Quick Laptop Question

[sotal]

I asked on here before about an Acer Laptop - I'm now desperate to buy a Laptop as I just bust my leg and I could do with the Laptop so I could put my feet up whilst working.

I thought I'd have a quick look around to see if any more deals had appeared before buying and I found one other - Just thought I'd see if anyone had any thoughts on it:

Link to Currys

It's got all the features I wanted plus more. I wanted a full processor (not a cut down sempron or celeron) I wanted 1GB Ram and I wanted a DVD Writer. It's even got a 17" Screen and it costs £659 (I've got a voucher code for £40 off when you spend over £600)

The one I'm comparing it to is the Acer:

Link to Acer Laptop

The Acer has a Centrino Duo 1.66Ghz - The one at currys has an AMD Turion 64 1.8Ghz. The Acer has 80GB Hd the Currys one has 60GB

The Acer one costs £5 more at £664.90 and only has a 15.4" Screen

Now the biggest thing I'm worried about with the curries one is the make. It's a Packard Bell and I've always seen them as a home pc often loaded with AOL and other crap - sort of suited to PC newbies?? Anybody had a PB laptop? Anyone know what the build quality is like? Do the screen hinges last etc??

Thanks for any help

Cheers

[GIDDLEPIN]

I've had a PB laptop for over three years now and everything is fine (hinges etc).

I did kill it with a glass of red a while back so bought another lappy and having nothing to loose I removed the Battery pack on the PB and dunked it in a bowl of distilled water, left it to dry for five days in the boiler cupboard and believe it or not everything works perfectly

[DefiantFrog]

I've always thought Packard Bell are overpriced and under spec'd, but to be honest, that doesn't look too bad! All the Packard Bell stuff I have come across in the past has been pretty well built, but this was a few years ago now.

Acer is a pretty good make from what I've heard. Only had a couple of direct experiences with their laptops, one has been fine, the other keeps breaking (Monitor connections in the hinges).

Dell are always worth considering as well! Have a look in the clearance section, or I think they also have an eBay store...

Either way, if an extension on warrenty to 3 years isn't going to cost a bomb then do it and get either. That way your covered for the expected life of a laptop, and if it lasts any longer then even better!

Oh, and sorry to hear about the leg chap... Hope your a little bit mobile soon!

[sotal]

I've had a PB laptop for over three years now and everything is fine (hinges etc).

That's made me feel better about it, I hate laptops where the screen sort of goes floppy.

Dell are always worth considering as well! Have a look in the clearance section, or I think they also have an ebay store...

Oh, and sorry to hear about the leg chap... Hope your a little bit mobile soon!

I'm steering away from Dell - Had two in the past and the hinges went floppy on both of them. Price wise they're competetive though.

Cheers about the leg. Not driving is killing me !

[seveer unaek]

Althoght they're often pricey, Toshiba laptops are excellent in terms of quality. Iv owned two and sold loads and none have gone worng (no returns in 2 years on the ones we sold - about 50 units)

The Acer ones at the spec you've listed are also excellent machines... the only problems we encountered on the ones we sold were that the dvd/cd drawer would often stick. This was a fault affecting only about 5% of the 100+ we sold though and that was the only fault on them.

The Acer ones and Toshiba ones didn't have many changes to their XP programs unlike the PB, Dell etc ones. Maybe a small link to a help page, but that's it... no dodgy internet settings, no dodgy screensavers and sounds and no crappy anti-virus that only lasts 60 days yet stays on the system forever!

[sotal]

Well I went for the PB one so hopefully it will be OK. I think the first job will be to wipe it and put a fresh install of XP Pro on - might go for MCE just for a change

Its a good price for what you get espicially with the 17" widescreen. All in all it cost me just over £500 delivered (once I get the VAT back)

[jay dh]

i would go for the duo one as it has longer Battery life, uses less Battery therefore giving off less heat and its quieter

i know it has a smaller screen but surely a 17" screen carrying round will be heavier...

[sotal]

i would go for the duo one as it has longer battery life, uses less battery therefore giving off less heat and its quieter

i know it has a smaller screen but surely a 17" screen carrying round will be heavier...

Don't tell me that I just got the bigger one

It's replacing my old Sony Laptop which has a Battery life of around 3 minutes. I will basically be using it as a portable PC rather than a laptop. I don't intend to use it anywhere where there won't be power - so as long as it can last whilst I move from one power point to another then that wll be fine!

I want to use it to actually get some work done as well so the 17" screen will be as close as I can really get to my 19" TFT without going silly. I also don't mind carrying it about I'm a big lad I can cope with carrying a laptop

[Sooty]

Sotal,

Good move going for the PB. They are good and solid.

Sorry to hear about the leg. Hope it heals really quickly and you can get back to Xcountry driving.

Must meet up sometime!!

Sooty

[sotal]

Cheers for that Sooty!

The leg was one of things that spurred me on to get the Laptop. It now means I can put my feet up easier whilst working. I keep having to have a break every half hour or so at the moment to put my feet up to reduce the swelling so Im not getting much work done.

Might have to give the off roading a miss though for a few months :( Gives me a bit of time to upgrade the landrover a fix a few of its weak points

[sotal]

Well the laptop was definatley worth it! Battery lasts about 2.5 hours doing normal work but drops if you play video or sound or burn cds. Screen is amazing and it is completley silent. Also not too heavy

[jay dh]

glad you are happy with your choice

[sotal]

Yep - cheers mate - I've got to say it is excellent! Had chance to use it a bit more now and can't fault it in anyway.

Just realised my TV remote operates it though! Very odd never known that to happen before but it's got an IR sensor on the front -which I would presume was just for the old IR transfer stuff and connecting phones etc, but when I switch the Telly off if the laptop is in sight of the remote it goes to standby! Volume works as well and if I play a DVD on the laptop the remote seems to do some of the other things like chapter skip etc. Is this normal???

[Sooty]

It could be that your remote is an Acer one or similar.

I get cross signals with my DVD remote sometimes operating certain items on my telly. Both completely different makes.