faetal on 4/6/2014 at 12:01
Right, trigger pulled. I went with this following spec machine from PC Specialist in the end:
Chassis & Display
Cosmos Series: 17.3" Matte HD+ LED 16:9 Widescreen (1600x900)
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i5 Dual Core Mobile Processor i5-4210M (2.60GHz) 3MB
Memory (RAM)
4GB KINGSTON SODIMM DDR3 1600MHz (1 x 4GB) I have also ordered an additional 4 GB stick, because for some reason, they refuse to offer it as an option in the customisation screens - which is daft
Graphics Card
NVIDIA® GeForce® GT 840M - 2.0GB DDR3 Video RAM - DirectX® 11 Was tempted by the model above, but my budget was already whimpering considerably from the strain I've put on it. I can still play games though, so all good.
Memory - Hard Disk
120GB KINGSTON V300 SSD, SATA 6 Gb (450MB/R, 450MB/W)
DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
8x SATA DVD±R/RW/Dual Layer (+ 24x CD-RW) I will replace this with a 1 TB mechanical drive at some stage
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 (12 €)
Sound Card
Intel 2 Channel High Definition Audio + MIC/Headphone Jack
Bluetooth & Wireless
GIGABIT LAN & WIRELESS 802.11N CARD + BLUETOOTH 3.0
USB Options
3 x USB 3.0 PORTS + 1 x USB 2.0 PORT AS STANDARD
Battery
Cosmos Series 6 Cell Lithium Ion Battery (48.84WH)
Power Lead & Adaptor
1 x European Power Lead & 90W AC Adaptor
Operating System
Genuine Windows 8.1 64 Bit - inc DVD & Licence (98 €)
Carry Case
Belkin Black/Red 17.3" Neoprene Notebook Sleeve (23 €)
Keyboard Language
COSMOS 17" SERIES UK KEYBOARD WITH NUMBER PAD
Notebook Mouse
INTEGRATED 2 BUTTON TOUCHPAD MOUSE
Webcam
INTEGRATED 2.0 MEGAPIXEL WEBCAM
Warranty
3 Year Standard Warranty (1 Month Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)
Dead Pixel Guarantee
1 Year Dead Pixel Guarantee Inc. Labour & Carriage Costs (24 €)
Delivery
2 DAY DELIVERY TO FRANCE (24 €)
I'd like to say a HUGE (there is no font big enough) thanks to Bikerdude who spent most of yesterday evening giving me very specific advice about what to get, including helping me customise and convincing me to stretch my budget just enough to hit that sweet spot of being able to handle productivity, music and gaming. Seriously - cheers BD, saying you are awesome is an understatement.
Thanks everyone else for the advice as well - it's been an informative experience and I now know a decent amount more about laptops and their specs. I have a sneaking suspicion this machine may even replace my desktop to an extent.
One happy camper
fortuni on 4/6/2014 at 17:33
We'll done you....hope your marriage last a vey long time and you are very happy together:D
faetal on 4/6/2014 at 19:43
Do you mean me and the laptop, or the actual marriage to a human female?
fortuni on 4/6/2014 at 20:51
You and the laptop of course.....but if your planning to get married to a woman as well, hope you took as much consideration of the choice of her as you did with your laptop :D
june gloom on 4/6/2014 at 20:57
Oh, who could not love his lumpy bald British head?
faetal on 4/6/2014 at 20:58
Yeah, she's pretty high spec :)
faetal on 4/6/2014 at 21:03
Quote Posted by dethtoll
Oh, who could not love his lumpy bald British head?
I'm like a high-poly Kryten from Red Dwarf.
bikerdude on 5/6/2014 at 13:04
Quote Posted by faetal
I'd like to say a HUGE (there is no font big enough) thanks to Bikerdude who spent most of yesterday evening giving me very specific advice about what to get, including helping me customise and convincing me to stretch my budget
just enough to hit that sweet spot of being able to handle productivity, music and gaming. Seriously - cheers BD, saying you are awesome is an understatement.
No probs mister, there is nothing worse than making a bad purchase etc. Now can we have some pics of Thief and The Darkmod running on said machine in due course..?
faetal on 5/6/2014 at 13:31
I once played Thief in about 2000 or thereabouts. Liked it a lot but bounced off of it when I got to some level where I was below some mansion or castle or something in some tunnels filled with those big dinosaur things. I have Thief Gold though, so I should definitely hit that again at some point. The laptop would be an ideal way to do it. So is TDM a thief TC in Doom 3 engine?
