Things to think about when buying and upgrading laptops?

[Minx]

First things first: my dear little sister's going to NYC for an internship (UN headquarters :o) and she'd like to buy a laptop before then. Her budget is 5000 SEK tops (ca. USD 630), and for this she'd like something that won't suck.

Now, I have no idea what one needs to think of when buying laptops these days. What processor? How much RAM? Dual core or not? Intel or AMD? Vista, or should we opt to have it downgraded to XP Professional? What kinda graphics card?

Besides work, she'll be using it for watching movies, listening to music, surfing multimedia-packed sites, and possibly also doing some rudimentary video and audio production. She wants something fairly light, and something that'll last her a while (as computers go).

I thought these two seemed kinda interesting:

http://www.pccity.se/is-bin/INTERSHOP.enfinity/WFS/store-pccity-Site/sv_SE/-/SEK/El_DisplayProductInformation-Start;pgid=TP.z6oZK9g5SR0EjCGdBwx120000Ae4-FgFy?ProductID=aGPD4QFHgGQAAAEcCxYpddOU&CatalogCategoryID=ec3D4QFHixUAAAEOYfo03xil&Selected=Specifications#tProductTabcontent

http://www.dustin.se/pd_5010199924.aspx

EDIT:

http://www.dustinhome.se/pd_5010201548.aspx

Whatcha reckon? On the right track? :)

[Loki]

OT: Which agency? :o

[Minx]

Preferably one that's never been solicited by you, if such a one exists :downcast:

http://www.siba.se/index.aspx?identifier=SEA2678

[Widows Peak Oz]

Processor, much as it pains me to say, the new intel genius 5 stars, core-2 duo, are actually pretty good.

Ram, well considering the ever decreasing production costs, you might even scout out 4gigs.

Vista is practically inevitable unless you have contacts within the industry for the specific drivers for XP or a mate who has isolated and kept them aside for personal use.

Graphics card, just stick with Nvidia, 9600 is great with 512mb dedicated, HP released some reasonably priced models with nearly all of the above.

Jesus, you picked out Acer and Fujitsu? Couldn't you find an Asus, HP or Toshiba?

[Minx]

After some talking and adjusting the budget we settled on an Asus X59GL-AP075C. Best compromise we could find in the new price-range :)

After all, you want the things to look okay too, and the best value comps at the first budget were ugly and clunky.

[Dreadnaught]

I would sugggest a Netbook, but you can't do video or graphics on 'em.

[']['ear]

Lots of Macs for sale cheap these days. Then she won't have to worry about viruses much.

Of course, there's also the software issue. Will she need the basic Microsoft office suite? Any graphics stuff? That adds up quickly.

[ss6veku]

i believe novateck is good place for you to look and they still do xp with most

[Kazuha Vinland]

Well, I would recommend a Dell XPS M1330. The factors which are important to not overlook when buying a laptop are mainly screen size, weight and battery. You are guaranteed to get the necessary performance from any known producer for that price tag, also in Sweden. Although slightly above your budget, the Dell machine is just a magnificent piece of work. Design is in my opinion better than the Apple MacBook. Both new and old gens. Performance is great, and it definitely helps that you get a free HD upgrade and 9-cells battery too (not many got those!). So if you haven't ordered yet, you should reconsider your choice. It's 9400 S. Kroner right now, not too bad.

Edit: Windows 7 is out in late '09 / early '10. Do not bother with downgrading to XP.

[[T]Baxter]

You want one that comes with a life time subscription to "Midgets and Amputees" Web site...

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v195/BaxterT/Smilies/MadCow.gif

[Dreadnaught]

Baxter :eek:

[Khendraja'aro]

I'd also try to get one which doesn't sound like a small fighter jet with afterburners engaged.

[Widows Peak Oz]

I'd also try to get one which doesn't sound like a small fighter jet with afterburners engaged.

I have this symptom I believe, it relates to the cooling system, the fans and whatnot, yes?