Sub-£350 powerful laptops discussion

pulliptears

This may be of some use to someone:

http://direct.asda.com/ACER-AS5552-15.6%22-Laptop---AMD-Athlon-II-X2-Dual-Core%2C-320GB%2C-3GB-Memory/000504214,default,pd.html

ACER AS5552 15.6" Laptop with 320GB and AMD Athlon II X2 Dual Core Processor is ideal for multitasking home computing. Its 15.6 inch screen displays web pages and video content in high-detail, while the laptop's 320GB memory enables you to store photos, videos and documents. With 3GB of memory and an AMD Dual Core Processor you can multitask with ease and the built in wireless network makes surfing the web childs play.

£447 Now £327.00 Save £120

jasmin10

A while you you guys all said that the Lenovo G Series 250GB 15.6in was a really good lappy to go for. I have read quite a few posts but there are so many specs that I don't really understand.

Is this still the better one to go for. My Toshiba/Gateway one has been a pain in the butt and is ready to be thrown at the wall :mad:.

I do loads of surfing (general), Music and watching iplayer, so nothing major. I do need wifi and bluetooth would have been a bonus but no hardship on that as I can get an adapter. I know this one hasnt got bluetooth but as I say not too worried.

What do you reckon.

The_Wall

Currys / PC World have an Acer Aspire 5736 laptop for £279.97, but with the Quidco 5% off + 3.5% cashback it would come down to just below £350.

Spec as follows

Processor - Intel® Pentium® Processor T4500
- 2.3 GHz
- 800 MHz FSB
- 1 MB L2 Cache
Operating System Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium 64-bit
RAM - 3 GB RAM
- DDR3

Screen type LCD Widescreen
Screen resolution - WXGA
- 1366 x 768
Screen size 15.6"
Screen features - HD Screen
Hard drive 320 GB hard drive 5400rpm
Optical disk drive Dual Layer DVD Rewriter
Memory card reader Yes, 2-in-1 card reader (SD, MMC)
USB 3 x USB 2.0
FireWire No
Modem/Ethernet Gigabit Ethernet, Wake-on-LAN ready
Wi-Fi Acer InviLink™ Nplify™ 802.11b/g/n
Bluetooth No
Video interface 1 x HDMI
1 x VGA
Audio interface 1 x mini jack
1 x microphone in
TV output HDMI
Extension card slot No
Sound Mono
Webcam Yes, 1.3MP resolution
Battery - 4400 mAh 6-cell Li-ion standard battery pack
- 48.8 Wh
- Up to 3.5 hours battery life
Size 34 x 381 x 253 mm (H x W x D)
Weight 2.6 kg


It would just be used for emails, and accessing the internet, including possibly using BBC iplayer.

Is this a good deal?

spragger

Looks OK for the price, quite an old processor but adequate for the spec

cant see anything on graphics but should manage the iplayer

Does it have any warranty?

The_Wall wrote: »

Currys / PC World have an Acer Aspire 5736 laptop for £279.97, but with the Quidco 5% off + 3.5% cashback it would come down to just below £350.

Spec as follows

Processor - Intel® Pentium® Processor T4500
- 2.3 GHz
- 800 MHz FSB
- 1 MB L2 Cache
Operating System Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium 64-bit
RAM - 3 GB RAM
- DDR3

Screen type LCD Widescreen
Screen resolution - WXGA
- 1366 x 768
Screen size 15.6"
Screen features - HD Screen
Hard drive 320 GB hard drive 5400rpm
Optical disk drive Dual Layer DVD Rewriter
Memory card reader Yes, 2-in-1 card reader (SD, MMC)
USB 3 x USB 2.0
FireWire No
Modem/Ethernet Gigabit Ethernet, Wake-on-LAN ready
Wi-Fi Acer InviLink™ Nplify™ 802.11b/g/n
Bluetooth No
Video interface 1 x HDMI
1 x VGA
Audio interface 1 x mini jack
1 x microphone in
TV output HDMI
Extension card slot No
Sound Mono
Webcam Yes, 1.3MP resolution
Battery - 4400 mAh 6-cell Li-ion standard battery pack
- 48.8 Wh
- Up to 3.5 hours battery life
Size 34 x 381 x 253 mm (H x W x D)
Weight 2.6 kg


It would just be used for emails, and accessing the internet, including possibly using BBC iplayer.

Is this a good deal?

zaffi

zaffi wrote: »

yeah I saw that, i went to my local currys on tuesday and they wouldn't match the online price, even though i could reserve and collect! So i left it and thought, i'll get it at the weekend. the very next day it's gone up £50!

i've just ordered a different laptop going through the currys discount code/quidco/clarity cashback route to get a £400 one for £359.

this was my list
- at least 3GB DDR3 RAM - expandable
- HDMI
- at least 250GB hard drive
- at least 3 x USB 2.0
- multi gesture touchpad
- a "decent" processor - CPU benchmark score of 1400 or more
- Windows 7 64-bit

The Acer 5742 had all of these, but it went above budget, what i got was:

HP G72-110sa
Intel Core i3 Processor i3-330M (2.13GHz, 3MB L2 Cache)
Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium (64 bit)
3GB DDR3 Memory
320GB SATA Hard drive (7200 rpm)
17.3″ High-Definition LED Backlit HP BrightView Widescreen Display (1600 x 900 pixels)
Intel Graphics Media Accelerator HD
Up to 1274 MB total available graphics memory from shared resources
LightScribe SuperMulti DVD±RW Optical Drive with Double Layer Support
Wireless Enabled (WLAN 802.11 b/g)
Integrated 10/100BASE-T Ethernet LAN for wired network connections
HDMI output
VGA output to connect to external displays or projectors
5-in-1 integrated Digital Media Reader for Secure Digital cards, MultiMedia cards, Memory Stick, Memory Stick Pro or xD Picture cards
3 x USB 2.0 ports
Altec Lansing speakers
6-cell Lithium-Ion (Li-Ion) battery

It has everything except multi gesture touchpad, but has a 17 inch screen to compensate.

So for £359 - an i3 processor and 17 inch screen. The catch, it's a refurb but with a full 12 month warranty.


Done.

laptop arrived looking like it had come from ebay, despite website stating it was professionally repackaged. I phoned CS saying i'd like a refund, they told me to go to my local store and they would sort it. got to local store, they couldn't refund or exchange a refurb.

A wasted journey on bad advice, not the end of the world. Except, i live in central scotland and my 11 mile journey home took 10 hours!! :eek:

I phoned this morning and CS offered me £30 credit. So i ordered this laptop, think it's quite a good deal

http://www.currys.co.uk/gbuk/packard-bell-easynote-tm99-gn-030uk-blue-07857737-pdt.html

£429 - £25 discount code - £30 credit - 3% quidco - my clarity cashback of £5 = £358

hopefully now done.

The_Wall

spragger wrote: »

Looks OK for the price, quite an old processor but adequate for the spec

cant see anything on graphics but should manage the iplayer

Does it have any warranty?

There's a 12 month guarantee.

mrs_moneyspinner

Hello does anybody know where i can get an Acer Aspire 5552 for about £350.Thank You

s23xy_c

Can anyone tell me if this is any good please?
http://www.comet.co.uk/p/Laptops/buy-ASUS-X5DIJ-SX536V-Laptop/676942

Whats the difference between intel celeron dual core & intel pentium dual core?

TIA

Juniper71

Hi... I'm sorry to trouble you all - but I think my brain is about to explode!

I've been searching and searching - why are there SOOOOO many different specs of laptop out there?... After reading this thread I really liked the sound of the Acer Aspire 5732 but am not sure if I can pick this up for up to or about £400 also there are some that are listed as Aspire 5732z or some other letter after the numbers and I'm getting really confused!

Would obviously, as I am sure we all would, like to get the best spec for my money... It's only for the kids - they are starting to need to do homework on it and would like to speak to there uncle via the webcam thing too...

Many many thanks for your advice.

Jenni (not very techi?!?!?)

Knarf44

Juniper71 wrote: »

Hi... I'm sorry to trouble you all - but I think my brain is about to explode!

I've been searching and searching - why are there SOOOOO many different specs of laptop out there?... After reading this thread I really liked the sound of the Acer Aspire 5732 but am not sure if I can pick this up for up to or about £400 also there are some that are listed as Aspire 5732z or some other letter after the numbers and I'm getting really confused!

Would obviously, as I am sure we all would, like to get the best spec for my money... It's only for the kids - they are starting to need to do homework on it and would like to speak to there uncle via the webcam thing too...

Many many thanks for your advice.

Jenni (not very techi?!?!?)

Hi

The 5732z can be purchased online at Saveonlaptops for £370 incl VAT and FREE delivery. The important thing to look for in any laptop is the processor, RAM and Hard disk size, all of which are pretty good for this budget laptop. The only thing it lacks is Wireless N ability (the latest) and an HDMI connection which would allow a HD connection to a flat screen tv. You would need to connect via VGA, not so good for HD content but perfectly ok if you simply want to use the tv as a bigger computer monitor.