Opinions on this laptop will be most appreciated

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theepw

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I am thinking of buy a Sony AR41L. The specifications are:

Features for this SONY AR41L

- Intel Core Duo Processor T7100
- 1.8GHz, 800MHz FSB, 2MB Cache
- Genuine Windows Vista (R) Home Premium
- 2GB Memory
- 120GB Hard Drive
- DVD ReWriter MultiDrive
- 17" Widescreen Display
- 128MB nVidia GeForce GO 8400 Graphics
- Wireless Enabled
- 3 USB Connections

Specification for this SONY AR41L

Processor Type Intel Core Duo T7100
Processor speed 1800 mhz
Memory Size 2 GB MB
Memory Type DDR II
Hard Drive Capacity 120 Gb
Optical Drives DVD+-RW/+-R DL/RAM
CD-ROM Speed 24 x
CD-RW Speed. 24 x
DVD-ROM Speed 6 x
DVD-RW Speed 6 x
Screen Size/Type 17.0" WXGA
Graphics Card Type Nvidia GeForce 8400M
Graphics Memory 128mb MB
Sound Type Sigmatel
Modem Type V.92
Wireless Enabled Yes
No. of USB Connections 3
No. of Firewire Connections 1
Infrared Port Included Yes
Battery Type Li-Ion
Operating system Windows Vista Home


...I am not that clued up on computer specifications.

1) Just wondering whether this is quite a powerful laptop?
2) Is the processor good?
3) Will this laptop run fast with many applications and programmes installed?
4) Will this laptop be good at running many applications at once
5) Has anyone heard reviews about it i.e. has it a good or bad reputation?

Really hope some of you out there can help, since there are people on this forum that know so much more than me about this kind of thing.

Thanks
 
I have heard that Sony's are overpriced, but then again I have heard that you get what you pay for because I have also heard at the same time that Sony's are extremely well manufactured and will last a long time. But saying that, I have never owned a Sony myself, just going on its reputation really.

..Is there a Core 2 Duo? and a Core Duo that currently exists? Because I saw this laptop in a local computer superstore and in the spec details it had:

Sony AR41L:
Intel Core 2 Duo T7100 / Intel Core Duo T7100
 
Sonies tend to be overpriced. But, they are overall good laptops. They won't play new games too well, but will be good for css and wow. Also, the 120gb HDD is lacking.

I dont think laptops even have bigger hdd, i think 160 is the max.

For laptops i would personally go with dell, I could get you coupon codes that will save you much more money.
Also how much are you planning on spending and what do you want to use this laptop for?

And make sure you get a Dual Core processor...single cores are not worth it
 
1) Just wondering whether this is quite a powerful laptop? It is, but it is not the MOST powerful of course.
2) Is the processor good? Yes it is a decent proccessor for mobile computing.
3) Will this laptop run fast with many applications and programmes installed? Well, Vista seems sluggish at times with many apps open but your 2gb of ram will help greatly.
4) Will this laptop be good at running many applications at once? Yes, but dont expect to play a game, render movie and download music at the same time with ease.
5) Has anyone heard reviews about it i.e. has it a good or bad reputation? Well, Sony is a great brand, overpriced sometimes, but good quality and good customer service. If i was buying a laptop the brands i would look at are Sony, Acer, and HP. If i was buying a laptop for gaming i would look at Widowpc, and falcon northwest.
 
I dont think laptops even have bigger hdd, i think 160 is the max.

For laptops i would personally go with dell, I could get you coupon codes that will save you much more money.
Also how much are you planning on spending and what do you want to use this laptop for?

And make sure you get a Dual Core processor...single cores are not worth it

You said that I should get a Dual Core Procerror and not a single core... is the SONY AR41L a single or Dual? Is it a dual core or a dual core 2? (sorry my knowledge on processors is terrible)

Well I do quite like graphics, so I would be using the computer to have many paint files open at once. Playing music at the same time as well as running many web pages at once. I also want to play fairly low spec computer games too. The laptop will also have a lot of word and paint/graphic/music files saved and will probably have some programmes running such as:
Microsoft Office 2000
Norton Anti virus (which is currently running on my Toshiba Equium (Intel Celeron M)) - which i think may be slowing down my laptop quite a bit, but I can't pin point its slowness
 
CoreDuo mean its probably a centrino duo which is a dual core centrino.
Compared to Intel Core Duo(Yonah), (Merom)(Core2Duo) has larger L2 cache, slightly deeper pipeline and added decode and execution units. In addition, Merom features more aggressive pre-fetch mechanisms than Yonah, as well as Intel's Memory Disambiguation that allows for out-of-order loads. In other words, not only is Merom able to process more data at once, at a faster speed, but it can also get access to that data quicker.
 
CoreDuo mean its probably a centrino duo which is a dual core centrino.
Compared to Intel Core Duo(Yonah), (Merom)(Core2Duo) has larger L2 cache, slightly deeper pipeline and added decode and execution units. In addition, Merom features more aggressive pre-fetch mechanisms than Yonah, as well as Intel's Memory Disambiguation that allows for out-of-order loads. In other words, not only is Merom able to process more data at once, at a faster speed, but it can also get access to that data quicker.

Yep thats right...

But for the gaming part...I doubt you will be able to play any of the latest games coming out right now, maybe on the lowest settings.

Whats the price of this laptop that your getting?
 
Okay, really sorry but none of that technical speak meant anything to me. So really sorry about that, could someone respond to this in really basic (if patronising) terms, since I really do know very little:

You said that I should get a Dual Core Procerror and not a single core... is the SONY AR41L a single or Dual? Is it a dual core or a dual core 2? (sorry my knowledge on processors is terrible)

Will the Sony laptop be able to run all of these nicely without any slowdown or loading?
Well I do quite like graphics, so I would be using the computer to have many paint files open at once. Playing music at the same time as well as running many web pages at once. I also want to play fairly low spec computer games too. The laptop will also have a lot of word and paint/graphic/music files saved and will probably have some programmes running such as:
Microsoft Office 2000
Norton Anti virus (which is currently running on my Toshiba Equium (Intel Celeron M)) - which i think may be slowing down my laptop quite a bit, but I can't pin point its slowness

....The Sony laptop I am querying the specs of is: £799, I would say that's approximately $1,100-1,200

Thanks for being patient with me
 
The Sony is a Core2Duo processor that is compatible with the Santa Rosa chipset. It has an upgraded 800mhz fsb. This is good. If I were you though, I'd upgrade to the T7300 processor if possible. Twice the cache for usually 50 bucks more.

The GO 8400 is a weak graphics card for a 17". It's the bottom line besides integrated. If you're planning to play any games, don't expect to run better than 50 fps on cs:source at medium settings.

Just know that a 17 inch laptop is very big and can be cumbersome. Are you in England?
 
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