Sub-£350 powerful laptops discussion

MyRubyRed

Guys, Ive been back to lookk at the refurbed Acer today at Argos clearance. Can any one advise whether this is a good spec??
Acer Aspire.Intel cCore i3 250m processor, HD graphics, 3GB DDR memory, 320 GB hdd, DVD super multi DL drive, wireless compatible, built in web cam. Price £299
PS, I did ask for the model number butthey quoted 586/0238 which sounds more like the Argos catalogue number...which I can't trace

acc

MyRubyRed wrote: »

Guys, Ive been back to lookk at the refurbed Acer today at Argos clearance. Can any one advise whether this is a good spec??
Acer Aspire.Intel cCore i3 250m processor, HD graphics, 3GB DDR memory, 320 GB hdd, DVD super multi DL drive, wireless compatible, built in web cam. Price £299
PS, I did ask for the model number butthey quoted 586/0238 which sounds more like the Argos catalogue number...which I can't trace

The spec you list above is good, although the i3 250M processor is a bit unusual. I thought the lowest i3 was the i3 330M.

However, the major considerations are (1) that this is a refurbished item and (2) that you are buying from Argos.

There are many reports on this and other forums of people having problems when buying items, even new items, from Argos, particularly items excluded from the 30 day guarantee, such as laptops, cameras and mobile phones.

Refurbished items, clearance items, and items bought from the Argos ebay website are even riskier.

Also, you should ask yourself why Argos will not give you a proper model number, and why they give you a dodgy catalogue number.

You may find it safer to buy a new laptop with a proper guarantee from a supplier such as saveonlaptops.

InDebted2U_2

Although I had to return the refurbed laptop I bought from Argos Clearance Bargains (think they call themselves Argos Outlet now, and are no longer linked from Argos homepage, interestingly) and getting a refund took some time, I wouldn't let this put me off buying from them again. The spec of the laptop was way above what I would have got elsewhere for the price, so I would give them another go (but only one more go if they messed up again!)

I recently had to return an excluded (from 30 day guarantee) item to an Argos store. I explained it was badly made and they took it back no problem.

So there are good and bad experiences to be had with both sides of Argos. It all depends on how quickly you need a reliable laptop and how important high spec is for your money as to whether you take your chances and go the refurb route.

Having returned my faulty laptop to Argos Clearance I then bought a refurbed laptop from Currys instead, and my DS (who's taken it to uni) is very pleased with it. He wouldn't have got anywhere near that spec on my budget for a 'new' laptop.

emc

InDebted2U wrote: »

Although I had to return the refurbed laptop I bought from Argos Clearance Bargains (think they call themselves Argos Outlet now, and are no longer linked from Argos homepage, interestingly) and getting a refund took some time, I wouldn't let this put me off buying from them again. The spec of the laptop was way above what I would have got elsewhere for the price, so I would give them another go (but only one more go if they messed up again!)

I recently had to return an excluded (from 30 day guarantee) item to an Argos store. I explained it was badly made and they took it back no problem.

So there are good and bad experiences to be had with both sides of Argos. It all depends on how quickly you need a reliable laptop and how important high spec is for your money as to whether you take your chances and go the refurb route.

Having returned my faulty laptop to Argos Clearance I then bought a refurbed laptop from Currys instead, and my DS (who's taken it to uni) is very pleased with it. He wouldn't have got anywhere near that spec on my budget for a 'new' laptop.

I also bought a refurbished laptop from Currys, about six months ago, and it has been fine.

However, I recently bought a new mobile phone from Argos, and tried to return it within 4 days of purchase as the phone did not work. I have had horrendous problems getting a refund, and so would certainly not buy from Argos again.

amat_endura

Go for more RAM. At 320 GB you still have a good sized hard drive and for the price of the RAM upgrade you can buy a portable USB one later.

Sport_Billy wrote: »

Good answer!

But with all other things being equal, and upgrade not being an option within the budget, which machine do you think will offer the better general performance, as is, out of the box from day one?

1. 3GB RAM, 320GB HDD

or

2. 2GB RAM, 500GB HDD

grumpycrab

The Tesco Monster has a laptop sale. e.g. oldish Dell 1545s - Pentium Dual-Core 2.3GHz, 3GB, 320GB £295 various colours.
http://direct.tesco.com/search/default.aspx?search=Dell%20Inspiron%201545%20%28Intel%20Pentium%20Dual%20Core%20T4500,%203GB,%20320GB,%2015.6%22,%20Windows%207%20Home%20premium%29

EDIT: not sure if they all have a webcam.

Fro-ald

grumpycrab wrote: »

The Tesco Monster has a laptop sale. e.g. oldish Dell 1545s - Pentium Dual-Core 2.3GHz, 3GB, 320GB £295 various colours.
http://direct.tesco.com/search/default.aspx?search=Dell%20Inspiron%201545%20%28Intel%20Pentium%20Dual%20Core%20T4500,%203GB,%20320GB,%2015.6%22,%20Windows%207%20Home%20premium%29

EDIT: not sure if they all have a webcam.

I ordered the Compaq CQ56-102SA laptop last night for £299 and today it is £239! It is £320+ in most other places. I just rang Tesco who have put through a £60 refund . I am just glad that I went onto the website to check out a couple of things otherwise I would have been none the wiser and £60 poorer.

cgk1

I just picked up a HP for £263 from that Tesco sale for my niece (for school work so plenty of power for her needs), there was similar spec Dell for the same price but this came with Office starter which should be ideal for school for her.

grumpycrab

Link to show what's in their "20% off" sale...http://direct.tesco.com/promo/?id=S00023827 (laptops, netbooks, et al)

aj9648

Hi

Confused as to what laptop I want - narrowed down to these 2 both at £299. Any helpers:

http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/partNumber/5084337/c_1/1%7Ccategory_root%7COffice,+PCs+and+phones%7C14418968/c_2/2%7C14418968%7CLaptops+and+netbooks%7C14419039/c_3/3%7Ccat_14419039%7CLaptops%7C14419040.htm

http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/partNumber/5082717/c_1/1%7Ccategory_root%7COffice,+PCs+and+phones%7C14418968/c_2/2%7C14418968%7CLaptops+and+netbooks%7C14419039/c_3/3%7Ccat_14419039%7CLaptops%7C14419040.htm

Need to buy for a pressie for a mate and I have £300 worth of argos vouchers!!!

Thanks - any advice much appreciated