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Looking for laptop advice, help appreciated.

Encomium

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Posted February 8, 2012 at 9:10PM

Hello,

I'm getting quite exasperated at my laptop, and I've decided to get a new one. I think I'll go for a 15" since I travel with my laptop practically every day and weight is an issue, but my 12.1" is too much of a sacrifice in screen size for weight reduction/battery life.

I only just started looking but I'm really not sure where to start. I'm not a gamer, but I use some fairly cpu-intensive software on a daily basis -- stuff like ArcInfo, AutoCAD, Autodesk 3D Studio Max, Adobe CS applications, etc. Of those, the first one is probably the most relevant, since my ArcMap crashes a lot or locks my laptop up for hours when I'm doing particularly large spatial analyses.

The best sellers on amazon look interesting enough -- 400 quid for 6gb RAM and what look like decent processors, although a review mentioned that the video card is rubbish. I don't mind spending a bit more than 400 but there comes a point where I'd rather not throw more money at incremental upgrades.

thanks for any help!

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Encomium

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Posted February 8, 2012 at 9:12PM

Clarification -- by 'amazon best sellers' I mean the Acer Aspire models -- this one the most relevant: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Acer-i3-370M-Processor-Windows-Premium/dp/B006NTS5QS/ref=zgbs429886031_2

The HP Pavilion G7 also looks interesting.

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frybluff

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Posted February 8, 2012 at 10:11PM

Acer is probably a good choice in terms of "bang for your buck". Whilst I don't know all your software, I tend to think your choice may be a bit light, it terms of graphics. That only has integrated graphics, and that chip's is "nothing special". The best advice I can give is to check the "minimum system requirements" on the software you are using, then have a look on somewhere like Simplyacer (they've got a decent rep.) If you do need decent graphics, they've got some in the £400's. If you don't actually NEED dedicated graphics, look for a laptop with a SandyBridge processor, then you will get, at least, decent intergrated graphics.

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Encomium

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Posted February 8, 2012 at 11:24PM

thanks for the reply. I went to that site -- I kinda prefer this one -- http://www.simplyacer.com/AcerAspireTimelineX5820T1169099.html.

'Integrated Intel graphics' -- hmm, I've had really poor experience with Intel graphics card in the past, but that was years ago and things may have changed.

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Encomium

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Posted February 8, 2012 at 11:36PM

http://www.simplyacer.com/AcerAspire5750G_1119850.html hm, this one actually looks worth the higher price

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frybluff

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Posted February 9, 2012 at 8:10AM

Your link just took me to the general site, rather than specific laptop. In general, a SandyBridge processor, with integrated HD3000 graphics, is as good as a non-SB, with a basic dedicated card. A SB processor PLUS a basic graphics card, gives a decent bit of "clout". It's normally only with things like GAMING and HD VIDEO EDITING, which need more, but, again, you would need to check the specs on YOUR software.

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