Sub-£350 powerful laptops discussion

Murielson

redvanman wrote: »

I bought a refurbished Samsung R519 from Argos for 266 pounds, not a mark on it ,everything seems to be running fine, so far looks like a bargain buy.

I assume this was from the Argos outlet on ebay?

redvanman

Murielson wrote: »

I assume this was from the Argos outlet on ebay?

Yes , Delivered within 24 hrs.

doberryfirkin

I have followed this thread as I am in the market for a cheap laptop. There are some good deals on the Argos ebay outlet but I have read in other sites that they can be dodgy when it comes to refunds in event of fault. Also that there are instances of what they advertise isn't what you get - spec wise. Anyone else got thoughts on the reliability of this outlet?

RussJK

doberryfirkin wrote: »

Also that there are instances of what they advertise isn't what you get - spec wise. Anyone else got thoughts on the reliability of this outlet?

Yes, the computer I bought from them had better specs than what was listed.

Argos seem to think that the MSI U230 has an ATI Radeon X1250 graphics card, which has a paltry 3dmark06 score of 388 (still better than the usual netbook score of 122). In fact the MSI U230 has a >2.5 times more powerful HD3200 (3dmark06 score of 984) which lets me play watchable 1080p video, and beautifully smooth 720p content.

You should always check the specs as there are occasionally discrepancies or clearly wrong entries (e.g. one model claimed to have a 'turion dual core m300' which doesn't exist). You have the right to return the item if the specs are wrong.

You get information on how to return or repair your purchase, and its not through ebay. Most of the negs about returning items appear to be because people have tried to contact the Argos Clearance through eBay. Argos Clearance basically will ignore any emails sent through ebay, no matter what the question. I know this firsthand when I queried some strange specs.

manchestersaver

Hi im after a laptop.Im going to be using it for internet ,downloading a bit of music and want at least a 15" screen and a webcam.
My budget is £400 and i dont know where to turn.Ive had a look at dell and the dell outlet and also argos clearance but as i dont really know what im looking for I dont know what to choose.
Any help is appreciated.

doberryfirkin

RussJK wrote: »

You get information on how to return or repair your purchase, and its not through ebay.

Of interest - how do you contact? Is it a landline number and is it a premium rate or 0870 number? Also is returns to a UK address? Just ask as this can ramp up cost or even deter contact in event of complaint. Thanks.

jaydeeuk1

RussJK wrote: »

Yes, the computer I bought from them had better specs than what was listed.

Argos seem to think that the MSI U230 has an ATI Radeon X1250 graphics card, which has a paltry 3dmark06 score of 388 (still better than the usual netbook score of 122). In fact the MSI U230 has a >2.5 times more powerful HD3200 (3dmark06 score of 984) which lets me play watchable 1080p video, and beautifully smooth 720p content.

Thanks for that. Wouldn't of known had you not said. Had my eye on the acer ferrari one. Just a shame its the single core version listed, not the dual core l335 or I would have bought one right now.

Edit - annoying that they've put the price of the acer ferrari up from £305 to £320. Now a toss up between the HP/Compaq 311c, acer fairy, and the u230. Hmmmmm.

jaydeeuk1

RussJK wrote: »

Yes there have been a few price rises, probably due to popular demand. My MSI U230 was £214 (an easy choice) - only 3 went up, and all sold within half an hour. I guess they realised they could charge more. Lucky I obsessively kept checking the page for changes when I was after a netbook.

At £256 I'd say the MSI U230 is still better than the Compaq 311c which is roughly £300. The MSI U230 has a slightly faster CPU, twice the memory, and a bigger hard drive. While the 311c technically has a better video card, you won't really notice a difference (The Nvidia ION LE has 3dmark of 1348 vs the ATI HD3200 of 988). Both will play HD video beautifully, but the U230 will be more usable for everything else. The system info indicates that the ATI HD3200 even has 128mb onboard memory, but don't quote me on that.

I see that the or the Acer fairy has dual core L310 and 3gb (supposed to be 2gb?) memory - I'd eliminate the 311c, and just pick between the MSI U230 at £256 and the Acer Ferrari at £324. Is Dual core worth £64? Ferrari doesn't have HDMI, whereas the U230 does interestingly. There used to be the Packard Bell "dot_ma" with an AMD L110 with an ATI x1270 for £224, but that's gone from Amazon.

The 311c is £249 on expansys with £6 next day delivery which is a good price imo. Still trying to decide if the dual core is worth the extra £60. Not bothered about HDMI, already have a media center connected to TV. Main uses are for betfair / betting, some minor photo and website editing (so higher res screen the better) Would like to play left 4 dead 2 and some other games on min settings whilst in bed, don't think the 311c is up to it. Think I've just convinced myself to go for the acer fairy one. At least until I see the 1201n n330 for the same price

jaydeeuk1

RussJK wrote: »

Out of curiosity, why do you need the smaller size? Since at that price you are paying for it to be small, where you could get a more powerful laptop.

I like surfing the net whilst taking a dump. Hey, at least I'm honest. Plus I need the lappy to be small enough to sit flat on my car dash - 13.3" and over just won't fit.

Decided to go for the u230. Can't justify the extra £70 for the faster CPU in the acer. 250gb hd, 2gb ram and a cpu faster than the n270 even when overclocked means its fine for me. Just hope I don't ever have to return it to argos!

chaucer

I ordered from argos clearance (see above) and got it the next day - all good so far ... I haven't yet got it up and running