Should I buy now?

[Willow78]

I'm looking for a new laptop to replace my 3 year old core 2 duo laptop, its still good for basic uses and low end games but wanted a higher end system to be able to play better games.

My concern is do I buy now or in a few months time, with Windows 8 due out this year I have been wondering if to wait for that as when I bought my current laptop in Feburary 2009 I had vista on it and so spent more money buying a boxed copy of windows 7 to replace it, dont really want to spend loads on a new laptop and having to spend again on a new OS a few months in the future. I know in previous years they usually give out coupons several months before a new os is launched so users buying near the release of a new os can upgrade.

The general specs of the laptop I'm looking at are:

Skyfire
Core i7 2670qm (2.2 Ghz)
8 GB Ram
750 GB Hard disc
Bluray RW (current laptop has a bluray drive)
Faster wifi 450 mbps (I will be upgraded to 120 Mbps brodband in a few months so need the extra speed also to take into account future improvements)

Its about £1,165 inc vat which is a great price, I've looked everywhere and while you can get a laptop with similar specs for around that price if not £100 + or more there is always at least one component if not a few that are inferior, such as a lower res screen or graphics chip are the main ones usually a nVidia 550 or 540 which is vastly inferior to the 570

I can order now but just been wondering if to wait out a few months, maybe when Skyfire is back in stock.

I bought a desktop (Core 2 duo) from PC Specialist in 2006 which was great, replaced that with a core i7 system. Had a problem with the core 2 duo booting, someone phoned up about it but I did not take the call so it must have been a known issue, outside that which is obviously a hardware issue nothing to do with pc specialist I was very impressed which is why I am looking at PC specialist for my new laptop

 

[jonny123]

I'm looking for a new laptop to replace my 3 year old core 2 duo laptop, its still good for basic uses and low end games but wanted a higher end system to be able to play better games.

My concern is do I buy now or in a few months time, with Windows 8 due out this year I have been wondering if to wait for that as when I bought my current laptop in Feburary 2009 I had vista on it and so spent more money buying a boxed copy of windows 7 to replace it, dont really want to spend loads on a new laptop and having to spend again on a new OS a few months in the future. I know in previous years they usually give out coupons several months before a new os is launched so users buying near the release of a new os can upgrade.

The general specs of the laptop I'm looking at are:

Skyfire
Core i7 2670qm (2.2 Ghz)
8 GB Ram
750 GB Hard disc
Bluray RW (current laptop has a bluray drive)
Faster wifi 450 mbps (I will be upgraded to 120 Mbps brodband in a few months so need the extra speed also to take into account future improvements)

Its about £1,165 inc vat which is a great price, I've looked everywhere and while you can get a laptop with similar specs for around that price if not £100 + or more there is always at least one component if not a few that are inferior, such as a lower res screen or graphics chip are the main ones usually a nVidia 550 or 540 which is vastly inferior to the 570

I can order now but just been wondering if to wait out a few months, maybe when Skyfire is back in stock.

I bought a desktop (Core 2 duo) from PC Specialist in 2006 which was great, replaced that with a core i7 system. Had a problem with the core 2 duo booting, someone phoned up about it but I did not take the call so it must have been a known issue, outside that which is obviously a hardware issue nothing to do with pc specialist I was very impressed which is why I am looking at PC specialist for my new laptop

Its realy up to you,I was thinking the same as to wait for windows 8 but after looking at the design of windows 8 i would rather stay with windows 7 unless there is a feature in there that realy helps.Have a look at it on yt and see what you think,you might not like it and decide to go with windows 7.
Also say you wait a few months and windows 8 comes out and you go to buy but then something else is said to be realesed soon,are you going to keep waiting?
If you do that youll never get your new laptop as there is new technoligy coming out all the time,just get the best you can at the time
Hope this helps

 

[Willow78]

I see your point. I think windows 7 is quite a mature os now, its not like windows 95 or 98 where they were replacing them every year to add extra features, or to fix big gaping security problems (cough *XP* cough) I had thought I would upgrade to win 8 on desktop and then on laptop if there is enough difference.

Xbox live support under windows 8 is of interest to me, depending on how they manage it and what it features could be worth it for that alone.
I also suppose if I wait a few months I could get it cheaper or get a faster processor, but you can say that anytime of year

 

[Music Guy123]

If you waited until april/may, the nVidia 6xx series and ivy bridge cpus will be out so yes, I guess it could be worth waiting for but as jonny123 said, you could end up waiting forever.

 

[tom_gr7]

dude I live just down the road from Mac!!!

 

[Music Guy123]

dude I live just down the road from Mac!!!

Stalker !!!

 

[Willow78]

small world

would the 600 series just be for desktop when they are released for laptop several months down the line? and what will new CPU's be about 10% better? They might also cost more plus with them being new may have issues with them where as the current chips have been used for a while, either way what I am looking at is way more powerful than my current laptop, but not as powerful as my desktop
I'm on the side of buying now, if I can get as much use out of it as my current laptop (3 years used ever day) then it will be worth the money

 

[Music Guy123]

Depends on your spec but I'd say 3 years no problem. The new cpus will be good, the 600 series will probably be a little while coming to laptops but I am sure it will come. If you only want 3 years, get one now and you won't have a problem, if you look after it, it will be fast for those 3 years and still in good condition for the 2 years after that. It may start to slow down after that. The most important thing is is to when you get your laptop, don't install every program that you can get your hands on, this causes bloatware and will slow your system down. Also, I would recommend re-installing the os after about 2 years or so to keep the system fast.

 

[Willow78]

my current laptop is a Core 2 Duo @ 2 Ghz with 3GB ram, which is still good for general web browsing but the nVidia 9200 graphics card only has 256MB so not good enough, its the weakest part on the windows system rating! Lower than the hard disc! its alright for Bluray playback, but since its a 16:10 ratio screen it has bigger borders on films. I usually re-install windows on a yearly basis when I get new versions of security software. as I say my current laptop is 3 years old now and still works ok but I find it a bit slow for games

I can play half life 2 @1440*900 but Left 4 Dead seems a bit sluggish but can run I suspect the lack of memory (graphics) is really holding it back

 

[Music Guy123]

Lack of memory and lack of gpu power probably. Anyway, what is your budget and I will try to find you the best spec that I can.

 

[Willow78]

I am looking at about £1,200. I have already been looking at a spec, this is the best I can get on the PCS site:-
Skyfire laptop
Core i7 2.2Ghz
8GB Ram
570m graphics
Bluray RW
Wi fi 450 Mbps (I have a 50Mb virgin broadband, getting an upgrade to 100 then 120, so need a good speed that will last a few years of further upgrades!)
windows 7 64 bit HP
silver waranty

thats a brilliant price for the spec it comes to £1,170 I'm paying by credit card so there is extra added to that which I have budgeted for I think thats the best that can be done seems excellent to me its £1,193.40 with the 2% charge added to it so just under my budget

 

[Music Guy123]

Sounds good to me! What HDD are you getting?

 

[Willow78]

I'm looking at a 750GB WD Scorpio SATA 3Gb/s 16 MB cache 7,200 RPM so a decent speed drive, SSD's are a bit too expensive atm so I am going for a decent standard hard drive

 

[Music Guy123]

That is a very good drive. The hybrid 750gb would be good if you can afford it but not necessary, the scorpio black is a solid drive. Make sure you order your laptop quick. That laptop chassis is about to go out of stock! Looks like a solid spec. Enjoy it, it will definately last 3 years. It should still be relatively quick for 4-5 years.

 

[Willow78]

just been looking at the 500 GB hybrid one checked seagates web site, are they really 80% faster? That would be great I could probably go to the extra £30 if the performance was anything like that, current laptop has 160GB hard drive so I'm sure a 500 GB will be enough did I read you could add an extra hard drive to this laptop?

 

[Music Guy123]

This drive is much faster. Also, yes, this chassis does have two drive bays as well as an odd bay. Therefore, you could put a hybrid in and then maybe your old laptop drive or when you need more space another drive. I would recommend the 750gb hybrid as it does have a bigger cache and is faster I think, am not completely sure on that yet as it is still to be confirmed.

 

[Willow78]

just looked and it does seem the 500 and 750 both have 32 MB cache so I suspect they would be the same speed, not sure if I could go to 750 hybrid though, could always buy a new hard drive later if needed. That should do me. I think thats it then thats the final spec I will go for

Chassis & Display
SkyFire:17.3" Glossy Full HD LED Widescreen (1920x1080)
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i7 Quad Core Mobile Processor i7-2670QM (2.20GHz) 6MB
Memory (RAM)
8GB SAMSUNG 1333MHz SODIMM DDR3 MEMORY (2 x 4GB)
Graphics Card
3.0GB nVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 570M - DirectX® 11
Memory - Hard Disk
500GB SEAGATE MOMENTUS XT HYBRID, SATA 3 Gb/s, 32MB CACHE (7200 rpm)
DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
SONY BD-5750H 6x BLURAY WRITER & CYBERLINK SOFTWARE (£79)
Memory Card Reader
Integrated 4 in 1 Card Reader (SDXC/MMC/MS/XD)
Thermal Paste
STANDARD THERMAL PASTE FOR SUFFICIENT COOLING
Sound Card
Intel 2 Channel High Definition Audio + MIC/Headphone Jack
Bluetooth & Wireless
GIGABIT LAN & WIRELESS INTEL® ULTIMATE-N 6300 (450Mbps)
USB Options
2 x USB 3.0 PORTS + 3 x USB 2.0 PORTS AS STANDARD
Battery
SkyFire Series 9 Cell Lithium Ion Battery
Power Lead & Adaptor
1 x UK Power Lead & 180W AC Adaptor
Operating System
Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit - inc DVD & Licence (£79)
Office Software
NO OFFICE SOFTWARE
Anti-Virus
BULLGUARD INTERNET SECURITY - FREE 90 DAY TRIAL
Keyboard Language
INTEGRATED UK KEYBOARD WITH NUMBER PAD
Notebook Mouse
INTEGRATED 2 BUTTON TOUCHPAD MOUSE
Webcam
INTEGRATED 0.72 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 5 to 7 working days
Quantity
1

Price: £1,199.00 including VAT and delivery.

On credit card thats £1,222.98

so just about can do that

 

[jonny123]

This drive is much faster. Also, yes, this chassis does have two drive bays as well as an odd bay. Therefore, you could put a hybrid in and then maybe your old laptop drive or when you need more space another drive. I would recommend the 750gb hybrid as it does have a bigger cache and is faster I think, am not completely sure on that yet as it is still to be confirmed.

hey just wondering seeing as the skyfire is about to go out of stock will it rise in price when it returns due to it being a good seller or will the price remain the same? (iknow this might be a question for pcs but thought you may know the answer )
Thanks

 

[Music Guy123]

I think it will stay the same price, PCS are usually pretty good at keeping the same price unless it costs them more to stock. They will just buy more chassis, that way, they will end up making more profit overall, it would make more sense, however, I can't guarentee anything!

 

[Willow78]

the full spec of what I am going to order has just posted, think thats now final. a very good spec at a very good price