Laptop for around $1500

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MallAudio

95 posts

Master Geek

#26923 7-Oct-2008 14:20

Hi...

The misses is looking at laptops at the moment... around the $1500mark...

have seen a couple she likes the look of...

ACER Aspire AS5520-502G32Mi AMD dual core, 320GB, 2GB RAM, Nvidia 256MB TurboCache, DVD MULTI etc

or

Compaq Presario CQ50-115AY
(pretty similar looking specs i think)

She will use it mainly for emails, word processing, photos etc... (currently at teachers college but will need it when she is working also)
Will be watching the occasional streaming movie/youtube vid...
And i wouldnt complain if it would run my Flight Simulator's etc...

have trolled through DSE, Noel Leeming, Powerstore websites etc but for the price they're all pretty similar machines...

THOUGHTS ANYONE??
Anyone make any recomendations? don't care what make etc... and must be commerically available

(she nags me every 2 seconds so would love to be able to go and purchase now!! my head cant take much more!!)

alasta

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#169591 7-Oct-2008 14:32

I used to sell a bit of Compaq gear a few years ago when I worked at Warehouse Stationery and based on my experience there I wouldn't touch any of their product.

Make sure that you look at Dell as they offer good value and I'm very happy with the machine that I bought from them a year ago.

heavenlywild

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#169601 7-Oct-2008 15:22

Actually, I am selling mine on TradeMe at the moment, an Acer Aspire Gemstone 8920G - if you do a search you will find it as it is the only one online.

It is only 2 months old, in mint condition... 9500GS 512mb video card and able to play Flight Sim. Also, comes with a blu-ray drive.

It is $2000 though, which is over your budget but well worth it. PM me if you wish to neg

Ragnor

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#169878 8-Oct-2008 15:12

I recently did a bit of research to help my dad choose a laptop and I decided on the Dell Vostro 1710 because it was the best mix of decent specs with a 17" screen.

OS:                  Windows Vista(R) Home Basic 32 bit SP1 Edition
Cpu:                 Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Duo Processor T8100 (2.1 GHz, 3MB Cache, 800 MHz FSB)
Screen:             17" Widescreen WXGA+ (1440X900) TFT Display with Anti-glare
Memory:           3GB (1X1GB+1X2GB) 667MHz Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM
Disk:                 160GB SATA Hard Drive (5400 rpm)
Dvd:                 Slot load 8X max DVD+/-RW Drive with DVD+R double layer write capability
Video:              Integrated Intel(R) Graphics Media Accelerator X3100
Battery:             6-cell Lithium Ion Primary Battery
Wireless:           Dell(TM) Wireless 1395 802.11g 54Mbps Wireless Mini Card
Delivery:           Free within 7 days
Warranty:          1 Yr Next Business Day Onsite Service
Case/Bag:         Dell(TM) Large Nylon Case

This was $1,431.67 (or $1,610.62 inc gst).

You can customize it quite a bit on the dell site and add a better gfx card, 7200 rpm hard drive and more ram.

MallAudio

95 posts

Master Geek

#169916 8-Oct-2008 16:46

Thanks for everyones suggestions...

We ended up making a rushed decision at 5pm last night just as the shop was closing...
Bought an Acer Aspire AS6530-702G25Mn

Intel AMD Turion X2 Dual Core 2.0GHz RM-70 processor

2GB Ram DDR2-667 (1*2GB)

250GB 5400rpm SATA Hard Drive

DVD SuperMulti (Dual Layer)

New 16" True 16:9 Wide Screen (1366x768)

Vista Home Premium

ATI Radeon HD 3200 Graphics (256MB dedicated system memory)

Acer CrystalEye Webcam

802.11a/g/N WiFi

RRP: $1598

Including the bag, mouse/keyboard and 4GB Flash Drive i think we paid around $1550

From first glance last night, fantastic value for what we paid!!!

Thanks again!!!

blakamin

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#169989 8-Oct-2008 21:15

As someone who has been running an amd turion64 Acer for the last 12 months, I think you made the right choice.
Plus everything works in linux if you ever get sick of vista!