Sub-£350 powerful laptops discussion

theloft

I have Windows 7 & Vista and quite frankly, now Vista has settled down and updates applied, it seems to be fine. Windows 7 has a few quirks and one I do not like in particular, is the amount of screen taken up on a laptop by toolbars etc. OK on a 22" desktop but a 15.4" laptop, well I have reduced mine to the minimum but still reckon 20% of the screen area is taken up with this stuff.

bellrooster

Hi folks

I'm looking to buy a laptop for up to £400 - I've been searching the web and going round in circles!!

I want a 15inch or bigger screen, and simply I just want the best spec I can get for the money! It's going to be for internet, e-mails, exel, storing pictures etc and we're not into games so that's not important.

I saw the link for the tesco one that looked good, but it's out of stock now.

any thoughts?

poppy10_2

theloft wrote: »

I have Windows 7 & Vista and quite frankly, now Vista has settled down and updates applied, it seems to be fine. Windows 7 has a few quirks and one I do not like in particular, is the amount of screen taken up on a laptop by toolbars etc. OK on a 22" desktop but a 15.4" laptop, well I have reduced mine to the minimum but still reckon 20% of the screen area is taken up with this stuff.

What toolbars are you talking about?

Millionaire

bellrooster wrote: »

Hi folks

I'm looking to buy a laptop for up to £400 - I've been searching the web and going round in circles!!

I want a 15inch or bigger screen, and simply I just want the best spec I can get for the money! It's going to be for internet, e-mails, exel, storing pictures etc and we're not into games so that's not important.

I saw the link for the tesco one that looked good, but it's out of stock now.

any thoughts?

I would get this

http://configure.euro.dell.com/dellstore/config.aspx?c=uk&cs=ukdhs1&l=en&oc=N0056401&dgc=AF&cid=5212&lid=122756&acd=80e111ef2b58686bd476b42f6815fe36

poppy10 wrote: »

What toolbars are you talking about?

I was about to ask the same question.

Bowling_4_Gold

JDPower wrote: »

I would strongly disagree with that.

I agree Windows 7 is better than Vista, but for me, the Windows 7 OS accounts fo about 1/3rd of my overall computer usage, with Vista being the main OS I use. I like it, but am still getting used to the comparably different style of computing, and the new UI. I suggested Vista mainly 'cause it's cheap, and offers an OK alternative to 7, if you havn't got the money for the latest OS.

Rakesh.Chauhan_2

I've seen these 2 laptops:

Advantages of Argos:
1) Faster processor
2) Warranty is 3 years
3) Includes laptop bag

http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/partNumber/5082432/c_1/1%7Ccategory_root%7COffice%2C+PCs+and+phones%7C14418968/c_2/3%7Ccat_15701344%7CLaptops+and+Netbooks%7C16164797/Trail/searchtext%3ESAMSUNG+LAPTOP.htm

Advantages of Play:
1) Bigger screen
2) HDMI
3) Blueray

http://www.play.com/PC/PCs/4-/13028493/Acer-Aspire-7530G-754G32BN-Turion-X2-RM-75-2-2GHz-4GB-320GB-Blu-ray-Combo-17-3-Vista-Home-Premium-Laptop-Notebook/Product.html?P36=KPY7DJ

I think the security of having a 3 year warranty gives Argos's laptop the greater advantage - what do you reckon?

JDPower

Rakesh.Chauhan wrote: »

I think the security of having a 3 year warranty gives Argos's laptop the greater advantage - what do you reckon?

If a warranty is your main priority. The Play laptop has considerably better spec, but comes with Vista not Win7 (which I suspect is why it's being sold off at such a relatively low price)

eelgc

Any ideas on where you can buy a laptop without windows? For just browsing, etc I find linux just fine, and I imagine that, especially for a cheap laptop, windows adds a fair bit to the price!

Other than that, from reading the above, the dell outlet seems like one of the better options for a sub £400 laptop? (still unsure about my budget..) Any other reliable places for a refurbished laptop?

Thanks!

Millionaire

eelgc wrote: »

Any ideas on where you can buy a laptop without windows? For just browsing, etc I find linux just fine, and I imagine that, especially for a cheap laptop, windows adds a fair bit to the price!


Thanks!

Ebuyer

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/174473
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/185894

eelgc

Thanks for the links! I bit the bullet yesterday and went for a Dell laptop linked previous (by you, millionaire, in fact, the inspiron 1564) as the offer (I thought) ended yesterday, could still cancel as I imagine they have a money back guarantee...

I'm not too fussed about windows, but it won't do any harm I guess, especially for office documents (not a fan of openoffice, and have a copy of word somewhere..) It has a faster, newer processor, DDR3 ram (don't think this makes a massive difference though).. Hard drive size not crucial.. Any ideas on the ebuyer laptop build quality and screen quality? They're the hardest things to assess online. I don't mind spending the extra £100, as I don't replace laptops often (the one I have now is 6 years old!) if it's worth it...

Cheers!