jonathanc Posted October 19, 2009 Share Posted October 19, 2009 I currently have a 3+ year old Dell Inspiron 9300 with 17" hi res monitor. It's really showing its age and due to its size and bulk, its not really portable. The battery also doesn't last very long due to the graphics card. I am possibly looking for a replacement. Ideally it has to be cheap, portable, good battery life and also decent enough to handle C++ programming. (Microsoft Visual Studio). I am not really familiar with laptops so I hope someone here could give me some pointers. So many of them on offer now but don't know which to go for... Also, should I sell my Dell if I plan to get a new laptop? Don't know how much it would be worth now... Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevie_b Posted October 19, 2009 Share Posted October 19, 2009 What kind of programming do you intend to do? Intensive graphics/movies/games, or number crunching (or something else)? For number crunching, I'd suggest anything with at least 2GB of RAM would be fine. Of course you tend to get what you pay for, so paying more *can* get you a more future-proofed latop (e.g. with more RAM or more room inside for expansion at a later date) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jonathanc Posted October 19, 2009 Author Share Posted October 19, 2009 What kind of programming do you intend to do? Intensive graphics/movies/games, or number crunching (or something else)? For number crunching, I'd suggest anything with at least 2GB of RAM would be fine. Of course you tend to get what you pay for, so paying more *can* get you a more future-proofed latop (e.g. with more RAM or more room inside for expansion at a later date) Games programming mate. I do some OpenGL/DirectX stuff as well but I can run those on older desktops with 8600 Nvidia cards fine. I am looking for something with 3 ram at least so I can run things smoothly. There's so many options out there I am not very sure which to go for. So I hope some members that have bought laptops could provide some input. I'm normally a desktop guy but lately laptops proved to be handy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrRalphMan Posted October 19, 2009 Share Posted October 19, 2009 If you're using visual studio you're going to want a laptop with a decent resolution, the normal 1300ish*800ish just doesn't give you enough real estate to really get into it. ***Note*** I do my programming on a screen running this resolution and it works, but would love a higher resolution, even with the same size screen 13.1". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jonathanc Posted October 19, 2009 Author Share Posted October 19, 2009 If you're using visual studio you're going to want a laptop with a decent resolution, the normal 1300ish*800ish just doesn't give you enough real estate to really get into it. ***Note*** I do my programming on a screen running this resolution and it works, but would love a higher resolution, even with the same size screen 13.1". Thanks mate Won't be doing a lot of programming just have to show clients etc some code etc. I think I will go for around 15" as anything above that seems a bit bulky. I am thinking of going back to Dell but don't know if that's a good idea. I am looking to spend around 350-400 quid. The laptop from Apple looks wicked but unfortunately I can't run MSVS on it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guigsy Posted October 19, 2009 Share Posted October 19, 2009 I picked one of these up last week at pc world. http://packardbell.co.uk/showroom/notebooks/easynote-nj-1799.html Very impressed with it so far. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
magictorch Posted October 19, 2009 Share Posted October 19, 2009 Im looking for a new one as well....anybody got any thoughts on this one? Acer Aspire 5332 T3000 4GB 320GB 15.6" laptop £379 from Tesco's Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott Posted October 19, 2009 Share Posted October 19, 2009 http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/partNumber/5081457/Trail/searchtext%3EACER.htm FTW £399 I doubt you will find a better laptop for that money. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamesC Posted October 20, 2009 Share Posted October 20, 2009 http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/partNumber/5081457/Trail/searchtext%3EACER.htm FTW £399 I doubt you will find a better laptop for that money. I see your Acer and raise you a Dell http://outlet.euro.dell.com/topics/global.aspx/arb/online/en/InventoryDetails?systemId=0GYDBV6R&~lt=popup&c=uk&l=en&s=dfh&cs=ukdfh1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott Posted October 20, 2009 Share Posted October 20, 2009 Refurb? No thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamesC Posted October 20, 2009 Share Posted October 20, 2009 Refurb? No thanks From what i've seen of the Acers i'd rather have a refurbed Dell Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott Posted October 20, 2009 Share Posted October 20, 2009 From what i've seen of the Acers i'd rather have a refurbed Dell You think? I've never had a problem with any of my Acers, oh wait, the powerpacks tend to go quickly..... thats it. Dell are a bloody nightmare, HDD faults and generic pattern parts. Dell stuff used to be good, its absolutely horrific now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
magictorch Posted October 22, 2009 Share Posted October 22, 2009 Just a quick bump:) Up to £100 trade in for your old laptop at PC world.....if you have one:D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snooze Posted October 22, 2009 Share Posted October 22, 2009 Just a quick bump:) £100 trade in for your old laptop at PC world.....if you have one:D Up to £100. They will offer you the market value of your laptop up to a maximum of £100. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
magictorch Posted October 22, 2009 Share Posted October 22, 2009 Up to £100. They will offer you the market value of your laptop up to a maximum of £100. Correct and edited:D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jonathanc Posted October 22, 2009 Author Share Posted October 22, 2009 Just a quick bump:) Up to £100 trade in for your old laptop at PC world.....if you have one:D Aye saw this at PC World earlier on. Tempted but I reckon my Dell Inspiron 9300 is worth at least 150 quid and I was quoted 80... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
st3ven1 Posted October 22, 2009 Share Posted October 22, 2009 To get the full £100 you have to have either a dual core extreme or a quad core processor Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott Posted October 22, 2009 Share Posted October 22, 2009 To get the full £100 you have to have either a dual core extreme or a quad core processor Sounds like a bargain Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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