I'm after a decent spec laptop as back at uni I am likely to spend a fair whack of time away from home and want to be able to do programming

General spec:
Dual core/quad core processor
4gb+ RAM (3gb at an absolute push)
160+gb hard drive
Dedicated graphics card
720p+ res screen (prefer 1920x1080)
g+ wireless (pref draft n+)
bluetooth

15/16" screen

other than that not too worried about it

I have seen the 16" Acer on play.com but I don't really want an Acer (build quality on the keyboard isn't great)
clicky , with all the discount I can use (varsity card etc) it knocks about £50 off the price, with £15 on a voucher so around £400

On a similar note, I have looked at Dell and they have soem fairly decent laptops, but the spec between the play.com and the Dell is £200+ difference, I was wondering if they can be haggled by the phone, as I know I get an employee discount but want the Dell to be honest for the build quality. Has anyone haggled with them to get a discount and if so how much did they get off?

Macbook Pro?

*runs*

Find one under £500 with that spec? New and not a knock off lol

I've haggled with Dell, but only via a business account. I bought my personal XPS through our business account manager and recently negotiated our new desktop at work. They can be very good, if you catch them at the right time!

It seems from a quick play on the Dell website, that your required spec is £744 minimum. I doubt you'll get that much of a reduction, but you never know...

Yeah to get spec for spec of the Acer it was £650+ (but had a 320gb hdd instead of 250gb I think)

I'll try and call them, then go through the business side, would rather do it in a personal level, worth a shot though, worst is they say no...

Exactly, keep us informed....

Check out the Dennis sites' recommendations? C. Shopper are usually pretty good

I think that you'll struggle to get one with dedicated graphics for £500. What do you need to run that requires dedicated?

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/161633

this any good

Did you look at the original one I posted? It has dedicated and is £470 tops, the dells are the same with an onboard ATi 4570

You can get them but they require some hunting, The HP I ended up picking for my gf for £350 (amazing spec, 4gb ram, 320gb HDD, bluetooth, webcam etc) had a HD3200 onboard, not amazing but better than shared

I am going to be doing my uni work on it, so game development (and probably playing a few non gpu intensive games), and testing the games benefits from having a dedicated card so I can do all the work on my laptop/home PC and not have to use the PC for testing



That is £100 more than the one I posted, and by the looks of it a lower spec...so not really

I did, but I missed that. I'm old.

Friends don't let friends buy Dell.

Friends find friends something better then

http://www.play.com/PC/PCs/4-/6736008/A ... oduct.html

Going to go for this one in the end, just waiting for my play.com voucher to come through for using their card then buying it, get another £10 voucher for buying it too lol

Just a word of warning on Acer:

The build quality is CRAP!!!

They just feel really shaky. Cheap and nasty plastics, that definitely aren't built to last. My sister had one (not that model though), and the graphics gave in after 15months.