Sub-£350 powerful laptops discussion

pimento

I just bought it for £299.00 from Sainsbury and got some Nectar POints for my sister (I don't have a Nectar card).

Picking it up on Wednesday.

Thanks for your help!

grizzly1911

grumpycrab wrote: »

e.g. i3-2310M is the leatest i3 (see my Toshiba suggestion at the top of the page ONLY 6 LEFT IN STOCK); i3-380M is also good but 2nd generation.

EDIT: fix your budget, then its between to things 1. best CPU 2. warranty.
Whichever CPU you get you are stuck with (its not upgradeable). Laptops have a bad reliability record so an extended warranty is recommended.

Brought this for my son at the weekend I think this is a cracking deal.

I had looked at the i3 380M 4Gb 320 HDD at the same price from that well known A.

But this i3210M has a better processor on CPU benchmark (apparently) and it came with 500HDD and 2 years warranty for the same price £349 and there is a Toshiba cashback offer depending on the number of tries in the world cup so might get even better.

grizzly1911

AlfiestheCat wrote: »

Manage to persuade the in-laws to give me more time so at least I can do a bit of research.

The Tesco HP Pavilion G6-1195 mentioned above - sounds decent for their needs.

There was also a Compaq CQ56-111/204SA in Comet for £279.99 with HD 320GB and 3GB of RAM, Windows 7 and intel pentium dual core or

Toshiba Satellite L55D-128 in Currys which was reduced from £700 odd quid to £399.99 with HD 320GB and 6GB of RAM, Windows 7 and AMD A4 dual core processor. I was drawn because of the reduction in price- seems like quality for the price.

questions:
1. Does processor matter? If so, which one is best?

2. Any opinions on the above machines?

Ta.

I have used Toshs in the commercial world, large audience rollout and they have been reliable v competitors from the bigger names.

Set budget then get the best processor/warranty as another poster said.

Look at CPUbenchmark web site to evaluate processors. For instance some i5's aren't as good as i3's.

The Tosh I have just brought runs very cool and very quiet.

grizzly1911

indprince2000 wrote: »

Indebted2u and aman5.

Even I have purchased the HP Pavillion G6-1195 from Tesco this week.

While using the laptop, while typing, the left side area of the laptop (where the left hand's palm rests while typing) is turning incredibly hot. Is this happening also with your laptops? If not, then perhaps this problem may be unique to my laptop. The body of the laptop is sort of plasticky metal and the left side is becoming so hot, I am finding it unbearable while typing anything on the laptop.

Please could you let me know whether this is also happening with your laptops? Could anyone else also please give a feedback whether this is common is most laptops?

Also, total HDD stated of the model claimed is 320 GB but on receiving the laptop, the C drive has a total of 280 GB and D drive 15 GB. So where is the remaining 25 GB (320 - 295)?

Thanks.

Tosh i have just brought runs very cool and quiet.

I have had Dells and Lenovo's that have run warm but they have usually been on my lap. Even then it wasn't"incredibly" hot.

grizzly1911

indprince2000 wrote: »

And, if possible, buy a laptop that has not been preferably mfg./assembled in China.

:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

grumpycrab

Another good Samsung from Sainsburys. £300 for an i3-380M with 3GB RAM and 320GB hard drive.
http://www.sainsburys.co.uk/sol/shop/technology/computing_and_gaming/top_rated_computing/121735441_samsung_rv511_a09uk_intel_core_i3_3gb320gb_156_blue_notebook.html?hnav=4294904640#BVRRWidgetID

NB. This price AFTER cashback. Offer ends 1/11/2011. Cashback form is here. http://www.sainsburys.co.uk/assets/www/pdf/samsung_cashback_redemption_form_2.pdf

boatman

InDebted2U wrote: »

I've finally decided on the HP Pavilion G6-1195 laptop from Tesco Direct which, with their £50 off deal (ends tomorrow, 14th August), TopCashBack 5.05% and 738 Clubcard points, comes in at under £300.

Hard (impossible?) to beat for a brand new laptop with blu-ray!

Hi Just wondered if it did come with Blueray or not?

indprince2000

@boatman:

Whilst browsing some other forum (don't remember exactly which one it was), I came across several posts where users were complaining that Tesco had sold them a particular model of HP G6 laptop claiming the model came with Blu-ray. Later, these users discovered that the laptops did not have Blu-ray....

gina-g_4

I need help, i am looking for a laptop for my son, he needs it to be farly fast for the internet, browsing, basic games, chatting to friends, so several things at once.
I have found the Sony VAIO EB4E1E/WI (sorry i can't post links as i'm new!)
and also sainsbury's have samsung R540 Intel Pentium Dual Core P6100 4GB 500GB 15.6" for £299 in the sale, with a £50 cashback offer, and RV511 A09UK Intel Core i3 3GB/320GB 15.6" for £349 and cashback.

Can someone who knows more than me about laptops please advice me, thank you

grumpycrab

gina-g wrote: »

I need help, i am looking for a laptop for my son, he needs it to be farly fast for the internet, browsing, basic games, chatting to friends, so several things at once ...

Most modern laptops will handle that; the Sainsbury's Samsung i3-380M for £350 (-£50 cashback) is fast.

Set a budget and decide whether you want a extended warranty or not; expect to be lucky if a laptop will still be fully 100% working after 3 years; if that worries you get an Acer because you can get a 3 year extended warranty for Acers for about £30.