Hey there,

Im on the look for a new laptop, my current fujitsu siemens amilo pi 2515 has served me well through my education for the last 4-5 years. Only fault being the wireless.

I would like to stick with the same manufacturer again and spend around the same money as last time £450

I got my eye on this model

http://www.dabs.com/products/fujitsu-lifebook-a530---core-i3-370m---2-4-ghz---ram-3-gb---hdd-320-gb---win7-pro-64-bit---15-6--7V31.html?refs=4294943501-50420&src=3

I have no idea about spec or what it means, but comparing it between my old laptop to this new one, the new one is better (bigger numbers lol) ( and has windows 7 which must be better than vista? LOL)

Any suggestions always appreciated.

Cheers

Dan

I forgot to mention, i dont really need the computer for education purposes anymore as i have finished my HNC. So i'll probably be using it for downloading music/ watching football online/ surfing the web/ watching tele. usual 20 year old stuff!

Thanks

Seems ok but VERY expensive for what you can get now - quite frankly it is a rip off for a 1st gen i3 processor.

You seem to have been lucky with a FS machine - They aren't the most reliable and to be honest i wouldn't touch them.

Have a look http://www.dell.co.uk/outlet

This is better spec than the FS one on Dabs for £333 delivered:

Inspiron 15R - N5110

Certified Refurbished

System Price: £277.57

Base Inspiron 15R - N5110

Processor Processor: Intel Core i3-2310M (3M Cache, 2.10 GHz)

Operating System Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium

Memory 3 GB DDR3 SDRAM 1333MHz (2 DIMMs)

Hard Disk Drive Hard Drive : 500GB Serial ATA (5400RPM)

Media Bay 8X DVD+/- RW Drive

NoteBook Screen Display: 15.6in High Definition (720p) LED Display with TrueLife

Video Intel HD Graphics 3000 with up to 1.6GB Dynamic Video Memory

Software English Genuine Windows 7 SP1 Home Premium (64Bit OS)

Back Up Media Not Included

Network Interface Card Wireless: Intel Centrino Wireless-N 1030 (1x2 b/g/n+ Bluetooth Combo Card)

System Color LCD Back Cover : Diamond Black Switch Cover [switchable Lid]

Laptop Battery 6 Cell Primary Battery, 48W

They are classed as refurbs from here but rest assured they are customer returns or cancelled orders and come with the same warranty as buying new. I have probably bought 15 laptops from them over the last few years for people and have not had one problem.

My advice is to stay away from Celeron processors in laptops as these kill batteries. Stick to i3 or for your budget you could easily get an i5. Make sure they are 2nd gen too unlike the dabs link (basically the 2nd gens are numbered with 4 digits after them instead of 3) to ensure you are getting the latest tech.

Edited 23 January, 201214 yr by jrw

Thanks for the info dude! Will look into Dell forget about them totally!

np - let us know how you get on.

Lenovo great laptops built like tanks or old skoda's not the most exciting pc's but bloody reliable

Lenovo great laptops built like tanks or old skoda's not the most exciting pc's but bloody reliable

ROFL :rofl:

They used to be......We might as well have an onsite Lenovo/IBM engineer on site at work. They are here every day without fail to fix faulty laptops and desktops.

ROFL :rofl:

They used to be......We might as well have an onsite Lenovo/IBM engineer on site at work. They are here every day without fail to fix faulty laptops and desktops.

Yeh. I bought an Ideapad S12 ION just over 12 months ago. Was a bargain at £199 but it has just started to go a bit funny. Some of the LED's on the backlight have stopped working. Bloody annoying.

Phil

np - let us know how you get on.

Hey dude,

what do you think of this one?

http://outlet.euro.dell.com/Online/SecondaryInventorySearch.aspx?rn=7979&c=uk&l=en&s=dfh&cs=ukdfh1&PLikeId=1_290181_1_565198_1_144178_1_551187_1_141318_1_291202_1_130194_1_633188_1_762185_1_631197_1_534196_1_565196_1_261298_&Flag=1

IF you choose a Dell then make sure the vents for the fan is either on the side (as opposed to underneath) or it has adjustable legs on the back to lift it off the work surface,

I'm running a 2.5 year old Dell Studio which is on it's 2nd motherboard, 2nd fan and they are due to come out to it again - the machines run VERY not most of the time due to the bad design of the fan outlets

I just got a new Acer Laptop for work for £320, it's very lightweight, 1.2 Kg an acer aspire one 722. A dual core C60 processor with 4Gb DDR3 memory and a 500 Gb Hard drive.

It's a great balance between weight and performance, and the battery lasts really well. I was in Dublin on business last week and we were using it to draft a document on a projector and it lasted 6 hours before it dropped down to 33% charge remaining

Hey dude,

what do you think of this one?

http://outlet.euro.dell.com/Online/SecondaryInventorySearch.aspx?rn=7979&c=uk&l=en&s=dfh&cs=ukdfh1&PLikeId=1_290181_1_565198_1_144178_1_551187_1_141318_1_291202_1_130194_1_633188_1_762185_1_631197_1_534196_1_565196_1_261298_&Flag=1

You can't link to dell outlet pages for some reason. Just copy and paste the spec like i did above.

As for the vents - i know of no Dell that has output vents on the base? My mother in law has had a Studio 1525 for 3 years now without a problem even though they seemed to have been plagued with issues. I don't think you can go wrong with the 15R's. I have bought a few of these now and seem very well built.

As for the vents - i know of no Dell that has output vents on the base? My mother in law has had a Studio 1525 for 3 years now without a problem even though they seemed to have been plagued with issues. I don't think you can go wrong with the 15R's. I have bought a few of these now and seem very well built.

Well the Studio 1537 (at least) has the main vent on the bottom, the one at the back is always cold so I assume is the inlet.

Both 'engineers' agreed they were a bad design.

Well the Studio 1537 (at least) has the main vent on the bottom, the one at the back is always cold so I assume is the inlet.

Both 'engineers' agreed they were a bad design.

Strange! Either way as with most laptops, an inlet or outlet on the bottom always calls for caution when using on your lap or a cushion to ensure that there is airflow. The only laptop i know with no in or out on the base is a Macbook!

heres the spec

Inspiron 15R - N5010

Inspiron 15R - N5010

Intel i5-480M(2.66GHz) Mobile CPU

Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium

4 GB Dual Channel DDR3 SDRAM at 1333MHz (2 DIMMs)

500 GB SATA Hard Drive (7200 RPM)

Optical Drive : 8X DVD+/-RW Drive

Display 15.6in HD (1366X768) WLED with TrueLife

ATI Mobility Radeon HD5650, 128-Bit, 1GB, DDR3 64Mx16x8pcs

English Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium (64 Bit)

Back Up Media Not Included

Wireless : Europe Dell Bluetooth 365 Card

Wireless : Dell Wireless 1501 (802.11 b/g/n 1x1) Mini Card

LCD Back Cover : Mars Black

Strange! Either way as with most laptops, an inlet or outlet on the bottom always calls for caution when using on your lap or a cushion to ensure that there is airflow. The only laptop i know with no in or out on the base is a Macbook!

Full agree with regard to blocking the vents, which is why it 'lives' on the laptop cooler 99% of the time, the CS service from Dell to date has however been faultless and I am awaiting (another) replacement motherboard, fan and heat sink to try to cure the issue, personally I do not think it is going to make much difference mind.

My old Sony Vaio had wonderful cooling as well as extendible feet at the back which clearly worked as the fan was constantly kicking in and out during use, the fan on the Dell unfortunately kicks in about a minute after booting up an then stops on 24/7 (or as of late until it crashes because it has overheated ,) which is a real pity as it is the ONLY thing I can fault it on .

The one thing i like about my current fujitsu is that i always use it whilst on my bed, it can be on for hours and it never seems to burn out lol I'll have to put the new laptop on a flat surface by the seems of it

heres the spec

Inspiron 15R - N5010

Inspiron 15R - N5010

Intel i5-480M(2.66GHz) Mobile CPU

Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium

4 GB Dual Channel DDR3 SDRAM at 1333MHz (2 DIMMs)

500 GB SATA Hard Drive (7200 RPM)

Optical Drive : 8X DVD+/-RW Drive

Display 15.6in HD (1366X768) WLED with TrueLife

ATI Mobility Radeon HD5650, 128-Bit, 1GB, DDR3 64Mx16x8pcs

English Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium (64 Bit)

Back Up Media Not Included

Wireless : Europe Dell Bluetooth 365 Card

Wireless : Dell Wireless 1501 (802.11 b/g/n 1x1) Mini Card

LCD Back Cover : Mars Black

depends on how much? It is an I5 but it is a gen1 I5. But it also has 1gig graphic Card which is a bonus. I would say its ok at around £400 or less.

its £380 quid mate

wud i be better off with a decent i3 processor or a first gen i5 processer. its a 50 quid difference between the one u linked to me

Get the I5 one. I have that processor in my xps 15 with the 1gb graphics and it flies. You won't be disappointed with it.

Seems to be a problem with the Dell Outlet site at the moment. Just been on for something else.

When I try to get prices and availability for the outlet model, I get:

Address not available from this machine

Check that the address is spelled correctly.

So it's a 'try it again later' I think

Get the I5 one. I have that processor in my xps 15 with the 1gb graphics and it flies. You won't be disappointed with it.

Cheers for the help mate really appreciate it

Seems to be a problem with the Dell Outlet site at the moment. Just been on for something else.

When I try to get prices and availability for the outlet model, I get:

Address not available from this machine

Check that the address is spelled correctly.

So it's a 'try it again later' I think

Hope it works on friday when its payday = new laptop lol

I've still got problems here. Same error message as yesterday.