Sub-£350 powerful laptops discussion

InDebted2U_2

grumpycrab wrote: »

...If you will use the laptop alot at home then an external screen (e.g. 21inch for less than £100 or have you got a spare monitor?) is a great idea...

On a similar note, has anyone used one of those sender units that can send the picture wirelessly from your computer to your TV screen, and are they any good? They seem rather expensive but may be a convenient option (especially where a broken laptop screen is concerned!)

grumpycrab

InDebted2U wrote: »

...send the picture wirelessly from your computer to your TV screen...

They do look expensive (USB<->TV); can you not use hard-wired HDMI or VGA? (But guess not and that's why you're asking). Much cheaper.

zuzuspetals

InDebted2U wrote: »

I'm looking at this (not quite sub-£350 but lots of bang for your buck) and wondered if anyone here had experience of using 'Save on Laptops', who seem to be offering it at a good price?

And/or any recommendations of laptops with similar/better spec for the same price point (not Acer!)?

I bought the Samsung R540 and half price warranty from them a couple of weeks ago. It came within two days. Really pleased with the laptop too.

OnAndUp

Acer Aspire 5336 Laptop Intel Dual Core T3500 2.1GHz £249.99

4GB RAM, 500GB HDD BRAND NEW 12 MONTH WARRANTY

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=280703025633&clk_rvr_id=244597259122#ht_2851wt_1139&ipn=psmain&icep_vectorid=229508&kwid=902099&mtid=824&kw=lg

rasch

Hi Everyone

I'm looking for a laptop for my mum to use for the usual- emailing, internet, writing the odd document mostly. It will be her first one and hopefully should last a while. I'm torn between the following two offers so any advice would be welcome!

Oh I can't post links so:

Acer Aspire 5336 Laptop Intel Dual Core T3500 2.1GHz £249

Lenovo G560 £259
Thanks!

grumpycrab

OnAndUp wrote: »

Acer Aspire 5336 Laptop Intel Dual Core T3500 2.1GHz £249.99...

CPU is a bit sluggish and single speaker but fine for browsing+email+lite office use. Warranty extension (£30) is highly recommended with cheaps Acers... (see post above somewhere for details).

InDebted2U_2

grumpycrab wrote: »

They do look expensive (USB<->TV); can you not use hard-wired HDMI or VGA? (But guess not and that's why you're asking). Much cheaper.

Doesn't have HDMI but could use VGA I suppose. Just inconvenient being 'tied' by a cable.

zuzuspetals wrote: »

I bought the Samsung R540 and half price warranty from them a couple of weeks ago. It came within two days. Really pleased with the laptop too.

Thanks. Can you confirm where the warranty covers? It says 'major European cities' on SoL but I'm not sure how 'major' a city would need to be to be covered by this warranty.

zuzuspetals

InDebted2U wrote: »

Doesn't have HDMI but could use VGA I suppose. Just inconvenient being 'tied' by a cable.


Thanks. Can you confirm where the warranty covers? It says 'major European cities' on SoL but I'm not sure how 'major' a city would need to be to be covered by this warranty.

I've looked in the booklet and it doesn't mention cities, only countries:

Austria, Belgium, Chez, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, FInland, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and Turkey.

Anniemacca

I'd keep looking on Ebay daily deals for pretty damn good specced laptops for well under £350.

I got mine an Acer Aspire 5551a just before Christmas 3G Ram - upgradeable to 8GB
250 Gb HD, HDMI and 3 year warranty for £329.99.

2 weeks later it was £299.99 - lol.

Have seen much better initial specced ones recently for £230 - £250.

But am still very happy with mine - especially with the 3 year warranty.

dutch_andy

What do people think of this.

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/257135

Overview £329.99


Product Description

Full PC performance on the go, at a great price

Express yourself, do more, and have more fun – with worry-free computing at an affordable price. The HP G62 Notebook PC gives you the perfect balance of technology and style, with all the functionality you need. The HP G62 Notebook PC offers a sleek, environmentally-conscious package of performance and quality. The fingerprint-proof design with imprint and choice of four colours ensures you're on top of the latest trends.

Enjoy maximum productivity and more fun in more places with the HP G62. You'll get a full-sized keyboard, a 39.62 cm (15.6") high-definition widescreen, integrated webcam and a 320GB hard drive for your photos, videos and music

Charcoal with Prism pattern

Intel, the Intel Logo, Intel Inside, Intel Core, and Core Inside are trademarks of Intel Corporation in the U.S. and/or other countries.



Processor

• Intel® Core™ i3-370M Processor*
• Speed: 2.40GHz,
• Level 3 cache 3 MB
• Intel HM55 chipset

Memory

• 3GB DDR3
• Configuration: 1 x 1GB + 1 x 2GB
• Supports up to 4 GB DDR3 memory
• 2 user accessible memory slots SODIMM

Hard Drive

• 320GB SATA 7200 rpm

Optical Drive

• SATA optical drive: LightScribe SuperMulti DVD±R/RW with Double Layer Support

Software

• Operating System: Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit
• Recovery partition (including possibility to recover system, applications and drivers separately)
• Optional re-allocation of recovery partition
• Recovery CD/DVD creation tool
• Symantec Norton Internet Security 2011 (60 days live update)
• Notebook Help & Support
• HP Setup, HP Advisor, HP Support Assistant, Omnifone MusicStation, Cyberlink DVD Suite, Cyberlink Power DVD, Cyberlink YouCam, Windows Live Applications, HP Games
• Console with hours of free game play
• Norton Online Backup (30-day trial)
• Microsoft Internet Explorer, Windows Live Messenger, Adobe Reader, Adobe Flash Player
• Microsoft Office 2010 preloaded (This PC is preloaded with reduced-functionality versions of Word and Excel that include advertising. Purchase an Office 2010 Product Key to activate full-featured Office software on this PC)

Display

• 15.6” diagonal High-Definition LED HP BrightView Display
• Resolution: 1366 x 768

Graphics

• Intel HD Graphics,
• Up to 1274 MB total available graphics memory

Audio

• Altec Lansing speakers

Input Devices

• Touch Pad with On/Off button and 2-way Scroll pad support
• Full size keyboard with One touch launch keys and Action keys

Networking

• Network interface Integrated 10/100BASE-T Ethernet LAN
• Wireless technologies 802.11 b/g/n

Power Supply

• 65 W AC Power Adapter
• 6-cell Lithium-Ion (Li-Ion) battery

Dimensions

• Width 37.4 cm
• Depth 24.6 cm
• Height 3.18 cm / 3.68 cm
• Weight 2.50 kg

Expansion

• 5-in-1 integrated Digital Media Reader for Secure Digital cards, MultiMedia cards, Memory Stick, Memory Stick Pro or xD Picture cards

Warranty / Miscellaneous

• 1 Year Manufacturer Warranty
• Webcam with Integrated Microphone (VGA)