Buying a new laptop

J1mmy · February 5th, 2006, 02:54 PM

Hello,

Since the breakdown of my 900Mhz Athlon which made it into its 6th year of service, i have finally decided to buy another machine. This time a laptop. I dont want to spend too much on it. Max is about £630.

This is what i have my eye on at the moment, the sony vaio fs315e. You may find this within a price range from £600-£750ish....

Well, i dont know whether this is a good deal or not, and need some advice. The specs seem good on it and price tag is decent keeping in mind that it is a sony too. I dont mind looking into any other make with same or better specs, but vaio's seem decent as i have experienced from my previous laptop purchase.

Amr · February 5th, 2006, 02:57 PM

Have a look at the Asus A6K. I'm quite happy with it, relatively cheap. €900

LaptopExtreme · February 5th, 2006, 04:06 PM

I would say it's not bad. The FS series from Sony is very good, excellent screen, excellent build and a very good overall system. As for the A6 series from Asus, I think they're very good (aside from the A6U that came out last year)- they're coming out with some better video cards now too, which is bringing that series out of the budget end, but the A3 is there for that.

J1mmy · February 10th, 2006, 10:48 AM

Well ive seen the A3 series, they're okay but some of the models have a feature lower than the sony i have suggested. They might have a 40GB where as the sony has 80GB.

What about the toshiba models?? I found a few, are they more/less reliable than the sonys?

nooblet · February 10th, 2006, 11:12 AM

I'd look into a Toshiba R10 convertible laptop. It's a tablet PC, and right now at their site it sells for around 850USD. I dunno what it translates to in pounds..but still. Something to look at.

LaptopExtreme · February 10th, 2006, 11:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by J1mmy

Well ive seen the A3 series, they're okay but some of the models have a feature lower than the sony i have suggested. They might have a 40GB where as the sony has 80GB...

The A3 should have 60gb and the A6 should come with 100gb.

J1mmy · February 11th, 2006, 07:46 AM

how does the Asus comapre with the sony quality wise?

Rootstonian · February 11th, 2006, 09:00 AM

I've had good luck with my HP ZE4125 bought 1/2003 (using it now sitting on the couch)

I have a Dell D600 at work and I really don't care for it. Light, but feels "cheap". We also use IBM (Levano?) laptops at work and they are great machines.

LaptopExtreme · February 11th, 2006, 11:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by J1mmy

how does the Asus comapre with the sony quality wise?

They compare very closely. Since Asus is also the makers of Sony, Apple, Hitachi and other laptops, they've made their line a step higher. But you'll have to remember that the A3 and A6 is part of their budget lineup and that the quality isnt' as top notched as their other systems with carbon fiber and brushed aluminum chassis. But the build quality is still higher than those that you see in your local store in the same price range. They've also go built-in 1.3 mp cameras on both series. Perfect when recording you and a buddy singing to the latest boy band hit.

J1mmy · February 12th, 2006, 09:07 AM

Well ive been looking at both the Asus A3 series and the Sony Vaio fs315e and they both very good. Its just that the asus has features which the sony hasnt got, and the sony has features which the asus hasnt got.
The sony is a clean and neat looking laptop with great features for its price adn does'nt really look like an 'everyday' laptop. The Asus has got that typical colour, but also comes with a camera and looks pretty good aswell, also cost around the same as the sony.

How many are there in the A3 series? I can't find one that will match the spec's of the sony.