My laptop finally died after a few years this weekend. I am considering getting a relatively low cost laptop, which I hope to last me at least 3 years. At the moment I am considering 1: http://direct.tesco.com/q/R.207-2571.aspx 2: http://direct.tesco.com/q/R.207-0828.aspx Any advice or comments on this? How does Windows 7 cope with 2GB RAM?
I wouldn't buy a Compaq or an Acer. I've seen nothing but trouble with either one - Cheap hardware and poor support. Windows 7 will run ok with 2GB of RAM.
Thanks - what about Toshiba? Any experience with these? It really comes down to cost. If I had the money at the moment, I go for something a bit more upmarket - maybe even a mac.
The Acer is packing a dual core processor, which is nice, but it is seriously lacking in battery life - take the manufacturers estimate and half it for a realistic number. The Compaq only has a single core processor, has less memory (2GB is not a lot) but it has a more respectable battery life. Honestly, in that price range, manufacturer is irrelevant - build quality will be suspect and I'd be pretty surprised if it lasted 3 years without intervention. Of the two, the acer probably takes it - the extra CPU core and GB of memory put it over the top IMO.
Thanks. I think I am going to go ahead and order: http://direct.tesco.com/q/R.207-4119.aspx It has 3gb of Ram and a better battery life compared to the other two models. Any potential problems with this?
I got a similar Toshiba one from Tesco about six months ago. Its worked fine and done what I wanted, although the processer is pretty rubbish. Battary life on mine is decent though, so I guess thats the price you pay.
There's probably not an easy answer to this, but generally how would a 3GB single core processor compare in performance to a dual core 2GB processor.
It is difficult to say, but it will depend on what you are using the PC for. Some programs dont take advantage of multi-core architectures, so if you were using those kind of application you'd want the extra memory, but if you were doing a lot of complicated processing, you'd probably want the dual core machine, because it is fairly simple to add another GB of RAM if you needed it. If the single core was very fast, then I'd probably sacrifice the extra core for memory most of the time...but honestly, I'd look to get both a dual core CPU and a pile of memory even if it cost a bit more.
