Dell Inspiron 1720
17" but 'only' 1440x900 so pixels are quite big. Choose the non True-Life one for non-shiny.
Standard T2370 processor will be fine. I would be tempted to shell out another £50 to get the T5550 for some extra future-proofing and the bigger cache which will make things run more quickly.
Upping the RAM from 2GB to 3GB for £30 is worthwhile IMO.
http://configure.euro.dell.com/dellstore/config.aspx?b=&c=uk&cs=ukdhs1&kc=NRS17201&l=en&oc=N0872001&rbc=N0872001&s=dhsThere is a downside though. The outer casing comes in "Spring Green or Sunshine Yellow, both with a microsatin finish". No really.
I saw our intrepid reporter "JungleCat03" at
DTD this weekend. He has this model. He says it's slow, it overheats, and it sounds like a cement mixer with bricks in it.
Now what?
Tom,
if reliability is one of your main criteria, then I honestly dont know why you are looking at Dell.
They have gone from being a reputable mid-range manufacturer, to a low-end budget manufacturer, who are working on huge volumes. The failure rates on their machines is so high at the moment, they are seriously considering going down the 3rd party manufacturing route, which for Dell was always considered unthinkable.
The serious quality manufacturers I would say are Lenovo (formerly IBM), HP(Compaq) and Toshiba. They all produce a wide range of machines, from the top end business machines (Lenovo T series, Toshiba tecra etc), down to the lower end leisure market (Lenovo R Series and Tosh satellite). The build quality is generally the same throughout the range.
If I were you, with a preference for a 4:3 ratio screen I would seriously consider a nearly new business machine with 2gb ram - something like a T42 thinkpad from Lenovo/IBM. They are pretty bulletproof, but they dont come in pretty colours.
Link/price/spec....?
I can't believe what passes for advice these days.
anyway this is the sort of thing I am talking about
http://www.thelaptopcentre.com/erol.html#368X2073(btw I dont know this supplier, this is really just an example).
These machines are fantastic. I would buy an extra 1gig ram (maybe about 50 quid), and if you think you need lots of disk then you could use an external drive.
Slightly older style centrino processor, but vv quiet and good battery life.
it is available with a bigger screen also IIRC.
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