Need to find a laptop

[NoaHall]

Looking for a laptop for a friend, anyone got any suggestions where to get one?

Specs -

At least 2.5GHz dual core CPU
At least 2GB of RAM
Graphics card doesn't matter so much.
Windows 7
Under £500

[Pasdar]

Whatever you do... dont get one with intel graphics card... you'll regret it!!! that is, unless you will ONLY use your laptop for surfing web and typing documents

[amingv]

Here are some >$500 W7 machines amazon sent to my email, maybe your friend likes one?

1 (http://www.amazon.com/Toshiba-Satellite-L505D-S5992-TruBrite-15-6-Inch/dp/B002P8M8J6/ref=br_lf_m_1000437551_1_5_ttl?ie=UTF8&s=pc&pf_rd_p=494577611&pf_rd_s=center-2&pf_rd_t=1401&pf_rd_i=1000437551&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=0SH7AZR04JA9MNXR4Q2Z) (It's a turion dual core, but it goes @ 2.2ghz)
2 (http://www.amazon.com/G61-320US-15-6-Inch-Black-Silver-Laptop/dp/B002ONCDJM/ref=br_lf_m_1000437551_1_10_ttl?ie=UTF8&s=pc&pf_rd_p=494577611&pf_rd_s=center-2&pf_rd_t=1401&pf_rd_i=1000437551&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=0SH7AZR04JA9MNXR4Q2Z)(Athlon II x2 @2.0ghz)

There are a couple more, but they're not even worth linking (and are single-core).

3 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834115654) (Athlon x2 @ 2.1ghz, from newegg)

All of them have 3gb or more in RAM, some form of windows 7 and dual core cpus (though none reach 2.5ghz in clockspeed, but does it really matter?).
They all have some form of ATI GPU on them, 250gb (or more) in storage and 15.6" screens.

There, I think I've done enough homework for you :).

[NoaHall]

Hm. I've already had a look at the first two before, but not the last one. I'd rather recommend one with a higher clock speed for her, because she wants quite good performance.

[amingv]

Hm. I've already had a look at the first two before, but not the last one. I'd rather recommend one with a higher clock speed for her, because she wants quite good performance.

Anything specific she's going to be doing?
For basic tasks I doubt she's even going to notice the difference. Remember that clock speed isn't everything in performance (or you may as well get her a P4 @ 3.2ghz :)).

Of course, I'm nobody to say what your friend should or should not like, but I really think those laptops would perform very well and the clock speed is reasonable considering the price range (I only start seeing 2.5ghz+ laptops at the $900 range, and even at that range there are a lot of 2.0-2.2ghz models).

Of course, we can always use a second opinion, anyone out there? :)


Under £500

Oh wait, that's pounds!
I swear I saw dollars there.

[NoaHall]

She wants to play Sims 3.

Hm, I'm so used to desktops. I hate laptops, you can't make yourself.
Maybe 2.2GHz would be enough. Thanks :)

[mivo]

If she wants to play games, you'll want a system with a Nvidia video chipset, and separate video memory.

[NoaHall]

If she wants to play games, you'll want a system with a Nvidia video chipset, and separate video memory.

I know. I just don't know where to find any. I don't ever buy laptops as they are useless for anything worth doing(IMO)

[mivo]

What about Dell? Their Studio series isn't so bad. See here (http://www1.euro.dell.com/content/products/productdetails.aspx/laptop-studio-1555?c=uk&l=en&s=dhs&cs=ukdhs1&ref=lthp). The one on the very left seems close to what you want. 2.1 GHz only, though, but meets the price and does have 4 GB.

[NoaHall]

What about Dell? Their Studio series isn't so bad. See here (http://www1.euro.dell.com/content/products/productdetails.aspx/laptop-studio-1555?c=uk&l=en&s=dhs&cs=ukdhs1&ref=lthp). The one on the very left seems close to what you want. 2.1 GHz only, though, but meets the price and does have 4 GB.

Hm. Looks good, I'll see what she thinks.

[Pasdar]

I dont know the US equivalent of the following site:
http://tweakers.net/pricewatch/cat/496/laptops.html

but you can use this to do a very detailed hardware search on current laptops and then check for that laptop in your country....

[NoaHall]

I'm in the UK, as is she :).