Have the opertunity to purchase an ex company lap top and being that Im not a computor tech expert was after some advise, not only on the two laptops offered but on what type of laptop would suit or be more suitable to using PS and other graphic software. Screen types and sizes, ram and all the info I may need to get the best for my dollars. I am looking new or secondhand but dont have a huge budget, aprox $2000 AUS.

Here are the two second hand ones on offer to me now let me know if they are reasonable for the the type of work we do here. BTW they only want $1000 AUS for them so it's not a bad deal, I think?

Tecra A3 Intel Pentium M 1.6ghz 512 60 15"xga csv CD: DVDRW OS: XPPRO
or a
ASUS M6 INTEL PENTIUM M 1.7ghz 256 60 15.4" WideXGA DVDRW

Thanks for any advise guy's will check back every now and then to see whats hip.

Blue

price seems reasonable. i'd go for the one with 512, seeing as ps slurps up that working memory

Hey blue,

The pricing seems quite decent for both models. I did a quick search for these notebooks. In case you do not have this info here are the links:

Here are the specs for the A3:
http://cdgenp01.csd.toshiba.com/content/product/pdf_files/detailed_specs/tecra_A3-S611.pdf

I found two M6’s. The ‘A’ and the ‘R’:
A:
http://au.asus.com/products4.aspx?modelmenu=2&model=470&l1=5&l2=24&l3=0
R:
http://au.asus.com/products4.aspx?modelmenu=2&model=40&l1=5&l2=24&l3=0

Some things I notice:
- The A3 has a 533 FSB, this will help performance somewhat. The M6 has a 400FSB.
- The M6 weights a little less (less than 0.5 lbs less) and has a larger screen
- Both can be upgraded to 2GB memory
- The M6 has a built in card reader support – not sure if ‘support’ means it has a card reader built in or not, if so, great for freeing space on your digital camera or backing up your images while on the road.
- Specs indicate that the M6R will get 3.6 to 4.5 hours (M6A - 4.5 to 5.5) out of the batter, the A3 gets 3.45 hours. But this depends on the condition and age of the actual batteries.

Other things you might want to check:
- Does the M6 come with XP Pro or Home, minor but still a consideration.
- Double check that the A3 does indeed have a DVD-RW drive, the specs indicate DVD-Read only. The M6 has the option for DVD-RW, even dual layer. Both are CD-RW.

I would go for the M6 myself, especially the M6R because of the graphics. Just add more memory. What you find out about the DVD drives could also be a major deciding factor.

Hope this helps blue.

Thanks for the help guy's and the links are great help Zed, need to do more home work