The Great 'Cheapest Decent Laptop' Hunt

[laurad85]

does anybody know if the above laptop is any good? im going to buy one and really only need it to surf the net, do my work on word or powerpoint and play dvds.thanks,laura

[Monkeeboy]

I am interested in the latest offer from Currys for the e machine. It seems to have decent spec for the money but has low battery life of just 1.5 hours.

Has anyone got any experience of these machines good or bad.

Also any ideas on negotiating a good price with them as I may be looking to buy two.

:rotfl:

[espresso]

I am interested in the latest offer from Currys for the e machine. It seems to have decent spec for the money but has low battery life of just 1.5 hours.

Has anyone got any experience of these machines good or bad.

Also any ideas on negotiating a good price with them as I may be looking to buy two.

:rotfl:

Why buy an emachine when you can buy a well known brand for a similar price? You do not get a user manual with these computers!

[bandraoi]

http://www.empiredirect.co.uk/content/products/details/index~modelcode~TOS-P200-10O.htm

Now I'm looking at this one, the spec I want just keeps going up!
I can go through topcashback for 2%, buy it on my slow stooze credit card for 6months interest free/earn about 2.5% in the meantime.
I can't find any decent codes though and it seems like there's a 10% one that's just expired, and another 10% one expired about two months ago.

Think waiting might be an idea.

[Monkeeboy]

Why buy an emachine when you can buy a well known brand for a similar price? You do not get a user manual with these computers!

Cheers espresso

I realise that at this price something has to give, but the spec is pretty good for the money.

Have you seen branded machines with similar spec including a pentium core duo for this price. If so I am very interested.

I note what you said about not getting a manual. Do you get an online manual instead or nothing at all?

[MTW]

Have you tried the comet clearance site. I brought an Acer Aspire (rrp 499) for £380.
Some are refurbed, others are ex display. The site works on a bidding basis.

[stecast]

I swear by this site for laptops, i brought a, Acer Aspire 5052AWXMi after shopping around i think this was the cheapest i found and not really knowing much about laptops the sales assistent was great, she knew what she was talking about and told me the best was to go about it without trying to make loads of money out of me she actually tryed to save me money, very rare these days.
For £349.97 i got,

Processor: Powerful AMD Turion 64 MK-38 - 2.2GHz
Hard Drive: 80GB
RAM: Now with 1GB Fast DDR RAM!
Screen: 14.1" TFT Widescreen
Optical Drive: DVD Re-writer (DVD±RW Super Multi Double Layer)
Graphics: ATI Radeon Xpress 1100 integrated 3D graphics
Wireless LAN: 802.11b/g - Call for advice on Wireless Networking
Operating System: Windows Vista Home Premium
3 x USB 2.0 Ports
5 in 1 Memory Card Reader (easily transfer data from memory cards)
Warranty: 1 Year Collect and Return (Europe-wide)- Upgradeable to 3 Years for only £49 - Call for details!

WWW.LAPTOPSDIRECT.CO.UK (http://www.LAPTOPSDIRECT.CO.UK),
The sales assistand i got was called Gail, if you don't know what your looking for then call her, she is very helpfull
Direct line is 01484448948

[islandman]

My son is considering replacing his old laptop and tells me he went into Computer World (I think) for a browse. He saw a model (?) for about £350 on Vista.

When approached by an assistant, my son asked "tell me why I should NOT buy this machne?". After a bit of thought, the assistant said, don't buy it if you have a lot of software designed for XP, because it won't play them. He added that most laptops come with Vista now. Is this so ?. and if not, maybe you could advise where someone should look if he wants to upgrade his machine.

I should add that he is not on-line currently, due to a house move 2 months ago and he's moving again next week, so he is unable to research this himself.

[Monkeeboy]

Cheers for that

I have heard comment that Vista is not as stable as XP.

I note that Dell offers a choice when configuring their machines.

Incidentally, I checked out the Dell website and found that they play around with their prices quite a bit. I have a Dell desktop bought some years ago which has been excellent so thought I would check out their prices. The best prices seem to be on the small business pages but you need to add VAT and delivery which bumps the price up a fair bit. The delivery is the sting in the tail as this is £60 (a rip off). As I am looking for two machines I had hoped I could get them for only one delivery charge....no fear they want £120 delivery. I might give them a call though to see if they will haggle.

Any more advice welcome. I am looking for something like

Pentium Core Due processor
15.4" screen
1gb memory
at least 80gb hard drive
DVD rewriter - minimum 4x

[littleange]

I upgraded to Vista, and had a lot of problems with graphics card drivers on my dell laptop, seems nvidia haven't bothered to make any yet :confused: so I reinstalled XP

I'll upgrade again in a year or 2 when its all polished

[bfsog]

My girlfriend has moved away for Uni and I am thinking of getting her a laptop.

Im more of a software type of guy, when I am reading specs for laptops what am I looking for if I want that laptop to be wireless (for Internet, as in connecting to routers wirelessly) is it just 802.11b/g ?

Cheers

[The_JinJ]

My girlfriend has moved away for Uni and I am thinking of getting her a laptop.

Im more of a software type of guy, when I am reading specs for laptops what am I looking for if I want that laptop to be wireless (for Internet, as in connecting to routers wirelessly) is it just 802.11b/g ?

Cheers

Yep!Yepyepyepyep

[Buffyslay]

i am looking for a reasonably fast machine - MUST have excel, word etc all 2007 included in the price (am instructor and need to learn them pdq)

budget upto £800 max - would like a 'known' brand - i would really like a viao or vaio or however you spell it, and in pink!!

[anonemoney]

Cashback Offer!

Order this month and receive £50! - Click here for full details! http://www.toshibacashback.com/

Makes this notebook a fantastic £349.97 after Cashback!

Product Description - Toshiba Satellite Pro L40-12T - Pentium Dual Core T2130 1.86 GHz - 15.4" TFT
Weight - 2.7 kg
Processor - Intel Pentium Dual Core T2130 / 1.86 GHz ( Dual-Core )
RAM - 512 MB (installed)
Hard Drive - 60 GB - Serial ATA-150 - 5400 rpm
Optical Storage - DVD±RW (±R DL) / DVD-RAM
Display - 15.4" TFT active matrix 1280 x 800
Graphics Controller - Intel GMA 900
Battery - Lithium Ion
Operating System - Microsoft Windows Vista Home Basic
Manufacturer Warranty - 1 year warranty

from www.laptopsdirect.co.uk:dance: (http://www.laptopsdirect.co.uk:dance:)

[anonemoney]

Only issue with this is the limited Hard-drive and 512RAM, but if you could upgrade this then its a good spec!! Im actually going to inspect this laptop this weekend, going to give them a call or pop round....

[john-306]

Cashback Offer!

Order this month and receive £50! - Click here for full details! http://www.toshibacashback.com/

Makes this notebook a fantastic £349.97 after Cashback!

Product Description - Toshiba Satellite Pro L40-12T - Pentium Dual Core T2130 1.86 GHz - 15.4" TFT
Weight - 2.7 kg
Processor - Intel Pentium Dual Core T2130 / 1.86 GHz ( Dual-Core )
RAM - 512 MB (installed)
Hard Drive - 60 GB - Serial ATA-150 - 5400 rpm
Optical Storage - DVD±RW (±R DL) / DVD-RAM
Display - 15.4" TFT active matrix 1280 x 800
Graphics Controller - Intel GMA 900
Battery - Lithium Ion
Operating System - Microsoft Windows Vista Home Basic
Manufacturer Warranty - 1 year warranty

from www.laptopsdirect.co.uk:dance: (http://www.laptopsdirect.co.uk:dance:)


Works out £339.99 from same place but no cashback on this one, but you do get a free 512mb upgrade in the bundles section.

Toshiba Satellite L30-10V Laptop
Processor: Intel® Pentium® Dual-Core Processor T2080
RAM: 512MB DDR2 533MHz Maximum expandability: 2048MB
Hard Drive: 60GB Certification S.M.A.R.T
Display: 15.4" WXGA TFT (1280x800)
Optical Drive: DVD±RW Super Multi Double Layer
Wireless LAN: 802.11a/b/g integrated
Warranty: 1-year international warranty. (Upgrade your standard warranty with Toshiba warranty extension, uplift and all-risks insurance packs.)
Battery life: Up to 2:30 (Mobile Mark™) hours
Dimensions: (W x D x H) 358 x 262 x 37mm
Weight: Starting at 2.74kg
Expansion slots: 2 x memory slots (1 to configure), PC Card slot for 1x Type II card
Interfaces: 1 x DC-in, 1 x external monitor, 1 x RJ-11, 1 x RJ-45, 1 x external microphone, 1 x headphone (stereo), 2 (Left 1, Right 1) x USB 2.0
Security: main battery pack (by sliding latch), system password security, wireless LAN switch, user password, supervisor password, main hard disk (by screw), keyboard lock, main memory (by screw), slot for Kensington Cable Lock
Operating System: Windows® Vista™ Home Basic Edition

[Monkeeboy]

Just phoned Dell. I am looking at the following machine

Dell Inspiron 6400 (NO9642XP) it has
Intel Pentium Dual-Core T2080 (1.73Ghz)
Windows XP Professional
1024mb DDR2 533Mhz memory
shared Intel Media Accelerator 950 graphics
120gb HDD (5400rpm)
integrated sound
wireless enabled
6 cell battery (2.5 - 3.5 hours)
upgraded screen

the price per machine is £423 incl delivery - I have asked about purchasing two machines (price should be £846) and have so far managed to get them to reduce it by £60 (1/2 price delivery) to £786. I have tried a bit further to get it down to £750 (using gentle persuasion). So far they have said they cannot do it but have taken my number to call me back later - so ball is in their court. He did seem optimistic that they might move further so hopefully I may buy today at 12% discount.

I did suggest that if they couldnt move further on the price that they perhaps included some freebies - mice, bag etc but so far they only wanted to sell an extended warranty and if I bought they would include a further £60 of goodies.

I will let you know how I get on. fingers crossed.

[The_JinJ]

Just phoned Dell. I am looking at the following machine

Dell Inspiron 6400 (NO9642XP) it has
Intel Pentium Dual-Core T2080 (1.73Ghz)
Windows XP Professional
1024mb DDR2 533Mhz memory
shared Intel Media Accelerator 950 graphics
120gb HDD (5400rpm)
integrated sound
wireless enabled
6 cell battery (2.5 - 3.5 hours)
upgraded screen

the price per machine is £423 incl delivery - I have asked about purchasing two machines (price should be £846) and have so far managed to get them to reduce it by £60 (1/2 price delivery) to £786. I have tried a bit further to get it down to £750 (using gentle persuasion). So far they have said they cannot do it but have taken my number to call me back later - so ball is in their court. He did seem optimistic that they might move further so hopefully I may buy today at 12% discount.

I did suggest that if they couldnt move further on the price that they perhaps included some freebies - mice, bag etc but so far they only wanted to sell an extended warranty and if I bought they would include a further £60 of goodies.

I will let you know how I get on. fingers crossed.

Price up a Vostro 1000 before you buy that

[Monkeeboy]

Price up a Vostro 1000 before you buy that

Cheers Neil

I have just had a quick look at the Vostro and note these are AMD and the cheaper one is single core. Is there a particular one with the same spec I am looking for that you have noticed.

cheers for your help

[boots1]

hiya
I am wondering if someone could advise me, what is a decent laptop to buy ?We dont generally download ,only really used for browsing ,however i have recently taken a new job working from home, and need certain things ,although the spec seems very basic.

Everything i need is :
1GHz processor
256MB RAM
Minumum graphic resolution of 1024 x 768
At least one USB
Sound card
Speakers
Cd rom drive

I believe everything i need is on EI System 3103,I read earlier on in the thread re E systems not having manual, are these the same thing ?

Anyway to cut a long story short we have been to look today and my OH is a bit of a brand snob and does not want to purchase the EI as he knows nothing about them.

From reading the poll its saying Sonys are the best, is that right ?I have found this one ,and any advice would be greatly appreciated .

I have found a sony VAIO VGN-N38 or Compaq C555EA,wondering if anyone had any opinions on them or could point out any others that are good deal,with required stuff

Thanks in advance
boots

[savenotspendsid]

I've been looking for ages for a laptop between 400 and 500 ish, was looking at a Sony vaio n38.

But have recently been tempted by a Toshiba a200-15i.

It has 2gb ram and 160gb mem, get it online at dixons for £499.
use a discount code to get price down even further.

[Monkeeboy]

Well folks I have eventually done a deal with Dell. I have bought two Inspiron 6400 for £800. Heres the deal.

Inspiron N07642

Intel Pentium Dual Core T2080 1.73ghz
15.4 widescreen with truelife upgrade
120gb hard drive
8x DVD rewriter
6 cell battery (approx 2.5 hours)
wireless enabled
1024 mb 533Mhz DDR2 SDRAM
3 year next day onsite warranty
Windows XP Professional

the price for both should have been £1,078.80 a saving of £278.80 or 25.84%. Whilst I went slightly overbudget by £50 I got the 1 year return to base warranty for each upgraded to 3 years on site for only £25 per machine.

The other thing to mention is that the original delivery was quoted as end of November but this was brought forward to end of October and no money to be taken from my card until delivery date.:j

[MMCG]

I've been looking for ages for a laptop between 400 and 500 ish, was looking at a Sony vaio n38.

But have recently been tempted by a Toshiba a200-15i.

It has 2gb ram and 160gb mem, get it online at dixons for £499.
use a discount code to get price down even further.

My advice is to stay away from Toshiba, especially if bought thru Dixons. I spent £650 2 years ago on a Tosh and knew from day 1 that it wasn't going properly. I eventually managed to persuade dixons to collect it and 'repair' it only to be told that there was nothing wrong with it. Last week it eventually decided to stop working. Motherboard problems etc which I can't afford to fix. I phoned Toshiba to find out Dixons had never consulted them about the problem and that they will do nothing as it is outside the 1 year warranty. I could go on...

If you are still tempted go onto the Toshiba website and into their forums. Look up the model you are thinking of buying then you will see how many people are having problems with it and the kind they are having.

Good Luck.

[Treedenter]

savenotspendsid - sounds like a good deal. Any idea how to get hold of a discount code for dixons? Cheers, Rob.

[savenotspendsid]

savenotspendsid - sounds like a good deal. Any idea how to get hold of a discount code for dixons? Cheers, Rob.
just search through google for "discount codes" or check the forum on this site>:T

[bandraoi]

Just ordered a Toshiba P200-10O from Empire Direct
This is the outline spec

- Intel® Pentium® Dual-Core Processor T2080
- Genuine Windows® Vista® Home Premium Edition
- DVD Super Multi drive (Double Layer)
- 2,048 (1,024 + 1,024) MB
- 17.1 " Toshiba TruBrite® WXGA+ TFT display
- capacity : 120 GB

and a built in camera and microphone is very very nice indeed, even if the 17 inch screen makes it a bit of non-portable monster . . .

Ordered it from Empire Direct at £549.99
7% off with code - EV2751, username edsave - -£39.99
3% cashback though topcashback.co.uk - -£15.30

Total Price = £494.70
That'll sit on my credit card at 0% till March with the money in a nice high interest bank account.

The final price will work out somewhere in the £480 region.
Other online shops have it on sale for upwards of £700.

[SPL]

Hi everyone,

I was tempted by this Sony Vaio form Ebuyer (http://www.ebuyer.com/UK/product/124797) a couple of weeks ago and the poll on this thread has given me the final push I needed.

Does anyone have any criticisms of this laptop/deal (apart from being out of stock at the moment!)? The reviews on the site seem pretty good.

Any comments appreciated. :)

[bandraoi]

I think you can get that spec at a better price if you go non-Sony, but Sony laptops are beautiful so I can understand wanting to go with that.

There are better prices than that out there I suspect, Technoworld have it in stock at £495, and a bit of rooting may get you a quidco and voucher discount.

[I'm With Stupid]

Hi everyone,

I was tempted by this Sony Vaio form Ebuyer (http://www.ebuyer.com/UK/product/124797) a couple of weeks ago and the poll on this thread has given me the final push I needed.

Does anyone have any criticisms of this laptop/deal (apart from being out of stock at the moment!)? The reviews on the site seem pretty good.

Any comments appreciated. :)
This one (http://www.ebuyer.com/UK/product/131629/rb/0) from the same website is cheaper, more up to date, better processor, with a bigger hard drive.

This one (http://www.ebuyer.com/UK/product/128950/rb/0) is the same price but with twice the RAM, a bigger screen, a better processor, and a bigger hard drive.

Both quality brands too. I've never heard anyone complain about Fujitsu in particular.

And with all due respect to the poll on this thread, the majority of people voting on it haven't tried out lots of different laptop brands, so I wouldn't let that sway you. Buy the individual laptop, not the brand.

[SPL]

This one (http://www.ebuyer.com/UK/product/131629/rb/0) from the same website is cheaper, more up to date, better processor, with a bigger hard drive.

This one (http://www.ebuyer.com/UK/product/128950/rb/0) is the same price but with twice the RAM, a bigger screen, a better processor, and a bigger hard drive.

Both quality brands too. I've never heard anyone complain about Fujitsu in particular.

And with all due respect to the poll on this thread, the majority of people voting on it haven't tried out lots of different laptop brands, so I wouldn't let that sway you. Buy the individual laptop, not the brand.

Great stuff - thanks a million.

[kats53]

HI folks
I am thinking about purchasing a laptop and have been looking around for a while for a decent one but also for a good price.
I would value the opinion of those amongst you who are more expert in this field than I am.
I have found this one on the DABS website

http://www.dabs.com/ProductView.aspx?Quicklinx=4LJ3&CategorySelectedId=11012&PageMode=1&NavigationKey=11012&InMerch=1

Would you please tell me what you think.
Thanks in advance.

[Monkeeboy]

Have alook at Tesco Direct they have a 7520 for £399 gives you a similar spec but also a 17" screen. Although it only has 80gb HDD

http://direct.tesco.com/q/R.200-5525.aspx

[john-306]

HI folks
I am thinking about purchasing a laptop and have been looking around for a while for a decent one but also for a good price.
I would value the opinion of those amongst you who are more expert in this field than I am.
I have found this one on the DABS website

http://www.dabs.com/ProductView.aspx?Quicklinx=4LJ3&CategorySelectedId=11012&PageMode=1&NavigationKey=11012&InMerch=1

Would you please tell me what you think.
Thanks in advance.

I hadn't quite got that much to spend but would have seriously looked at this one as reviews state Acer customer service (if you ever should need it) is pants.

http://www.laptopsdirect.co.uk/Asus_X51R_Laptop_X51R-AP199C/version-1.asp

[kats53]

quote

I hadn't quite got that much to spend but would have seriously looked at this one as reviews state Acer customer service (if you ever should need it) is pants.

http://www.laptopsdirect.co.uk/Asus_.../version-1.asp

I've just had a look at this one and it looks good. I might consider it, also its on buy now pay september 2008.

[Itchy Niagras]

Have alook at Tesco Direct they have a 7520 for £399 gives you a similar spec but also a 17" screen. Although it only has 80gb HDD

http://direct.tesco.com/q/R.200-5525.aspx
That is a first class laptop. Terrific price too. Acer customer care is not fantastic I admit, but I can't say any of the others are that impeccable either...What I do like about their laptops, is the excellent screen quality - it's as good as a Sony Vaio. I have no hesitation in recommending it.

[trapper561]

DDs want to have a pink laptop and I have spotted this on Comet for £799 it looks a lovely job but am wondering if anyone has seen it cheaper anywhere? Or if there is an equivalent pink (must be pink!!!) laptop does not have to be such a high spec as this. Thanks in advance me heartys!

[I'm With Stupid]

Wow, that's hideous.

The Dell (http://www1.euro.dell.com/content/products/features.aspx/notebooks_better?c=uk&cs=ukdhs1&l=en&s=dhs) on the far right is available in pink. Select it and go to "Customise" on the next screen, and you can add the pink colour (plus a built in webcam) for £78. Expensive for a colour, but it's still cheaper than the Sony you picked out, and overall, slightly better spec too. ETA: Actually, all of the Dells on that page, except the first one come in pink if you ask for it.

This (http://www.pcworld.co.uk/martprd/product/seo/751897/?camp_id=ppc_google_press_week22_advent_8215_lapto p) is also apparently pink. Looks black to me though.

[trapper561]

Wow!
at 400 quid that's a steal at that price, ta very muchly am most grateful!
Will ring before I order though to make sure it is pink thanks again mate.

[ioscorpio]

Woolworths have a pink Medion for £399

[ioscorpio]

Medion £150

http://www.woolworths.co.uk/web/jsp/product/index.jsp?pid=50616022

Medion £200

http://www.woolworths.co.uk/web/jsp/product/index.jsp?pid=50504399

Fujitsu Amilo £200

http://www.woolworths.co.uk/web/jsp/product/index.jsp?pid=50626537

Sorry looks like they are out of stock

[citycastaways]

can anyone tell me the difference between an intel core 2 duo processor model no T5500 & T2350 the laptops I have been looking at have one of either but both show the same processor speed (1.66GHz) and bus (667MHz) in plain english would be preferable as I am not to tech minded

[I'm With Stupid]

The T2350 is a Core Duo Processor
The T5500 is a Core 2 Duo Processor

The latter is newer, faster, more economical on your battery life, and just generally better. Similar to the difference between AMD's Turion 64 and Turion 64 X2. Always go for the Core 2 Duo if it's a straight choice at the same price.

[citycastaways]

thanks for your prompt response, I have just checked the website and they have listed it as a intel core 2 duo T2350 I assume this is a mistake and should read intel core duo 2350

[tightrs]

Medion £150

http://www.woolworths.co.uk/web/jsp/product/index.jsp?pid=50616022

Medion £200

http://www.woolworths.co.uk/web/jsp/product/index.jsp?pid=50504399

Fujitsu Amilo £200

http://www.woolworths.co.uk/web/jsp/product/index.jsp?pid=50626537
al these are unavailable :confused:

[PaulLuke]

Hi,

Has anyone else got one of the Acer 7520's from Tesco and if so, haveyou noticed that the insertion point has a habit of jumping randomnly around the page when typing quickly?

This is happening on our machine for both myself and my OH and I'm trying to decide whether it's
(a) the way we our typing (which would seem strange as it has happened to both of us);
(b) a fault affecting our laptop; or
(c) a general problem with the design of the machine.

Any comments gratefully received.

[I'm With Stupid]

thanks for your prompt response, I have just checked the website and they have listed it as a intel core 2 duo T2350 I assume this is a mistake and should read intel core duo 2350
Yeah, all the Core 2 Duo processors are 5000, 6000 and 7000 numbers. T2000 numbers are all Core Duo. The other advantage of Core 2 Duos is that they are 64 bit, whereas Core Duos aren't as far as I'm aware, which will make them quicker when using programs designed for 64-bit processors (not many at the moment, but they're making more and more all the time).

[beefster]

My first lappy.... would appreciate your thoughts on this.
Will be used for kids homework, msn / skype, surfing etc as well as my own amatuer photo work and general office stuff. Streaming of radio / TV also possible as well as some limited gaming.

Acer Travelmate 5520
TM5520 Dual core Athlon x2 TK53
1gb RAM
120gb HDD
Wireless LAN
Multi card reader
15.4 inch screen crystalbrite, tft active matrix, widescreen
Modem 56kbps
DVD RW
Graphics - ATI Radeon Xpress 1250 up to 384MB Hyper memory
Vista Home Preium

£399 :confused:

Welcome any thoughts

[tony863]

I know you probably get this al the time, but here goes.....

I've got no more than £500 for my first laptop. I have no idea about them, but kind of know what I want in one.....I want the following.......

Core duo processor
at least a GB of RAM
decent sized hard drive
and definitely a stand alone graphics card capable of playing a few up to date games

I want this laptop for surfing the net and playing games and just general usage...

Can anyone please help in finding me one that fits my criteria??

[beefster]

The one i have asked for info on above looks as if it fits the bill.... but if you have the extra £100 have a look on Dabs.com, comet.com, and lots of others listed previously on this thread. Took me a few days but the one above looks ok to me........ with my limited knowledge.

[citycastaways]

bobsmith re the two laptops oyu were looking at, I dont think either of them have wireless connection do they?

[citycastaways]

Yeah, all the Core 2 Duo processors are 5000, 6000 and 7000 numbers. T2000 numbers are all Core Duo. The other advantage of Core 2 Duos is that they are 64 bit, whereas Core Duos aren't as far as I'm aware, which will make them quicker when using programs designed for 64-bit processors (not many at the moment, but they're making more and more all the time).

I'm a little confused still as the tesco direct website lists the acer 5613 as having a laptop that runs on Intel core duo 2 T2350 processor is this a mistake they have made, as if it is core duo and not core 2 duo there is a lot of difference thanks for your time

[citycastaways]

sorry I meant to write core 2 duo processor

[sukysue]

The Tesco website have made a lot of errors when giving the info about the laptops.I think to be sure of what you are getting you need to ring their cs and they will search the truth the whole truth and nothing but ..... lol out for you .Infact they were very good when I phoned, couldn't do enough to please, even told me when I said I really wanted 2gb ram to take my laptop to pc world to get another 1 gb ram put in!!!lol

[FREELANCE]

Hi all, hope you can help me decide.. I want to spend about £400 on a laptop and stuck between acer aspire 7520 currently £399 at tesco http://direct.tesco.com/q/R.200-5525.aspx

or Dell Vostro 1000 - http://configure.euro.dell.com/dellstore/config.aspx?b=&c=uk&cs=ukbsdt1&kc=N4X10003&l=en&oc=N1010003&rbc=N1010003&s=bsd

Both costing the same amount of money..
with Dell I get 120gb hardrive, 2gb memory and a 15.4" screen and Windows XP (prefer than Vista)

with Acer I get 80gb hardrive, 1GB memory and 17" screen...

Just wanna know what you ppl would reccomend of the two.. gonna be used mostly for office/admin duties but I want something decent..

[tony863]

GOD AAARRRGGGGHHHHHHHH!!!

This technical jargon is dislodging my brain!

I just don't understand the small differences between laptops and it takes an age to try and understand it all.

I want a laptop preferably with 17" screen and core duo with a half decent graphics card (not integrated) capable of playing things like Counter Strike Source, Command and Conquer, Championship Manager and maybe a few others that have come out in the last year or so.

I would like a half decent brand but I know that my budget is tight.

I have £500, Please Please Please help......My brain hurts...:mad:

[aurora borealis]

I need a gaming laptop that will play Sims well.

I don't really know what I'm looking for ... please help :)

[sukysue]

Have been there and bought the t shirt( in other words don't have a clue!) but at the end of the day you have to decide for yourself what it is you want . A bit of reading and looking at the threads does give you a bit more info but am afraid it is entirely up to the individual as lots of ppl choose different machines over the other. Hope you understand what I am saying.... look I think the Tesco one for 400 quid is not a bad machine but others will say they like the dell /Sony/Toshiba brand and that Dell will make it for youR specifications .I would have gone with that myself but unfortunately I wanted the machine for this side of christmas and wasn't prepared to wait in the vain hope it might come in time for father christmas (tis for my dd's y'see).If it had been for me I would have waited but needs must.....hth in some way and good luck.Also Acer cs services are rubbish and it may put some ppl off.I plumped for the Acer from Tesco ( cs were brilliant btw) and have not realy given it a good workout yet but it seems an ok machine for what we want it for but we are not very tech minded and prob don't need this high a spec anyway.GOOD LUCK!!

[londonman81]

I'd like to know how good Lenovo laptops are considered to be.

The Which? website mentions them as one of the 'Best Buy' brands and yet no one on this foru, seems to have mentioned them.

Additionally, I've seen this model and would like to know people's opinion of it:

http://www.ebuyer.com/UK/product/131629


Am I right in thinking that a Core2Duo is much better than a Core Duo? Also, where does Centrino now fit into the picture?

TIA!

[kats53]

Hi londonman81
I've just had a look at that laptop and I think it looks really good. The reviews given are all good too. I did a search on google for it and its much dearer on other websites.
I think it might be worth considering.

[bandraoi]

The P200-10o from Toshiba is what I got.

Should do what you need it to and has a 17inch screen, 2GB Ram and 120GB memory, 1.73Ghz processor.

Buy it through TopCashback and wait a week or two till empire direct have a new discount voucher and you'll get it for just under £500 incl VAT.

[Talon]

Hi,

I'm not sure if I am posting this in the right place ... so sorry if it should be somewhere else.

I started reading this forum a few days ago and must say ... its great :)

Anyway ... I am in need of a laptop and my budget is £500. I would like the best spec possible for this of course. It will primarily be used for browsing, downloading TV shows, office-type work and perhaps a little gaming.

I have hunted for a few days now and think I have found the best deal for me:

http://www.acerdirect.co.uk/Acer_Aspire_5633WLMi_LX.AXX0X.246/version.asp

This is available from a few sites, including www.laptopsdirect.co.uk (http://www.laptopsdirect.co.uk), www.technoworld.com (http://www.technoworld.com) and www.amazon.co.uk (http://www.amazon.co.uk).

Before I go ahead and purchase though, it would be good to know if anyone has spotted anything better or has any recommendations on this particular model?

Thanks for your help.

[Hillfly]

I would suggest these 2 dells offer better 'bang for your buck' as posted on HUKD:

http://www.hotukdeals.com/deal/47690/dell-vostro-1400-notebook-2ghz-core

or

bigger screen version:
http://www.hotukdeals.com/deal/48141/dell-vostro-1500-notebook-1-6ghz-co

Acers are good value - I have had 3 now - but the build quality can be poor (1 of mine broke terminally after 15 months - 3 months out of warranty!!).
My next machine will probably be a Dell.

[mazz1953]

The laptop below will be available from Aldis on Sunday 7 October 2007, and I think it is very good value for money and worth getting. I couldn't find it on their website, but I subscribe to their mailing list and I got this Email this morning :-

http://aycu15.webshots.com/image/29254/2001395684610967599_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2001395684610967599)




• Intel® Pentium® Dual-core processor T2130, 1.86 GHz, 1MB L2 Cache and FSB 533MHz
What is Dual-core?
Two processor cores work within the same physical processor chip to increase the performance of your PC. Dual-core technology means that several demanding applications can be run at the same time, allowing your computer to think as fast as you can multi-task.

• 15.4" TFT WXGA Widescreen Display
1280 x 800 pixels. 16:10 widescreen cinema format for optimized DVD playback and more desktop space on screen.

• 2,048MB DDR II SDRAM
Massive memory for maximum performance.

• 160GB Hard Disk
Ample space for up to 35,000 digital photos or 35,000 MP4 tracks (at 3.5MB per file).

• Intel® Graphics Media Accelerator 950
128MB shared memory based on PCI-Express technology.

• 8 x Multi-standard DVD/CD Burner with DVD-RAM and Dual Layer support
Watch DVDs and even make your own. Reads and writes: DVD±R/±RW/±R DL/DVD-RAM/CD-RW/DVD-ROM.

• Wireless LAN 802.11 b/g
Connect to the Internet without plugs or cables with Wireless LAN technology. Data transfer speeds up to 54Mbit/s (requires WLAN access point).

• Integrated VGA webcam
Great for messaging programs and video conferencing. CMOS image Sensor. Video resolution 640 x 480 pixels, 30 frames/second.

• 2 multimedia speakers
• 6 channel audio out (analogue + S/P-DIF)
Enjoy amazing "home cinema" surround sound with 6 channel audio out (use in conjunction with a compatible surround sound speaker system - not supplied).

• 4-in-1 memory card reader
Transfer photos the easy way.
Accepts the following common memory
cards: SD/MMC/MS & MS Pro.

• Fast Ethernet 10/100Mbit/s on board

• V.90 Modem including modem connection cable

http://aycu12.webshots.com/image/30771/2004514674066879390_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2004514674066879390)


Windows Vista® Home Premium
Operating System - it starts here...

Productivity - Windows Vista® Home Premium helps you accomplish more.

Communication - Windows Vista® Home Premium helps you stay connected to people and information wherever you are.

TV and Movies - Windows Vista® Home Premium unites your PC and your TV for a better entertainment experience.

Gaming - Windows Vista® Home Premium delivers 3D graphics for every level of player and parental controls limit both gaming time and content. Photos - enjoy and share your photos and produce great prints and videos.

Music - sort your music collection your way and connect to an array of portable devices.

http://aycu17.webshots.com/image/30856/2004526672476687179_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2004526672476687179)


Numerous interfaces for multimedia and connectivity:
1 x Express card, 3 x USB 2.0, 1 x VGA out, 1 x TV out, 1 x LAN (RJ45), 1 x modem (RJ11), 1 x IEEE 1394, 1 x line in*, 1 x microphone in*, 1 x line out*, 6 channel audio out (analogue + S/P-DIF)*
*The usage of these interfaces is dependant on the software configuration.

http://aycu34.webshots.com/image/28313/2004599560235877882_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2004599560235877882)

[peterbaker]

Yes I bought that Aldi laptop last time around about 2 months ago when it had just 120Gb hard drive - not sure about any other differences between mine and this latest one apart from fact mine was £20 cheaper? Anybody?

Tony863, I understand your frustration ... and once upon a time I was pretty clued up but have lost it these last 10 years!

The integrated graphics you are trying to avoid ... it was once the way to go, but thesedays the integrated graphics are pretty impressive. Most laptop innards are of course designed to save space, and integrating graphics is the obvious way for the designers.

If it is of any assistance, I am quite happy with my Medion graphics which are good enough to run Microsoft FSX Flight Simulator with medium levels of detail without stuttering. FSX is quite a hungry graphics animal.

Just one fault I have noticed with the Medion and that is poor levels of feel in the keyboard keys, and one or two prone to sticking (i.e. not working unless pressed deliberately firmly). Easing off the tops of the offending two and simply refitting them (click fit) has improved them.

PS One tiny bonus on the Medion 4 in 1 card reader that I had accepted as something it wouldn't do, but actually does, is that mine also reads Olympus/Fuji style XD cards!

[Hillfly]

I would still suggest the Dell's are better value than the Medion. The processors are far better and the dedicated graphics cards are DX10 compliant.:confused:

A good resource for help on choosing a new laptop is here:

http://forum.notebookreview.com/forumdisplay.php?f=16

[Talon]

I would suggest these 2 dells offer better 'bang for your buck' as posted on HUKD:

http://www.hotukdeals.com/deal/47690/dell-vostro-1400-notebook-2ghz-core

or

bigger screen version:
http://www.hotukdeals.com/deal/48141/dell-vostro-1500-notebook-1-6ghz-co

Acers are good value - I have had 3 now - but the build quality can be poor (1 of mine broke terminally after 15 months - 3 months out of warranty!!).
My next machine will probably be a Dell.

In fact after I posted that last message, I found that Vostro 1500 and also a HP Lappy just over my budget. So I was looking for discount codes/vouchers to bring them down :)

http://www.laptopshop.co.uk/compaq_hp-6720s-hp_6720s_gr665et-laptop-4-n2.htm

I think I'll opt for the Dell. Other than Quidco, can you direct me to any Dell discounts?

Thanks for your help guys :)

[Hillfly]

You will probbaly not do better than Quidco on the website.
Also note that if you go for the Vostro make sure you get it form the Dell home section. If you buy via business site different rules apply to cancellations & returns to that of the Dell home section. For example you can't change your mind and cancel within 7 days of receiving the machine (distance selling regs apply to 'Dell home').

A further dsicount tactic is to call and cancel once you getthe machine. Often you can get offered some refund in order not to cancel as clearly Dell woudl be stuck with a collecvtion charge and then a returned spec machine.

You can also phone up to order from Dell and can haggle for some freebies. Firstly ask for 5% discount which you can get from cashback sites like Quidco. Then ask for some free upgardes - sometimes you can get a better wirelss card, Vistaupgarde or free bag or more if the rep you get is good.
I recently tried this . It took 3 calls to get a rep who would haggle - but I got offered a few freebies.

Check out some of the threads on HotUKDeals for previous Dell deals as lots of people have posted what they got for free and their haggle strategies.:money:

[BartGirl]

Hi.
I'm not sure if this has been mentioned on here before but try morgancomputers.com for bargains around £500 mark. Especially in their bargain basement section. I have owned both a desktop and laptop from them. Highly recomm!!

[matty2767]

i saw this on ebuyer with a core2 processor.
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/132347

[rainbowangel]

Hi sadly I can't afford a £500 lap top as all of these are.... does anyone know of any good ones around the £300 to £350 mark? All my pref are is.. 1gb memory wireless internet and possibly core 2 processor. Many thanks in advance :o)

[Monkeeboy]

Try the Dell model I ordered and mentioned in my earlier post. You are always able to haggle. Mine have just arrived so I only need to unpack and check them.

cheers

[rainbowangel]

Thanks Monkeeboy but I have no idea of how I would haggel with Dell do you phone them up? Thanks again Georgina

[Monkeeboy]

Just check out their website - look at both home and small business prices, but remember the business prices need VAT and delivery adding (business also has other order differences to home users such as no distance selling cancellation rights- apparently), identify exactly what you want then set your self a limit.

Give the operators a call tell them exactly what you have seen but say the price is above your budget can they move on the price/is there any flexibility on this price - perhaps mention a figure slightly below your budget then allow them to raise your budget to your real limit. They are always keen to get a sale. Do not buckle straight away. When I called I said the above and was offered different machines and spec, but no discount. i said that this was the machine I wanted so politely refused the other machines offered. The guy took my phone number then called back a few hours later to say they would do the price I asked for.

Just remember its always worth asking! And always remain polite and friendly

Best of luck - let me know how you get on.

[Fatal Swan]

Hi sadly I can't afford a £500 lap top as all of these are.... does anyone know of any good ones around the £300 to £350 mark? All my pref are is.. 1gb memory wireless internet and possibly core 2 processor. Many thanks in advance :o)

I posted this on Grabbit but it's had little response. Now that the Play.com RAM is going for £18 a GB, this is great for the money I think.

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=570131

£330 for a Toshiba Satellite Pro T2130 Dual Core (1.86ghz), 512Mb, 15.4", 60Gb HD, DVDRW. Till yesterday there was a code for 5% off too, but it's not valid anymore. Add the extra RAM and that's your all requirements for sub-£350. I haven't seen any other machines with a processor of this spec in the price bracket.

(Much shorter lead times than the dells too... delivered within a couple of days :))

Edit: zoopakev has just posted a better offer than the current one on the above thread. Same laptop but with free upgrade to 1gig RAM now on laptops direct, £330 after cashback, plus 2% quidco!

http://www.laptopsdirect.co.uk/Toshiba_Satellite_Pro_L40-12T_PSL43E-00L00NEN/version.asp

I think you'll be hard pushed to find a Core 2 duo in this price range but the dual core T2130 is a lot better than the celerons and cheaper AMDs on most of the others/.

[matty2767]

Hi sadly I can't afford a £500 lap top as all of these are.... does anyone know of any good ones around the £300 to £350 mark? All my pref are is.. 1gb memory wireless internet and possibly core 2 processor. Many thanks in advance :o)


this is £50 over budget but you might find it cheaper elsewhere. it is the core 2 processor that is causing you the problem with your budget, why not drop to an amd or core?

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/132347

[leesharp]

Hi
just purchased a refurbished Dell laptop for £439.99 from a company called SVP.Came with a 160gb hd,2gb Ram,etc,etc,also a 3 year warranty too
We ordered it @14.30 and it came @08.30 the next day.They are also doing great deals on desk tops too,worth a look i think,hope this helps?
Here is the link for it

http://svp.co.uk/products-list.php?bid=0&cid=241


Lee

[beefster]

I posted this on Grabbit but it's had little response. Now that the Play.com RAM is going for £18 a GB, this is great for the money I think.

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=570131

£330 for a Toshiba Satellite Pro T2130 Dual Core (1.86ghz), 512Mb, 15.4", 60Gb HD, DVDRW. Till yesterday there was a code for 5% off too, but it's not valid anymore. Add the extra RAM and that's your all requirements for sub-£350. I haven't seen any other machines with a processor of this spec in the price bracket.

(Much shorter lead times than the dells too... delivered within a couple of days :))

Edit: zoopakev has just posted a better offer than the current one on the above thread. Same laptop but with free upgrade to 1gig RAM now on laptops direct, £330 after cashback, plus 2% quidco!

http://www.laptopsdirect.co.uk/Toshiba_Satellite_Pro_L40-12T_PSL43E-00L00NEN/version.asp

I think you'll be hard pushed to find a Core 2 duo in this price range but the dual core T2130 is a lot better than the celerons and cheaper AMDs on most of the others/.

The toshiba at laptops direct is plus Vat / tax making it £380 ish.

The acer form Ebuyer with the bigger 80gb hard drive and the intel core2 then looks better value to me at £399, but i'm no expert!

[Fatal Swan]

The toshiba at laptops direct is plus Vat / tax making it £380 ish.

£330 for the Toshiba is the price once the £50 cashback from the manufacturer is taken into account, so it is pretty a significant price difference between that and the £400 ebuyer one...

[spike87]

I've just ordered the Toshiba one from Laptops Direct with the 2% cashback from quidco. Excellent find!

Thanks so much!

[kats53]

I've also just ordered a Toshiba from laptopsdirect and through quidco. Thanks!
I've been looking for ages trying to decide which one to buy, this looks ideal and I can't wait for it to come.

[shazam]

saw this offer on the tv for the fujitsu laptop with comet. Is this a good laptop as the memory and hard drive seem to be good, for the price?

Processor speed: 1.73 GHz
Processor: Intel Pentium Dual Core
Screen size: 15 inches
Storage (hard drive): 80 GB
Memory (RAM): 2048 MB

£399.00

http://www.comet.co.uk/cometbrowse/product.do?sku=407135

any advice would be great

[Infidel]

Hi sadly I can't afford a £500 lap top as all of these are.... does anyone know of any good ones around the £300 to £350 mark?

I'm in the same boat. My absolute max is £350.

I'm not that clued up on PC's so don't really understand all the spec stuff and what great advantages the higher priced models offer.
I mainly just surf the net, watch streaming, play music and other media like films and Dvd's. I also use it to run other software like office stuff, photoshop etc.
Would want a Minimum HD of 60gig.

So, perhaps i don't really need an expensive one anyway?

Any advice greatly appreciated, including ordering details and models/companies that i should avoid at all costs etc.
Also, is it worth considering Ebay, as i saw a few that were well below my budget.

[MilliesMum]

Guys, if you go onto the Dell website and into the Outlet store, you will find a couple quite a bit cheaper than £350 (or there was last night anyway). I am trying to talk my other half to buying our son a cheap laptop for christmas. He is a techie freak and doesnt play with 'toys' and although we have 3 pcs connected to the net in our house, theres always a fight for a spare computor.

I am just a little unsure about spec. He will be using it for his homework and for playing web based games. Any ideas as what spec to look for would be appreciated.

[saverspud]

You will probbaly not do better than Quidco on the website.
Also note that if you go for the Vostro make sure you get it form the Dell home section. If you buy via business site different rules apply to cancellations & returns to that of the Dell home section. For example you can't change your mind and cancel within 7 days of receiving the machine (distance selling regs apply to 'Dell home').
:money:

I'm aware that this might be a very stupid question, but how on earth do you get the Vostro laptops to come up in the home section? I can only find them in the small business section on the Dell webaite.

Apologies if the answer to this is screamingly obvious!

Thanks
S

[beefster]

£330 for the Toshiba is the price once the £50 cashback from the manufacturer is taken into account, so it is pretty a significant price difference between that and the £400 ebuyer one...

Yes but........ the Acer spec is much higher thus making it "better Value". I didnt say it was cheaper. Core 2 duo T5500 processor...... for £399!!

Saying that i got the Lenovo from the Bt shop with my employee discount.
Nice spec and great reviews as opposed to the acer (customer service probs etc).
http://www.shop.bt.com/productview.aspx?Quicklinx=4NHD&CategorySelectedId=11105&PageMode=1&NavigationKey=11105,50600,46400000,403520000

Looks a nice machine with everything included. Hope my daughters pleased ;)

[beefster]

saw this offer on the tv for the fujitsu laptop with comet. Is this a good laptop as the memory and hard drive seem to be good, for the price?

Processor speed: 1.73 GHz
Processor: Intel Pentium Dual Core
Screen size: 15 inches
Storage (hard drive): 80 GB
Memory (RAM): 2048 MB

£399.00

http://www.comet.co.uk/cometbrowse/product.do?sku=407135

any advice would be great

Have a good look at one first, the speakers put me off straight away. well "speaker". Sound is awful but if you want to add speakers??? Defeats the object of carrying it around for me, having to carry speakers too.

[jdm01]

I'm putting this into the Grabbit board however - I just got myself a clearance laptop from PC World - There at the right time:

Initially, I saw a packard bell laptop on clearance for £249 - was gonna buy it and got the Sales assistant over to discuss - there was another family there and they were swithering on it also - eventually by the time I spoke to the assistant he told me this laptop was half price - Celeron Core Duo 1.73Mhz 1gb Mem - so £249 half price wasn't a bad deal - I nearly fell off my perch when he said "Yeah, that would come in at £125".

By the time I said yes, the other family had confirmed they wanted it.!! Damn - last one

Anyway, I asked the guy if he had any other deals like this - and he said there were some clearance deals in another place - managed to go over and have a look - found a Toshiba P200-13z 17" widescreen 1.76Mhz core duo, 1gb Ram - Unfortunately this was coming in at £450 with no half price sticker anywhere - Sales assistant said - that would be £225............I raced him to the checkout with it.

£225 for a Toshiba Satellite P200-13z - Get youself down there while they are clearing the stock for the Christmas stock coming in.

I believe these deals are only there this weekend - good luck to those who get something - Store was the Glasgow Braehead one.

J

[vix2000]

do you think thats a mistake by the salespeople?

[kazzaw]

Still £599.99 online!!

[vix2000]

we'll all look stupid tomorrow when we turn up at pc world for these clearance laptops expecting these prices!!!!!

[Infidel]

I'm putting this into the Grabbit board however - I just got myself a clearance laptop from PC World - There at the right time:

Initially, I saw a packard bell laptop on clearance for £249 - was gonna buy it and got the Sales assistant over to discuss - there was another family there and they were swithering on it also - eventually by the time I spoke to the assistant he told me this laptop was half price - Celeron Core Duo 1.73Mhz 1gb Mem - so £249 half price wasn't a bad deal - I nearly fell off my perch when he said "Yeah, that would come in at £125".

By the time I said yes, the other family had confirmed they wanted it.!! Damn - last one

Anyway, I asked the guy if he had any other deals like this - and he said there were some clearance deals in another place - managed to go over and have a look - found a Toshiba P200-13z 17" widescreen 1.76Mhz core duo, 1gb Ram - Unfortunately this was coming in at £450 with no half rice sticker anywhere - Sales assistant said - that would be £225............I raced him to the checkout with it.

£225 for a Toshiba Satellite P200-13z - Get youself down there while they are clearing the stock for the Christmas stock coming in.

I believe these deals are only there this weekend - good luck to those who get something - Store was the Glasgow Braehead one.

J

Not wanting to sound stupid or anything, but what's the HD capacity of these laptops?

[jdm01]

Not wanting to sound stupid or anything, but what's the HD capacity of these laptops?

120Gb Hard Disk

...for the poster above - I am thinking it may have been a mistake but I may have just been in the right place at the right time.

A mate was in today and the deals were only for Saturday.

j

[beefster]

Aint it just great when that happend..... :beer: :T :j :D :j :T :beer:

[Infidel]

120Gb Hard Disk

...for the poster above - I am thinking it may have been a mistake but I may have just been in the right place at the right time.

A mate was in today and the deals were only for Saturday.

j

Don't tell me 120gb now :(

That would have been ideal for my needs, i need to buy one (£350 MAX price). My only real requirements are 60GB MINIMUM HD.

Why didn't you buy one for me?

[Hillfly]

I'm aware that this might be a very stupid question, but how on earth do you get the Vostro laptops to come up in the home section? I can only find them in the small business section on the Dell webaite.

Apologies if the answer to this is screamingly obvious!

Thanks
S


You need to know the e-value code. I usually check the deals on HotUkDeals - every week a guy on their board "MikeT" posts the best deals and when it's Vostro he always posts the code for the machine in the home section.

Here's an example:
http://configure.euro.dell.com/dellstore/config.aspx?c=uk&fb=1&l=en&oc=N1010003A&s=dhs

You can see the e-value code in the url: = N1010003A

[Drag-Den]

Ok, trying to source a laptop for the mother in law so for obvious reasons I need to get this right! She's asked me as i know more than her but i'm no expert so hopefully you guys can help!?

She used the laptop which has just broken down for predominantly surfing, photo's, and a few low spec games. Her budget is £300-£400, from the sounds of it she'd prefer Windows XP to Vista. So far I've found the two below but could well have missed better ones so would appreciate any advice people can give:

Product Description - HP 530 - Core Duo T2300E 1.66 GHz - 15.4" TFT
Dimensions (WxDxH) - 35.8 cm x 22.7 cm x 3.6 cm
Weight - 2.7 kg
System Type - Notebook
Built-in Devices - Speaker, wireless LAN aerial
Processor - Intel Core Duo T2300E / 1.66 GHz ( Dual-Core )
Cache Memory - 2 MB - L2 Cache
RAM - 1 GB (installed) / 2 GB (max) - DDR II SDRAM ( 1 x 1 GB )
Hard Drive - 80 GB - Serial ATA-150 - 5400 rpm
Optical Storage - DVD±RW (+R double layer) / DVD-RAM
Display - 15.4" TFT active matrix 1280 x 800 ( WXGA )
Graphics Controller - Intel GMA 950
Audio Output - Sound card
Telecom - Fax / modem - 56 Kbps
Networking - Network adapter - Ethernet, Fast Ethernet, IEEE 802.11b, IEEE 802.11g
Wireless NIC - Intel PRO/Wireless 3945BG
Input Device - Keyboard, touchpad
Battery - Lithium Ion
Operating System - Microsoft Windows Vista Home Basic

Price - £369.97

Toshiba /satellite Pro A200

Product Description - Toshiba Satellite Pro A200-16B - Celeron M 520 1.6 GHz - 15.4" TFT
Dimensions (WxDxH) - 36.2 cm x 26.8 cm x 3.9 cm
Weight - 2.5 kg
Localisation - United Kingdom
System Type - Notebook
Built-in Devices - Stereo speakers, wireless LAN aerial
Processor - Intel Celeron M 520 / 1.6 GHz
Cache Memory - 1 MB - L2 Cache
RAM - 1 GB (installed) / 2 GB (max) - DDR II SDRAM - 667 MHz ( 2 x 512 MB )
Card Reader - 6 in 1
Hard Drive - 120 GB - Serial ATA-150 - 5400 rpm
Optical Storage - DVD±RW (±R DL) / DVD-RAM - integrated
Display - 15.4" TFT active matrix 1280 x 800 ( WXGA ) - 24-bit (16.7 million colours)
Graphics Controller - Intel GMA 950
Audio Output - Sound card
Telecom - Fax / modem - 56 Kbps
Networking - Network adapter - Ethernet, Fast Ethernet, IEEE 802.11b, IEEE 802.11g
Input Device - Keyboard, touchpad
Power - AC 120/230 V ( 50/60 Hz )
Battery - Lithium Ion
Operating System - Microsoft Windows XP Professional
Manufacturer Warranty - 1 year warranty

Price - £399.97

[jdm01]

Don't tell me 120gb now :(

That would have been ideal for my needs, i need to buy one (£350 MAX price). My only real requirements are 60GB MINIMUM HD.

Why didn't you buy one for me?


You should've said ! ;o)

Seriously though, this may be the time to keep your eyes open - companies will be clearing Laptops out for the new Christmas stock - if you show some patience, you may get what you want.

J

[anonemoney]

Go to http://www.currys.co.uk/martprd/store/cur_page.jsp?BV_SessionID=@@@@0125530459.119254232 4@@@@&BV_EngineID=ccgcaddmemmdkhgcflgceggdhhmdgml.0&show_all=true&category_oid=-27411&page=ProductList&fm=1&sm=0&tm=4

Currys laptop clearence section... they have some really good deals on.

Yesterday they was a Packard Bell Core 2 Duo T5500, 120GB, 1GB ram... a good spec i would say for £329, plus if you go through quidco you can get an extra 5% off, plus last month they was 5% voucher (these vouchers may appear again).. but essentially you can get a Core 2 Duo for less than £330.
** Bear in mind this is a Refurb Laptop with 1 year warrenty**

I think a good deal....:cool:

This is currently out of stock at the moment but it keeps coming back (iv had my eye on this for a month, so have seen it come in and out of stock)

[hb1444]

I just want something for 200-250 pounds maybe with vista

[Jon 01]

Has anyone seen a new Acer Ferrari 3200 (that the RED one) anywhere ?

I've a mate who has to have one !! (I know, sad. What does having to have a bright red laptop say about you ?). I know Acer don't make them any more and have switched to the black ones, but I would have thought there might be a few knocking around somewhere ?

Failing that, can anyone recommend a red lappy ? (and, yes, I know colour is not the way to buy a computer...).

[jbatista]

Has anyone seen a new Acer Ferrari 3200 (that the RED one) anywhere ?

I've a mate who has to have one !! (I know, sad. What does having to have a bright red laptop say about you ?). I know Acer don't make them any more and have switched to the black ones, but I would have thought there might be a few knocking around somewhere ?

Failing that, can anyone recommend a red lappy ? (and, yes, I know colour is not the way to buy a computer...).
Try Dell Inspirion,you can choose the colour of the case, I have a Dell Laptop and have had for just over a year, so far so good, but there are some excellent deals to be had with them at the moment.
Good luck.

[elly2]

I have £400 - £450 and i need to buy a laptop for mainly uni work i have no idea about processor speeds etc etc know a little about memory and hard drives (mainly the bigger the better lol) what can/do you nice ppl help me find/recomend for this price?

[kgrant]

Hi.

Can anyone advise myself on the two possible laptops I have seen online at the moment or on a general use laptop with reasonable battery life . I shall be using the laptop for general use at home and also for taking away on holidays etc. Internet usuage, MS Office and AutoCAD will be the main things used on it so can anyone give opinions on both the following specs. in relation to prices found, the companies that I am proposing to buy the laptops from (online websites) and anyone got any links to other reviews or even had any experiences (good or bad) on either laptop? Other suggested laptops would also be welcomed.

Cheers

SONY laptop:

http://www.laskys.com/pcs_and_laptops/laptops_and_pdas/laptops/sony_vaio_vgn_nr11zs.html?cm_mmc=Dealtime-_-Pcs_And_Laptops-_-Laptops-_-420190_SONY_VAIO_VGN-NR11ZS&engine=dealtime&keyword=SONY+VAIO+VGN-NR11ZS#specification

HP Laptop:

http://www.ciao.co.uk/HP_Pavilion_Media_Center_dv2530ea_Entertainment_Co re_2_Duo_T7100_1_8_GHz_14_1_TFT__6704758

[itsarichmansworld]

Dont know if anyone has already said this so sorry if I am repeating

I got a free dell laptop from AOL signing a 24month contract for 19.99 a month
Its a inspiron 1520 and so far so good I only browse read email etc and a bit uploading so I dont need a fancy pc But this is nice I ahve to admit and has vista basic.

Hope it helps.

[Poppycat]

Advertising your own web site again I see (edited the link out of the quote)

i found dell to be a good place to buy a latop, i paid around £450 but for that got
- duo core 2 processor
- 2gb ram
- case
-120gb hardrive
-truelife screen

and a few programs, this was by far the best value that i found around, there are also some good new dell laptops on ebay, prob get upto £70 cheaper than official dell website.

Also in the intrest of saving money, i found watchin tv shows and films online saves me a bundle and prob pays for my laptop over some time, i use but there are a few places around, but definatly check out dell, they are pretty good.

[researcher]

A friend (builder in 40's) has never used a computer in his life - but now wants to get a laptop.

He would use it to surf, email and play games and is the impatient type so it would need to be quick(ish). Any suggestions as to the lowest price and spec he should go for.

His Mum mentioned the free AOL to him - but he won't be staying at his property for two years + I wouldn't recommend either AOL or the laptop which looks pretty basic to me. Any suggestions?

[MickKnipfler]

"playing games" = lots of money

[Pepsi35]

How about Mmmmmm not a known name ( well I do know it lol )
Maxdata Laptop 4011IW off ebuyer £310.00 free delivery and £ 10 off if you pay through google ...........Ive ordered one the reviews look good from what Ive read on the site . Hopefully it will be ok :j

Byez Sharon

[ChrisChan]

First laptop less than £300 with 1GB RAM I have found on eBuyer.
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/133382
As many people will know many people will know memory is often woefully low in cheap laptops and it makes a big difference to speed so 1Gb is a big incentive over 512MB probably more so than processor speed or anything else. Also has built in wireless. Assuming as this is Vista this is going to be 802.11g but cannot assume as have seen a lot of refurbs on eBay with only 802.11b wireless which is not going to have anywhere near as good range.

[bambam69]

How do you get 50 quid cashback from the manufacturer on the toshibas on laptops direct? Is this no longer applicable?

I have around 300 - 350 to spend on a laptop and basically just wanna get the best I can, any ideas?

[buglawton]

I ordered a Panasonic Lumix FZ8 with Ebuyer earlier this year - when it didn't arrive I only found out by calling their expensive 0871 number it was not in stock - they admitted quite nonchalantly that the FZ8 was 'discontinued' (it may have been with Ebuyer but not with Panasonic...) and - oh, by the way would I like to cancel/get a refund on the money they'd already taken...

[C_Ronaldo]

Im after a laptop but not sure which one to get, id like a dual core processor, 1Gb or more of ram, 100Gb HDD, floppy not required, wireless ability, ethernet port i guess, usb port as well, id rather stick with Win XP as an OS, £500 max funds

[Pepsi35]

Rec'd my new laptop and it is very good :j Bought from Ebuyer, didn't know the make so I was a bit wary - read reviews from other people so took a chance -
Make Maxdata NB ECO 4011IW UK
wireless
vista basic

best bit £310-00 - £299 with discount if paid through google

I'm pleased with it - one of the cheapest I have seen :T got everything I need , as I do all my photography work on my desktop - quick, tracked delivery as well brill !

Sharon

[bambam69]

Hi - Can anyone tell me what the difference is between buying from Dell home and Dell small business? I read somewhere the return policy is different?

Have seen what looks like a great deal on a dell Vostro with amd duo core processor, 1gb ram, 120 gb hd for about 350 after delivery and vat (also get 5% off with quidco).

Can anyone better this?

[JDPower]

Have seen what looks like a great deal on a dell Vostro with amd duo core processor, 1gb ram, 120 gb hd for about 350 after delivery and vat (also get 5% off with quidco).
I bought that a couple of months ago when they were doing free delivery (cost about £320 all in, with an upgrade to the dual core processer). Its a pretty good little laptop for the price. Only negatives I've found was a lack of a physical volume control (have to use volume tray icon or keyboard shortcut). Also I have a very minor problem one of the mousepad buttons, though that may just be a one off issue with my particular laptop.

Having said that it runs really well and I've been very happy with the performance of it. And I got it with XP which was a major positive as I wasn't wanting Vista.

[beefster]

http://www.shop.bt.com/productview.aspx?Quicklinx=4NHD&CategorySelectedId=11105&PageMode=1&NavigationKey=11105,50600,46400000,403520000

Just a quick update to say that the Lenovo (IBM) N200 i ordered a couple of weeks ago is the dogs wotsits for the money. Very pleased with it but yet to use all the facilities it has. I would recommend it for anyone looking for a good lappy around £400 - 450.

Makes my desktop look ancient!

[bradshawce]

Have a look at the Novatech range. Good specs for good prices.
http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/nbranges.html

[student87]

Hey, what''s your view on this please?

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/128979

[grae-uk]

Hi - Can anyone tell me what the difference is between buying from Dell home and Dell small business? I read somewhere the return policy is different?

Have seen what looks like a great deal on a dell Vostro with amd duo core processor, 1gb ram, 120 gb hd for about 350 after delivery and vat (also get 5% off with quidco).

Can anyone better this?
As far as i am aware the returns policy isn't any different, but the warrenty packages might be onsite rather than return to base on Small Business Machines.

I am an IT Consultant and buy many Dell machines for clients and tend to have a good idea of the Dell range. The Vostro range is a new entry level machine range for Small Businesses and you can currently get a VERY good machine for a much better price than the equivalent Home Inspiron machine which are very similar.

You don't say what you want to do with your machine but i would tend to advise getting a 2GB machine if you are going to run Vista. Most techies like myself say that 1GB is the VERY minimum for any Vista machine, and if you are just browsing the web and sending a few emails, maybe the odd word doc or two then you might get away with it. But if you are a heavier user with many applications open at a time (by many i mean 3-4 or more) then you will have a far more usable machine with 2GB!

Hope this helps :)

Graham.

[pjomara]

One place I'd recommend is Dell's ebay shop. (http://stores.ebay.co.uk/Dell-Outlet)
It's cheaper than the Dell outlet store and all items have a 12 month warranty.
I got an Inspiron 720, Core 2 Duo 1.8, 2GB Ram, 160GB HD, Vista Business, 256MB GeForce Graphics for £400.
Also, got a decent desktop for £160.
Most of the current ones up there have a minor scratch but there's lots available that aren't scratched like the one I got.

[grae-uk]

One place I'd recommend is Dell's ebay shop. (http://stores.ebay.co.uk/Dell-Outlet)
It's cheaper than the Dell outlet store and all items have a 12 month warranty.
I got an Inspiron 720, Core 2 Duo 1.8, 2GB Ram, 160GB HD, Vista Business, 256MB GeForce Graphics for £400.
Also, got a decent desktop for £160.
Most of the current ones up there have a minor scratch but there's lots available that aren't scratched like the one I got.
looks good, thanks for sharing! :)

[noz]

no HP or dell on the poll?!?!?!


Hewlett Packard Pavilion GZ974EA / AMD Athlon 64 X2 TK53 / 2GB / 160GB / DVD-SM / 15.4" / Vista Home Premium / Laptop / Notebook


http://images.play.com/covers/3499291m.jpg

Processor: AMD Athlon 64 X2 TK53 Mobile Technology
Memory: 2GB
HD Capacity: 160GB
Display: 15.4" WXGA High Definition BrightView Widescreen
Graphics Card: NVIDIA GeForce Go 6100
Operating System: Windows Vista Home Premium
Optical Drive: Super Multi DVD Writer (+/-R +/-RW) with Double Layer support
Networking: 10/100 Ethernet LAN, Wireless 802.11b/g WLAN
Interface:
1 VGA port
3 USB 2.0 ports
1 RJ 11 modem connector
1 RJ 45 Ethernet connector
S-video TV out
1 Headphone-out, 1 mic-inis this a good price? what do you guys reckon im thinking of purchasing this. And also does anyone know the equivilent of AMD ATHLON 64 X2 in intel? like e.g. 2ghz

[grae-uk]

Hey, I have got a Dell with that CPU. To be honest i am not impressed. Slow starting up and logging on. I would presonally save a bit and go for something a bit faster. Either the AMD Turion which are far better than this athlon (my mum has a laptop with one) or get an Intel!!

You ask is it a good price...but don't state the price!! :) oops!!

[noz]

lol sorry forgot to mention tht!

£429.99

[grae-uk]

lol sorry forgot to mention tht!

£429.99
It is quite expensive for that spec too. You can get a better Dell for less.

[pin]

cheapest laptop around now has to be the Asus EEE PC, will be going for under £250.

[grae-uk]

For those too lazy too google the Asus mentioned by Pin ;) here is a link: http://www.disking.co.uk/product_info.php?ref=79&products_id=98775228

Not sure it meets many peoples requirements. tbh i personally don't think Linux s yet ready for general desktop user market. But that is another discussion all together :)

[JDPower]

Forum's broke again by the look of it. 82 pages in this thread but only 15 actually exist.

[Itchy Niagras]

no HP or dell on the poll?!?!?!


Hewlett Packard Pavilion GZ974EA / AMD Athlon 64 X2 TK53 / 2GB / 160GB / DVD-SM / 15.4" / Vista Home Premium / Laptop / Notebook

Comet are currently selling this for £399.99 - a snip!:T

[Colcoops]

Comet are currently selling this for £399.99 - a snip!:T
I can't see it on the web site. is it in store?

[KD]

I have search the threads and can feel my eyes are starting to glaze all over with all the jargon.

I want to buy my 13 year old daughter a laptop for her joint Xmas/birthday present and feel £400-£450 is about right.

I'm getting confused by all the different varients available and don't know what minimums to work to. She'll want to use it for homework, internet/bebo and photos at present.

I understand that I'll want a decent memory 2GB but what's the deal re the hard drive and processor specs- I don't understand how to compare them.

I like the look of the curry's toshiba offer this week - (sorry don't know how to do a link!)

grateful for any help.

[number9]

KD

I'm in exactly the same position...but 11 year old daughter! She won't be fussed about the spec - she asked for "a pink one" - but, of course, it's always best to get the best and most "future proof" (I hate that phrase) for your money.

Toshiba looks ok, as does the HP for £399.99 on the Comet website.

As with a lot of electricals, beware that the major retailers often use a different model number or slightly different number to hinder consumer price comparisons.

[ManAtHome]

For those too lazy too google the Asus mentioned by Pin ;) here is a link: http://www.disking.co.uk/product_info.php?ref=79&products_id=98775228

Not sure it meets many peoples requirements. tbh i personally don't think Linux s yet ready for general desktop user market. But that is another discussion all together :)
I wouldn't buy the Asus for general use, but very nearly there as a travelling pooter. Only thing putting me off is the screen resolution, but rumoured we might see a 1024x768 next summer (looks like they could fit a larger screen without increasing the overall size).

[Colcoops]

Oxter posted this. Any views?


http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/images/icons/icon1.gif Is this Medion Dual Core Notebook any good?


Sainsburys are selling a Medion 15.4" Dual Core Notebook MIM 23200 Model MD 96481 with 2GB Ram and 160GB hard drive Built in webcam wireless capability and dual layer DVD rewriter Windows Vista Home Premium. Intel Pentium for the processor.

Was £599 for £399. Sounds very good to me. Will only be used for web access and storing some photos. I don't think I can go wrong, but I'd welcome any comments??

Thank you

[JDPower]

Oxter posted this. Any views?


http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/images/icons/icon1.gif Is this Medion Dual Core Notebook any good?


Sainsburys are selling a Medion 15.4" Dual Core Notebook MIM 23200 Model MD 96481 with 2GB Ram and 160GB hard drive Built in webcam wireless capability and dual layer DVD rewriter Windows Vista Home Premium. Intel Pentium for the processor.

Was £599 for £399. Sounds very good to me. Will only be used for web access and storing some photos. I don't think I can go wrong, but I'd welcome any comments??

Thank you
No experience of Medion but spec wise it sounds reasonable for the money

[philb120]

What are peoples thoughts on the Advent 9215 currently in PC World for £429?

I know I can get it cheaper from Currys through Quidco and a discount voucher which would bring it down to aprox £380 ish. Specs are below. Ideally I want one with an integrated webcam as wife likes chatting with her sisters. It will also be used for word processing and general internet browsing.


Intel Pentium Dual Core Processor T2330
1.6GHz, 533 MHz FSB 1 MB Cache
Genuine Windows Vista Home Premium (javascript:showEditorial('Genuine-Windows');)
2 GB Memory
160 GB Hard drive
Many thanks for any replies

[pin]

I wouldn't buy the Asus for general use, but very nearly there as a travelling pooter. Only thing putting me off is the screen resolution, but rumoured we might see a 1024x768 next summer (looks like they could fit a larger screen without increasing the overall size).

Why wouldn't you use Asus for general use? I've had an Asus for coming up to two years and am very happy with it, on top of that, name me any computer manufacturer who gives you a two year international warranty as standard?

BTW picked up the eee pc over the weekend. It is a great little piece of kit, very small and very light and it is a fully functioning pc. Naturally there are some downsides, but what you expect for something for around £200?

[uternutterman]

Does anyone know of a good £300-£400 laptop with a long battery life? I have heard bad things about the Dell 9-Cell batteries, that they break within a year, is this true?

[Vomityspice]

I can confirm from personal experience that my Dell battery (53W version) lasted just over a year before dying!:mad:

Dell wanted almost £80 (see http://accessories.euro.dell.com/sna/category.aspx?c=uk&category_id=7051&cs=ukdhs1&l=en&s=dhs&mfgpid=70697)

I bough one from Ebay for £30. So far so good.

Dell REALLY need to rethink it's prices (although as one of the few making any money perhaps not!)

Just my experience though, others may last for ever!

[littleange]

I think laptop batteries in general olny last around 300 charges or something like that, so if you use it a lot I'd say lasting over a year was fairly good.

In my experience its really easy to take Dell batteries out once they are charged and your just sitting plugged into the mains.

My boyfriend and I bought new Dell laptops in January, I take my battery out all the time and save the battery for when I really need it, and my boyfriend doesn't bother too often.

This program (http://www.pbus-167.com/) tells you how much wear there is on your battery.

My battery has 15% wear and his has 49% wear and his now barely lasts an hour, so it does make a difference to the life of the battery if you take it out.

With the battery being so accessable in a Dell, this is a huge plus for me and I'd definately buy Dell again.

[JDPower]

(Deleted by user)

[C_Ronaldo]

Why do intel have core 2 duo and dual core, aren't they the same processor

[d123]

Why do intel have core 2 duo and dual core, aren't they the same processor

No, the dual core is the older processor, the core2duo is newer and more efficient.

[bigvince76]

Ok the old chestnut... I have £300 to spend on a laptop, what is the best deal at the moment? This one on amazon looks good to me but am I missing something? Just need it for word processing, watching DVDs and web browsing.

Also is it worth getting the acer advantage extended cover, seem pretty cheap at £49 with a carry case and mouse, but what do I know!

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Acer-Aspire-5315-Hard-drive-Accelerator/dp/B000VPJDPM/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1195884210&sr=8-1

[bingobob]

exactly the same question from me as bigvince.

300 quid to spend, what's the best deal?

How do the current Currys / PC World / Supermarket deals stack up.

1 gig of ram is essential - 2 gig of ram would be absolutely great (but doubt it's available in any of these budget buys)?

[pin]

exactly the same question from me as bigvince.

300 quid to spend, what's the best deal?

How do the current Currys / PC World / Supermarket deals stack up.

1 gig of ram is essential - 2 gig of ram would be absolutely great (but doubt it's available in any of these budget buys)?

get the asus eee pc!!

[bingobob]

I'd actually like one of those!

two questions...

1) is it available in the shops (not just online)

2) does it run winxp (i know it ships with linux, it's a pc so i suppose it must do)

bb

[d123]

I'd actually like one of those!

two questions...

1) is it available in the shops (not just online)

2) does it run winxp (i know it ships with linux, it's a pc so i suppose it must do)

bb

1) It doesn't even seem to be in stock anywhere on line, and definitely not in store anywhere.

2) Yes, XP can be loaded, though it is recommended that the RAM is upgraded to 1 GB and the virtual memory paging file is turned off (the eee PC only has a 4GB solid state drive).

Not that much use for watching DVD's though, there is no CD or DVD drive, and even with an external drive the resolution is only 800x480.

[cloud_dog]

No, the dual core is the older processor, the core2duo is newer and more efficient.Not sure 'more efficient' is quite accurate. Certainly more powerful but whereas dual core reduced energy consumption dual core 2 has taken the consumption (more or less) back to whre it was.

Unless you *need* the extra power I would go for dual core on a laptop just because of better battery life per charge.

cloud_dog

[Rosco1112]

has this thread died?

[tankgirl1]

hiya

i have about £500 to spend on a lappy - have been looking around, and this looks like the best one to me - just wondered what you guys thought??
http://www.pcworld.co.uk/martprd/store/pcw_page.jsp?BV_SessionID=@@@@0602171431.119645476 1@@@@&BV_EngineID=ccegaddmjgemhjlcflgceggdhhmdgmk.0&page=Product&fm=null&sm=null&tm=null&sku=307074&category_oid=

[JDPower]

hiya

i have about £500 to spend on a lappy - have been looking around, and this looks like the best one to me - just wondered what you guys thought??
http://www.pcworld.co.uk/martprd/store/pcw_page.jsp?BV_SessionID=@@@@0602171431.119645476 1@@@@&BV_EngineID=ccegaddmjgemhjlcflgceggdhhmdgmk.0&page=Product&fm=null&sm=null&tm=null&sku=307074&category_oid=
Its reasonable but not particularly special price wise.

[ubergeek]

Ok the old chestnut... I have £300 to spend on a laptop, what is the best deal at the moment? This one on amazon looks good to me but am I missing something? Just need it for word processing, watching DVDs and web browsing.

Also is it worth getting the acer advantage extended cover, seem pretty cheap at £49 with a carry case and mouse, but what do I know!

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Acer-Aspire-5315-Hard-drive-Accelerator/dp/B000VPJDPM/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1195884210&sr=8-1

This laptop is currently avail at comet for the same price and in-store collect (i.e. pay cash or highstreet vouchers, etc).

http://www.comet.co.uk/cometbrowse/product.do?sku=425397

[MMCG]

HP media centre G6032EA available at mo for £449 and free delivery. Use ONLINE as a discount code and the price is £404.10. Sainsbury's and Viking Direct have a medion one at £399. More or less same spec as HP but different processor I think. Hope this helps.

[codger]

1)
Not that much use for watching DVD's though, there is no CD or DVD drive, and even with an external drive the resolution is only 800x480.

Exactly.

My son works in a national High Street retailer that includes lappies in its stock. This particular retailer has a well-founded reputation for playing fair with customers and taking back stuff which turns out not to be what the buyer was actually expecting.

In recent months there've been a number of returns of lappies in the Fujitsu brand. Nothing wrong with the lappies, and nothing wrong with the price they were sold at: around £300.

What was wrong was all the purchasers who breezed in thinking a BMW can be bought for the price of a Kia.

There's always going to a problem with fixing a price point first rather than fixing one's requirements first (and understanding just how those requirements are going to be met.)

[number9]

HP media centre G6032EA available at mo for £449 and free delivery. Use ONLINE as a discount code and the price is £404.10. Sainsbury's and Viking Direct have a medion one at £399. More or less same spec as HP but different processor I think. Hope this helps.
MMCG

where is the hp media centre laptop on offer for the price quoted?

cheers

[erb]

I have seen an HP laptop on tcd direct who are in London but don't know anything about them.

Does anyone know if they are anygood? This is the link to their site. (http://www.tcrdirect.com/)

[steveing64]

hi guys looking for laptop got about £800 tospendwil be forday to day need to get rid of destop now as no room so being looking at dell any idea

[codger]

I have seen an HP laptop on tcd direct who are in London but don't know anything about them.

Does anyone know if they are anygood? This is the link to their site. (http://www.tcrdirect.com/)


Can't help with that, unfortunately.

However: we've had two PCs from Hewlett Packard itself at eBay prices (including a new media centre, back in 2005, at exactly half the price being asked at that time by Comet and Currys / Dixons.)

Both PCs have worked fine and if they were, as HP said, "refurbished", there was no way of telling. Everything was brand new, including carton and inner packaging. And the manufacturer warranty was 12 months.

We keep an eye on HP's stock by visiting this link: they tend to "batch" this type of sale so you may find that some weeks, there's nothing available:

http://members.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewUserPage&userid=hp_marketplace_uk (http://members.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewUserPage&userid=hp_marketplace_uk)

Hope this helps.

[map200uk]

steveing64

have a look at the vastro 1000

http://www1.euro.dell.com/content/products/features.aspx/4x_vostro_1000?c=uk&cs=ukbsdt1&l=en&s=bsd

2gig ram/120gig hdd/6 cell inc vat and p+p (p and p usually 60) will set you back 374-not too bad imo

have a look anyway and go through quidco:)

[JDPower]

steveing64

have a look at the vastro 1000

http://www1.euro.dell.com/content/products/features.aspx/4x_vostro_1000?c=uk&cs=ukbsdt1&l=en&s=bsd

2gig ram/120gig hdd/6 cell inc vat and p+p (p and p usually 60) will set you back 374-not too bad imo
I've got one of those, you can save a bit more if you get the lowest RAM available and upgrade it yourself. They've bought their RAM prices down now but when I bought mine they were charging about £100 extra for 2GB RAM, I got it from Crucial (http://www.crucial.com/uk/) for £34.

[map200uk]

blimey that was a lot you paid for ram, so you also have an amd turion laptop? my current laptop is an amd turion cpu-which i never understand why people say things about amd being not as good as intel..its just that people are simply used to intel and believe all the hype

[JDPower]

blimey that was a lot you paid for ram, so you also have an amd turion laptop? my current laptop is an amd turion cpu-which i never understand why people say things about amd being not as good as intel..its just that people are simply used to intel and believe all the hype
You think £34 is alot for 2GB of RAM??? Intel certainly aren't better than AMD, they just each have their own strengths. Personally I have always preferred AMD (my last laptop had a Pentium 4 and it was forever overheating).

[misscomickat]

Hello people :)
I'm after a laptop to take to Poland with me. I know NOTHING about laptops. I want one that is reasonably light, and I can get on the internet with, and do all basic things. Not really interested in playing complicated games, I have a PS2 for that.

I'm planning on buying one in January in the hope of getting a better deal.

Do they usually come with Office on them? Or do you have to pay extra?

Thanks for any advice.

[pin]

Hello people :)
I'm after a laptop to take to Poland with me. I know NOTHING about laptops. I want one that is reasonably light, and I can get on the internet with, and do all basic things. Not really interested in playing complicated games, I have a PS2 for that.

I'm planning on buying one in January in the hope of getting a better deal.

Do they usually come with Office on them? Or do you have to pay extra?

Thanks for any advice.

asus eee pc, about £220.

[misscomickat]

Thanks I just googled that, it looks really tiny. I would rather have a proper sized laptop as I will be spending quite a bit of time on it and I don't have very good eye sight.

[newtothis32]

Hi, just wandering if their are any good deals out there on laptops?

I don't want anything spectacular, it is a present for my children for xmas and they just want to be able to access the internet, go on MSN and do school work on it.

Keep trolling through PC world, currys etc but don't really know enough about how much memory I need, processor, hard drive, etc.... It's like a foreign language to me. :confused:

So, if there's any laptop that can be recommended or specification guidelines that anyone can give me I'd be really grateful

Thanks in advance :T

[I'm With Stupid]

Hi, just wandering if their are any good deals out there on laptops?

I don't want anything spectacular, it is a present for my children for xmas and they just want to be able to access the internet, go on MSN and do school work on it.

Keep trolling through PC world, currys etc but don't really know enough about how much memory I need, processor, hard drive, etc.... It's like a foreign language to me. :confused:

So, if there's any laptop that can be recommended or specification guidelines that anyone can give me I'd be really grateful

Thanks in advance :T

I know you say you don't want to do much on it, but equally, with a laptop, you want something that will last, because they're difficult to upgrade. With that in mind, this is the minimum specification I would accept personally:

Dual Core Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo (T5000 series)/Core 2 Duo Santa Rosa (T7000 series)/Core Duo (T2000 series) or an AMD Turion 64X2
1GB RAM (2GB if you can afford it)
120GB hard drive (but obviously the more the better)
DVD-Writer
Everything else really depends on what you want to do with it, but from what you've said, you wont need anything that doesn't come as standard on a laptop nowadays.

Having said all that, I have to recommend this laptop (http://www.ebuyer.com/product/133387), because it is one of the best deals I've seen for ages. It has the best laptop processor going, 2GB RAM and a 250GB hard drive all for £500. It basically has none of the fancy crap you get on some computers, just a brilliant basic specification.

[misscomickat]

£500? Is that really the amount you need to spend to get a decent laptop? I've seen ones on sale from £300, are they any good?

[bookie]

Hi,

I'm looking to buy a laptop, which I can use on the train whilst commuting. Since I don't know much about computers/laptops, I would appreciate some help. All I know is it's got to be light, and the screen size under 14 ".

Thanks :-)

P.S. Sorry if this question has been answered before. A link to the answer would be much appreciated.

[JDPower]

£500? Is that really the amount you need to spend to get a decent laptop? I've seen ones on sale from £300, are they any good?
No you don't need to spend that much at all, there are some good deals around at the £300-400 mark at the mo. For that price look for:

Dual core processor (AMD or intel, doesn't matter though AMD laptops are usually a little cheaper and more reliable in my opinion)

1GB of RAM (though if getting a Vista laptop try to get one with 2GB, will run smoother)

Hard drive around 100Gb (or more if you download lots of movies)

15' screen or more (you said you didn't want anything small)

CD/DVD Drive

All easily found for that price range

[JDPower]

Hi,

I'm looking to buy a laptop, which I can use on the train whilst commuting. Since I don't know much about computers/laptops, I would appreciate some help. All I know is it's got to be light, and the screen size under 14 ".

Thanks :-)

P.S. Sorry if this question has been answered before. A link to the answer would be much appreciated.
Well I spotted this last night whilst looking at whilst looking at the link a few posts above:

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/132487

I'm by no means saying that is the best you'll find, just pointing it out for you to have a look at.

[siliconbits]

10 Laptop at £300

HP 530 Celeron M 440 /1.86 GHz 15.4" Widescreen TFT 1280 x 800 ( WXGA ), RAM 512 MB HDD 80 GB DVD±RW (+R double layer) / DVD-RAM GMA 950 Vista Home Basic
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/136619
£284.99

Fujitsu Siemens Esprimo Mobile V5535 Laptop Intel Celeron M processor 530 1.73GHz 1024MB 80GB 15.4" DVDRW Windows Vista Home Basic Edition
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/133382
£300.09

Acer Aspire 5051WLMi AMD Turion 64 MK-36 2GHz / 14.1 WXGA / 1GB / 120GB / DVD+/-RW / Vista Home Basic / Laptop / Notebook PC (3 Kg)
http://www.misco.co.uk/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=287329&sku=136910
£308.35

Acer AS5315 Gemstone CeleronM 530 1GB 80GB DVD±RW VistaHome
http://www.dabs.com/ProductView.aspx?Quicklinx=4QF5&InMerch=1
£299.98

ACER ASPIRE 5315 Intel Celeron Mobile processor, 1GB RAM, 80GB hard drive, Vista Home Basic, DVDRW & 15" widescreen display
http://www.comet.co.uk/cometbrowse/product.do?sku=425397
£299.00

Gateway Celeron Notebook Special, Intel Celeron M Processor 520 (1.6GHz, 1MB L2 Cache, 533MHz FSB), 1GB RAM, 80GB hard disk and multiformat dual layer DVD writer
http://www.morgancomputers.co.uk/shop/detail.asp?ProductID=4346&CategoryID=11&SubCategoryID=345
£299.00

Toshiba A200-1JV Vista Business Intel Celeron M 520 (1.6Ghz) processor, 512MB DDR 2 Ram 80GB hard disk drive, 15.4" TruBrite Widescreen TFT (1280 x 800 res)
http://www.morgancomputers.co.uk/shop/detail.asp?ProductID=4404&CategoryID=11&SubCategoryID=321
£293.74

Toshiba L30-11D Celeron M 440 Notebook Intel Celeron M 440 Processor (1.86Ghz) 512MB DDR2 Ram, 60GB hard disk storage, DL DVD Writer drive
http://www.morgancomputers.co.uk/shop/detail.asp?ProductID=4380&CategoryID=11&SubCategoryID=321
£293.74

Acer Extensa 4220-051G08Mi Celeron M 530 1GB RAM 80GB
http://www.microwarehouse.co.uk/catalogue/item/A0236536
£298.46

AMD® Sempron Mobile Technology 3600+, Genuine Windows XP 1GB 80GB
http://www1.euro.dell.com/content/products/features.aspx/4x_vostro_1000?c=uk&cs=ukbsdt1&l=en&s=bsd
£293.82

[JDPower]

10 Laptop at £300
And of them I'd say the only one worth even considering are:

Acer Aspire 5051WLMi AMD Turion 64 MK-36 2GHz / 14.1 WXGA / 1GB / 120GB / DVD+/-RW / Vista Home Basic / Laptop / Notebook PC (3 Kg)
http://www.misco.co.uk/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=287329&sku=136910
£308.35

And that only has a 14 inch screen (fine if small size is important)

[map200uk]

Hello people :)
I'm after a laptop to take to Poland with me. I know NOTHING about laptops. I want one that is reasonably light, and I can get on the internet with, and do all basic things. Not really interested in playing complicated games, I have a PS2 for that.

I'm planning on buying one in January in the hope of getting a better deal.

Do they usually come with Office on them? Or do you have to pay extra?

Thanks for any advice.
check out the dell vostro 1000

good price for the spec

[atro1]

vostro 1000 on Dell small business comes out at £245 but then they put a whopping great £60 for delivery. The only free delivery they have is for over £300.
Unless of course anyone knows better!!!

[enemes]

vostro 1000 on Dell small business comes out at £245 but then they put a whopping great £60 for delivery. The only free delivery they have is for over £300.
Unless of course anyone knows better!!!

Offer to buy it for £300, then you would get a £5 saving as it won't include delivery!

[JDPower]

Offer to buy it for £300, then you would get a £5 saving as it won't include delivery!
Or add an extra/upgrade to it to take it over the £300. Upgrading the RAM is about £45 IIRC ;)

[atro1]

Dont think that would work, free delivery is for over £299 before VAT. I believe--unless of course anyone knows different!

[suzannewysiwyg]

We have been looking at the ASUS ee, is there anything else similar, but a bit cheaper? and preferably not white! (or pink!) Thank you

[M-People]

makro (google it)
decent laptops for £100
Acers from £160
Dells from £200

[talltree]

I have been looking around for a laptop but am struggling to understand all of the ins and outs. I was thinking of waiting untill after christmas for the sales but dont know if its really worth it.

And then i came across this dell
InspironTM 6400
Intel® Pentium® Dual-Core Processor T2130 (1.86 GHz, 533 MHz FSB, 1 MB L2-cache)

2048MB 667MHz Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM [2x1024]

160GB (5400RPM) SATA Hard Drive

To me it seems a good laptop for £349


Any help on this matter or any other suggestions will be very much appreciated.

[JDPower]

I have been looking around for a laptop but am struggling to understand all of the ins and outs. I was thinking of waiting untill after christmas for the sales but dont know if its really worth it.

And then i came across this dell
InspironTM 6400
Intel® Pentium® Dual-Core Processor T2130 (1.86 GHz, 533 MHz FSB, 1 MB L2-cache)

2048MB 667MHz Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM [2x1024]

160GB (5400RPM) SATA Hard Drive

To me it seems a good laptop for £349


Any help on this matter or any other suggestions will be very much appreciated.
If that's £349 all in it seems a pretty good deal.

[d123]

makro (google it)
decent laptops for £100
Acers from £160
Dells from £200

Even after googling I'm none the wiser, no cheap laptops show up, either through google or searching makro.co.uk.

Do you have any direct links for the £100 laptops?

[obsessednewbie]

Have read back 15 Pages and have picked up a few "essential" must haves, however a few friends have suggested i also "must haves". Please can someone help guide me in the direction of a laptop that has the following:-

** Core2duo processor
** 2gb Ram
** DVD dual Layer
** Wireless ability (assume all have this nowadays?)
** Bluetooth & firewire (is this really essential)
** 4 USB
** XP (currently have vista pc and cant get on with it)
** Widescreen - any size
** 120gb hard drive

Graphics - was told not to go for on board graphics - how do i tell? :confused:

Have a budget of £300 - £550 - Am i asking for the moon on a stick or is any / all of this possible.

Thank you so much in advance!

[JDPower]

Please can someone help guide me in the direction of a laptop that has the following:-

** Core2duo processor
** 2gb Ram
** DVD dual Layer
** Wireless ability (assume all have this nowadays?)
** Bluetooth & firewire (is this really essential)
** 4 USB
** XP (currently have vista pc and cant get on with it)
** Widescreen - any size
** 120gb hard drive

Graphics - was told not to go for on board graphics - how do i tell? :confused:

Have a budget of £300 - £550 - Am i asking for the moon on a stick or is any / all of this possible.
Will be a bit of a push in that price range. I would suggest as an alternative to the Intel Core 2 processer you also look at AMD dual cores as these systems will generally be a little cheaper and just as good as Intel if not better (they are in my experience anyway).
Also most laptops have onboard graphics, you'll pay alot more for a lappy with a seperate graphics card. Do you really need it though? Are you going to be playing games on it, in particular more resource heavy modern games? If not there is absolutely no need to avoid onboard graphics, just look for onboard graphics with a reasonable graphics memory - 128Mb or more, preferably 256Mb (it will use some of the RAM memory for this but with 2GB ram it won't be noticeable)

[mw00001]

Hi all,

I am trying to but a decent 17" laptop, have seen this at amazon for £499...

Acer Aspire 7720Z Notebook, Dual Core T2310 1.46GHz, 17" TFT, 2048MB RAM, 160GB Hard-drive, DVD±RW, GL960 Graphics, WiFi, Vista Home Premium

http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/B000VPJDW0/ref=ord_cart_shr?%5Fencoding=UTF8&m=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE

Is it any good? Or any other stores I should consider? Is there any other 17" laptops I should consider?

Thanks in advance,

Matt

[fallen angel shelley]

mw00001. try doing what i did, i found a laptop on dell, in my price range (inspiron 64000) then gave them a call, told them which one i wanted and what extras i wanted, for the money i had (then did the old silent close trick) it worked a treat, got every thing i asked for. if you do try this, phone them up about half an hour befor closing, that way if there sales figers are down for the that day you will get it, just remember once you have told them what you want and how much you want to pay for it, don't say a thing untill the sales person answers you. you are the one in control, it's your money and they want it. i know this because i use to work in sales. good luck, shelley. x

[JDPower]

Hi all,

I am trying to but a decent 17" laptop, have seen this at amazon for £499...

Acer Aspire 7720Z Notebook, Dual Core T2310 1.46GHz, 17" TFT, 2048MB RAM, 160GB Hard-drive, DVD±RW, GL960 Graphics, WiFi, Vista Home Premium

http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/B000VPJDW0/ref=ord_cart_shr?%5Fencoding=UTF8&m=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE

Is it any good?
There are better deals around IMO. If you can wait a few more days (ie till after xmas) there'll probably be even better deals than are currently around ;)

[talltree]

Anyone seen the laptop sale on play.com, there looks to be some pretty good deals to be had on Acers.

Any tips on which is the best model to buy & generally your feedback on acers?

Thanks in advance,
Matt

[Osborn]

Have read back 15 Pages and have picked up a few "essential" must haves, however a few friends have suggested i also "must haves". Please can someone help guide me in the direction of a laptop that has the following:-

** Core2duo processor
** 2gb Ram
** DVD dual Layer
** Wireless ability (assume all have this nowadays?)
** Bluetooth & firewire (is this really essential)
** 4 USB
** XP (currently have vista pc and cant get on with it)
** Widescreen - any size
** 120gb hard drive

Graphics - was told not to go for on board graphics - how do i tell? :confused:

Have a budget of £300 - £550 - Am i asking for the moon on a stick or is any / all of this possible.

Thank you so much in advance!

:cool: You're in luck, i've found a couple opf pretty good laptops for my cousin. She's a med student in pakistan so i'm gona be buying a laptop for her here (or america :))

the first is this fujitsu siemens lappy...
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/133387/show_product_reviews

next model is acer travelmate 5515wlmi notebook
Samsung R20 is a pretty good lappy for around the 500mark,,, ni need to make a separate thread for this...

[mw00001]

Thanks JDPower and Fallen Angel, will give dell a go in the next few days, I think that I can get a 17" similar to the Acer mentioned before.

The Acer 7720 17" is on Play.com for £439 - £60 cheaper than Amazon
http://www.play.com/PC/PCs/4-/3477743/Acer-Aspire-7720Z-Pentium-T2310-1-46GHz-2GB-160GB-17-WXGA+-DVD-SM-Vista-Home-Premium-Laptop-Notebook/Product.html

The Inspiron 1720 17" has a marginally better CPU for £449
http://ecomm.euro.dell.com/dellstore/basket.aspx?c=uk&cs=ukdhs1&l=en&s=dhs&itemtype=CFG&oid=015bce36-d51f-4186-98d2-151edae30759

There seem to be better value deals available, but I am specifically looking for a 17" model and looking to get the best bang per buck below £500.

If anyone spots any other good 17" please post... and thanks again for the help or any additional guidance.

Matt

[d123]

Have read back 15 Pages and have picked up a few "essential" must haves, however a few friends have suggested i also "must haves". Please can someone help guide me in the direction of a laptop that has the following:-

** Core2duo processor
** 2gb Ram
** DVD dual Layer
** Wireless ability (assume all have this nowadays?)
** Bluetooth & firewire (is this really essential)
** 4 USB
** XP (currently have vista pc and cant get on with it)
** Widescreen - any size
** 120gb hard drive

Graphics - was told not to go for on board graphics - how do i tell? :confused:

Have a budget of £300 - £550 - Am i asking for the moon on a stick or is any / all of this possible.

Thank you so much in advance!

PC World are selling a Toshiba laptop with a very similar spec, was advertised on TV tonight - £399

[Zeldazog]

Hi All

Apologies if this has been asked recently -

Would *like* it to be able to handle Photoshop CS2. Other than that, Office, and just normal other stuff, internet, and of course, MSN....

What's my minimum spec/spend - I know nothing about laptops, or integrated cards, etc.

Got an external DVD writer for Xmas, have a 19" desktop monitor I can use, so don't need big screen, also looking for decent portability, so don't want a big thing anyway.

Many thanks for your help! (And patience, you may need it with me.....)

[firebird1]

Hi all,

I am trying to but a decent 17" laptop, have seen this at amazon for £499...



Acer Aspire 7720Z Notebook, Dual Core T2310 1.46GHz, 17" TFT, 2048MB RAM, 160GB Hard-drive, DVD±RW, GL960 Graphics, WiFi, Vista Home Premium

http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/B000VPJDW0/ref=ord_cart_shr?%5Fencoding=UTF8&m=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE

Is it any good? Or any other stores I should consider? Is there any other 17" laptops I should consider?

Thanks in advance,

Matt
,
,
I have the HP pavilion 17 inch wide screen
Twin 120 gig hard drives
Dual processor
I bought it on a trip to the U.S.

here are some more specs.
The HP Pavilion dv9000 is a desktop replacement that's serious about multimedia. Its matte- or glossy-finished, 17-inch wide-screen display comes with a native resolution (http://www.answers.com/native%20resolution) of either WXGA+ (1,440x900) or WSXGA+ (1,680x1,050), and the system features LED-backlit, touch-sensitive multimedia controls; two headphone jacks (one of which supports S/PDIF (http://www.answers.com/S%2FPDIF) out); and HP's QuickPlay 2.1 software for accessing media without booting into Windows. You can configure the notebook with an AMD Turion 64 X2 processor at speeds from 1.6GHz to 1.8GHz; up to 2GB of 533MHz or 667MHz RAM; an Nvidia GeForce Go 7600 graphics card with 256MB of dedicated VRAM; and a 5,400rpm hard drive with up to 120GB of capacity. The HP Pavilion dv9000 also supports two hard drives on a RAID (http://www.answers.com/RAID) controller for up to 240GB of space. Other features include HP's Mobile Remote Control, S-Video out and FireWire ports, an ExpressCard (http://reviews.cnet.com/4520-10166_7-6335760-1.html?!!!!!txt) slot, 802.11a/b/g wireless, Bluetooth, a dual-layer DVD burner, and a 5-in-1 memory card reader. A Webcam, dual microphones, and Windows XP Media Center Edition are all optional.

[brucers9]

Hello

I'd appreciate some help choosing a laptop, I've never purchased one before so I'll give you the basics of what I want, and if anyone has any suggestions please hit me with them:

Budget: Between £600-£850ish
The laptop will be to replace my existing desktop PC
Mainly used for internet, photos & video editing, some gaming
Processing speed and memory are a high priority (my current PC is painfully slow)
Something reliable, user friendly and a good all rounder.

I know this is a bit vague but can anyone help?

Should I go for a Mac or not?

Thanks

BB

[elpaw]

Are there any retailers out there with the option of not bundling an OS onto the laptop? I know about novatech...

[dog1]

Hi all,

I am trying to but a decent 17" laptop, have seen this at amazon for £499...

Acer Aspire 7720Z Notebook, Dual Core T2310 1.46GHz, 17" TFT, 2048MB RAM, 160GB Hard-drive, DVD±RW, GL960 Graphics, WiFi, Vista Home Premium

http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/B000VPJDW0/ref=ord_cart_shr?%5Fencoding=UTF8&m=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE

Is it any good? Or any other stores I should consider? Is there any other 17" laptops I should consider?

Thanks in advance,

Matt

Tesco have this acer 17" at £399 was £599, don't know how good/bad it is though!

http://direct.tesco.com/q/R.200-5525.aspx

[sam1970]

i am thinking of buying a new laptop and i found this acer for £391 after rebate and quidco and i would like to know waht people think of it...thanks

Acer TravelMate 5720-301G16Mi Intel Core 2 Duo T7300 / 15.4 WXGA / 1GB / 160GB / DVD+/-RW / Vista Home Premium / Laptop

Processor - Intel Core 2 Duo T7300 / 2 GHz ( Dual-Core )

Hard Drive -160 GB - Serial ATA-150

Networking - Network adapter - Ethernet, Fast Ethernet, IEEE 802.11b, IEEE 802.11a, IEEE 802.11g Telecom Fax / modem - 56 Kbps

RAM - 1 GB (installed) / 4 GB (max) - DDR II SDRAM - 533 MHz ( 2 x 512 MB )
Graphics Controller - Intel GMA X3100
Built-in Devices - Stereo speakers, wireless LAN aerial

Display
15.4" CrystalBrite TFT Display active matrix 1280 x 800 ( WXGA+ ) - 24-bit (16.7 million colours)

Optical Storage DVD-SuperMulti
OS Provided - Microsoft® Windows® Vista Home Premium
Dimensions (WxDxH) 36 cm x 26.7 cm x 4.3 cm

[tight-git]

hi , i went for the newer ver Gemstone type with a 80G HDD but 2G ram ..very happy so far - my 3rd acer.
being very honest , the keybord and on the whole - its a bit plasticky ! :confused: but the style is TOP NOTCH / 10/10 ...i change my laptop often anyway, so it wont bother me that much but go to pc world or something to see 1 1st ....:rolleyes:

[JDPower]

This is quite a good deal for a Toshiba laptop:

http://www.pcworld.co.uk/martprd/product/seo/339848

[faevilangel]

i went into my local staples and they had mnany laptops cheap as chips, most had missing psu cables
i got a 1.7 ghz single core intel, 80gb hard drive & 512mb ram with vista basic for £200, got a psu cable from maplin for £30 so a decent enough laptop for £230, its a fujitsu siemens. in built wireless too.

they were selling quick. they had a few dual core models with big hard drives for less than £40

[Poc]

Please give me your opinions on this deal as I know nothing about computers. My friend has won a Fujitsu Siemens Amilo Li1718 notebook and has offered to sell it to me for £300. It's new price is £450. So I know the price is generous.

It has Intel Core 2 Duo T5300 /1.73GHz Dual Core -
2 Gb DDR2 RAM
160 GB HD
DVDRW Dual Layer Optical Drive 802 11 b/g - NIC
Windows Vista
15.4 TFT

I won't be gaming or downloading music. Mainly desktop brochures + storing photos

The problem is that the reviews I've read say it has a poor stiff keyboard, and monitor suffers from glare.I've also read that their after care service isn't great. I do need it to be reliable.

I'd be grateful for any comments
Thanks Poc

[faevilangel]

that is an amazing laptop, for the price, snap it up lol

i have a fujitsu siemens amilo, see previous post :P

[Poc]

Thanks so much for replying.Can you tell me if you have any problems with your Futitsu keyboard? All the reviews say theiy're stiff and hard to work with. I'll be doing a lot of report writing with mine

lol
Poc

[faevilangel]

i have only had it since friday but its not been a problem, used it for basic surfing and typing on msn, and its easy to use, but if ya dont like it, you can get a usb keyboard and use that if needed

[OddjobKIA]

my fathers looking for a laptop around the £350-400 mark That has XP on it Has to be wifi and office ready, arouind 17" screen not to botherd about make or anything really beefy as all hes going to do is surf and type any suggestions...?

[dog1]

Anyone interested in a good deal on either a dell vostro laptop or dell desktop should visit Hot Uk Deals and read some of the offers That MikeT is posting today!!! They seem pretty superb to me. ;)

http://www.hotukdeals.com/

d!!!

[Spudnik]

Hi guys,

I've been wanting to buy a laptop for the past couple of months now, but keep dithering over what to buy as ultimately it's a lot of money and I don't want to make the wrong decision. As such, I was hoping that some of you 'techie' guys might be able to advise me. I'll be using the laptop for writing, photo editing, listening to music, watching films, and perhaps occassional casual gaming. I'd also like to get something that will see me through a few years, at least university, so don't mind paying a little extra if it's going to work out more economical in the long run. Obviously due to what I want to use the machine for I'm not looking for a super-cheap notebook, but I'd like to get the best value possible.

I currently have my eye on Dell's Inspiron 1720, and I've tweaked the specifications a little to end up with:
Intel® Core™ 2 Duo Processor T7250 (2.00 GHz, 2 MB L2 cache, 800 MHz FSB)
Genuine Windows Vista® Home Premium - English
2048MB 667MHz Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM [2x1024]
nVidia® GeForce™ Go 8400M GS with 128MB DDR2 dedicated graphic memory
250GB (5400RPM) SATA Hard Drive
56.6k V.92 Capable Internal Modem & Adapter - UK
Fixed Internal 8X DVD+/-RW Drive including Software
Intel® Pro Wireless 3945 802.11a/b/g Mini-Card - Europe
Microsoft® Works 8.0 - English
1 Year Base Warranty - Collect & Return
90W AC Adapter
Dell™ Wireless 355 Bluetooth 2.0 Module (up to 3Mbps) with Enhanced Data rate - Eur
Primary 9-cell Lithium-Ion Battery (85 WHr)
17.0" Widescreen WXGA+ (1440x900) TFT Display with TrueLife™I'd have liked XP, but apparently that's a no-go for the 1720.

This comes to £615, but if I order by tonight then I can have an extra 10% discount bringing it down to £553.95. I can also use quidco to get 5% cashback, making it £530. So my question is, will this laptop perform well enough for my needs, and is £530 a reasonable price for the specifications? Or are any of these choices overkill, so I might get something cheaper?

Any help would be very much appreciated - I've been comparing laptops for so long that my mother is impatiently insisting that I should 'just bloody order it'!

[JDPower]

I'd have liked XP, but apparently that's a no-go for the 1720.
Did you phone up and ask for it (or insist). I know some of their laptops are not listed online as being available with XP, and you will not be given the choice if you ask their online chat agents, but if you phone up you can usually get it (been there and done it myself a few months ago)

[misscomickat]

Hello people. I have planned to buy a laptop this month to take with me to Poland. I want it mainly for the internet, basic word processing, perhaps storing music/photos, but no huge applications or games.

I have my eye on these ones, but am pretty clueless. Someone said I should avoid "celeron" processors and go for dual core, but I don't know!

http://www.dabs.com/ProductView.aspx?Quicklinx=4SM0


http://www.ebuyer.com/product/136220

http://www.laptopsdirect.co.uk/Toshiba_Satellite_Pro_L40-15D_PSL4BE-00G005EN/version-1.asp

Can anyone advise?

[elpaw]

if it's just internet, word processing, music & photos then celeron processors should do fine.

[Spudnik]

Did you phone up and ask for it (or insist). I know some of their laptops are not listed online as being available with XP, and you will not be given the choice if you ask their online chat agents, but if you phone up you can usually get it (been there and done it myself a few months ago)

No, I haven't phoned, but I'll give that a bash - on the systems that DO come with XP, it costs an extra £20 or so, which I find a bit silly.

Speaking of calling, does anyone have any tips on getting them to lower the prices over the phone?

[JDPower]

No, I haven't phoned, but I'll give that a bash - on the systems that DO come with XP, it costs an extra £20 or so, which I find a bit silly.

Speaking of calling, does anyone have any tips on getting them to lower the prices over the phone?
Didn't cost me any extra. After a lengthy discussion on their online chat their agent told me they could offer me XP but only over the phone. I phoned up, told them what the agent had said and they let me have it without question. Their phone agents are pretty sales heavy though so if you do phone stick rigidly to your chosen spec and don't let them talk you into anything. They tried to convince me the basic warranty wasn't available for my laptop and I would have to pay more but surprise surprise a couple of minutes later it wasn't a problem (it's amazing how the impossible suddenly becomes possible if they think they might lose a sale)

As for getting a discount over the phone I doubt you'll get money off as such but if your persuasive you may get an extra thrown in (no guarantees here). Or a sneaky way to go about that would be to downgrade one of the spec options you've decided on before phoning then give the sob story that you really wanted that particular spec a little higher but that would take it out of your price range (and you just happen to have seen a laptop with that spec within your price range elsewhere;))

[JDPower]

if it's just internet, word processing, music & photos then celeron processors should do fine.
That is true but for the relatively small increase in price (plenty of dual core laptops around the £350 mark atm) it's worth getting a dual core, it will be much more 'future proof' and AFAIA Vista will run smoother on it if you decide on a Vista system.

[sahun]

Hi, Im a student and browsing for a cheap but respectable laptop, to basically serve as a carry around on campus, incase i need a laptop for a lecture or a group meet or something. Reason is my current laptop is pretty hefty and not the most portable with lots of problems.

Im looking for a laptop for internet use(so wifi needed), word processing and other minor tasks really. With decent battery life so do not have to worry about finding a power socket every 5 mintues, and will not overheat if it leaves its cosy room. Not for gaming, as have just got a new desktop so doesnt need big RAM.

Can anyone point in the write direction of where i should be looking? This is not a must buy today purchase, as can't directly afford it atm, just could do with ideas for when am ready to buy.

Thanks

[JDPower]

Not for gaming, as have just got a new desktop so doesnt need big RAM.
RAM is not just for gaming. If you get a Vista laptop you will HAVE to have 1gb minimum just to run and ideally 2GB or more. Even with an XP laptop you would ideally be looking for 1GB (certainly 512Mb absolute minimum).
Bear in mind that whatever graphics card it has will use a chunk of memory too (unless it specifically states otherwise). So a laptop with 512Mb RAM and a 128Mb graphics card would leave you with a laptop with just 384Mb of RAM useable by Windows and other programs.

[Spudnik]

512Mb RAM might be a better idea than 512Kb, mind you. ;)

[sahun]

haha thanks for the pointers there, anywhere that you would suggest i look for a basic laptop, and if possible somewhere offering student discounts?

and thank you spudnik for the heads up, didnt notice that!

[JDPower]

512Mb RAM might be a better idea than 512Kb, mind you. ;)
Yeah that'd be a better idea :o :D

[Viz]

Bear in mind that whatever graphics card it has will use a chunk of memory too (unless it specifically states otherwise). So a laptop with 512Mb RAM and a 128Mb graphics card would leave you with a laptop with just 384Mb of RAM useable by Windows and other programs.

I thought the idea of having a graphics card was that it used its own RAM rather than the system. An intergrated graphics card would use more system RAM.

[JDPower]

I thought the idea of having a graphics card was that it used its own RAM rather than the system.
In a regular computer yes. But generally laptops don't have an actual graphics card as such, it is simply a graphics chip on the motherboard and as such don't have their own RAM. Check pretty much any laptop and you'll find the system will not report the amount of RAM that is installed correctly because some is set aside for the graphics 'card'. My laptop for example has 2Gb (2048Mb) of RAM but the system only reports 1.7Gb (1792Mb) of RAM installed because 256Mb is set aside for the graphics 'card'.

[siliconbits]

Posted this yesterday on my blog... Hope that helps those looking for a lappy ;-)


Up to £200
If you have an absolute maximum budget of £200 all inclusive, grab the cheapest Asus EEE Laptop you can find. They are currently on sale at Ebuyer for £199.99 (http://www.ebuyer.com/product/136631) with free delivery. The Asus Eee PC 2GS-W001 comes with 512MB memory and 2GB onboard Flash memory, but it should me adequate for all but the lightest of tasks. Other specs include a 7″ screen, Intel Mobile processor and Linux Preloaded.
http://www.scan.co.uk/images/products/697317-A.jpg
Up to £250
If you can stretch your budget to £250, then grab one of these Gateway ML6227b Celeron Notebooks (http://www.morgancomputers.co.uk/shop/detail.asp?ProductID=4473) from Morgancomputers for only £249.99 including VAT. You can collect your purchases from their stores.
http://www.morgancomputers.co.uk/images/products/6000-series-2.jpg
Budget laptop it ain’t though. This factory rework Celeron notebook comes with 6 months warranty and
* Intel Celeron M 520 processor (1.6GHz, 1MB L2 Cache, 533MHz bus)
* 1GB DDR2 RAM, 80GB hard disk and 8x multiformat DVD writer
* 15.4″ widescreen Ultrabright display (1280 x 800 WXGA resolution)
* Intel GMA 950 chipset with 224MB shared graphics
* Wireless networking, 4-in-1 card reader, 10/100 LAN and 56K modem
* High definition sound & stereo speakers, 6 cell lithium-ion battery
* With Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium, Microsoft Works 8.5
You can find more about this newly released laptop in this review at PC Advisor (http://www.pcadvisor.co.uk/reviews/index.cfm?reviewid=1185) published at the beginning of September.
Up to £300
http://image.ebuyer.com/UK/P0136220_C0000010_P0000000.jpg
The HP 6720s Laptop (http://www.ebuyer.com/product/136220) from Ebuyer is my next best buy. It comes with a powerful Intel Celeron 540 running at 1.86GHz, has 1GB memory, 80GB hard disk, DVD-RW, wireless LAN, 15.4″ WXGA (1280 x 800 resolution) and interestingly, Vista Home Premium. The price? GBP 299.99 including free delivery. Not a lot separates this one from the Gateway model. You get a slightly faster processor and 6 month extra warranty.
Up to £350
http://image.ebuyer.com/UK/P0133331_C0000010_P0000000.jpg
Perhaps the most difficult category to judge: I chose to go for a HP again simply because it represents fantastic value for money. The HP 6820S (http://www.ebuyer.com/product/133331) costs only GBP 340 after a GBP 50 cash back from HP. It is built around a Intel Celeron 530 1.73 GHz, comes with 1GB memory, a 120GB disk drive, a DVD+/-RW writer. Connectivity is great with Wifi and BT. However, it is the screen that will get your heads turning. You get a 17″ WXGA monitor powered by an excelltn ATI Mobility Radeon X1350 384MB. Last but not least, the lappy is powered by Windows Vista Home Premium.
Up to £400
http://i.dell.com/resize.aspx/vos_1000_500X500/149
You’ve got to £400 to spend on a nice laptop? How about this Dell Vostro 1ooo Laptop. The Vostro range is dedicated to businesses but nothing prevents you from grabbing one of those bargains from Dell. Go to the Dell website (http://configure.euro.dell.com/dellstore/config.aspx?reconfigure=true&vw=list&cart=ActiveCart&id=96a51a80-d4b4-4bfc-93b4-e418711cacf3&ecomm=ecomm.euro.dell.com&c=uk&l=en&cs=ukbsdt1) and look for the following e-code (N0110007). You have until the 16th of January before the price revert back to normal. Configure the laptop with 3 year warranty onsite and a 9-cell battery for only £397.15. For that price, you get a Dual Core AMD TK57 processor, 2GB memory, 120GB HDD and much more.

[lethal]

sorry what does N0110007 this code mean?


Sorry but thanx for the previous post

[siliconbits]

sorry what does N0110007 this code mean?


Sorry but thanx for the previous post

Go to dell.co.uk and type that code in their search engine.

[Mark_Ice]

Its cheap and cheerful but for the money surely it cant be that bad.... :confused:

This http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/NEW-Stone-LM7W-Laptop-250-inc-1-Year-Warranty-Free-P-P_W0QQitemZ160196871895QQihZ006QQcategoryZ177QQssP ageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Sold by OEG http://www.oegcomputersales.com/

Who have the same phone number as http://store.stonecomputers.co.uk/ or so someone pointed out?

Any good to anyone?

[JDPower]

Its cheap and cheerful but for the money surely it cant be that bad.... :confused:

This http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/NEW-Stone-LM7W-Laptop-250-inc-1-Year-Warranty-Free-P-P_W0QQitemZ160196871895QQihZ006QQcategoryZ177QQssP ageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Sold by OEG http://www.oegcomputersales.com/
Wouldn't touch that with a barge pole myself. Poor, badly thought out spec and the company's website isn't even a real site, just a picture of a web page with no interactive elements. Yes it's cheap but for what you're getting that's all it's really worth and not worth the risk IMO.

[Mark_Ice]

Wouldn't touch that with a barge pole myself. Poor, badly thought out spec and the company's website isn't even a real site, just a picture of a web page with no interactive elements. Yes it's cheap but for what you're getting that's all it's really worth and not worth the risk IMO.


Pretty sure OEG are Stone Computers, they both have the same phone number and I'm pretty sure they are a reputable company?

Mind you that means nothing if the laptop spec is nothing short of a good dump..... :eek:


http://rawmusicdirect.com/laptops1 some cheapies here.......

[I'm With Stupid]

I just ordered the one on the right (http://www1.euro.dell.com/content/products/features.aspx/inspn_1520?c=uk&cs=ukdhs1&l=en&s=dhs). It won't be delivered until February, but if you're not in a hurry, it's the best spec laptop I could find for under £500. Great processor, plenty of RAM and a big enough hard drive for most people. And then all of the extras like bluetooth.

[Saeed]

I'm selling my Acer Extensa 5610 Laptop/Notebook. It is in new condition with box and all accessories. Bought 1 month ago, but now been given a company laptop so this is no longer needed. Comes with 11 months guarantee.

Specification:

Acer Extensa 5610
Core 2 Duo processor 1.66GHz
15.4" Widescreen XGA screen with glossy CrystalBrite technology
1GB DDR2 SDRAM
120GB Seagate HDD
LG DVDRW dual layer also reads and write RAM disks
Genuine Windows XP Pro installed
Card reader 5 in 1 reads and writes SD, MMC, MS, MS Pro, XD cards
Wireless internet
Intel Graphics Media Accelerator (GMA) 950 with up to 224 MB memory
Firewire 1394 port
4x USB 2.0
S-video output
VGA output
Gibagit ethernet

Selling for £400, cost me £450 a month ago! I live in Bradford.

Don't have any pics of it, but they can be seen on the misco website below
http://www.misco.co.uk/applications/searchtools/item-detailsInactive.asp?Sku=Q114079

[d123]

Posted this yesterday on my blog... Hope that helps those looking for a lappy ;-)


Up to £200
If you have an absolute maximum budget of £200 all inclusive, grab the cheapest Asus EEE Laptop you can find. They are currently on sale at Ebuyer for £199.99 (http://www.ebuyer.com/product/136631) with free delivery. The Asus Eee PC 2GS-W001 comes with 512MB memory and 2GB onboard Flash memory, but it should me adequate for all but the lightest of tasks. Other specs include a 7″ screen, Intel Mobile processor and Linux Preloaded.
http://www.scan.co.uk/images/products/697317-A.jpg


no,no,no.

That is bad advice, the 2G is very bad value as it means you are constrained to the linux os, the 4G is only £219 at either PC World or Toys R Us and has enough space for a normal XP install and still enough space for all the other programs people use on a regular basis.

[sihart68]

4G Eee PCs are hard to find at the moment, you can check who has them in stock here (http://www.pc-how-to.com/laptops/asustek-eee-pc.htm) .

[d123]

Toys R Us seem to get stock in quite regularly and in fairly large quantities, if there is a Toys R Us in your area they are worth a visit if looking for one, or play.com actually have stock at the moment as well.
http://www.play.com/PC/PCs/4-/3516641/Asus-Eee-PC-701-4G-Celeron-Mobile-900MHz-512MB-4GB-7-Linux-Laptop-Notebook-Black/Product.html?P36=76FNTE

[kegan5]

I've read through the last 20 pages of this thread and still haven't been able to make up my mind.

Basically I need a new laptop, me previous 2 I have spent over or close to £1000 however they don't last me any more than 2 years (I'm a heavy user...web designer).

I am now looking for something with a substantial hard drive (+ 160bg), a good graphics card, core2duo processor and lightweight

And preferably with a good price tag :p

Has anyone come across one that might meet my needs ?

K :D

[happymummy]

Are the medion refurbs worth thinking about?

https://www.medionshop.co.uk/

Only £4.99 postage

[channy]

what do people think of the dell xps m1330? really portable and there are some good reviews on the internet. there is a discount on them until 30th and with a 10% discount code out there (min £599 spend), you can get even more off. i guess here though, your looking at top spec laptops that are small.

heres one option:

£599 (save £160 until 30th - originally £759?)

Processor: Intel® Core™ 2 Duo Processor T5450 (1.66 GHz, 2 MB L2 cache, 667 MHz FSB)Monitors/Displays
: 13.3" UltraSharp™ WXGA (1280x800) CCFL Display (220nits) with TrueLife™
Memory: 2048MB 667MHz Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM [2x1024]
Hard Drives: 160GB (5400RPM) SATA Hard Drive
Base Warranty - 1 Year XPS Premium Hardware Support

with the 10% code, it's it comes to £545.09 in the basket. its a new laptop.

opinion please...

[uktyler]

I've read through the last 20 pages of this thread and still haven't been able to make up my mind.

Basically I need a new laptop, me previous 2 I have spent over or close to £1000 however they don't last me any more than 2 years (I'm a heavy user...web designer).

I am now looking for something with a substantial hard drive (+ 160bg), a good graphics card, core2duo processor and lightweight

And preferably with a good price tag :p

Has anyone come across one that might meet my needs ?

K :D

Morgan are selling this Toshiba for under £600:
http://morgancomputers.co.uk/shop/detail.asp?ProductID=4360&CategoryID=11&SubCategoryID=250

Top spec notebook with powerful T7100 Dual Core processor, 2GB RAM, 200GB hard disk, TruBrite display, WiFi network and 1.3 megapixel webcam


Intel Core 2 Duo T7100 processor, 2GB RAM as standard
200GB hard disk and double layer multiformat DVD writer
Widescreen 15.4" TruBrite display, Intel X1300 shared graphics (358MIB)
Wireless networking (802.11 a/b/g), 56K modem, LAN and cad reader
Integrated webcam, stereo sound/speakers and long life li-ion battery
Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium and Microsoft Works 8.5Toshiba part no - PSAE3E-01J014AV
Stock Status
Toshiba re-work stock
Warranty
One year warranty

[sam1970]

what do people think of the dell xps m1330? really portable and there are some good reviews on the internet. there is a discount on them until 30th and with a 10% discount code out there (min £599 spend), you can get even more off. i guess here though, your looking at top spec laptops that are small.

heres one option:

£599 (save £160 until 30th - originally £759?)

Processor: Intel® Core™ 2 Duo Processor T5450 (1.66 GHz, 2 MB L2 cache, 667 MHz FSB)Monitors/Displays
: 13.3" UltraSharp™ WXGA (1280x800) CCFL Display (220nits) with TrueLife™
Memory: 2048MB 667MHz Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM [2x1024]
Hard Drives: 160GB (5400RPM) SATA Hard Drive
Base Warranty - 1 Year XPS Premium Hardware Support

with the 10% code, it's it comes to £545.09 in the basket. its a new laptop.

opinion please...

hi channy...spot on..i have been thinking of this offer for the last 3 days and i think that i am going to pull the plunge and buy today...the only thing is for slightly over £100 you could increase the processor speed to 2GH, have 128Mb dedicated graphic card and have LED (instead of LCD) screen and a 9 cell battery...i think it is worthed to upgrade....dont forget 5% cashback with quidco

[JDPower]

the only thing is for slightly over £100 you could increase the processor speed to 2GH, have 128Mb dedicated graphic card and have LED (instead of LCD) screen and a 9 cell battery
I agree with the graphics card upgrade, makes for a real bargain with the £50 upgrade to the nVidia card with onboard graphics memory (often only available on top end laptops). That is as long as you are happy to take the power hit - battery life will be noticeably shorter with that graphics card, so you'll probably want to go for the bigger battery in that case.

[kle87]

Tesco Direct have a good deal on an Acer at the moment and you get club card points!

Acer Aspire 4315 for £299


Sorry if this has already been mentioned!

[dibdab3]

I agree with the graphics card upgrade, makes for a real bargain with the £50 upgrade to the nVidia card with onboard graphics memory (often only available on top end laptops). That is as long as you are happy to take the power hit - battery life will be noticeably shorter with that graphics card, so you'll probably want to go for the bigger battery in that case.
Sorry,but my daughter has just phoned in a panic as her computer has just crashed and she is in the process of doing her Law Finals,so needs a replacement.

This Dell one sounds great.Dont understand about upgrading the graphics card,but dont think that matters.

How do l find out about this.ls it on the Dell website,and how do l find out the 10%code? Thanks,Deb.

[JDPower]

Sorry,but my daughter has just phoned in a panic as her computer has just crashed and she is in the process of doing her Law Finals,so needs a replacement.

This Dell one sounds great.Dont understand about upgrading the graphics card,but dont think that matters.
The upgrade options are on the Dell site. If you've never used their site they give a basic spec which you can buy as is, or you can click the customise button which will then give you a series of upgrade options you can select and how much extra it will cost.

If your daughter is just doing word processing, internet browsing etc the XPS laptop might be overkill (ie you'll be paying for more than she actually needs). There are cheaper laptops listed in this thread for stuff like that. Though if she DOES do anything graphics intensive (such as gaming, computer aided design etc) then that XPS is a good deal.

[AlanR]

Tesco Direct have a good deal on an Acer at the moment and you get club card points!

Acer Aspire 4315 for £299
...


There seem to be quite a lot of offers at £299 at the moment, with roughly similar specifications. E.g. ebuyer (http://www.ebuyer.com/) have not only the HP6720S flagged by Siliconbits in this thread (9 Jan) but also the Fujitsu Siemens Esprimo V5535 and the Toshiba L40-15A, all at £299 with free delivery. Amazon have the Acer Aspire 5315, again at £299 and also with free delivery if you're prepared to wait for their "super saver" service. No club card points on any of these tho'... ;)

What I've been looking for and can't currently find is any replacement for the Morgan Computers Gateway offer mentioned by Siliconbits at £249. This has now finished, so far as I can tell. The nearest Morgan have at the moment is the fairly similar ML6226B with 2 GB of RAM and a free backpack thrown in, but this costs £299 so it too falls into the price bracket of the ones already listed. Any ideas, anyone? I'm only after a cheap machine to take on holiday for email etc, so I want to spend as little as possible. (And the Asus eeePC is something I'm thinking about, but it's a very different sort of beast.)

Alan

[moonrakermagpie]

>>>>>>There seem to be quite a lot of offers at £299 at the moment, with roughly similar specifications. E.g. ebuyer (http://www.ebuyer.com/) have not only the HP6720S flagged by Siliconbits in this thread (9 Jan) but also the Fujitsu Siemens Esprimo V5535 and the Toshiba L40-15A, all at £299 with free delivery. Amazon have the Acer Aspire 5315, again at £299 and also with free delivery if you're prepared to wait for their "super saver" service. No club card points on any of these tho'... ;)<<<<<<


are all of these wireless compatable

[elpaw]

Here are a few new offers on the Dell XPS m1330. For £485.39 delivered:

Intel® Core 2 Duo Processor T5450 (1.66 GHz, 2 MB L2 cache, 667 MHz FSB)
LCD 13.3" UltraSharp WXGA (1280x800) CCFL Display (220nits) with TrueLife Genuine Windows Vista® Home Premium
Built In 2.0 mega pixel Camera
Biometric Fingerprint Reader
2048MB 667MHz Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM
160GB (5400RPM) SATA Hard Drive
Integrated Intel® Graphic Media Accelerator X3100
Fixed 8x DVD+/-RW Slim Slot Load Drive, including SW
Primary 4-cell Lithium-Ion Battery (37 WHr) Lightweight
Dell TrueMobile 355 internal Bluetooth Module
Intel® Pro Wireless 3945 802.11a/b/g Mini-Card
Microsoft® Works 8.0

http://configure.euro.dell.com/dellstore/config.aspx?c=uk&cs=ukdhs1&l=en&oc=N0113352&dgc=AF&cid=5212&lid=122756

you have to take it all the way through to the basket, and get the Free Delivery discount, and voucher code VC6X4PMZH0LH9Q for 10% off. You can also use Quidco to get the price down to ~£465.

[BP56134]

So if I need a laptop to replace the one that just blew up (it stinks!!!), and I have the Microsoft Office Suite that I use, on disc, what do I need?
I use it for work away from my home office, so need to store lots of fairly large images, apart from that usual e-mail and networking usage.
Please don't suggest Dell - My main computer is that and I have had numerous problems with them, their after sales customer care stinks worse than my laptop, and I am in dispute with their sales department over their warranty, on my behalf and three other peoples!
Where do I start wihtout Dell?

[tinymarsden]

I am thinking of getting the HP Pavilion G6032 Notebook £399. through the HP website.
Can anyone please advise if this is a good deal as I am a bit confused with all the deals at the moment.

http://h10010.www1.hp.com/wwpc/uk/en/ho/WF06b/21675-38187-38191-38191-38191-80247790-81076793.html?jumpid=in_rm_r2515_uk_en_dsc_hho_200 71211152031610

I don't know if this link works

[JDPower]

I am thinking of getting the HP Pavilion G6032 Notebook £399. through the HP website.
Can anyone please advise if this is a good deal as I am a bit confused with all the deals at the moment.

http://h10010.www1.hp.com/wwpc/uk/en/ho/WF06b/21675-38187-38191-38191-38191-80247790-81076793.html?jumpid=in_rm_r2515_uk_en_dsc_hho_200 71211152031610

I don't know if this link works
That actually looks a pretty good deal for the money:money:

[BP56134]

I'm considering the Lenovo N200 Laptop from Ebuyer at the moment. Adding an extra 2GB memory to bring it to 3 in total, the package works out at £423 - http://www.ebuyer.com/bundle/C77FDPJY5

[JDPower]

I'm considering the Lenovo N200 Laptop from Ebuyer at the moment. Adding an extra 2GB memory to bring it to 3 in total, the package works out at £423 - http://www.ebuyer.com/bundle/C77FDPJY5
Have you checked it has enough slots to do that? Most laptops only have two RAM slots in which case you'll only be able to take out the 1GB installed (probably 2x512MB) and put the two upgrade 1gb sticks in to make 2GB RAM.