Help me pick a laptop! (UK-based) - Hardware & Software

Evening chaps, I'm going to uni in a few months and need a bangin' laptop for all my [del]gaming[/del] intense studying needs. I've got about £1000 to spend but don't mind going a touch over that for something nice. I'm leaning towards an F-series VAIO at the moment because they seem to offer everything I want in a laptop (i.e. nice processor/RAM, good-looking, adequate HD space) - my only concern is how powerful the graphics card (a NVIDIA® GeForce® GT 540M 1GB) would be as I haven't seen much on it. I don't really know what my other options are to be honest, I've had a look around at other brands but they just don't quite have the appeal (they tend to look rather nasty), and I don't really want a Mac. Anyone have any good suggestions as to something to go for? Cheers in advance

AFAIK the 540m isn't a bad video card by laptop standards. It isn't high end, but you shouldn't realsitically expect to do high end max graphics gaming on a laptop for school, and if you are your priorities are a little off. You will REALLY regret having a super high end laptop for college simply because it requires you to carry a giant laptop bag everywhere with a power charger since your battery life will be close to non-exsistant. If you don't plan on using your laptop outside of your apartment/dorms/housing, then it is a more logical option. I'm pretty sure it'll be able to run most games on a playable level out today.

Dont go for a Dell.

[QUOTE=KorJax;31476491]AFAIK the 540m isn't a bad video card by laptop standards. It isn't high end, but you shouldn't realsitically expect to do high end max graphics gaming on a laptop for school, and if you are your priorities are a little off. You will REALLY regret having a super high end laptop for college simply because it requires you to carry a giant laptop bag everywhere with a power charger since your battery life will be close to non-exsistant. If you don't plan on using your laptop outside of your apartment/dorms/housing, then it is a more logical option. I'm pretty sure it'll be able to run most games on a playable level out today.[/QUOTE] You raise a very good point, I don't actually know how much I'll need to carry it around but I certainly won't be leaving it in my room all the time. I'll have a look into weights and sizes and such. There are smaller laptops in the VAIO range but they don't really have the specs I'm after - I'll have another look though as I'm sure I can compromise somewhere! Oh also, my current PC has 2gb RAM, a 3GHz dual-core processor and a GeForce 8600GT - I don't really want it to run games worse than that does (although to a similar level would be ok)

Any game at max [url]http://www.amazon.com/HP-Pavilion-dv6-6090us-Entertainment-Notebook/dp/B004RM92T2[/url] Everything is good, no need to do any research.

ASUS N53SV The most polyvalent (and great quality) laptop

[QUOTE=Antwon;31484431]You raise a very good point, I don't actually know how much I'll need to carry it around but I certainly won't be leaving it in my room all the time. I'll have a look into weights and sizes and such. There are smaller laptops in the VAIO range but they don't really have the specs I'm after - I'll have another look though as I'm sure I can compromise somewhere! Oh also, my current PC has 2gb RAM, a 3GHz dual-core processor and a GeForce 8600GT - I don't really want it to run games worse than that does (although to a similar level would be ok)[/QUOTE] 540m should run much better or at least as good as a 8600gt I'd imagine

[QUOTE=ADT;31487176]ASUS N53SV The most polyvalent (and great quality) laptop[/QUOTE] I'll second this. I bought one this morning as I've heard nothing but good things about them. I got the N53SV-XE1 model, which comes with a second gen i7, 4gb of RAM(max 16gb w/ 4 slots) 500gb 7200 HD, 1gb GT 540m. The screen resultion is only 1366x768 but that is more than enough for basic browsing and paper writing. Also works fine for gaming. You can grab the N53SV-XV1 which has the same specs + a full hd 1920x1080 resultion. However I use an external monitor so the extra $100 for a better screen wasn't worth it for me. Not sure what the price is where you are, but in the US it was only $899($999 for the HD one) which is well within your budget.

[QUOTE=KorJax;31488321]540m should run much better or at least as good as a 8600gt I'd imagine[/QUOTE] Thanks, that's reassuring! [editline]2nd August 2011[/editline] [QUOTE=hoody;31488333]I'll second this. I bought one this morning as I've heard nothing but good things about them. I got the N53SV-XE1 model, which comes with a second gen i7, 4gb of RAM(max 16gb w/ 4 slots) 500gb 7200 HD, 1gb GT 540m. The screen resultion is only 1366x768 but that is more than enough for basic browsing and paper writing. Also works fine for gaming. You can grab the N53SV-XV1 which has the same specs + a full hd 1920x1080 resultion. However I use an external monitor so the extra $100 for a better screen wasn't worth it for me. Not sure what the price is where you are, but in the US it was only $899($999 for the HD one) which is well within your budget.[/QUOTE] Sounds nice, the only one I could find in that series had an i5 and 6BG RAM, which was about £730 on Amazon. Thanks for your suggestion, I'll have a closer look at the Asus N series

[QUOTE=ADT;31487176]ASUS N53SV The most polyvalent (and great quality) laptop[/QUOTE] [quote=NewEgg] 1 year ASUS Accidental Damage Warranty - Drops, Fire, Spill, Surge [/quote] This alone along with knowing ASUS makes some great stuff makes me want to buy it.

Dell XPS 15/17 depending on your screen size preferences. Also use this [url]http://www.dmxdimension.com/[/url] to get a couple hundred quid off it for quite literally no reason :V

[QUOTE=Scotty.;31493775]Dell XPS 15/17 depending on your screen size preferences. Also use this [url]http://www.dmxdimension.com/[/url] to get a couple hundred quid off it for quite literally no reason :V[/QUOTE] Dont go for a Dell.