Need advice for a new laptop

[willyfantastic]

Hi guys,

Looking for a new laptop with a budget of probably max £800-£850

I've found 2 which seem to fulfil what I'm looking for (links below) however I've seen 2 potential problems with both:
Lenovo Ideapad U410
Sony E Series

The Lenovo seems to have a big problem with picking up wifi which hasn't been solved (otherwise I would probably go with this), whilst I'm hesitant to go with Sony laptops as my Girlfriend's family has had a number of them and they didn't seem to last very long without screwing up (not sure if that's due to how they were looked after etc....) and they are now onto Macbooks

I'm wondering if anybody has any recommendations for something similar to what's seen above.

What I'm looking for is:

No more than £800-800
Not larger than 15" screen (preferably 14" but meh)
Dedicated graphics
Intel i5 CPU (pref Ivy Bridge)
6gb ram+
Blu-Ray drive would be nice but not essential

Obviously would like a Macbook or w/e but don't have the budget for something like this, and not interested in an older refurb model/2nd hand

Anybody have any recommendations?

Thanks

 

[TWOCHOICEStom]

Difficult to say, everyone has their own stories suggesting one this is shit or something else is amazing. I suggest going to The Verge
It's an amazing unbiased tech site with loads of awesome reviews. Just google and research as much as you can rather than being swayed by anecdotes

 

[beorhthelm]

curiosu what you use it for, or in particular the need for two requirement - smallish screen and dedicated graphics. i'd have thought uses wanting dedicated graphics you'd also want more screen.

 

[Tony Towner's Fridge]

MacBook.

No need to look any further. If your any of your direct family are students you can get a significant discount as well (up to 25% I believe).

TNBA

TTF

 

[willyfantastic]

curiosu what you use it for, or in particular the need for two requirement - smallish screen and dedicated graphics. i'd have thought uses wanting dedicated graphics you'd also want more screen.

so if i wanted to use something graphics intensive i could, the size of the screen is irrelevant to that

 

[Tricky Dicky]

I'm an IT bod, so laptop gets heavily used, and have a Sony Vaio - never had a problem with it.

 

[willyfantastic]

Acer Aspire Timeline Ultra M3 15.6 inch Ultrabook (Intel Core i5 2467M 1.60GHz, 4GB RAM, 128GB SSD, DVD SuperMulti DL, LAN, WLAN, Webcam, BT, Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit, NVIDIA® GeForce® GT 640M): Amazon.co.uk: Computers Accessories

also found this which looks decent, however it only seems to have 4gb ram

 

[Tony Towner's Fridge]

so if i wanted to use something graphics intensive i could, the size of the screen is irrelevant to that

I don't , but many do; that's partition Macs so that they run both as a PC and Mac. Need to ensure that the PC has good AVS though as I believe it can cross contaminate the Mac part of the partition, if it get's infected.

TNBA

TTF

 

[Birdie Boy]

MacBook.

No need to look any further. If your any of your direct family are students you can get a significant discount as well (up to 25% I believe).

TNBA

TTF

Where did you see this? I can only find a £70 student gift card with macs...

 

[willyfantastic]

I don't , but many do; that's partition Macs so that they run both as a PC and Mac. Need to ensure that the PC has good AVS though as I believe it can cross contaminate the Mac part of the partition, if it get's infected.

TNBA

TTF

as much as i'd love a macbook, its still way out my price range for what I want

 

[deletebeepbeepbeep]

You can upgrade ram easily at a later date if that's important. What about overclockers.co.uk they usually have some powerful laptops for cheapish.

 

[perseus]

I've been told to make sure the laptop has HDMI output and the one on my shortlist did not have it. Future-proofing.

 

[Titus]

Dell

 

[SeagullSongs]

How about this?
The Novatech Elite N1510

 

[CheeseRolls]

ASUS N56VM-S4034V

Still not sure why these guys don't get more recognition. More top gear from the twonky Taiwanese.

 

[Godstar]

Try Pc Specialist.co.uk - you can configure your own (i just did your specs & it came back at just over £500) they use good quality brands Sony etc. I used to use them all the time until i bought my iMac.

 

[perseus]

I'm an IT bod, so laptop gets heavily used, and have a Sony Vaio - never had a problem with it.

Good price. HDMI.

Are there better specs under £400 anywhere?

 

[Super Steve Earle]

My Sony Vaio was rubbish and Sony aftersales even worse. Gave it away for £30 for parts due to insoluble keyboard fault.

Bought Dell XPS with i7. Solid classic laptop with lighty up keyboard. Cost e£850

 

[del_boy]

Macbook

 

[perseus]

This looks like a clear leader: Sony Vaio EH2P0E/B Core i5 4GB/320GB 15.5s

But with Sainsbury's the only place I can buy it from, what do I do with a fault? Ask at the cheese counter?

The Sony one is about £150 cheaper than a Dell with the same specs. What is the snag?

For £850 I would want a desktop as well. But it is one or the other for me on cost grounds.