£169-99 Laptop With 4% Cashback Quidco

fuzzyduck_3

Just been hunting around for a sub £200 Laptop and just found the following,
BEWARE - The wireless on this laptop sometimes fails on chanels 11 or 12 and so you may need to make sure your adsl wireless supports other chanels.

http://www.maplin.co.uk/Search.aspx?criteria=A98HX&DOY=16m8

Only on Sale Until 2 September - When its due to go up in price.

Browntoa

· Small on price and very small on size - ultra compact and just 650g!
· Ideal for web surfing, email, word processing and spreadsheets
· A perfect travel or business companion with built in Wi-Fi technology...be truly mobile
· 7-inch TFT widescreen screen and stylish piano black finish casing
· Easy to use Linux operating system
· 3 x USB 2.0 ports
· Stereo speakers and built-in microphone
· Touch mouse pad
· Email and Office (word processor and spreadsheet program)
· PDF viewer
· SD / SDHC Card reader
· 10/100Mbps Ethernet port
· 2GB SSD (soild state disk) shock proof storage
· Expand the storage with USB or SD Flash Memory (not external hard drives)
· Supports up to 4GB SD cards and 4GB USB sticks
· Multi-theme display (Child or Adult mode)
· DDR2 128MB memory
· AC adaptor / charger
· Complete with Xip office applications
· 12 month warranty

Portable technology for everyday people! The minibook™ is the perfect notebook for surfing the internet, uploading your latest photos and sharing them with your friends. The minibook™ uses office applications whilst on the go and with built in Wi-Fi technology you can be mobile wherever you are.

There are many types of laptops - some with the most storage, the best for gamers, the widest screens or the shiniest cases! Pound for pound though, you will have to go a very long way to find another laptop that does exactly what the minibook says - a cost effective, mini laptop that's perefct for everyday activities.

Log in to wireless networks, send emails, surf the web or just do your accounts whilst sitting in the garden

Technical Specification
Model No.:MINI LAPTOP NEO
Storage drive type:Nand Flash 2GB
Processor:32 Bit
CPU System
RAM: DDRII 128MB LCD
screen size: 7-inch
Operating system: Linux
Wireless connection :WI-FI
I/O ports3 x USB host sockets;1 earphone/line_in socket
Card slotPush-Push SD card socket
Mouse control Touch Pad
Keyboard :Standard 80 KEY
Display Display Type: 7-inch TFT
Widescreen Display: Yes
Max Resolution: 800 x 480 ( WVGA )
Networking Other com options 10/100MB Ethernet port
Wireless LAN supported: Wi-Fi (IEEE 802.11 b/g) USB Dongle A
udio Audio input: Microphone
Audio output power:Built-in microphone and dual speakers
Other Touch mouse pad
Operating System / Software OS Provided: Linux
Software: Web browser; Flashplayer; Office; PDF viewer; email
Battery and Power Technology: Lithium Battery
Installed Qty: 1 PC
Capacity: 2200mAh 3.7V
Working time:3 hours
Product Dimensions Shipping Weight (in kg):650g Size:222(l) x165(w) x 29.5(d) mm
Manufacturer Warranty Service and support: 1 year warranty

There are many types of laptops - some with the most storage, the best for gamers, the widest screens or the shiniest cases! Pound for pound though, you will have to go a very long way to find another laptop that does exactly what the minibook says - a cost effective, mini laptop that's perefct for everyday activities.

Log in to wireless networks, send emails, surf the web or just do your accounts whilst sitting in the garden

happymummy

What would be better, this or the asus eeepc?
I have no clue about laptops, just know I'd like one so I can clear a bit of space in my lounge by putting the pc upstairs.

happymummy

It would just be for surfing really, and msn. I'd still have my pc for the other stuff.

Just looking at the asus, might get my DD a pink one for xmas, she'll be 11.

seth

Looks like Maplin are buying these at <$199 a pop and selling them for £160
http://www.ubergizmo.com/15/archives/2008/05/klpc701_mini_notebook.html

This is a MUCH lower spec unit than the ASUS EEE PC 701.

ASUS make all the Macbook portables and some of the PS3s for Sony.

First of the ASUS comes with good software an community support. The ASUS is popular for support, services, spare and accessories are easier to come by. Plus you can upgrade the memory (does not void your warantee ASUS changed their policy on this)

The Maplin unit comes with some odd software that is not widely used so upgrades and improvements will be more frequent and faster on the ASUS platform.

That said laptops in general and these netbooks are hard to repair and service. I think the ASUS comes with a 2 year RTB guarantee (6 month on battery).

Note there the ASUS EEEPC 701 is under £180 in vat and delivery from reputable places like play I also saw it for <£150 from a place call OYYY.CO.UK but I've not heard of them.

Also as mensioned this form factors (small laptops) are becoming very popular, thought not for everyone it might work for you. The current crop sport 9" and 10" screens and offer 4 to 6 hour battery life. There is a new ATOM motherboard on these newer units, Intel are launching a revised version in the next month and so by XMAS a new crop is expected.

Look at the range before you buy, If you go to play, click computers, laptops, net-tops and see the range!

I'd buy the ASUS over a non name 1) better spares / resale / software 2) warantee and support from ASUS is very good.

Ebuyer have them for £159 in vat and inc delivery http://www.ebuyer.com/product/141743

Noticed a worrying comment on battery drain in Wikpedida
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ASUS_Eee_PC

Misco have the 4g model white for £164.49 inc VAT I think they do P&P and quidco?

Also 1g or 2gig memory upgrades from crucial are £15 and £25 respectively. There are also bigger batteries for the Asus on ebay and other places should you need it.

Just read the specs for the Maplin PC
Processor: XBurst 400 MHz 32-bit CPU
Display terminal: 7-inch 800*480 true-color LCD
RAM: 128M RAM
Storage: 2GB NAND Flash
USB port: 2 extensible USB ports
External storage: SD card slot
Input device: standard keyboard and mouse
Broadband interface: 10/100MB Ethernet interface
Network access: ADSL, WiFi

It is lower spec than the ASUS (only 128 meg DDR Ram) and the CPU is a 400mhz

£$&*"($£&(

The 4gb version of the Asus eeepc is £164.49 at Misco.

http://www.misco.co.uk/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=294112&CatId=3300

seth

grahawk wrote: »

The 4gb version of the Asus eeepc is £164.49 at Misco.

http://www.misco.co.uk/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=294112&CatId=3300

Thanks Misco are a good retailer.

I looked for software for the Maplin PC`and it cannot use any of the free software for the ASUS. (KDE, Ubuntu, etc) even the word processor and media players are specially written for it. Down load the user guide from the Maplin site.

There are plenty of good applications for the ASUS and the reviews rave about the speed of the applications. Check out Youtube for demos.

Dime_Bar

I agree the EEEPC range is a far better choice than this. I got my 4GB 701 with Linux on for £179.99 in Toy R Us on friday. They advertise only the white one but I had a choice of colours when I had paid for it.

You could also try and get PC world to price match and get another £2 off.

seth

Dime_Bar wrote: »

I agree the EEEPC range is a far better choice than this. I got my 4GB 701 with Linux on for £179.99 in Toy R Us on friday. They advertise only the white one but I had a choice of colours when I had paid for it.

You could also try and get PC world to price match and get another £2 off.

Does your unit show the battery fade problem?
Apparently if you turn off the ASUS EEEPC it still draws power this if for the 701 and 900 models only. 901 is not effected. You can check by

1) Fully charing the unit
2) Turn off and leave for a day
3) Switch on and you will see 10% of the battery used up per day
4) If left for 10 days or so the battery will b flat

To prevent this you can take the battery out if unused for long periods (store carefully to avoid shorting the contacts)

There are setting in the BIOS to get around this but it involves turning off all the USB options.

Check the links on the Wikipedia entry for the EEEPC to link the EEEPC user group.

I've wanted one of these for a long time and at these prices the 7" 701 looks great value despite the shortcomings.

Triker

If you want a portable, lightweight, great battery power and an all round excellent notebook then get an Asus.

I am biased though as I'm typing this on my Asus 901 which is fantastic.;)

seth

Triker wrote: »

If you want a portable, lightweight, great battery power and an all round excellent notebook then get an Asus.

I am biased though as I'm typing this on my Asus 901 which is fantastic.;)

What is the cheapest for the 901s. I want one (bigger screen better battery etc) but the 701 are <£150 look good value. There is apparently another model due out soon (Sept) to replace the 901 with better battery and ect based on the revised ATOM chipset. I cannot belive the pace the nettop market is moving. I think ASUS hid gold with the 701 they shipped > 2million units so now they are taking the sector seriosly.

Triker did you get the Windows unit or the Linux one? What is the real life boot time and battery using Wifi? Which battery did you get 2200mAh?

901 looks great as the screen is so much bigger than the 7" one but it keeps the small form factor + 2 or 3 mm! Excellent.

Was on the maplin site trying to find a pull cord mini switch for in cabinet lighting for the bathroom (no luck with that, so still looking) and noticed Maplins top seller was their nettop. I would be good to hear from folk who have bought this what it is like a direct comparison with the ASUS and the MSI nettops would be good.