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Laptop - €700 budget

  • 12-09-2013 6:01pm
    #1
    TokenWhite
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 187 ✭✭


    Apologies, yet another "recommend a laptop" thread, but like many of the others I'm not great with laptop specs so would really appreciate if somebody with a bit of know-how could help me pick up that's value for money.

    Anyway, I'm in the market for a new laptop, about 700e budget. The laptop will mainly be used for multimedia (watching movies, listening to songs), college work (excel, word, etc) surfing the net and the odd bit of gaming. I don't game as much as I used to so graphics isn't a huge issue, but I do tend to have quite a few software packages and applications open at any given time so a rig that can handle that multi-tasking would be ideal. Any recommendations are much appreciated.

    Thanks!


Comments

  • #2
    Torqay
    Closed Accounts Posts: 5,835 ✭✭✭Torqay


    Any preferences re Screen size? Display resolution (full HD)?

    How imprtant is mobility (weight, battery life)?


  • #3
    TokenWhite
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 187 ✭✭TokenWhite


    Have a 15.6" 1366x768 at the minute, very happy with those, but of course I wouldn't be averse to a sharper image. Battery life not a huge issue since I tend to have it plugged in or near a socket the majority of the time, 2-3 hours would be fine. Weight not a huge issue, nor is mobility (as long as it fits into a bag that's as mobile as I need it)


  • #4
    Torqay
    Closed Accounts Posts: 5,835 ✭✭✭Torqay


    The Ultranote has a beautiful 1920x1080 IPS display... configure it to your likings, €700 will get you a Core i5 processor, 4 GB RAM and a 750 GB HDD.

    If you want a powerful machine, at SOL they're selling a quad Core i7 Acer for €590, leaves you enough money to upgrade it with more RAM and/or a solid state drive.


  • #5
    Torqay
    Closed Accounts Posts: 5,835 ✭✭✭Torqay


    If you want to treat yourself to a backlit keyboard, Dell's 15z Ultrabook starts at €599 (with a Pentium processor, the Core i3 model costs €669)


  • #6
    TokenWhite
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 187 ✭✭TokenWhite


    Torqay wrote: »
    If you want to treat yourself to a backlit keyboard, Dell's 15z Ultrabook starts at €599 (with a Pentium processor, the Core i3 model costs €669)

    Backlit keyboard seems like an unnecessary luxury! but thanks. If I were to go for the Acer mentioned above, and to buy with it the SSD and additional memory, would they be difficult to install or would I need someone with a bit of technical expertise? I'm more than capable of following a youtube video that would explain what needs to be done, but little beyond that!


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  • #7
    Torqay
    Closed Accounts Posts: 5,835 ✭✭✭Torqay


    TokenWhite wrote: »
    If I were to go for the Acer mentioned above, and to buy with it the SSD and additional memory, would they be difficult to install or would I need someone with a bit of technical expertise? I'm more than capable of following a youtube video that would explain what needs to be done, but little beyond that!

    According to this review from notebookcheck, you "can replace the hard drive with an ultra-swift SSD after removing a few screws." (never mind the benchmarks, they tested with different specs).

    You can either clone the existing HDD (with all the preinstalled rubbish) or install your OS from scratch, which I would I recommend. SSD partition alignment is different and certain SSD-specific settings will be automatically applied during a fresh installation (i.e. TRIM support, automatic defragmentation disabled).

    If you want to boot from DVD or USB, you'll have to disable secure boot (link).


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