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Rank: I'm new around here
Joined: 7/8/2008
Posts: 9
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New to this so patience please  Looking to purchase laptop. Not needed for business, just surfing the net and competitions mainly. I will need good video/flash qualities and memory. Contemplating Dell minus Vista and looked at HP and Sony. Suggestions welcome. Sorry if this is a little lame for PC Authority. pip 
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Rank: Moderator
Joined: 3/30/2008
Posts: 800
Location: Sydney, Australia
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Check out the Dell range, they're pretty good, especially the XPSs.
Vito Cassisi: Tech Blog
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Rank: I'm new around here
Joined: 7/8/2008
Posts: 9
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yep checked out Dell
Dell™ Vostro™ 1510
Enjoy the performance of a heavyweight capable system, without the additional weight.
any word on the Vostro - I have never heard of it myself.
XPS are a little too pricey for me.
Edited by pipette: 8/7/2008 04:17:58 PM
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Rank: Technician
Joined: 4/28/2008
Posts: 253
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Link to another threadCheck out this thread, I've done a good line up of three different Dell XPS laptops which seem to be all the rage now a days. What type of price range are you looking at? The thread I posted has all the links and reviews to each laptop
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Rank: I'm new around here
Joined: 7/8/2008
Posts: 9
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thankyou will check it out. 700 - 900$ range.
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Rank: Technician
Joined: 4/28/2008
Posts: 253
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To be honest you wont be able to get anything that has a video card that would help you in video and flash. I m assuming you mean graphic work? I think Dell is your best bet for value. Take a look at here: Dell InspironNone of the cheaper laptops have even 1GB of ram which frankly is basically the absolute minimum. Any less and your copy of Vista will give you oodles of frustration in load times, lag and general quirky freezes. I would advise you to get something similar to the Inspirion 1520. You get decent ram (2GB) and a video card (Geforce 8400). Granted its nothing flash but at this price range I think its a steal! If thats too pricey for you get the Vostro series Linky!!!You might not have heard of the Vostro series because well, it hasn't been out for very long!! Its Dells new business range of laptops and they tend to be very good value. The top of the line laptop for that range in the link is perfect for your needs and a little bit out of budget. It does come with Vista Business as well!
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Rank: I'm new around here
Joined: 7/9/2008
Posts: 8
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i beleive first you need to set your budget this is the most importance one
and then search for the product with the similar price
then compare the spec of each.
that is what i did when i bought mine (ASUS A8Sc 2G ram external nVidia graphic card(512MB share)around 1400 at that time.
hope it help :}
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Rank: I'm new around here
Joined: 7/8/2008
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thankyou people for all your comments. still a little bewildered at it all. yes memory is a key factor and I know that 1gb is pathetic.............One thing for sure I DO NOT want Vista ... which is why i was leaning toward Dell as I know I can have xp installed instead of Vista. A friend - a Dell addict - gave me a link to Dell with a deal that ends 10/7, however only 1GB and the next one up 2GB for around $800 the XPS range are stunning - yet out of the budget - unfortunately. I also have another possibility which I am not sure this is the correct thread. 1 x brand new Compaq 19" monitor A Dell Inspiron 6000 - however the screen has had it. The Dell works fine with the monitor, however I am not sure how to connect it altogether ( network ) with the PC, so I can be using it whilst someone else is using the PC. sorry - I am quite a dumbass when it comes to these technical bits. you could  for me or just  or just go 
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Rank: Technician
Joined: 4/28/2008
Posts: 253
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Im not quite sure I understand you. So you want to connect the Monitor to the Dell computer but then have it hooked up to your new laptop whilst someone else is using the PC? I don't think thats quite possible or i could be mis understanding the entire situation lols.
In your laptop situation, I think your going to have to spend at least $800 on a Vostro to get 2GB of Ram. Its going to be a bit of a bummer because the cheaper laptops all still come with Vista which is quite slow on their specs.
Edited by bbjai: 9/7/2008 10:10:05 PM
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Rank: I'm new around here
Joined: 7/8/2008
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sorry, I want to connect the Monitor to the Dell computer then the PC - no new laptop involved in this one. Regarding Vista, I know Dell will load xp if requested. friend has purchased several, one last week and she emailed them, no probs. appreciate your help/advice 
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Rank: Technician
Joined: 4/28/2008
Posts: 253
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Hahaha so you have one monitor and two computers basically (a Dell and a PC). You can purchase a switcher that allows you to switch between the computers easily. The Belkin Flip is not a bad product for this purpose: Price LinkGood Gear ReviewIts a pretty pricey option to be honest. I mean if you got cash to burn I think its the type of thing to buy. Easy to use, no signal degredation and seems to be quite classy looking. It would suit a user like you 
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Rank: Troubleshooter
Joined: 7/8/2008
Posts: 32
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As bbjai said, some form of KvM switch will be the best solution for switching back and forth and using the same monitor, keyboard and mouse. I haven't seen the belkin flip before... looks like a nice product.
A few things on the Dell notebooks, or most notebooks around at the moment for that matter. You don't need to go the next model up and spend $800 more to get your extra 1GB of RAM. Most of the notebooks shipping with 1GB will have an extra DIMM slot that you can get your local Computer store to install an extra 1GB into. Best of all it should only cost you a fraction of that $800.
The other thing to remember also is that When you purchase a copy of Vista (including an OEM preinstalled version) you can legally "downgrade" to Windows XP Pro, although it may take a phone call to microsoft to get your new product code. A lot of the notebooks are shipping with downgrade discs that don't require a product code thought, so its as easy as inserting a disc, rebooting and following the prompts.
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Rank: I'm new around here
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sorry for delay in getting back in here.
what do you people think of this deal :
****************************************************************
Toshiba Satellite Pro L300 Vista Notebook
Vista Preloaded - Perfect for Study, Work and Play!
15.4” Widescreen, 120GB, WIFI, 2.0Ghz Intel Inside
Intel® Celeron Processor M550 2.0GHz, 533MHz FSB, 1MB L2 cache
Mobile Intel® GL960 Express Chipset
Genuine Windows Vista® Home Basic
120GB 2.5” SATA HDD
1GB DDR2 667 RAM - expandable to 4GB
15.4” WXG A Active Matrix 200NIT (1280x800 resolution) Screen
Titanium Silver Finish, Latchless Case
Intel® Graphics Media Accelerator X3100
Integrated Realtek 802.11 b/g Wireless LAN
Integrated Intel® 10/100Mbps TX Ethernet (Wired LAN)
V.92 data + fax modem
DVD Super Multi Dual / Double Layer Drive
A4 Windows Vista® keyboard and Wide TouchPad™ pointing device
Massive Inputs/Output Port Selection:
Express card slot
RGB external VGA display
3 x USB 2.0
V.92 data + fax modem
10/100Mbps Ethernet LAN
Headphone & microphone port
Bridge media Reader/ Writer slot (SD, MMC, Memory Stick/Memory Stick Pro, XD)
Integrated microphone
Integrated web camera
Intel® High Definition Audio
Toshiba dynadock™ - S/PDIF, Serial, 6 x USB, 10/100 ethernet port, DVI, microphone, headphone or speaker port
ACPI, PnP, VESA, DPMS, DDC, SM BIOS, PCI BIOS Support, Boot Device, TSETUP
Integrated Web Camera
6 cell Lithium-Ion battery
75W worldwide AC adaptor
FOR $649 less 100 cashback from Toshiba
********************************************************************
your thoughts?
thanks
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Rank: Moderator
Joined: 3/30/2008
Posts: 800
Location: Sydney, Australia
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Should be alright for basic use. I'd try and get XP on it though.
Vito Cassisi: Tech Blog
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Rank: I'm new around here
Joined: 7/8/2008
Posts: 9
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thankyou. yes the membory is still small and of course my thoughts of Vista remain. will keep looking and reading reading reading.....back on this post for the advice. thanks heaps.
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Rank: Technician
Joined: 4/28/2008
Posts: 253
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Decent for that price, it should cope if you put XP on it. Do you have a copy of XP at home that you can use by any chance?
I reckon you should use the $100 cash back and get some laptop RAM and plug it in. Another 1 GB won't hurt and probably won't cost the ends of the earth ($49 my guess is)
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Rank: Moderator
Joined: 3/30/2008
Posts: 800
Location: Sydney, Australia
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Only about $25 for 1GB. Try this product search engine: http://staticice.com.au/
Vito Cassisi: Tech Blog
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Rank: I'm new around here
Joined: 7/7/2008
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Have you tried www.notebookreview.com They have...you guessed it lots and lots of notebook reviews including prices. Be careful though the prices are in $USD and some of the brands listed are not available here in Australia.
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Rank: Authority
Joined: 7/7/2008
Posts: 317
Location: NSW
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This is just my two cents, but if you're a lazy person who wants a good laptop that comes ready to go with all kinds of shimy software, go for Lenovo. I bought an R61 about 6 months ago and it kicks ass. It was cheap, came with everything installed and the hard drive was partitioned such that if anything went wrong I could restore everything in a half hour.
Plus, with the exception of maybe Apple, Lenovo has the highest level of build quality and ongoing support. You buy a Dell laptop, just cross your fingers and pray that nothing goes wrong with it, because they're customer support is (traditionally) useless.
Despite the spiraling cost of living, it remains a popular activity.
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Rank: Elite
Moderator
Joined: 7/11/2008
Posts: 1,163
Location: Mackay North QLD
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pipette wrote:New to this so patience please Looking to purchase laptop. Not needed for business, just surfing the net and competitions mainly. I will need good video/flash qualities and memory. Contemplating Dell minus Vista and looked at HP and Sony. Suggestions welcome. Sorry if this is a little lame for PC Authority. pip Gedday pipette. your shopping list looks almost as basic as this machine that I'm typing on now. it's a 9 or 10 year old Compaq Armada 1750. I made it up out of parts from 3 US laptops a couple of years ago. It's hardly missed a beat since. I run win 98se on 196 meg of ram Pentium 2 366MHz processor 802.11g pcmcia wireless card to connect into my home network 6Gb hard drive. it still has the original battery and it lasts a bit over 45 minutes. The only things I've bought for it were a mouse and the wireless card. And my son stole my mouse when his died  I run office 2000 on it as well as a number of work related communication programs. The only thing it doesn't do that you require is play video smoothly. For what you want, I wouldn't spend much more than 4 or 5 hundred dollars. That's if you're fair dinkum about what you want it for. Ebay is the place for you to shop. By the way, you don't have to SMS. Finnish your sentences mate 
Mistakes are a part of being human. Appreciate your mistakes for what they are: precious life lessons that can only be learned the hard way. Unless it's a fatal mistake, which, at least, others can learn from. Ask questions. There's no such thing as a stupid one, just stupid answers. (mostly)
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