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Thread ID: 82716 2007-09-05 10:50:00 Which laptop? Lizard (2409) PC World Chat
Post ID Timestamp Content User
588311 2007-09-05 10:50:00 A friend (in New Plymouth wants to buy a laptop. His criteria are:

Must be $1300 or less
Must be available in store from Dick Smiths in New Plymouth

These criteria are immutable and cannot be changed.

Going by the DSE website I have identified the following seven laptops. If you want to, you can vote for which laptop you think he should buy. He'll be buying on Saturday, so anyone who has an opinion has until then to post it.

I haven't scrutinised any of the laptops, so some may be completely unsuitable. As a general guide to the projected use of the laptop, it will be for general business stuff (word, excel, etc), and some internet browsing. It may also be called into service as a general media player (MP3s, DVDs). The user is not especially technically minded, but has general aspirations towards acquiring knowledge, so may be interested in wireless networking and other such gadgets at a later date.

Details of the laptops below:

Acer Aspire 5102AWLMi Notebook
www.dse.co.nz (www.dse.co.nz)

Acer Aspire 4520-30 Notebook
www.dse.co.nz (www.dse.co.nz)

Asus Z99He Notebook
www.dse.co.nz (www.dse.co.nz)

Asus F5R Notebook
www.dse.co.nz (www.dse.co.nz)

Acer Aspire 4520-5A Notebook
www.dse.co.nz (www.dse.co.nz)

Acer Aspire 5102AWLMi Notebook
www.dse.co.nz (www.dse.co.nz)

ACER Aspire 5310 Notebook
www.dse.co.nz (www.dse.co.nz)
Lizard (2409)
588312 2007-09-05 10:57:00 I think at that price they all will be a compromise. Don't know anything about AMD chips, but the intel ones there are all old chips. plod (107)
588313 2007-09-05 10:59:00 Without even looking at the selection I would ignore everything that isn't Asus. Metla (12)
588314 2007-09-05 11:04:00 Why no HP or Dell for that matter? Compaq even perhaps... beeswax34 (63)
588315 2007-09-05 11:16:00 Why no HP or Dell for that matter? Compaq even perhaps...

I haven't looked at brands, just which ones were under $1300 and available at DSE in New Plymouth. No HP or Dell ones came up on the DSE website.

Any and all opinions are good at this stage. Why in particular do you prefer Asus, Metla?
Lizard (2409)
588316 2007-09-05 11:49:00 Any and all opinions are good at this stage. Why in particular do you prefer Asus, Metla?

Because they built their (esteemed) reputation by producing good solid quality items that perform and last exactly as they should.

Rather then marketing and budget goods.

Dell with their $99 delivery, "free ram upgrades" and Indian phone numbers can go to hell.
Metla (12)
588317 2007-09-05 13:40:00 None of the above, the criteria makes it near impossible.

Of the bunch you selected ASUS is the brand to go for, but with those specs I wouldnt bother.

Do you have any other shops avaliable to you, would you be happy to order in?
Rob99 (151)
588318 2007-09-05 19:01:00 None of the above.

Save a little longer and get something decent. You get what you pay for.
Bantu (52)
588319 2007-09-05 23:42:00 None of the above.

Save a little longer and get something decent. You get what you pay for.

Bantu has a point here.
But on the other hand I have been in Consumers Society in the UK and NZ since about 1960 and in that time have seen how very often it is just not so.
In fact very often the worst example is the most expensive (If my memory serves me right the last time Toasters were tested the most expensive was pretty grim at any price.)
And the other thing I have noticed is that the cheapest is best avoided. Even then the society has found the cheapest is SOMETIMES the best.
Mind you Consumers are not perfect and have dropped clangers themselves. I remember them testing computers in the very early DOS days and they recommended one using the pre DOS system (was it CPM or something - I have forgotten now?)
Tom
Thomas01 (317)
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