Hi, I know somewhat about computers and laptops thus a friend of mine in Pakistan has asked me to find him the best laptop according to his requirements. He's a student and would like to use his laptop for basic presentations, projects, watch movies, listen to songs, play games with decent graphics, surf the net etc. He wants a laptop which is good both performance and power wise. His preferable requirements are as follows but the system can be close or better to the following specs:

Core2Duo, 2.0+GHz
2 or 4 GB RAM
15-17" Wide Screen
160+ Hard Drive
Multi Purpose Optical Drive
Memory Card Reader
Decent Graphic Card preferably a dedicated one
Decent sound card preferably not built in
LAN, Bluetooth and Built-in Wifi

He wants to buy this laptop from a local store who deals with international models as well. Therefore, his budget is:

100,000 Pakistani Rupees which is below $1500 US

I've done a lot of research on the website of the shop from where he wants to buy his laptop from. Here are a few laptops I have picked:

MyShop OnLine: All About Laptops / Notebooks in Pakistan : Sony Vaio FW 235 - Titanium Grey Finish [VGN-FW235E/H] - Rs*99,500

MyShop OnLine: All About Laptops / Notebooks in Pakistan : Hp Pavilion DV4-1120 [DV4-1120us] - Rs*80,500

MyShop OnLine: All About Laptops / Notebooks in Pakistan : Hp Pavilion DV4 - CTO20 [DV4t-CTO] - Rs*83,000

MyShop OnLine: All About Laptops / Notebooks in Pakistan : Hp Pavilion DV5 - CTO22 with Free 4GB RAM Upgrade !! [DV5-CTO] - Rs*89,500

MyShop OnLine: All About Laptops / Notebooks in Pakistan : Dell Inspiron 1525 Extreme [Inspiron 1525] - Rs*90,500

MyShop OnLine: All About Laptops / Notebooks in Pakistan : Hp Pavilion DV5 - CTO24 Basic with Free 3GB Upgrade !! [DV5t-1000 CTO] - Rs*92,500

MyShop OnLine: All About Laptops / Notebooks in Pakistan : Hp Pavilion DV5 - CTO24 with Free 4GB RAM Upgrade !! [DV5-CTO] - Rs*95,000

MyShop OnLine: All About Laptops / Notebooks in Pakistan : Hp Pavilion TX - CTO20 [TX2500z-CTO] - Rs*99,500


Please tell me what would be the best bang for the buck out of the above mentioned laptops. If you may be kind enough to recommend a different model/specs from the above website within our price range or recommend a laptop model which is not on that website.

Thanks in advance for all the help!

I was thinking if you can settle for 2 gig of ram, that the specs on this one matches everything on your list but is 40,000 rupees less .

MyShop OnLine: All About Laptops / Notebooks in Pakistan : Business Series 6720s DC 2G [6720s] - Rs*52,000

OOps, I just noticed operating system is DOS. Nevermind.

Well I can always install the OS myself, so looks like a good offer. The only thing is that the processor is a bit old and slow. Any other suggestions?

Does it have to be a laptop, err notebook? (Since notebooks should never be operated on your lap, but on a hard, flat surface, I am trying to change my habit and say "notebook"). Everything is fine for a notebook, until you say he wants to play games on it. In spite of what notebook makers will tell you, notebooks do not make good game machines. Modern 3D animated gaming is just about the most demanding task you can ask of a computer. Gaming works the CPU and RAM hard, and really works the GPU and associated graphics circuits. This causes maximum heat generation and NO notebook is efficient at removing heat - the bane of all electronics. Notebook and mobile CPU makers know that - so they design notebooks to toggle down in speed when they get hot, in the hopes of keeping it from self-destruction - toggled down CPUs speeds do not make for good gaming.

Notebooks were, and are designed for the road warrior, or for folks that need to secure (lock up) their computer when not in use (like a student in a dormitory). They are great for presentations, creating documents, surfing the Internet, listening to music, or watching a DVD. These are not demanding tasks. If he wants to play the latest games, he should look at a desktop - which has a case designed to support adequate cooling, AND allows for easy access to remove all the heat trapping dust and dirt that gets sucked inside - not a user task with notebooks!

Decent Graphic Card preferably a dedicated one

What do you mean by "dedicated"? The vast majority of notebooks come with on-board graphics - this is necessary due to the restricted space. There are some notebooks that allow add-in graphics solutions, however, that do offer better performance, but at a higher cost, and more heat to get rid of.

Decent sound card preferably not built in

I don't think you can find a notebook without built-in sound. And why would you want otherwise with a notebook - unless you were using it as a full size PC? That would require lugging around powered speakers - not too convenient - you might as well get a PC then. You can still connect a set of external speakers to any notebook.

If he is stuck on getting a notebook, and he wants to play serious 3D animated games, then at the very least, he should also get a Notebook Cooling Pad w/ext. power supply. I like the pads that have an external power supply over USB port powered pads because they do not place a greater demand on the notebook, which you are trying to cool with the current demands.

Thanks for your help. He has purchased the following laptop

MyShop OnLine: All About Laptops / Notebooks in Pakistan : Hp Pavilion DV5 - CTO22 with Free 4GB RAM Upgrade !! [DV5-CTO] - Rs*89,500