Laptop purchasing help!

[stretch2002uk]

Hi guys,

A friend of my recently purchased a laptop from pcs and recommended that I check out the website. My current laptop has died after several years of loyal use so I've decided to look into buying a new one. My friend said that you guys were a good bunch who knew their stuff and could help me decide.

My budget is £450 and I'm looking for a laptop for regular personal use. It would mostly be used for watching videos and playing videogames though I wouldn't expect it to play high intensity games with amazing graphics due to my budget. I'd like to be able to browse the web while listening to music without the laptop needing to strain itself too. If possible I'd like a full HD 1080p display and possibly a bluray drive (I own a bunch of those) as I watch a lot of films. A hard drive of at least 500GB would be good too.

I had a browse and the Genesis IV seems like the best choice to fit what I'm after but I'm happy to hear of any other options from you guys.

Thanks for your help!

 

[Music Guy123]

It's not going to be easy with that budget! But here we go! The screen isn't 1080p so you won't get blu-ray at its best, i did include a blu-ray drive though. For a better screen and gpu, to properly play blu-rays, it's going to cost ~600 i'm afraid. You could consider a desktop though.

Chassis & Display
Genesis IV: 15.6" Glossy HD LED 16:9 Widescreen (1366x768)
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i3 Dual Core Mobile Processor i3-2370M (2.40GHz) 3MB
Memory (RAM)
4GB SAMSUNG 1333MHz SODIMM DDR3 MEMORY (1 x 4GB)
Graphics Card
Intel® HD Graphics 3000/4000 Video Memory Technology up to 1.7GB
Memory - Hard Disk
500GB SERIAL ATA II 2.5" HARD DRIVE WITH 8MB CACHE (5,400rpm)
DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
SONY BC-5550H 4x BLURAY COMBO DRIVE & CYBERLINK SOFTWARE
Memory Card Reader
Internal 9 in 1 Card Reader (MMC/RSMMC/SD: Mini, XC & HC/MS: Pro & Duo)
Sound Card
Intel 2 Channel High Definition Audio + MIC/Headphone Jack
Bluetooth & Wireless
GIGABIT LAN & WIRELESS INTEL® N135 802.11N (150Mbps) + BLUETOOTH
USB Options
2 x USB 3.0 PORTS + 1 x USB 2.0 PORT AS STANDARD
Battery
Genesis Series 6 Cell Lithium Ion Battery (48.84WH)
Power Lead & Adaptor
1 x UK Power Lead & 65W AC Adaptor
Operating System
Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit w/SP1 - inc DVD & Licence
Office Software
NO OFFICE SOFTWARE
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Keyboard Language
INTEGRATED UK KEYBOARD WITH NUMBER PAD
Notebook Mouse
INTEGRATED 2 BUTTON TOUCHPAD MOUSE
Webcam
INTEGRATED 1.3 MEGAPIXEL WEBCAM
Warranty
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour) (£5)
Insurance
1 Month Free Laptop Insurance inc. Accidental Damage & Theft
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 8 to 10 working days
Quantity
1

Price: £495.00 including VAT and delivery.

Unique URL to re-configure: http://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/quotes/genesisIV/CsC4_Cq82d/

 

[stretch2002uk]

Thanks for the speedy reply! I guess if it's not possible to have the 1080p display then I don't mind so much if there isn't a bluray drive. Any idea how this setup will perform when it comes to games? My last laptop was quite old and wasn't able to play any games released after about 2006! I'm hoping to be able to play fairly recent games even if they're not at the highest quality.

 

[Music Guy123]

Tbh, it won't be great! Erm, you can try and upgrade the GPU from integrated to the 630m this will provide you with minimal gaming capabilities. Maybe drop the DVD drive to cope. Can you name titles you would like to play?

 

[stretch2002uk]

I've changed to the 630m and it's a little over budget but I should be able to stretch it. Will the CPU be able to cope with the graphics card okay? I was hoping to play games like bioshock and stalker, though it sounds unlikely that I'll be able to!

 

[Music Guy123]

The CPU will be alright but I'd strongly suggest upgrading it to at least an i5 or preferably a quad core i7 if possible.