Can't decide on a laptop, argh!

Thanks for the long reply. To be honest, I have a good desktop, and wouldn't be playing many games on the laptop. Definately not graphically intensive games, more like something like Guild Wars occasionally? Interesting about the dual core comment being a must, I guess it would be a good idea.
With that HP one though, i'm just concerned about the graphics.

Personally I am not keen on HP/Compaq, I see too many of them in my workshop for repair; hence the recommendations for Acer.

I'm really never going to decide am I? Haha.

Try the Vostro 1500. It's for about 425 pounds fully loaded with 2GB of RAM, a Core 2 Duo processor, 160GB 5400RPM HDD, an 8600GT with 256MB of dedicated DDR2 memory onboard, a DVD writer and Vista. Quite a good deal methinks.

Ooh, very nice. The Vostro 1700 http://www1.euro.dell.com/content/products/features.aspx/4x_vostro_1700?c=uk&cs=ukbsdt1&l=en&s=bsd has excellent specs by the looks of things, for the same price as the others I linked too. Surely there's a cache? I'll need some people's opinions on Dell please. Does this seem like a good deal?

More spam, screw Dell. 200 something pounds VAT and shipping. Back to being indecisive.

Stay away from Dell - not what they used to be and customer support leaves much to be desired.

The VAT and Shipping is most likely due to the fact that it's meant for small business use IMO. Acer isn't very good too, since I've seen many of their lappies fail quite fast, much faster than HP\Compaq. I haven't seen any Toshibas fail in this part of the world, but internationally that doesn't seem to be the case. In any case, a mid-end HP is of decent build and I have one that hasn't failed since I bought it, so I'd vouch for it.

OK, i'm pretty much decided on the HP one http://www.ebuyer.com/UK/product/128979/rb/0
Are the graphics OK though?

I've heard HP are good, although not the best for multimedia, as in image editing, movies and especially gaming (yes I know, no laptops are for the latter, but i'd probably want to play something like Guild Wars reasonably well). Is this true?

I doubt that's true, coz my friend owns a top-of-the-range HP model and uses it for Photoshop and watching DVDs. It's working fine for about a year and a half now.

Thalin - get yourself down to the local box-shifter like PC World (grief - did I just say that?) and buy the manager's deal of the day. Don't like it, take it back.

I think i'll pass on that offer

As long as the graphic capabilities are good with that HP one, i'll buy it. Are they?

I stick by my guns and recommend Acer.

I've heard people have problems with Acer and HP, as with any other brand or anything else in life. There will always be problems with something. I would get that large screened Acer laptop but it lacks dual core, and that turns me away. Although it does however have nice graphics and a large screen. The HP seems to have everything I need, and seems to be a reliable brand, if only I knew what the graphic capabilities are!

OK - as much as I hate to say it, go to your nearest box-shifter and have a look at both of them on display. Someone I know would make a choice based on colour - but then that seems to have worked for her car!

I went ahead and bought the HP laptop, although I am not overlly impressed, let me explain.

I reformatted straight away to get rid of all the **** I don't need, updated the drivers of everything etc, then ran a 3D Mark (free version) check. It gets scores of 600-800 at best, which from what i've researched is dismal because people with similar specs, or even worse specs, are getting atleast 2000.
I then proceeded to try some games. I was surprised that Half Life 2 ran quite well, with details on high, full HDR and AA it was smooth, until I got into outside areas where it dropped to 15 or so FPS. Without AA it improved and moved to about 25-30 fps or so. Not bad.
I then tried Battlefield 2, which was unbearable at high graphics but playable at medium, no AA. Dawn of War worked relatively well on high.

Games aside, the PC seems relatively fast, although not as fast as I expected.

Now this might be exactly right, and I have nothing to be concerned about. I'm rarely going to play games on it, but things like the 3D Mark score bother me, considering they are very poor compared to others I have seen with similar specs.

You pays your money and you makes your choice.......be happy!

OK well i'm about to install the graphic drivers. I'm tempted to install the Omega ATi drivers considering they are more up to date and overall better, instead of the RS960 ATi or whatever, found on the HP website.

Edit -

Well the Omegas didn't count as a driver for some reason. After installing them after removing the original graphics drivers, it still brings up a message saying it's found new hardware, and opening the control panel tells me there is no driver installed. Strange considering they are supposed to work on any ATi card.

I am having trouble installing the most updated drivers for the card. The release notes tell me that it is compatible with the Radeon 1250 which I have, yet during installation it tells me it can't find the correct hardware.

The spec says it is a Radeon 1250 so the drivers should work - unless HP have changed the spec without telling anyone. You might have to uninstall any other drivers first, perhaps.

That's what I did :suspiciou