Need laptop opinions

[StANDY1338]

So I have been looking for a laptop for uni to do well uni work. So far I have came down to two choices but I am unsure which one is better. One has more money off it than the other but I don't think that says much about it. I know a bit about computers but I really am stuck as to which would be better for my needs.

There is a comparison between the two in terms of spec but even that isn't too clear cut. Any opinions would really be appreciated.

http://direct.tesco.com/compare/?c=212-7086+212-0561&f=%2Fsearch%2Fdefault.aspx%3Fsearch%3DG6%26confirm.x%3D0%26confirm.y%3D0

 

[MercurySteam]

I take it you're not gaming with them at all? I'd probably go for the Acer Laptop.

 

[Archangel768]

Well if you're purely looking at doing uni work on it, then you won't need too much power. What you really want to look at getting is a laptop that weighs a small amount and has a decent battery life.

In the link you gave. The acer is a bit more powerful and the weight is a lot less which is good. But the battery only lasts for about 3 and a half hours.

The HP is a little slower but, has a 5 hour battery life. It weighs a lot more (it weighs the same amount as my old laptop which was a pain to lug around.)

Both win in one and lose in the other category.
So I did a little looking around on the website and found this.

http://direct.tesco.com/q/R.212-1035.aspx

The Toshiba costs less than both of those other laptops.
This Toshiba weighs less than both of the other two and is comparable in speed to the Acer which is good. THe battery life is also 5 and a half hours which is good. You don't want to be running out of battery power when you're at uni. You want as stress free an environment as possible when doing uni work.

So from that I'd go with the Toshiba that I found since it will last a long time on battery and it weighs a lot less than the others. These are both things I found that were really good in my current laptop when I was attending uni.

I don't know how reliable the different brands are though. My old laptop was an Acer and the battery died about 2 years after owning it. The battery life also degraded to only lasting about an hour before it completely died. At least it still runs though.

I don't know how reliable Toshiba and HP are.

I can't really decide between the two that you picked because the lack of battery life in the Acer would be stressful but the HP would be VERY annoying to carry around all day at uni.

 

[StANDY1338]

Thats the thing I have been having problems with they are not directly comparible in alot of things. Thanks for all the opinions. Archangel you are probubly right the acer is probubly better for what I need it for.

Also the HP one is hd dvd compatable?

 

[Archangel768]

I guess the HP is HD DVD compatible. It says so in the specs. Although I don't really see the use for it considering that HD DVD was phased out a while ago when Blu Ray won. Wouldn't say it's worth getting the laptop just because of that.

 

[StANDY1338]

I guess the HP is HD DVD compatible. It says so in the specs. Although I don't really see the use for it considering that HD DVD was phased out a while ago when Blu Ray won. Wouldn't say it's worth getting the laptop just because of that.

Yea I thought that was kind of weird of them to put it on there.

 

[fix-the-spade]

There is a comparison between the two in terms of spec but even that isn't too clear cut. Any opinions would really be appreciated.

The Acer one.

It has an Intel Core processor, so it will run a few degrees cooler and use a bit less power than the HP. Also, all of the Core processors are substantially faster than AMD Phenoms when it comes to making them do stuff. Both stink as far as gaming power goes, but the Acer should run a little faster, use less juice and cook your balls less.

Worth noting, claimed battery life is meaningless, don't bother with it.

 

[VladG]

I'd go for the HP. Much more battery life, and since you need it for uni stuff, processing power isn't that big a deal (unless you work with graphics stuff, or heavy duty CAD) and battery life should be important. If battery life isn't an issue, and I expect you'll be typing on it a lot, see if you can try out their keyboards. It's going to make a HUGE difference in the end if one has a much more comfortable keyboard than the other (and by the looks of it, the Acer is better in that respect, but I couldn't tell you for sure)

 

[StANDY1338]

I'd go for the HP. Much more battery life, and since you need it for uni stuff, processing power isn't that big a deal (unless you work with graphics stuff, or heavy duty CAD) and battery life should be important. If battery life isn't an issue, and I expect you'll be typing on it a lot, see if you can try out their keyboards. It's going to make a HUGE difference in the end if one has a much more comfortable keyboard than the other (and by the looks of it, the Acer is better in that respect, but I couldn't tell you for sure)

thats true enough the most I would probubly be doing with it is maby putting pictures in certain things but nothing along the lines of cad. Thats good advice about trying them out first I did have a wee look round currys and tried a few out but they all seemed very similar. Another one I like is this one but I think I just like how it looks more than anything else.

http://www.dixons.co.uk/gbuk/packard-bell-easynote-tm97-gn-005uk-refurbished-15-6-laptop-red-07586143-pdt.html

 

[redisforever]

If you're looking for a good, cheap laptop, I recommend the Acer Aspire 5251. Cheap, great keyboard, great touchpad, nice graphics card, works well with older games, but mostly for HD Video. Quiet as well.

 

[StANDY1338]

I had a look at it and it looks ok. i think i might go for the hp one but it comes with alot of bloat ware which i dont know if its easy to remove.