Opinions

[paul1224]

Hi I'm looking around for a basic laptop which will mainly be used for internet browsing, basic word documents and maybe Football Manager but no high spec games.

The build I've come up with is (minimum screen size I want is 15.6):

Chassis & Display
UltraNote: 15.6" Matte Full HD IPS LED Backlit Widescreen (1920x1080)
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i5 Dual Core Mobile Processor i5-3230M (2.60GHz) 3MB
Memory (RAM)
4GB SAMSUNG 1600MHz SODIMM DDR3 MEMORY (1 x 4GB)
Graphics Card
Intel® HD Graphics 4000 Video Memory Technology up to 1.7GB
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-2230 (300Mbps) + 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 8 64 Bit - 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 11 to 13 working days
Quantity
1

Price: £588.00 including VAT and delivery.

Unique URL to re-configure: http://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/quotes/ultraNote-15/7SUkqG3Icd/

Does anyone have any comments or better suggestions, budget is a maximum of £600.

Thanks

 

[araabd]

Thermal Paste
ARCTIC MX-4 EXTREME THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY COMPOUND (£9)

I'm not sure this is necessary for the purpose of the laptop you are using. Considering you won't be using it for heavy gaming then the normal paste applied will suffice and more. That £9 saved you could triple the hard drive to 750gb.

 

[paul1224]

Thanks for the reply, I'm fine with a 250mb hard drive as I really don't have much that I put on the laptop and I was wondering if the thermal paste was overkill myself as the laptop is basic but to be honest I thought that the better the paste maybe the better the cooling especially in a laptop and maybe the components would last longer.

 

[araabd]

I understand what you mean as its only browsing then 250gb is enough, however unless you clear the cache often then a build up (not saying a lot will) but a month of use on my laptop just browsing and general leads to around 500mb. So its your call, I think for the sake of £8 its worth it, but that is my opinion!

 

[paul1224]

I have a 250mb hard drive in my desktop and had it about 4 years and its still got about 150mb free! I'me pretty good with PC maintenance and use CCleaner to keep things nice and tidy with regards to junk so hopefully the 250mb will be fine.

Be interested to hear from anyone who has gone for this laptop though and what the quality is like?

 

[paul1224]

Just another question if anyone who brought a laptop without an OS can answer.

I might consider buying the above laptop without the OS as I can get a genuine W7 or W8 OS for £9 via my educational establishments offer so that would save me £70 on the above price which is obviously definitely worth it.

I've never done this before with a PC or laptop, is it easy enough to install your own OS on it or does it become a bit of a issue?

 

[steaky360]

It is very easy, instructions for carrying out a 'clean install' are provided in the welcome booklet. However if you're getting the same version that PCS use to test the machine (you could confirm this with them when you order) you should just be able to enter your product code from your copy.

A fresh install of windows would definitely work though

 

[paul1224]

Thanks for that