Need a Laptop

[ResetTheAtari]

So Paypal have agreed to a full refund for the macbook pro I bought off ebay and died.

I have 500 UK pounds, I would prefer to buy new, but don't know if I can get a decent spec for that.

Any ideas anyone?

[compact71]

[ResetTheAtari]

Ha! I'd love that!

[cigaro5676]

if you are not looking for a mac, the brand i would recommend is asus.
i own a few of their products and have been completely amazed by them.
i use my 2yo asus for all my production and djing needs, and works flawlessly


with that kind of money you can pick up an asus with some pretty good specs
something like this one
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6834220697

i believe the price here is about what you're looking to spend, i am not 100% sure about the exchange rates though

one note though: generally they dont get great battery lives, i dont know how important that may be to you

cheers

[tripaddict]

i have no recommendations but what i will say is dont buy a sony i bricked mine a couple of days ago

think the graphics card has blown

i want a mini hacktop but havnt the $$$ atm to get one

[alphacat]

ASUS machines are pretty good.

The Lenovo "T" series is apparently quite a deal - lots of power for not a lot of money. Check out the T510. Also, their "Y" series IdeaPads are nicely sized and also pack a lot of bang for the buck.

[symmetricalsounds]

for reliability i reckon lenovo is the one to go for.

[miscreant]

Stay away from Sony theyre shite.

I've got nothing but good things to say about Dell - theyre customer support is fantastic and although I've had to do a few reboots my laptops running pro tools ableton and reason all fine. I dont have any virus protection and I'm not exactly careful what I use my laptop for.

In terms of value for money I'd definitely recommend them

[JFK]

Gotta say I got a Sony Vaio a few years ago and have only needed to upgrade recently AND it was ex display.......

(Its all siver and white though so it does look a teeny bit gay)

Heard great things about Dells recently, they have upped their game pretty well over the last year or two.

[ResetTheAtari]

Cheers for the advice guys... I managed to track down that Asus on the UK Asus site for 560 quid, bit of a bargain. Not too happy with onboard gfx, but I guess I'll stick to the xbox for games and just use this for production and web stuff.

https://www.simplyasus.com/ASUS_K72F-TY011V_704878.html

I think the specs are pretty great for the price, but I can't find any reviews online.

I was going to get the Samsung Q320 as it's had amazing reviews, but for 60 quid more I think I NEED the Asus...

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Samsung-Q320-AS02 ... _522wt_859

I did look at Lenovo but the budget ones aren't to my liking design/weight/size wise really.

[tripaddict]

this ... http://www.open-pandora.org/

ARM® Cortex™-A8 600Mhz+ CPU running Linux
430-MHz TMS320C64x+™ DSP Core
PowerVR SGX OpenGL 2.0 ES compliant 3D hardware
800x480 4.3" 16.7 million colours touchscreen LCD
Wifi 802.11b/g, Bluetooth & High Speed USB 2.0 Host
Dual SDHC card slots & SVideo TV output
Dual Analogue and Digital gaming controls
43 button QWERTY and numeric keypad
Around 10+ Hours battery life

tiny ... and looks like ...

[bum robot]

http://rainrecording.com/ is all i have to say, i got a live7 and this thing is a beast from running ableton+reason for hours and serato for long sets never had a problem, worth checking out

[ResetTheAtari]

Love a rain laptop, but far too pricey mate. See my budget above - I have about 800 bucks max to spend.

The Pandora is great for gaming and emulators, but useless for anything else really... been aware of it for years. I always wanted one of those mini computers bond uses in Tomorrow Never Dies to control his BMW, like the Pandora but MUCH better looking.

Anyway, thanks for the help guys but I'm convinced by the 17" Asus.

[symmetricalsounds]

I did look at Lenovo but the budget ones aren't to my liking design/weight/size wise really.

you may not like the design, but a year or two down the line when others may pack up on you, the look and weight might not be the most important thing on your mind.

[ResetTheAtari]

Yeah I realise that, the Asus isn't exactly great looking/light either, but the spec/build for the price is the best I've seen by quite some distance. Couple that with a lot of personal recommendations, and the fact I've always bought Asus mobo's and my mind is made up.

[alphacat]

this ... http://www.open-pandora.org/

ARM® Cortex™-A8 600Mhz+ CPU running Linux
430-MHz TMS320C64x+™ DSP Core
PowerVR SGX OpenGL 2.0 ES compliant 3D hardware
800x480 4.3" 16.7 million colours touchscreen LCD
Wifi 802.11b/g, Bluetooth & High Speed USB 2.0 Host
Dual SDHC card slots & SVideo TV output
Dual Analogue and Digital gaming controls
43 button QWERTY and numeric keypad
Around 10+ Hours battery life

Something this size is kind of my dream for portable musicmaking.

Check out this thread though:

http://www.gp32x.com/board/index.php?/t ... r-pandora/

[__________]

got a Dell about 5 years ago.
spilt a whole cup of tea on it about 2 years ago.

it still works flawlessly. get a Dell. nuff said.

[cigaro5676]

Yeah I realise that, the Asus isn't exactly great looking/light either, but the spec/build for the price is the best I've seen by quite some distance. Couple that with a lot of personal recommendations, and the fact I've always bought Asus mobo's and my mind is made up.

glad i could recommend a good product for you mate

there is also a 15.6" model with the same spec, found it on bestbuy.com, dont know how difficult it would be to get that over to you
the model number is U50F-RBBAG05

also i know newegg will give you a 1 year accidental warranty with your purchase, i dont know if anyone else will

cheers