son wants a laptop for his birthday

bluepricey

hi my son is twelve in two weeks and starts high school tueday wants a laptop for his birthday but can only afford a reconditioned one or one off ebay what is the things i should be looking for on it sorry a bit of a techno phobe he just wants to do his homework on it go on the internet and do music for his mp3 and pics thaqnks in advance

tradetime

Roughly what sort of budget are you thinking of?
PC world does reconditioned laptops.
I'd be thinking of 1GB RAM unless it's Vista then 2GB
>1.6 Ghz Processor wouldn't worry about dual core
70+ GB Hard drive.

globalds

If you tell us how much you can afford to spend ,you may be surprised by what people here can find .
You would be far better off buying new .Laptops tend to be treated differently to desktops and second hand ones can be a bit of a gamble ..Things like batteries not holding charge .

bluepricey

around £150 to £200

Browntoa

this is just over budget at £228 new, it's via Dell business but you just enter a name for business (you may be starting a home business ) and they never even ring to check 99% of the time

http://www.hotukdeals.com/item/235761/dell-vostro-1000-laptop-amd-sempron

quote:-

Great if you dont want to spend too much on a laptop and still be able use it for every day tasks. Apply the 10% voucher i've uploaded to get this price (GLTV1QH8DCMLWF). Dont forget use quidco to get £7.76 cashback bringing it down to just £220.31

Remember Voucher expires at the end of AUG 31st

Detailed specifications -

Catalog Number: 202 N0910003

Base AMD® Sempron Mobile Technology 3600+

Microsoft Operating System Genuine Windows® Vista Home Basic with Service Pack 1 - English

Memory 1024 MB 667MHz Dual-Channel DDR2 SDRAM (2x 512 MB)

Video Card ATI Radeon® Xpress 1150 HyperMemory (integrated)

Hard Drive 80GB (5400rpm) SATA Hard Drive

Modem 56.6k V.92 Capable Internal Modem & Adapter - UK

Optical Devices Fixed Internal 8X DVD+/-RW Drive including Software

Wireless Networking Dell Wireless 1395 Mini-Card (802.11 b/g)

Microsoft Application Software Microsoft® Works 9.0 - English

Standard Warranty 1Yr Basic Warranty - Next Business Day
Enhanced Service Packs 1Yr Basic Warranty - Next Business Day Onsite

Power Supply 65W AC Adapter

Primary Battery 4 cell Lithium-Ion Battery (29 Whr)

Dell System Media Kit Resource DVD - (Diagnostics & Drivers)

LCD 15.4" Wide Screen WXGA (1280 x 800) Display

johnmc

I'd have to ask why he specifically wants a laptop. I wouldn't be happy sending mine to school with a decent mobile, let alone a laptop.

I would suggest a desktop which is going to be bigger storage, more memory, better graphics etc. But then it's HIS birthday.

Needless to say, if it's on Ebay it's old.

Take a look on Currys.co.uk for refurbished laptops.

If it's running on Vista I suggest that you need 2Gb of RAM, minimum.

globalds

Just a quick search returns this
http://www.hotukdeals.com/item/235761/dell-vostro-1000-laptop-amd-sempron/

Hotukdeals is a good site to bookmark as it gets new offers listed daily .
Could you not persuade him to get a desktop ?



EDIT*Damn My slow typing (again)**

bluepricey

thanks browntoa that sounds great didn't think i could afford dell

tradetime

I think PC worlds refurbs start around £229, the advantage of a refurb from here is you have an easy point of contact if it goes wrong, I would be hesitant about a refurb laptop off ebay myself.

Browntoa

my daughters both have basic Dells, ample for what they do

tradetime

Also try Pricerunner
http://www.pricerunner.co.uk/cl/27/Laptop-Computers?price_min=&price_max=&sort=3&saved_products=0