Laptop Advice Please!

[dgmckay]

Hi there.

I'm thinking about getting a laptop replacement for my home PC (we have a wireless network, and the thought of sitting in the garden or conservatory whilst I surf the net looks pretty appealing now the summer weather is kicking in).

Anyway, I'd appreciate any advice on what best to get given the following:

Price up to £800 (inc VAT, delivered, inc XP Home OS at minimum).

Weight/battery life not really an issue (within reason ... say 2 hours minimum battery).

Wireless or wireless capable. What benefits are there to Centrino technology vs. PCMCIA wireless card given lack of weight/battery restrictions?

DVD (not fussed about burning media).

USB2 and FireWire connections for futureproofing.

Mainly used for Internet, word processing, spreadsheets, image/photo manipulation (PSP7), Visual Studio (primarily C++, if I bring work home).

Not looking to run too many high-end games, but could have Uru: Ages Beyond Myst, and Unreal 2003. Are there benefits to having a dedicated graphics card rather than an integrated model given the likelihood of trying to get a good experience from these games (and, I guess, PSP7)?

HDD size not a real issue, since we're looking to reincarnate my current desktop PC as a server with a couple of big drives to hold MP3s, images, etc.

Screen size as big as possible. How clear is a 14.1 screen at 1024 resolution?

Thanks (in advance).

[Faythur]

Can't advise you as such - I was asking advice myself a few days ago but got no response :oh-hum:

However I have noticed that the Toshiba 'A' series of laptops [being discontinued :confused: ] are doing the rounds at good prices.

e.g. Dabs are advertising [it's on their front page as 'deal of the week'] a A40-241 2.7Ghz Celeron with 15" screen for £645 plus delivery.

No firewire listed but I think it meets all your other criteria. :)

BTW I read that you really need to double the RAM to 512Mb to get decent performance for these Toshibas.

[gz5ztg]

A 14.1 screen at 1024x768 is clear enough, depends on what you're using it for. I am using a screen like that at work but for programming it is pretty useless as I can't see enough text at once.

If I had a choice I would go for 1400x1200 at least.

[Brad123]

I have one for sale in the classififieds thats more or less brand new. :)

[res]

we have a wireless network, and the thought of sitting in the garden or conservatory whilst I surf the net looks pretty appealing now the summer weather is kicking in

I too thought that would be a nice idea until i tried it last weekend and found that because it was sunny i couldn't see anything on the screen.