Hello Everyone,

Just wondering if someone could help me search for a couple of new laptops.

One doesnt really need to be anything fancy. Decent amount of RAM, decent battery life and not to heavy. Only request was that it be able to run MATLAB. I'm not entirely sure what it is even after google, but i'm hoping someone will know. I have looked into some laptops but i'm quite unfamiliar with good laptop brands, and the cheapest websites. I'm looking for something in the region of £350 - £400.


As for the other laptop there is a budget of about £550. Only things i am looking for are 3-4GB of RAM, dedicated graphics card (nothing special, will only be playing WoW and Football Manager), intel cpu. Really just a good all round laptop.

After some searching i came across this:

http://www.laptopsdirect.co.uk/Acer_Asp ... ersion.asp

* Processor - Intel Core 2 Duo T6400 2 Ghz
* RAM - 3 GB (installed) 4 GB (max)
* Hard Drive - 250 GB
* Operating System - Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium
* Screen - 16 in
* Optical Drive - Blu-Ray Drive
* Graphics - NVIDIA GeForce 9300M - 256MB Dedicated
* Bluetooth - Yes
* Warranty - 1 year warranty

Seems pretty good for £500.


Anyway, just wondering if anyone has purchased a laptop recently or could just lend me a wee hand.

Cheers,

Dudemeister.

I'm pretty sure that the only thing you'll need to worry about with MATLAB is OS compatibility. I haven't used it for a while, but it used to run on some pretty old kit.

The laptop looks pretty decent for £500. A lot of people shudder at Acer, but my mum (read: death to electronics) has had one for over a year with no problems.

Thanks for the quick response. Glad to hear MATLAB will run on old kit, i really have no knowledge on the subject. Have Acer got a reputation for being un-reliable? I'm hoping not as its the best one i've found.

Will read that thread.

Thanks,

Dudemeister.

My Acer (6930G LX.AUU0X.151 it doesnt have BR and processor is 5800) has been running fine since I got it in IIRC FEB its running even better now its got win 7 on it
I would suggest getting a decent bag to carry it around with you.

This is a nice little lappy for £370 - Compaq CQ60 Laptop, AMD Athlon Dual-Core QL65 4GB RAM, 160GB HDD, 15.6" TFT, DVD±RW, GeForce 8200M G,HDMI, Webcam, Bluetooth, Wifi, Webcam, Vista Home Premium *UPGRADE TO WINDOWS 7

Very easy to register for the windows 7 upgrade disks although there is a delivery charge.

Thanks bobbdobbs and Geiseric for the comments.

That looks pretty much perfect for my sister Geiseric. Thanks.

bobbdobbs is it possible that Acer have a bad reputation for reliability because so many people buy them? I have been speaking to a few people with Acer laptops and they have never had any problems. But i have also seen a lot of people on the Internet complaining about them. Also do you have any suggestions for bags as one of the laptops will be hauld about a lot?

Thanks,

Dudemeister.

I have a Targus XL Metro Messenger Laptop bag Black & Sliver TGC200-11 16"/17.3", it does it job when I need to lug it about. I cant say about other people but I havent had any problems with it. Keyboard feels nice to use, screen is nice bright and sharp (well it is to my eyes ) and it does everything that I require it to do. I would give it a solid 9/10

MATLAB System Requirements

The one you've found looks like it should run MATLAB.

Apparently it will run on Windows 7 as well.

Thanks guys,

Looks like i'm set on

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/169936#

and

http://www.laptopsdirect.co.uk/Acer_Asp ... ersion.asp

Both are good value and suit my needs. Can i just ask one question about the Acer one. It has a Blu-Ray player and an HDMI port, does this mean i can play Blu-ray on a tv? Or am i waaaaaaay off?

bobbdobbs, glad to hear your thoughts on the Acer. Thats exactly the style of case i was thinking about.

Thanks,

Dudemeister.


Edit: Thanks for the link RustyBucket i have no knowledge of MATLAB and i'm glad it'll run on Windows7.

That's as long as it's the latest version you have. Dudemeister, Please check which version of MATLAB you have!

I think what pb meant was that only the latest version supports W7. Every version from 2007a onwards supports Vista.

Truthfully though, anyone running MATLAB properly will want the latest version.

Its not me who will be using MATLAB, but i'm almost certain the person using it will have the latest edition. But i will double check with them.

Thanks,

Dudemeister.