Friend needs new laptop

So my friend asked me if I could do some research on which laptop he could get for about $ 1000-1200 (converted from DKK to USD). he is mainly going to use his laptop for office work, some video watching and also it has to be able to connect a microphone so he's to record music through it.

His main prorities are that the laptop has to be relatively efficient on battery-time, that it is not noisy (very important), enough RAM to be responsive in basic applications and has plenty of harddrive space.

The way I see it is that he doesn't need a powerful graphics card to cope with new games.. so here it should be possible to save some money and battery-power. Also, he doesn't need an extremely powerful CPU that runs the latest games but I still think it's important to have a good CPU for snappy multi-tasking. In this connection I think he needs 1 GB RAM. For the screen, I was thinking of a 15,1 " or 15,4 " (depends on his wide-screen needs).

What do you say?

That is very doable... so long as he goes with Core Duo (and not Core 2 Duo) or AMD's dual core CPUs... 15.4", 1 GB memory, and at least 80 GB HDD for under $1000 should be very doable... the only question is which brand? Does he love/hate any particular brand?

Hi there, thanks for the reply.

It's nice to hear that it's doable. He hasn't mentioned any particular taste for a specific brand but I think he likes a simple but nice design (always subjective though) in black.

What are the main differences between the Core Duo / Core Duo 2 CPU's?

Any suggestions to a specific brand and model?

HP and Dell have decent deals... but won't you have to order them from Denmark? Or are you somehow able to purchase it in US and have it shipped?

You are correct, he will have to order it in Denmark.. my hope is that I can find your suggestion of a laptop here in Denmark :)

I don't know if Denmark has import taxes and other markups ... so go ahead and look at Denmark resellers or stores... and let us know what you find and will let you know if that's a good deal or not.

I can highly recommend the Sony FE series for 15.4" notebooks. Really good build quality, Very good specs, amazing screen, and a decent price. Not as cheap as Acer and junk like that, but really the cheapest thing I'm willing to deal with.
My only complaint is that all their screens are 1280x800 and there's no option for a higher res. Still, the xBrite screens are SOOOO nice for watching movies. I already miss mine.

Hi there. I just tried to search for the Sony laptops you mentioned but I was unable to find any vendors that sold these laptops in Denmark. :(

I read somewhere that Sony has withdrawn 16.000 laptops recently but I don't know if it has something to do with this. Any suggestions to other good laptops in this pricerange?

Can you get configured HPs or Dells?

I wouldnt recommend a consumer grade HP laptop. The amount of problems ive had with HP laptops. Business grade is better but still needs more repair than other laptops. Dell btw are very hardwearing.

Have you thought of IBM? Lovely laptops and extremely hardwearing IMO. Just as a recommendation i would advise intel cpu over amd since amd cpu's tend to be a bit more noisy in laptops. I havnt tried a core duo cpu but the intel M cpu's are very quiet indeed and you may be able to get a top spec one within your price range.

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Originally Posted by wh666-666

I wouldnt recommend a consumer grade HP laptop. The amount of problems ive had with HP laptops. Business grade is better but still needs more repair than other laptops. Dell btw are very hardwearing.

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Though I've never owned a Dell laptop, I know way too many people personally that have had nightmares with them... including my own brother.

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Originally Posted by proxops-pete

Though I've never owned a Dell laptop, I know way too many people personally that have had nightmares with them... including my own brother.

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I haven't had a single problem with my Dell laptop, though it's my first laptop and it is a business model

@Positron if sound is important, make sure you have integrated graphics, no need to have an extra fan making noise. I use my on board sound card to talk with Skype, nothing professional. How much quality does he need from the microphone jack? Maybe he'll need an external sound card (PCMICA or usb)

Hey there, and thanks for the replies.

Freedon, I agree with you that Pentium M would be a very good suggestion, and an integrated graphics card. Which type of Intel chip do you suggest here? I don't have much experience/knowledge with Intel onboard graphics.

As for the sound goes, well he wasn't very specific.. Usually he just plugs in a microphone through a mini-jack on his main computer. Will talk to him about that..

I agree on the IBM suggestion, I still have a thinkpad from years ago (Thinkpad i1200, 700Mhz Celeron, 192MB ram) and it's still going! Minus the cd-rom that is. The laptop has been through a few hard drops etc.

Either that, or look at a macbook. Sounds like one might fit the bill nicely :)

My friend decided to go for a Lenovo 3000, which I think was a pretty good choice. It includes a 2 GHz Pentium M, 1 GB RAM, 100 GB HD, 15 inch display, and all the other basic things he need.

Thanks to all for the help, it was greatly appreciated :)