Help, I have to buy a laptop, and am really frightened.

mum1964

Please accept my apologies for this rather basic plea for help.

My hubby needs a lap top for OU courses. I have been into my local major store and am now starting to get frightened.

I need good battery life of at least 2 hours.
I also need the ability to use a Zip drive.

We dont want to access the internet and we will need to run DVDs and
CD roms

I have looked at the cheap one in staples and am not keen on the nipple idea.

By the way I am looking for as cheap as poss

Any help would be very much appriciated
regards
to all
Elaine

trademark

hi elaine , you need a basic entry level laptop and should explain this when you speak to a sales person , dell currently start at around the £400 mark but if you wait they do limited offers and i believe there is a 5% discount voucher floating around ...they also discount over the phone if you push them

try the inspiron 1100 or the 2200

https://www.dell.co.uk

you will find it hard to obtain a laptop without a modem , or a dvd / cdrw drive , but remember most laptops do not come with a floppy these days so you will need a cd writer for your back ups ..ie work

pc world usually start laptops at aound £399 also so maybe a trip to them for some advice might be worthwile ... do not take out an extended warranty though its simply not worth it as your laptop will be worth next to nothing in one year or so anyway

to conclude then id say you need a celeron M processor (good battery life) , a 14" screen , a dvdplayer / cd writer and perhaps a 40gb harddrive ....

i have a dell by the way .. its brill

shopbot

Hi Elaine,
Have you had a look at this thread?..it should help:
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=1993

SB

Froggitt

I have that Dell and the battery wont last 2 hours. However there are other Dells that have better battery or use less power......I like Dells generally.

Penny-Pincher!!

Hiya

Recently bought a laptop from ebuyer. This one which has a fabulous spec and excellent value for money.

http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/products/index.html?rb=12594988794&action=c2hvd19wcm9kdWN0X292ZXJ2aWV3&product_uid=94300

PP
xx

MORPH3US

Just out of interest, why would you need to use a zip drive?!? They are very old and outdated now! Not to worry, any laptop should come with USB ports which you can connect up to, just wondering. A cd writer is just as good and 1,000,000 times more compatible!

If battery life is important, make sure you get a "mobile" processor. That way you can adjust its settings and therefore its power consumption when you are running off the battery as opposed to using the mains!

Any more help, let me know!

M

trademark

froggitt ... thats why i mentioned the m processor ... its designed around battery life

calleyw

mum1964 wrote:

My hubby needs a lap top for OU courses. I have been into my local major store and am now starting to get frightened.

Elaine,

I do OU and I am just curious why it has to be a laptop. Is it space issues or because your husband will be taking it every where he goes because he thinks he will be studying all the time.

If it is the later you need to make sure that you are covered by insurance as laptops are stolen a lot.

The only reason I have a laptop is because of space issues. I use to live in a one bedroom flat and when I started OU my husband was studying with them at the same time. So we both need access to a computer. But as we had no space I had to have a laptop.

Now we have moved I wished I had a PC as I can't play my games on my laptop as it is not beefy enough and of course you can't upgrade them. But money as it is I can't afford a new pc. So the laptop will have to solider on until it gives up on me.

Hope you find what you need soon. And good luck for your husband with his OU.

Yours

Calley

agent47_2

hi, if ur looking for cheap basic laptops i know just the place for you. the only problem is if u are willing to come and pick it up if u live near. there is a company near gatwick, west sussex, south east england. the laptops sold are very cheap, the most expensive laptop they have sold was for £155. and that laptop was a excellent laptop for gaming, a basic laptop from them should only cost you £90-£110. if ur interested PM me. they also deliver to your house. the reason for the laptops for being so cheap is because they were ordered wrong and returned or been on display and may be scratched a bit or just used. to avoid dissappointment they also give AN ORIGINAL gurantee from the laptop manufacterer for a specific amount of time so if anything goes wrong u have the right ot get it fixed for free or replaced! i myself have placed many orders, experienced no problems. if u live near i advice visiting urself as so u can chck them out. hope this interests u, if u want more info PM me. ENJOY!