New Lappy

Captain K · Nov 17, 2008, 11:45:26

I'm looking for a new laptop for my son for Christmas. Budget is £380 inc VAT, and it needs to be a reasonable performer as he'll no doubt want to put games on it. Even though it's touted as a business laptop, I thought that this fitted the bill quite nicely, and I wondered what people here thought?

Rik · Nov 17, 2008, 11:55:47

Looks good to me, Bruce, and HP are a reputable supplier. Misco are doing the same machine for £587, so the price is good too.

Lance · Nov 17, 2008, 12:19:48

For the price, its not a bad laptop, but the integrated graphics won't perform brilliently at games. Mind you, no laptop within your budget will, and if gaming is a priority, he would be much better off with a desktop machine.

I've got a HP laptop, and I'm very happy with it. My girlfriend also has a HP Compaq laptop and that performs well too.

dysonco · Nov 17, 2008, 13:45:22

I Second the issue with integrated graphics.

It will be awful for gaming.

vitriol · Nov 17, 2008, 17:29:12

I bought a Samsung R60 plus from my local Comet for £380.

2GHz Core2Duo CPU
2GB Ram
Integrated Radeon X1250 Graphics
250GB Sata HDD
Vista Home Premium

The Vista score is 4.0

+ all the usual laptop things.........wireless etc.....

I can't find it on the Comet website though. It's pretty zippy, but I don't use it for gaming as my desktop is alot more powerfull and I have Xbox. As others have stated though if its purely for gaming then upgrading or putting cash towards a new desktop would be better.

Glenn · Nov 17, 2008, 17:29:19

Personally I wouldn't buy a HP laptop, and I fix them. We are currently deploying NC6910p's but the build quality is lower than a similar Dell D630

Rik · Nov 17, 2008, 17:30:33

I'll always accept any that fall below your required standards, Glenn.

Sebby · Nov 17, 2008, 19:50:59

We have D630s at work. Great laptops.

Captain K · Nov 17, 2008, 19:53:46

Thanks for the comments folks. The gaming element does not need to be top spec - the sort of games we're talking about aren't going to be particularly demanding from a graphics point of view - he has an Xbox 360 and and Nintendo Wii for that. As long as it can cope with fairly un-demanding graphics, it should do the job.

Captain K · Nov 22, 2008, 09:34:00

Just come across this one. Slightly over budget but you get lots for your money. The only thing that's stopping me is the fact that it doesn't come with a recovery disc, has no facility to create one, and the recovery facility is in a separate partition on the HDD. All well and good unless your HDD goes west!

I've got a copy of Acronis TI (version 10) on order - would it enable me to make an image of the HDD partition, or is it likely to be secured/protected in some way?

Rik · Nov 22, 2008, 09:36:20

It would allow you to backup the OS partition, Bruce. Whether it would get at a hidden partition is one of those 'suck it and see' exercises.

Glenn · Nov 22, 2008, 09:49:01

Bruce, plenty for you to look over at http://www.laptopshop.co.uk/new-laptops-notebooks/show0/499/2.htm

lee · Nov 22, 2008, 09:54:52

Just to throw a curve ball, we bought my father in law the medion s5610 from sainsburys. Which has an awesome spec, its out of your budget by £100.00 however they do other varieties and screen sizes. But the machine is very fast, slimline and comes with all the stuff you would need.

https://www.medionshop.co.uk/

They sell through sainburys, Aldi's etc .

Might be worth a look.

Lee

Rik · Nov 22, 2008, 09:58:26

They've got a pink one at Aldi right now, Lee, decorated with a butterfly outlined in crystals!!!

lee · Nov 22, 2008, 10:04:34

shall i just shutup and go home then

Rik · Nov 22, 2008, 10:09:17

Pink is not my favourite colour.

Glenn · Nov 22, 2008, 10:15:11

Maybe a nice little dayglo yellow?

Rik · Nov 22, 2008, 10:17:04

Make that orange, dump the butterfly and you've got a deal.

Simon · Nov 22, 2008, 11:36:07

JB · Nov 22, 2008, 16:48:26

Quote from: Rik on Nov 22, 2008, 10:17:04
Make that orange, dump the butterfly and you've got a deal.

You're only safe mentioning Orange 'cos In's not here.

Rik · Nov 22, 2008, 16:49:56

I know, and to think I've managed it three times already, JB.

Captain K · Dec 23, 2008, 02:20:03

Quote from: Rik on Nov 22, 2008, 09:36:20
It would allow you to backup the OS partition, Bruce. Whether it would get at a hidden partition is one of those 'suck it and see' exercises.

Well, delighted to advise that I ordered the lappy and it arrived quickly. During a secret late-night session I've managed to store an image of the OS partition on DVD (it took 3 volumes!). Since it is in a "clean" state, (except for the Windows updates I've installed, and Kaspersky IS), the DVD's essentially represent a restore-to-factory faclility, even if the shipped HDD goes west at some point, and I have to get a new one. Not fussed about creating an image of the original restore partition now that I have this backup.

Now all I've got to do is turn it off and wrap it up all ready for Xmas morning. Can't wait to see my lad's face.

Rik · Dec 23, 2008, 08:44:47

Have a camera handy, Bruce. Enjoy.

Sebby · Dec 23, 2008, 17:20:13

That's great, Bruce.

D-Dan · Dec 23, 2008, 21:46:58

My bad - I thought this was a thread about an alternative to the Christmas home of Lapland.

I'll leave now, since I have nothing constructive to add.

Oh - wait - that's the IDNetters way