I would like to get a laptop to replace my ancient PC. How much do you need to spend to get one suitable for PhD work? I would need programmes like ChemDraw, and probably a lot of memory for images etc.

Probably minimum 1Gb of RAM, and 120GB of HD space. Out of interest Aldi have something like that for under £400 [I believe].

Thanks Golfpro; there is an Aldi near here so I'll check it out. 400quid sounds pretty good to me; was expecting it to be more expensive

BTW you should also consider whether you are going to work on it 'all the time' hence a 15.4 screen is really necessary or it will be just as and when [get away with a smaller screen]. Also bear in mind weight [7 lb monster can soon get tiresome to lug around] and warranty. Every one I have had has had something wrong with it. A 3 year warranty is therefore nice.

Oops...Aldi.com. I lied its £450. Sorry.

Probably be using it all the time, so a big screen then. Are the cheaper ones likely to be the big heavy ones?

450quid still sounds good!

I've just brought at Toshiba laptop from PC world for £349!

How are you finding it, Pineapple?

you can pick something decent up from stores but dabs.com and laptopsdirect.co.uk often have decent deals.

ps. also, get one with a dvd writer, so then you can archive stuff on to disk.

http://www.pcworld.co.uk/martprd/product/seo/519892

Here you go! Its fantastic for my PhD work. I had to replace my old laptop!

Here's a basic spec of things that you will want....

Dual core processor

15.4" Widescreen Display

1,024MB DDR2 SDRAM

120GB Hard Disk

Dedicated graphics card [a must]

8 × Multi-standard DVD/CD Burner with DVD-RAM and Dual Layer support

Wireless LAN 802.11 b/g

Juno, it depends how much you have to spend, and how long it's going to be needed for, but I'd set your budget first, and then see what you can get. I'd suggest 2GB RAM for your demands, and as big a hard disk as you can get, although remember that removable media these days can carry in excess of 4GB, if you use dual-layer DVDs. Otherwise, I'd agre with golfpro to the letter.

I got a compaq c542ea T2060 from pc world a few weeks ago for £479.00.
Make sure your exisitng software is vista compatable. I used my research budget to buy it so didnt cost me a thing...thank god!!!!

Thanks everyone for your advice. Pineapple's laptop seems to fit most of Golfpro's sugestions, except for hard drive size and RAM. I'll print off this thread and take it with me when I go looking.

I feel a bit more knowledgable now

Don't foget Dell. They have good deals, at least when i checked this morning.