Sub-£350 powerful laptops discussion

ought

Hello,
My girlfiend is looking for a laptop for around £400, possibly a bit more. She wants something with a higher resolution screen, I mean wider than 1366x768. With enough power to edit photos in photoshop, run power point, word, DTP, watch HD films, possibly minor video editing.. and not too heavy to drag to the school where she teaches.

Oh and won't die too quickly ;o)

Any suggestions please?

Thanks muchly.. Stephen

twinkle162

Just trying to get mother a netbook/laptop to use net in living room with wireless. We have a desktop pc with photos etc. I've priced netbooks around 230, would prefer to get a semi-decent one! But the noticed I could probably get a laptop for same? Recommendations?

Aiadi

rolandpol wrote: »

This is a pretty good deal:
eMachine Laptop

Operating System: Windows 7 Home Premium
Processor Type AMD Athlon 64 Processor (CPU)
Processor Speed 1.6GHz CPU
Memory Size 2 GB (Gigabytes)
Hard Drive (HDD) 250 GB (Gigabytes)
Optical Drive DVD Supermulti
Display Size 15.6 inch Display
Display Resolution 1366 x 768
Graphics Chipset ATi Mobility Radeon HD 3200
Graphics Memory Shared Video Memory
USB Ports 2 x USB port
Wired Network 10/100 Internal LAN RJ-45 connector

Good graphics card for such a cheap laptop

I think you are ought to mention that this is refurbished which makes it not a very special deal.

tomordish

Hi guys

As in above message, what are the disadvantages/concerns with buying refurb laptops?

Just about to purchase from Argos a refurb Toshiba but don't really know what issues there may be, just attracted by the price.

Any views/tips welcomed

Cheers

Knarf44

Generally, refurbs offer great VFM and are often simply Customer returns after they changed their minds. If you do get a lemon you'll know within the first 7 days so you can return it for full refund or exchange it.

They also all come with the manufacturer's standard one year warranty.

So, in summary, for the price saving they are worth the gamble.

G_M

Knarf44 wrote: »

Generally, refurbs offer great VFM and are often simply Customer returns after they changed their minds. If you do get a lemon you'll know within the first 7 days so you can return it for full refund or exchange it.

They also all come with the manufacturer's standard one year warranty.

So, in summary, for the price saving they are worth the gamble.

You say that but in fact there is no way of knowing if it's a "Customer returns after they changed their minds." or a faulty laptop returned and 'refubished' (surely the clue is in the title?).

And how many customers simply change their minds on a laptop purchase? My totally unscientific guess is far fewer than on many other products.

The same day lemon rule? Yes, maybe, but not always....

"all come with the manufacturer's standard one year warranty." true on some sites, but not all - many 'refurbished' come with reduced warranties.

Knarf44

OK, to clarify further:

Many references on here have been about laptops from the Argos Ebay Clearance site. On that site, under the "Description" of the product, Argos state quite clearly whether the specific laptop's condition is "New", "New (other)", "Manufacturer Refurbished", "Seller Refurbished", "Used" or "For parts". Exact details of what these mean is here.

ALL items bought via Argos's Ebay Clearance site also come with a standard 1 YEAR ARGOS Warranty. Details of Argos's RETURNS and Warranty Policy for Ebay bought items are here.

Therefore, I still believe that the cost saving involved in purchasing a refurbished laptop is still worth the gamble. However, the onus is also on the Customer to be fully aware of what they are buying and to be fully aware of the returns and warranty policy.

tinker15

Ok I confess, I am a Toshiba fan. After purchasing one last year and one this year I am now after another, as my youngest is now in need of a laptop for school, facebook etc. The last one I bought was the L500 1XJ but this is now obsolete & to be honest I would like them different to stop the argueing.
Can anyone recommend a Toshiba laptop with similar spec but must include a webcam that is around the £350-£400 price please?
I also like Toshiba as their extended guarantree is very reasonable, fortunately we have not had to use it

Knarf44

How about this Toshiba Satellite Pro C650D-10Z ?

or this Toshiba Satellite C650-1CT ?

or Argos Ebay Clearance site has the i3 version C650-154 for £397 but it is a Refurbished machine so ensure you are familiar with the terms and conditions, incase you have to return it.

KaiserRewaz

Could I get an opinion on this machine?

Because I am new the forum does not allow me to post a link. It is the Toshiba c650d. 15.6 inch screen, 2.2ghz amd v120, 3gb memory, 250 gb hard drive. Operating system windows 7 premium. Price £300 at best buy.

My budget is 350 max. It's a gift for my nephew for university. So should be able to do the stuff he needs bar gaming.