My first Laptop purchase - PLEASE HELP

For your needs I'd really look hard at the new Apple MacBook Pro. I have an Acer 8204 for games and an accounting package that doesn't run on Macs but can testify that the Apple PowerBook/MacBook Pro's build quality, OS, and software is far FAR superior.

The aluminum case on the Macs is not only gorgeous but tough as nails - no "rippling screens" as on the Acer - and speaking of screens there is really NO comparison: the MacBook Pro's is incredibly much brighter, clearer, with better viewing angles. For photos the included iPhoto software is "da bomb" and you even get basic video editing and DVD creation programs in the iLife suite.

The MacBook Pro's keyboard features bigger keys with a better touch and travel PLUS they are backlit in low light / no light situations. Other specs and pricing are in line with the Acer (which does throw in a Bluetooth phone I haven't even unpacked yet).

Apple also offers an Education discount if you are in any way linked to a school - student, teacher, advisor, etc.

The low-end MBP goes for $1999, plenty of pop for what you want to do, leaving you some money (compared to the Acer 8204) for a copy of Office for Mac and another stick of RAM.

I have both and the Acer is the Kia compared to Apple's BMW - for the same dough. If you don't HAVE to run Windows it's not even close.

I went for the 5672WLMi from DABS @ £1174 including delivery
I chose it for price/performance, and only worked out after I got it that it was brand new to market in late February this year.
Hence I couldnt find any reviews of the laptop until I joined this forum, only articles announcing it.

Its a great laptop and fast enough for most any task.
I can play Half Life 2 on it superbly, and the F.E.A.R. demo runs well despite me using the default setup and not tweaking the drivers.

Good luck choosing
the 8204 Travelmate we have just purchased as DR laptops for work, it has a faster processor and an X1600 gpu instead of X1400 and it gets 300 points more in 3dmark2006!!!

I bought the Ferrari 4006, and I friend of mine bought the 5672...

The ferrari is WAY superior than the 5672, the only DIFFERENCE between them is the processor, but the ferrari is still much faster for single core applications..

In my opinion, you could either wait for some good 15,4" like the soon-to-come MSI-1039, should have the X1600 and dual turions, or get the ferrari...

EDIT: and by the way, 1130 Euros for a ferrari is one HELL of a deal, thats $1350,00 dollars... you cant find that price anywhere in the USA!!

LOL sorry for my stupidity, of course its pounds not euros

Anyway I'll try to be more specific in WHY the Ferrari > 5672

Build
On this part, the Ferrari wins by a lot. Not only by its amazing design, but also some features (4 USBs ports instead of 2 like on the 5672, carbon fiber and rubber finish, 1680x1050 native resolution instead of 1280x800...) and this baby actually looks better in real life than on the pictures, its just amazingly beutiful!!

Specs

The Ferrari and the TM 5672 are very similar here, the main differences are:

The ferrari runs on the single core Turion ML37, wich is a 64 bits processor and runs at 2.0GHZ.

The TM 5672 uses the Core Duo T2300, wich will be slower than the turion in 99% of the applications today (it runs at 1.66 GHZ). The Core Duo shines when heavily multitasking though, and should outperform the Turion when running multiple processes (like running a benchmark with a virus scan on the background).

The TM has faster 2GB of DDR2 RAM, while the ferrari has 1GB of DDR RAM.

The TM has a 120GB HD. The Ferrari comes with 100GB.

The Ferrari has the Radeon X700 card, and the TM comes with the X1400. even though the X1400 is a newer card, the X700 is higher end and takes the lead on GPU based benchmarks.

The ferrari comes with a bluetooth mouse that doesnt work that well. The TM comes with a 1.3MP webcam that has very poor quality.

Batterywise both computers should have similar usage times.

Bottomline

The Ferrari wins in almost every aspect. Graphics card, build quality, design, screen, and most of the time, the processor.
If you want a Core Duo to matc the Turion's ML37 power, go for the 2.0 - the T2300 clocked at 1.66GHZ will probably be inferior 99% of the time.
The TM has 2 GB of RAM and a 120GB Hd, but you can easily upgrade the RAM/ replace the HD on the Ferrari.
The Ferrari offers a lot more value over money, and if these 2 machines are in the same price range, go for the Ferrari, you wont regret it

Reviews:
http://www.notebookreview.com/default.asp?newsID=2589
http://www.notebookreview.com/default.asp?newsID=2780
http://www.laptoplogic.com/reviews/detail.php?id=75

I'd agree with Filipo, except to add:

If you want to run games more than edit/transcode video, then go with the Ferarri for the faster X700. If you want to edit/transcode video more than play games, however, go with the 5672 for the X1400--which will allow the use of ATI's Avivo encoding/transcoding utility and future video acceleration capabilites.

remember the x1400 is new and with different versions of the card having drastically different 3dmark scores I would reckon there is a lot of driver difference here.

also can I correct Filippo the 5672 has 4 usb ports too all usb2
the lower resolution makes things a nice size to read, and of course doesnt tax the graphics card as much.

I cant remember if the x700 can do Shader Model 3 and HDR Lighting?
the x1400 can, this is why the 3dmark06 score is lower because it runs more tests.

as for real games F.E.A.R. runs great (only tried the demo, so its not widescreen) 1024x768 Medium Detail, with HDR lighting enabled for those scary shadows


Half Life 2 plays better than my old desktop but that was an Athlon 2600+ 1gb dualbanked ram, and a 256mb 6600 agp 8x. with raid 0 on 2 sata 160gb hdd's.

GTA San andreas seems to have much more realism especially with the car physics, this too play in widescreen like hl2 and looks fantastic.

and as for running multiple applications its amazing, then there's converting mp3 to wav and back again, unbeleivably fast, this dual core is certainly a headturner even with the T2300

But the ferrari will also play all these games and do things really fast, so if you love the look of it, get that one, it will most likely also be built a little sturdier than the 5672.

Good Luck

***edit****
p.s. the ferrari has Half the Ram 1gb instead of 2gb/Maximum ram is only 2gb its 4gb on the 5672
only 100gb hdd instead of 120gb hdd
standard dvdrw drive instead of the (save my laser) Slot loading one.
also the 5672 has Hi Definition audio
the graphics card only had 128mb ram, while the 5672 has 256mb native and up to 512mb shared (future drivers might give an edge, but we dont yet know)

I heard that it was 2 usbs from a review o_o

and

The maximum RAM for the 5672 is 2GB... actually there isnt a single notebook available that supports 4GB of RAM

Well stevie, think about it, if the ferrari cant, neither can the 5672. If you are really between those 2 I think that you already have your answer

3kg seems right, although I never really weighed it on a scale.. and the AC adapter is pretty light too, so thats a plus...

I carry it to college almost everyday, but im a big guy (1,95m 90KG). Still I think its pretty portable, you shouldnt have any problems

If the price for Acer Ferrari 4005/4006 in UK has dropped to your range, I would go for it. The dual-core NB most likely goes off your price range.

exactly like my young brother!

I too was considering both, but I decided to purchase the 5672 based on price. There are two versions of the 5672, one that has a 120GB HD, 2GB RAM and WIN XP PRO and the a cheaper one that has a 100GB HD, 1GB RAM and WIN XP Home. I chose the latter and it only cost me $1100. I purchased two sticks of 1GB RAM to upgrade the notebook to 2GB, and may reformat the drive with WIN XP Pro. I was also considering waiting till the Turion 64 X2's come out in May, but decided to go with the 5672 because of the cheap price.

Good luck in your search.

Hiya Filippo I must correct you again on the Ram issue, the 5672 Does support 4gb, Please see link

http://www.acer.co.uk/acereuro/page9...crc=1164964163


if the link doesnt work here is a copy paste from the configuration page

DDR2 memory, upgradeable to 4 GB using dual soDIMM modules (dual-channel support)


That is one reason I wanted one of these newer machines, rather than a model from last year, the new dual core cpus and motherboards have more capacity