Tony7

I think Acer offer the best value or the dell laptops. I would not buy a Sony laptop as they are expensive and maybe not as reliabe.

The_Fish

According to Gartner you are very wrong.

Umbongo

Significantly? </BLOCKQUOTE>

Yes. If 3D gaming is something you want to be doing the Dell is the better option. I'd only go for the Sony if you want blu-ray. Sony are using it to sell laptops, you won't get the smae specs and blu-ray elsewhere. The bigger advantage of dell is a larger screen in my opinion.




I was thinking about the US. A mate is playing a gig in New York in January. Could give him the money for him to get me one? </BLOCKQUOTE>

You will be liable for NY sales tax (8% I think) and 17.5% VAT if you declare it. Check Sony's global warranty for laptops too.

Tony Robertson

The Dell and Sony I compared like for like are both 15.4".

The Dell XPS, which I admit does look nice is 13.3".

Umbongo

Sorry should have said screen resolution.

Tony Robertson

Okay.

The Sony is 1280 x 800, and the basic Dell is also 1280 x 800, but for an extra £20 can make it a 1440 x 900. A lot better I take it?

A friend at work also mentions to try to get a laptop with XP rather than Vista. Is this good advice?

Tony Robertson

One more thing I've built this on the Dell website. Better than the Sony?

My upgrades on the base model being;

2 Ghz duo to 2.2Ghz for £70, bringing it to the same as the Sony.

15.4" 1280 x 800 to 15.5" 1440 x 900 for £20, making it better resolution than the Sony.

250 Gig 5400 RPM to 200Gig 7200 RPM for £40, faster HD the Sony.

6 Cell Battery to 9 Cell battery for £20.

Grand Total £879, £20 less than the Sony. A GT instead of GS graphics card, but no BluRay.

Serpico

If you're going to be gaming, don't buy a laptop. Laptops are great IF you need the portability. If you can manage with a desktop, buy a desktop.

Tony Robertson

Not hugely into gaming, apart from FM of course. I haven't yet got 2008, which I want to but this PC struggles sometimes.

Mainly would be for portability around the house and saving space, work, SQL databases etc, etc. The bluray drive also tempts me.

I'm so bloody indecisive.

Umbongo

I wouldn't bother getting the 2.2GHz upgrade on the dell.

See if you can find somewhere locally that sells the Sony so you can have a look at it, and see if they have other 15" models with 1440x900 resolution to see the difference.