

Dell want €326 for that extra gig of ram which pushes the price up to €1395. Upgrading the graphics to 256 megs makes it €1,468.00 I think you did ok at PC world.

TerrorFirmer

Ice_Box wrote:

Dell want €326 for that extra gig of ram which pushes the price up to €1395. Upgrading the graphics to 256 megs makes it €1,468.00 I think you did ok at PC world.

That's hardly applicable. I would much rather have 1gb of ram and a remotely decent card then 2gb of ram and the Gma950. But that said, different special offers aren't intercomparable. There's no-one forcing you to pay dell for the extra gb of ram.

For 1,249 even at PC World you'd easily have gotten a better rounded machine then that - maybe not with 2gb but at least with a remotely decent card, which again, I'd much rather have then 2gb of ram.

1249, would get you a 1501 from Dell with Amd Turion processor, 2gb of ram and 256mb X1150 - an incomparably better rounded up machine then the one in question.

Headshot

i only buy stuff like laptops from dell

they have good deals on laptop and they have a outlet center so you can get them cheap enough

i recon dell xps are better than alienware at least there cheaper and not over priced

Skyuser

tom dunne wrote:

Ouch! That was a lot.

It's actually gone UP €100. I got a good deal...

TerrorFirmer

Skyuser wrote:

It's actually gone UP €100. I got a good deal...

Yeah sure, you tell yourself that

Gurgle

Skyuser wrote:

I bought a laptop in PC World the other day. I asked for the highest spec laptop without going too mental in price.

Why didn't you just bend over the counter and pull your trousers down?

Skyuser wrote:

Was given...

Windows Vista Home Premium
Intel Core 2 Duo Processor 1.6 GHz
15.4" WXGA High Definition Brightview Widescreen Display
120GB HDD
2048MB DDR2 SDRAM
Wireless Broadband
8x DVD R/RW Double Layer
6 Cell Lithium-ion Battery
5in1 Card Reader
Pc Card Slot
224MB Graphics Memory
Expansion Port


Question 1:
How does it fair out? Has it high Spec?

Question 2:
Is the High Def screen the same as HD TV's?

Question 3:
What does the double layer do in dvd rewriter?

1. No, those aren't high specs, those are mediocre specs from top to bottom. The only really good things there are Vista Home Premium and 2Gb of RAM. The extra money you paid for these compared to a similar spec with XP Home and 1Gb is just frightening.
2. Sort of.
3. Effectively nothing. It allows you to use double-layer blank DVDs which hold up to 9Gb, but you're not going to go out and spend €10 per piece on dual-layer blank disks when you can get 4.7Gb blank DVDs at less than 50c each.

You've been had.