is this any good - laptop for my student daughter

magoogy

CAN ANYONE HELP ME PLEASE - I DONT HAVE THAT BIG A BUDGET AND AM WANTING A LAPTOP FOR MY DAUGHTER TO USE IN HER BEDROOM - SHE WONT BE CARRYING IT AROUND SO A FEW SPECS DONT MATTER LIKE BATTERY LIFE AND THAT, AS SHE CAN USE THE POWER IN HER BEDROOM...CAN ANYONE TELL ME IF THE SPECS BELOW ARE ANY GOOD FOR HER? SHE ONLY WANTS A BASIC MACHINE BUT A DECENT ONE....

ANY HELP APPRECIATED....THANKS


toshiba L20 217

Processor Intel Celeron M

Processor model number 350

Processor speed 350 (1.3 GHz)

Front side bus 400 MHz

L2 cache 1 Mb

Screen size 15"

Storage 60 GB

RAM 256 Mb

Records DVDs 8x

Dual layer DVD recording Yes

Dual format DVD recording Yes

Plays CDs 24x

Plays DVDs 8x

Graphics card ATI X200M 128MB shared

Built in wireless 802.11g

Product weight (kg) 2.7 kg

Operating system Windows XP Home

Built in Bluetooth Not featured
Media card slots Not featured
Play through TV Yes

Built in Infra red connection no

Ethernet 10 / 100 wired networking

Modem 56k dial-up

Speakers Built-in stereo

Firewire No
USB port(s) 3

Other features 1 PC card slots

Other features 1:30hours battery life (up to)

Other features Li-ion battery type

Other features C Mobile office

Other features C Video editing

Other features C Gaming

Other features B Home photography

Other features Works 8.0 Application Software

Other features 1.3GHz Processor clock speed

Number_6_3

What is she planning to do on it? Basic surfing, messenger, email etc it should be fine. The celeron processors are a little underpowered. 256mb will cause xp to run like a dog particularly as the graphics card will take some.

Have you thought about a cheap desktop if it doesn't need to be portable. It will be more power and cheaper than a laptop.

What sort of budget do you have?

R

JimArnold

as mentioned memory is a bit low 512 mb is the minimum I'd go for and it should only add £20
Otherwise the specs are a bit above basic (eg dual layer dvd writer) It really depends on the price

http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/NBrange.html?MAV
have decent spec notebooks for £468 upwards (inc 512Mb memory)

magoogy

i have about £500 to spend - but, they are in vouchers where i can only use them at woolworths or comet so i dont really have that much choice......the reason i am getting a laptop rather than desktop is because her bedroom is that full i wouldnt get another item in there - and, she has specified she definitely wants a laptop....

thanks for all your help....

WOULD I BE ABLE TO ADD MORE RAM AFTERWARDS TO TAKE IT TO THE 526MB? HOW MUCH WOULD THIS COST ABOUT? IS IT EASY TO DO?

THANKS

---

if i could get another £100 from somewhere i could get the following - is that any better?

Brand TOSHIBA

Processor Intel Celeron M

Processor model number 360

Processor speed 360 (1.4 GHz)

Front side bus 400 MHz

L2 cache 1 Mb

Screen size 15"

Storage 60 GB

RAM 512 Mb

Records CDs 24x

Records DVDs 8x

Dual layer DVD recording Yes

Dual format DVD recording Yes

Plays CDs 24x

Plays DVDs 8x

Graphics card ATI X200M 128MB

Built in wireless 802.11 g

Product weight (kg) 2.7 kg

Operating system Windows XP Home

Built in Bluetooth Not featured

Media card slots Not featured

Play through TV Yes

Built in Infra red connection Not featured

Ethernet 10 / 100 wired networking

Modem N/A

Sound card Built-in

Speakers Built-in

Firewire No

USB port(s) 3

Other features 1 PC card slots

Other features 1:30hours battery life (up to) T

Other features Li-ion battery type

Other features C Mobile office

Other features C Video editing

Other features C Gaming

Other features B Home photography

Other features Works 8.0 Application Software

Other features 1.4GHz Processor clock speed