Give me your awesome laptop finding powers!

July 24, 2009 3:18 PM

The hivemind is usually great at this - please help me find or recommend me the perfect laptop replacement for my much loved but dying Acer.

I have been using my great Acer Aspire 5920 for about two years now. I use my laptop a lot, and finally the wear and tear means that the laptop is generally breaking and slowing down, and the time has come for it to be reluctantly replaced.

I have been looking through the usual laptop sites these past few days but am overwhelmed by the sheer number of them out there, many of them seemingly the same. Also, it has been a while since I have kept track of the latest tech releases, so what is the hot lingo that I should be looking out for?

I don't want the replacement to be a downgrade in any area from my Acer, which currently has:

* Intel Core 2 Duo T7300 @ 2GHz (many new laptops seem to contain inferior T models, which is surprising given that it has been two years since I bought this)
* 2 GB RAM
* 120 GB HDD (definitely need more here, perhaps 160gb-220gb would be sensible)
* nVidea geForce 8600m (A dedicated graphics card that matches this would be great, I don't need huge gaming power but I want some)

I really need some decent battery life as this battery konked out months ago, and would prefer it not to be the heaviest laptop but would take battery life everytime over the two choices. I would also prefer a 15" screen as that seems to be the right size for me, but this isn't a main priority.

What laptops are you using currently, or what laptops do you know of that would fit this finnicky criteria? Alternatively, do you know of any good sites I can use to review/buy from, for the UK if possible. Ebuyer and Laptopsdirect drive me insane with their listings and there are no good reviews or recommendations. Would definitely love a better designed site to peruse.

Thanks for all your help guys and gals, really appreciate it!

posted by tumples to computers & internet (7 comments total)

Budget ?
posted by iamabot at 3:33 PM on July 24, 2009

Oh, anything between £600-850 would be ideal!
posted by tumples at 3:58 PM on July 24, 2009

The hivemind is usually great at this - please help me find or recommend me the perfect laptop replacement for my much loved but dying Acer.

Um.. Only sort of.. Best to clarify right now whether you are interested in Apple recommendations or not. And, if you aren't, best to say it inside <blink> tags.
posted by Chuckles at 7:14 PM on July 24, 2009

Also, and sorry for not saying this above, but I'd be interested in hearing more about what's wrong with the current unit. In particular, you can replace the keyboard and battery very easily and inexpensively on eBay (keyboard shipped for under $20 USD, battery for $50-75). Equally, a fresh Windows install is no big deal to do yourself, or to get a technician to do. Finally, a really good idea to blow the CPU fan clean with some canned air. £200 later it might feel good as new...
posted by Chuckles at 7:25 PM on July 24, 2009

They're gonna tell you MacBook Pro and Lenovo, just like they've told everyone else. I ordered my husband's Macbook last month and my Lenovo today, based on what the hive mind said.
posted by raisingsand at 7:58 PM on July 24, 2009

I've tried all the usual maintainence on the laptop but to no avail, I think it more down to general breaking down of everything rather than one specific problem. I have looked at the Macbook Pro and Lenovo threads before, but I don't have £1300 to blow on this laptop so I hoped there would be some other suggestions.
posted by tumples at 1:18 AM on July 25, 2009

If you've been happy with your Acer, why not just get a new one from them in your preferred price range?

(Since our brains are wired to love whatever we've already invested time or money in, most people will recommend what they're using themselves anyway, so you might as well listen to yourself. :-)

(But I agree with Chuckles that if it's not physically falling apart, chances are that you can make it feel "as new" with very little work. I'm writing this on a laptop that's quite a bit older than two years...)
posted by effbot at 1:53 AM on July 25, 2009