Doesn't quite fit your criteria but these are a pretty good deal right now: http://www1.euro.dell.com/content/p...1_inspn_6000_N10606?c=uk&cs=ukdhs1&l=en&s=dhs
A mate just bought something very similar and it's decent. I was quite surprised - Dell produce much better laptops now than they used to, IMHO.
Current offer is £691 inc VAT and free delivery. Memory is doubled to 1GB for free and you can squeeze in a couple of upgrades and stay within budget. The only thing I'd be wary of is the one year warranty, but 3 yrs cover is quite a bit more.
A mate just bought something very similar and it's decent. I was quite surprised - Dell produce much better laptops now than they used to, IMHO.
Current offer is £691 inc VAT and free delivery. Memory is doubled to 1GB for free and you can squeeze in a couple of upgrades and stay within budget. The only thing I'd be wary of is the one year warranty, but 3 yrs cover is quite a bit more.
Check with HP as well. They have some pretty solid looking Turion64 and Pentium M models out there right now. Is this mainly going to be a DTR system? If so, the specs change a little bit, since mobility typically cuts into power. I doubt that a 17" model will fit into your budget, but a 15.4" WXGA has lots of screen real estate. It will also allow you to get a better GPU. Go X700 or better if you plan to game.
I did a little searching and found a decent Acer for what might fit in your budget. The model is "TM4402WLMi"
http://global.acer.com/products/notebook/tm4400.htm
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16834115196
Specs:
15.4" WXGA
1.6ghz Turion64 (you might see if you can upgrade it to 1.8ghz)
512mb RAM
Radeon X700 64mb dedicated
100gb HD 5400rpm
Dual layer DVD burner
Battery life might be a little short, but I think it will be pretty speedy in most apps, and the hard drive looks like a good one. Price is $1150 USD, not sure how that equates to your budget.
I've owned an Acer travelmate before (Pentium M), and I really liked it. It was solidly built and the components were accessable and sturdy.
http://global.acer.com/products/notebook/tm4400.htm
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16834115196
Specs:
15.4" WXGA
1.6ghz Turion64 (you might see if you can upgrade it to 1.8ghz)
512mb RAM
Radeon X700 64mb dedicated
100gb HD 5400rpm
Dual layer DVD burner
Battery life might be a little short, but I think it will be pretty speedy in most apps, and the hard drive looks like a good one. Price is $1150 USD, not sure how that equates to your budget.
I've owned an Acer travelmate before (Pentium M), and I really liked it. It was solidly built and the components were accessable and sturdy.
F
Go with HP business notebooks - NC series, if you can live with the smaller screen.
Id stay away from HP SOHO notebooks, including Pavilions. Instead Id go with Acer for budget option or Dell if you can get a good deal on. Unfortunately Dell still thinks ppl in EU cant read american english on its US site and sells most of its mid to high end models for way too much, over here.
Id stay away from HP SOHO notebooks, including Pavilions. Instead Id go with Acer for budget option or Dell if you can get a good deal on. Unfortunately Dell still thinks ppl in EU cant read american english on its US site and sells most of its mid to high end models for way too much, over here.
F
Much better choice IMO, NX 6xxx and NX 8xxx are basically stripped-down NC series.
If this is meant for gaming then I agree with TOTT, see if you can get anything like this with dedicated ram and possibly smaller resolution XGA screen, better for gaming and generally for your eyes, IMO.
As for DTR. this Acer might be a good choice. It has NVIDIA GeForce FX Go5700 - 64 MB and WXGA (1280 x 800) screen, but battery life is very poor, Id suspect those 2 hours can be achieved with max battery savings only.
Now if you can strech a bit further, this £881.24 inc VAT Acer has everything, more then capable P-M 1.6Ghz (Id say about A64 2800 + speed) and a lot better video card: ATI MOBILITY RADEON X600 - 64 MB, again WXGA screen, but unlike the previous Acer, this thing will last on batteries. Id say up to 4 hours doing office work.
Oh and HP has some entry level NX8xxx laptops with better video card, you might wanna check out.
If this is meant for gaming then I agree with TOTT, see if you can get anything like this with dedicated ram and possibly smaller resolution XGA screen, better for gaming and generally for your eyes, IMO.
As for DTR. this Acer might be a good choice. It has NVIDIA GeForce FX Go5700 - 64 MB and WXGA (1280 x 800) screen, but battery life is very poor, Id suspect those 2 hours can be achieved with max battery savings only.
Now if you can strech a bit further, this £881.24 inc VAT Acer has everything, more then capable P-M 1.6Ghz (Id say about A64 2800 + speed) and a lot better video card: ATI MOBILITY RADEON X600 - 64 MB, again WXGA screen, but unlike the previous Acer, this thing will last on batteries. Id say up to 4 hours doing office work.
Oh and HP has some entry level NX8xxx laptops with better video card, you might wanna check out.
The HP SoHo systems are actually really good - you just have to be ready to toss the slow( Usually 4200rmp Fujitsu) HDD they send into a nice USB2 enclosure and stick your own Seagate 5400rmp drive in there (that's what I did, anyway 
).
HP's NX business series is good, but it's really a T&L line - not exactly DTR. Not that this is a bad thing, but you pay more to have all that performance in a 6lb system. And you get only a 15" screen. Great for me, but not the best for a dedicated gamer.
Lizard, I think you're looking at ze2000z series ?? Great Soho notebook (for business use). An amazing amount of performance for a T&L enclosure. I hate to push anyone in another direction... But, the Radeon Xpress 200M isn't the best for gaming.
A system with ATi's Mobility X600 is PROBABLY a better fit for you.
The flip side is that one of my employees just told me about her son, who took an 11 lb notebook off to school with him three months ago and is now begging her to buy him a T&L because the gaming notebook is such a beast he doesn't like hauling it around. She has a nice Dell T&L (one of our company favorites), but unfortunately the Intel Extreme2 graphics are pretty much unable to be used for gaming.
).HP's NX business series is good, but it's really a T&L line - not exactly DTR. Not that this is a bad thing, but you pay more to have all that performance in a 6lb system. And you get only a 15" screen. Great for me, but not the best for a dedicated gamer.
Lizard, I think you're looking at ze2000z series ?? Great Soho notebook (for business use). An amazing amount of performance for a T&L enclosure. I hate to push anyone in another direction... But, the Radeon Xpress 200M isn't the best for gaming.
A system with ATi's Mobility X600 is PROBABLY a better fit for you.
The flip side is that one of my employees just told me about her son, who took an 11 lb notebook off to school with him three months ago and is now begging her to buy him a T&L because the gaming notebook is such a beast he doesn't like hauling it around. She has a nice Dell T&L (one of our company favorites), but unfortunately the Intel Extreme2 graphics are pretty much unable to be used for gaming.
Yeah, notebooks aren't easy purchases, as I'm sure most figure out when buying. Typically you can't find something cheap that does everything. In fact, the cheapest ones don't game well, and they don't last long on batteries. You have to go a level up to get a gaming notebook or a truely mobile notebook. If you want gaming power AND mobility, then you are going to the highest end.
My suggestion? If you want something that's got some kick and doesn't break your bank, sacrifice battery life first. You'll just have to learn to live with less mobility. Since I think most people use their notebooks plugged in, this will be the least frustrating of the sacrifices you could make. You can improve your range considerably if you upgrade to a 12 cell battery over the 8 cell. I think most DTRs can go 4 hours on a 12 cell battery, and it's only a ~$25 upgrade online.
My suggestion? If you want something that's got some kick and doesn't break your bank, sacrifice battery life first. You'll just have to learn to live with less mobility. Since I think most people use their notebooks plugged in, this will be the least frustrating of the sacrifices you could make. You can improve your range considerably if you upgrade to a 12 cell battery over the 8 cell. I think most DTRs can go 4 hours on a 12 cell battery, and it's only a ~$25 upgrade online.
F
I dont know Hoyle about your experience, but if I check the local Ebay site, one thing I can always be sure of, is I will find a SOHO HP notebooks for parts, followed by different types of notebooks with MR9700 installed.
I have yet to see HP NC/NX or IBM R or T lappy for parts. Might be due to extended warranty, but no all IBM R laptops were sold that way and I know some NC lappies were sold with 1 year warranty in EU as well as all NX laptops.
Also when I did some research on the forums, a while back, on what is the lappy to buy (I was looikng for one for myself and some friends and family were asking me what to get), HP SOHO line was right down there with your typical no name stuff and Gericom, when reliability was in question and IBM, Dell and HP buisness class was considered top notch, but not bulletproof, mainly because of the completely unreliable IBM, now Hitachi disks. Acer was considered by far the best bang for the buck with very high reliability sticker. One of the biggest complaints about Acer was it usually looks like it went through sandstorm in 2 years time, I guess small price to pay for what is otherwise great package.
Oh and when portability is of main concern HP NC class cant be beat, actually NC6000 I have, is still considered one of the best all rounders in that department, followed closely by IBM T42 model.
Oh and BTW I had cheap Compaq (now HP) lappy, 2xxx series and I know how bad the build was compared to what I have now or your typical IBM, Dell and Acer laptop.
I have yet to see HP NC/NX or IBM R or T lappy for parts. Might be due to extended warranty, but no all IBM R laptops were sold that way and I know some NC lappies were sold with 1 year warranty in EU as well as all NX laptops.
Also when I did some research on the forums, a while back, on what is the lappy to buy (I was looikng for one for myself and some friends and family were asking me what to get), HP SOHO line was right down there with your typical no name stuff and Gericom, when reliability was in question and IBM, Dell and HP buisness class was considered top notch, but not bulletproof, mainly because of the completely unreliable IBM, now Hitachi disks. Acer was considered by far the best bang for the buck with very high reliability sticker. One of the biggest complaints about Acer was it usually looks like it went through sandstorm in 2 years time, I guess small price to pay for what is otherwise great package.
Oh and when portability is of main concern HP NC class cant be beat, actually NC6000 I have, is still considered one of the best all rounders in that department, followed closely by IBM T42 model.
Oh and BTW I had cheap Compaq (now HP) lappy, 2xxx series and I know how bad the build was compared to what I have now or your typical IBM, Dell and Acer laptop.
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What I do locally is contact one of the smaller shops, couse they usually can order just about any combo they want, from the middle man. Its good to have some deals you were looking at with you, so they understand they dont have a s_ucker in front of them and forget about getting extra comission for "special" order or something like that.
Depends on the AGE, in my experience. HP/Q SoHo models up to about late 2003 were not the best. I've had very good luck with them starting about April '04. Of course, they COULD all fall apart soon - they aren't that old yet, but so far they've been easier to keep moving than our Dells, and far less expensive than our IBMs (my last machine was a T42 at about $2700 new!). I've also purchaced a few 'emergency' laptops, which means not going through the HP, Dell, or IBM reps we usually talk to. For these I've gone Acer and been pleased.
I don't find that Acer laptops are all that inexpensive, however - usually, when challenged, the Dell and HP reps can beat them, given a chance.
F
I think Acer is less expensive around EU, simply because they were first to realize to sell laptops in EU, you will have to lower the price, otherwise no name boxes will squeeze you out of the market.
HP did lower the price of its low end models considerably, thus their business class NX series makes sense, but they still keep its NC class prices way to high.
Dell was the least flexible of them all and only recently offered good deals on the very low end of its laptop range.
So basically you get X600 with Acer, X300 with HP NX and GMA900 with HP NC, Dell and IBM, for the same price.
HP SOHO laptops are actually the same price as their buisness NX class, I guess thats why I dont think its worth the risk.
Furthermore, I still think the build of the buisness clas is much better, thus different cases for the two families.
On the other hand NX and NC class use the same kind of cases and only differ in options. For example NC has spill proof keyboard and multibay.
HP did lower the price of its low end models considerably, thus their business class NX series makes sense, but they still keep its NC class prices way to high.
Dell was the least flexible of them all and only recently offered good deals on the very low end of its laptop range.
So basically you get X600 with Acer, X300 with HP NX and GMA900 with HP NC, Dell and IBM, for the same price.
HP SOHO laptops are actually the same price as their buisness NX class, I guess thats why I dont think its worth the risk.
Furthermore, I still think the build of the buisness clas is much better, thus different cases for the two families.
On the other hand NX and NC class use the same kind of cases and only differ in options. For example NC has spill proof keyboard and multibay.
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