Opinions on basic laptop please

[paul1224]

Hi
I'm looking for a basic entry level laptop just for things like word processing, internet, and Football Manager 2014. The spec I am looking at is:

Chassis & Display
UltraNote: 15.6" Matte Full HD IPS LED Backlit Widescreen (1920x1080)
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i5 Dual Core Mobile Processor i5-4200M (2.50GHz) 3MB
Memory (RAM)
4GB SAMSUNG 1600MHz SODIMM DDR3 MEMORY (1 x 4GB)
Graphics Card
INTEL® HD GRAPHICS MEDIA ACCELERATOR 4600
Memory - Hard Disk
250GB WD SCORPIO BLACK WD2500BEKX, SATA 6 Gb/s, 16MB CACHE (7200 rpm)
DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
UltraNote Series: 8x SATA DVD±R/RW/Dual Layer (+ 24x CD-RW)
Memory Card Reader
Internal 9 in 1 Card Reader (MMC/RSMMC/SD: Mini, XC & HC/MS: Pro & Duo)
Thermal Paste
ARCTIC MX-4 EXTREME THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY COMPOUND (£9)
Sound Card
Intel 2 Channel High Definition Audio + MIC/Headphone Jack
Bluetooth & Wireless
GIGABIT LAN & WIRELESS INTEL® N-7260 (300Mbps, 802.11BGN) + BLUETOOTH
USB Options
2 x USB 3.0 PORTS + 2 x USB 2.0 PORTS AS STANDARD
Battery
UltraNote Series 6 Cell Lithium Ion Battery (62.16WH) (Up to 7 Hours)
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 (£79)
Office Software
NO OFFICE SOFTWARE
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Keyboard Language
ULTRANOTE SERIES UK KEYBOARD
Notebook Mouse
INTEGRATED 2 BUTTON TOUCHPAD MOUSE
Webcam
INTEGRATED 2.0 MEGAPIXEL WEBCAM
Warranty
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour) (£5)
Dead Pixel Guarantee
1 Year Dead Pixel Guarantee Inc. Labour & Carriage Costs (£19)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 10 to 12 working days
Quantity
1

Price: £578.00 including VAT and delivery.

Unique URL to re-configure: http://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/quotes/ultraNoteII-15/FmErWIJo3t/

My budget is no more than £600 and I've gone for the better paste as anything that can cool a laptop down sounds good to me and as I can't afford a SSD the next best alternative I can seem to find (I only need 250GB at max for storage).

If anyone has any suggestion/opinions/comments please post but I have a few specific questions if anyone know the answers:

1. The wifi card I have gone for isn't much more expensive than the standard card so seemed a good bet but I'm concerned that there seems to be numerous issues with the Intel cards about. Other than homeplugs does anyone have any recommendation as to the best wifi card to get on the options my chassis offers?

2. Due to where I work I could get my own OS for a fraction of the cost I can from PCS and it appears that they will provide me with a CD that is an upgrade OS and they seem to think that my laptop will come with a demo version of Windows on it and I can then just insert my CD and upgrade. Does this sound right and is it easy to do? I would buy W7 so would the demo of Windows be this version or if it was W8 would that cause an issue if I was then trying to 'upgrade' to a W7 version?

Thanks

 

[mantadog]

You are right to get the thermal paste, my brother has a gaming laptop from here and it really does help keep it cool and quiet, in desktops it can reduce it as much as 10 degrees but I am unable to find any tests done with laptops, however I doubt its 10 degrees on a laptop but it certainly helps. While we are on my brothers laptop, he has just the standard wireless option, honestly cant fault it. I do see some issues coming up with the intel cards so unless you need the extra speed or dual band or whatever the advantage is I would stick to the standard one.

When you select no OS the system asks what version of windows you will be installing, this is to enable PCS to send you the correct drivers. They do send out PCS with a trial OS on them but I honestly don't know if you select say windows 7 they install a trial version of windows 7. I should think they would, otherwise it would be a bit odd IMO. As for using an upgrade CD key to activate a trial version, if your employer says it will work then im sure it will. However I would be a bit dubious about using an upgrade product key to downgrade from windows 8, just because I have never encountered it before and cant easily find any info about that on the internet. The site below details how to do it

It's relatively straightforward to downgrade from Windows 8 Pro to Windows 7, but if you are using plain Windows 8 you'll need to buy and install a Windows 7 key. That's not a cheap option but Microsoft doesn't offer downgrade rights with the consumer version of Windows 8. It's Windows 8 Pro or bust, in this respect.

Read more: http://www.pcadvisor.co.uk/how-to/windows/3459580/roll-back-windows-7-from-windows-8/#ixzz2pj9UEnsf

The part in bold is the bit that's making me dubious, because you will, by the sounds of it, most likely have an upgrade key. That's not a full copy key, much like an OEM key cant be transferred I don't know if an upgrade key will allow you to downgrade from windows 8. if they install windows 8 of course....

Just to clear it up I would call the PCS call centre, ask what version of windows they will install as a trial. If its windows 7, great I cant see a problem. if its windows 8 I would ask them about your situation...

My gut feeling is it would work but you will probably have to end up using phone activation.

 

[mantadog]

Sorry, 1 second after posting I found this...

Remember that if you are currently using the Windows 8 Pro, then you can only downgrade to the Windows 7 Pro. And for this to be possible, you will need to purchase a valid product key for Windows 7. The product key may not be new. It just needs to have a valid product key. In fact, even if it was already installed on another device, you can still make use of it for the Windows 8 downgrade Windows 7 process.

That tells me any key will do, just so long as its a valid key... Your upgrade key should fall under that banner so I think your safe enough whatever.

Might be best double check with a phone call though

 

[Vorian]

You can ask the customer support to install the OS you need - I specified W8 and realized my key was W8 Pro, and after 4 minutes with online support they asked that W8 Pro be installed instead of W8.

 

[paul1224]

Many thanks for the replies guys much appreciated.