[Alarae]

Basically my ol' faithful Packard Bell has kicked the bucket so I'm on the lookout for a new one to replace it.

I have no real request for specific specs as I don't do a lot of gameplay or anything, I am just after one with a 17.3" screen. I would like at least 4GB RAM though, but that's pretty standard nowadays. No real care about processors either but the best available for a good price.

Looking to spend around the £500 mark.

I have currently found this on Amazon;
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Acer-Aspire-...932865&sr=1-36

So if anyone could give a verdict/alternative to that would be great

[Joinedup]

Samsung R730 with 1600x900 screen (what I've got) your one is 1366 x 766 I think - I just like having 2 pages of readable A4 up side by side seeing I'm lugging a big screen around

[cesca42]

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Asus-2-30GHz...6935408&sr=1-2

Maybe one like this? All of my friends who are good at knowing this kind of stuff swear Asus is the best.

[Alarae]

(Original post by Joinedup)
Samsung R730 with 1600x900 screen (what I've got) your one is 1366 x 766 I think - I just like having 2 pages of readable A4 up side by side seeing I'm lugging a big screen around

Ah, that's exactly the reason why I want to keep a bigger laptop instead of converting to a smaller one. I normally have one document as my essay plan on one side then I write my other next to it, so I can constantly check between the two instead of scrolling constantly.

[Edit] Can anyone [maybe someone a bit more technical than I am, which isn't hard] give an opinion on this?

http://www.amazon.co.uk/product-revi...owViewpoints=1

I recently talked to a computer repair person (the same person who has essentially RIP my old laptop) and said that Samsung and Toshiba are probably the best brands to go with at the moment, but to steer clear of HPs because of some overheating issue. So considering that is a Samsung and seems reasonable, would that be a good choice to go for?

[kaylafrances]

sorry i can only point you in the direction of a good 17.4in laptop

[gabjam]

I don't know the screen dimensions but the Acer Aspire "Gemstone" range are excellent. The 6935G can be picked up cheap and is powerful enough to run Call of Duty, Skyrim etc, and has a full HD screen and Blu-Ray. Phenomenal speakers and build quality. Best laptop I have ever owned, had it for over 3 years and it still runs like lightning despite having pretty much full HDD's.

[Iqbal007]

(Original post by Alarae)
Basically my ol' faithful Packard Bell has kicked the bucket so I'm on the lookout for a new one to replace it.

I have no real request for specific specs as I don't do a lot of gameplay or anything, I am just after one with a 17.3" screen. I would like at least 4GB RAM though, but that's pretty standard nowadays. No real care about processors either but the best available for a good price.

Looking to spend around the £500 mark.

I have currently found this on Amazon;
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Acer-Aspire-...932865&sr=1-36

So if anyone could give a verdict/alternative to that would be great

That's a pretty good deal, large screen and with an i5 under £500....your other choice is a Samsung, not sure about that one despite them having similar spec.

[AmyJ]

(Original post by Alarae)
Ah, that's exactly the reason why I want to keep a bigger laptop instead of converting to a smaller one. I normally have one document as my essay plan on one side then I write my other next to it, so I can constantly check between the two instead of scrolling constantly.

[Edit] Can anyone [maybe someone a bit more technical than I am, which isn't hard] give an opinion on this?

http://www.amazon.co.uk/product-revi...owViewpoints=1

I recently talked to a computer repair person (the same person who has essentially RIP my old laptop) and said that Samsung and Toshiba are probably the best brands to go with at the moment, but to steer clear of HPs because of some overheating issue. So considering that is a Samsung and seems reasonable, would that be a good choice to go for?

The Samsung looks like a great choice - well-specced and well priced. Go for it

[Charlie Chaplin]

i have one roughly that size...its the Dell Inspiron N5110. It's a little dated now, but in that case will be cheaper to get. I've had it since christmas and no real problems with it. Speakers are under neath it kindof which is kind of annoying for playing music but appart from that it's really good.

[Anetata]

May be a bit late to reply, but I was in the same position as you - I was looking for a 17 inch laptop for no more than £500 which is a difficult thing to find, if you want decent spec as well.

I have bought a Samsung RC710 for bang on 500 quid, with a HD screen, Core i5 processor @ 2.67 Ghz + Turbo boost, 6GB RAM, 1GB dedicated graphics, BR drive, and 750 HDD. It was with a bit of a discount since it was an Open Box deal, but I cannot recommend the laptop enough, it is great. the only thing I could say about it is the speaker quality, which tbh isn't bad at all, but my previous HP laptop had brilliant speakers. Also viewing angles aren't as good as my other laptop, but again they were exceptionally good on my other laptop so it was expected.

I was also looking at a Lenovo laptop, which was around £600 and the difference was that the gfx card was a 2GB one and it had 8GB ram.


It is difficult to find a decent 17 inch within that price range, you could get a decent 15 inch for that price, but i found that 17 inch ones are hard to find, and it also adds at least £100 pounds as compared to 15 inch ones of similar spec.

I would recommend looking around for a while, maybe wait for bank holiday sales? Also look for open box/grade A refurbs, as you can get some great bargains.


As someone mentioned a HP and overheating - I had a HP for 4 years, then bought my new samsung. It does get very hot and always has been, I have found that my CPU temp was around 70 degrees sometimes, however it worked great and never shut down, and I did buy a new laptop simply because I wanted an update.

[Aphotic Cosmos]

I've recently got a Samsung RF711 and love it. Solid build, well specced and a good look. Look into it.

This was posted from The Student Room's Android App on my Sony Tablet S

[Alarae]

Ah, thanks for the replies everyone but I ended up going with the Samsung I posted, since there didn't seem to be much else going around.

I've had it about a week now and loving it! Couldn't recommend it enough to anyone else in the same predicament as me.