Sub-£350 powerful laptops discussion

linni

Originally Posted by beaker141
Does anyone know how reliable the voucher reclaim is - I remember all the fun with trying to get cashback on mobile phone deals and having to jump through all manner of hoops.

Sorry my reply is probably too late but I had the cashback deal this time last year and I didn't get my 'cashback' till almost Xmas. I kept emailing them and just kept replying that the offer had been very successful and they were working as fast as they could to get through them all.

Baker103

can someone advise which is better value? I dont know if its worth paying the extra £50?

ebay.co.uk/itm/330782043599?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1438.l2649

or

ebay.co.uk/itm/DELL-INSPIRON-Q15R-640GB-INTEL-I3-DUAL-CORE-2-2GHZ-SWITCH-LAPTOP-REFURB-/350589395417?

its for my wife who just wants it for surfing the web ( facebook and ebay ) listening to music etc.

Many thanks

FireMatch

Baker103 wrote: »

can someone advise which is better value? I dont know if its worth paying the extra £50?

ebay.co.uk/itm/330782043599?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1438.l2649

or

ebay.co.uk/itm/DELL-INSPIRON-Q15R-640GB-INTEL-I3-DUAL-CORE-2-2GHZ-SWITCH-LAPTOP-REFURB-/350589395417?

its for my wife who just wants it for surfing the web ( facebook and ebay ) listening to music etc.

Many thanks

For the £50 you're getting a much better processor (core i3) than the Toshiba's Pentium. The processor is the biggest factor in performance (among other things), so be careful not to scrimp on it. The Dell also has a bigger hard drive and some bells and whistles (hdmi port, bluetooth etc).

Both will do what you said you'll use it for. It really depends how much the £50 saving means to you.

Personally I wouldn't go for a refurb though, I would look around and see if there is a deal for a new machine at similar spec.

shaneym

NiftyDigits wrote: »

This Toshiba Satellite L750 16L has a similar, though better spec for £229.99.

Full specifications here

Will be as new, with the normal 'as new' warranty conditions.

If wanting to spend the full £300, you should expect a second generation i3 processor(there are a few on this thread if you take a look), not a Celeron.

Thanks a lot for your advice. Its all a bit confusing for me as there are so many different models. Ideally I would prefer a new one rather then a refurb and can probaly now go up to £350. Are there any i3 processor laptops you would recommend ?

Thankyou

sam1974_2

Hi

Currently i have a Acer Aspire 5532 laptop that has *ahem* stopped working (dropped a cup of tea on it!)

Looking for a replacement laptop but realised i know nothing about how to pick one. I am female, 38 and not really that technical

I use the laptop to pick up emails, browse the net, ebay, facebook and to play farmville (uses a lot of CPU on current laptop and flash crashes constantly)

So - any advice would be greatly appreciated

Am looking to spend ideally about £300 - £400 but will spend more if its actually going to make a huge difference with speed etc.

So .... whats the best processor to get ? and is the higher the memory the better ?

Using daughters Dell right now - dont like the raised keys at all

gonzo127

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/TOSHIBA-SATELLITE-L755-LAPTOP-500GB-15-6-PENTIUM-B940-4GB-RAM-SILVER-REFURB-/330782043599?pt=UK_Computing_Laptops_EH&hash=item4d04256dcf

should be more than up to the tasks your asking of it and only £230 so quite a bit under budget

NiftyDigits

gonzo127 wrote: »

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/TOSHIBA-SATELLITE-L755-LAPTOP-500GB-15-6-PENTIUM-B940-4GB-RAM-SILVER-REFURB-/330782043599?pt=UK_Computing_Laptops_EH&hash=item4d04256dcf

should be more than up to the tasks your asking of it and only £230 so quite a bit under budget

Specs here Good rounded machine for the money.

NiftyDigits

shaneym wrote: »

Thanks a lot for your advice. Its all a bit confusing for me as there are so many different models. Ideally I would prefer a new one rather then a refurb and can probaly now go up to £350. Are there any i3 processor laptops you would recommend ?

Thankyou

Personally I wouldn't take any notice of someone who advises you not to buy a refurb or who has no idea of the machine about which he is comparing.
Not all 'refurbs' are alike.

The Pentium B950 machine is more than up to the task. It also has HDMI, Bluetooth etc.

It also has exactly the same warranty as a new machine and will be in 'as new' condition.

Don't waste your money just because someone has little or no idea of what they are suggesting.

You can pay the extra for the DELL, but you really don't need to do so.

Paying extra for a 'new' machine won't bring you any extra benefit.

If you receive one that is less than perfect, you can return it within seven working days for a full refund.

I bought the Toshiba for my mum. It was 'as new'. I've bought a few machines from them, and all but one still had the original plastic stuck to it.

DELL machine has sold out anyway.

sam1974_2

gonzo127 wrote: »

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/TOSHIBA-SATELLITE-L755-LAPTOP-500GB-15-6-PENTIUM-B940-4GB-RAM-SILVER-REFURB-/330782043599?pt=UK_Computing_Laptops_EH&hash=item4d04256dcf

should be more than up to the tasks your asking of it and only £230 so quite a bit under budget

NiftyDigits wrote: »

Specs here Good rounded machine for the money.

I am not sure if either of us you were responding to me or not, but thank you

I was looking something a bit higher spec really, as dont think they are much better than what i had already and i really struggled to play my game as it was, so looking to invest in something a lot better, even if it means spending a little more

NiftyDigits

sam1974 wrote: »

I am not sure if either of us you were responding to me or not, but thank you

I was looking something a bit higher spec really, as dont think they are much better than what i had already and i really struggled to play my game as it was, so looking to invest in something a lot better, even if it means spending a little more

I beg to differ. The processor on your ACER is relatively crap(for want of a better word).
No better than the processor of a Netbook.

AMD Athlon 64 X2 dual-core processor L310 (1.20 GHz, 1 MB L2 cache CPU Benchmark of 664

or perhaps

AMD Athlon X2 64 (TK-42 1.6GHz, 1MB L2 Cache) CPU Benchmark of 897

The Toshiba has more than double the processing power, with a CPU Benchmark of 1930.

The fact is that even people with state of the art machines have problems with Browser or Flash crashing when playing that game.

You can spend more if you wish on a machine with a dedicated graphics card. You can even overclock the thing.