Sub-£350 powerful laptops discussion

Coopdivi

money_makes_me_very_happy wrote: »

hi, i'm going to be a student next year so i need i laptop (ive never owned one before). i was thinking of getting a macbook, but even with student discounts, the cheapest you can get it for is around £750-£800. so therefore i am asking for your guys advice:

Budget: up to £450, ideally £400 though
Use: i like playing memory sapping games like football manager and sims, so a good memory and speed would be nice. it would also of course be used for surfing the internet and work.

also, having seen some earlier posts, i saw the compaq, asus and advent ones on ebuyer, and they look pretty good, but as a complete noob when it comes to buying laptops, could someone explain whats the differences between a notebook and a laptop?

thanks for replies guys!!

A Toshiba Satellite from Argos for £400. This was posted on Hotukdeals. Have a read through the comments to see if its ideal for you.

http://www.hotukdeals.com/item/707325/toshiba-satellite-l500-1xc-15-6-inc

Don't buy a netbook unless you've got tiny fingers and 20-20 vision.

Don't take any notice of Snooze. He's just an ignoramus who thinks it's wonderful to abuse new members.

pemalu

My last laptop died on me from a virus! I am afraid of spending too much as my son wants to download stuff for gaming and I'm traumatized of losing laptop just from a virus.

However, I am so tempted to buy a new one... John Lewis sells L500-1WG £439 and Argos sells L500-1XD £449. I don't know much about computer, I think the main difference is 1WD has Pentium T4400 whilst XD has Core i3.

Computer will be used for browsing, son's gaming and documents.

Is the Core i3 worth the extra £10? Is it worth the risk of buying from Argos instead of John Lewis?

IT advice will be much appreciated!

spud17

My last laptop died on me from a virus! I am afraid of spending too much as my son wants to download stuff for gaming and I'm traumatized of losing laptop just from a virus.

Virtually impossible, can't you reinstall?
Start a new thread in the main section? There'll be plenty of help available.
Not very MSE, to chuck out a lappie just because of a virus.

Or give it to me.

pemalu

spud17 wrote: »

Virtually impossible, can't you reinstall?
Start a new thread in the main section? There'll be plenty of help available.
Not very MSE, to chuck out a lappie just because of a virus.

Or give it to me.

I think it was virus spread from facebook. One day a window popped out on my facebook saying somebody tried to login from unfamiliar location. It said somebody in UK tried to access it in the morning 08:30 (I would have been on the road). Then it told me to change my password.

The next day I was on my facepage and there was a notification of comment. When I clicked on the notification, a window popped out saying I had to login in order to see the comment. I was already logged in...hence I can see the notification! Not long after, my laptop blinked several times and died. I can't even use it when powering it on socket.

spud17

Not long after, my laptop blinked several times and died. I can't even use it when powering it on socket.

An unfortunate coincidence, rather than a virus.

Sons gaming, need a few more details, solitaire/sudoku or ? please give examples as that will influence decision.

Generally £450 won't buy a 'proper' gaming laptop.

pemalu

spud17 wrote: »

An unfortunate coincidence, rather than a virus.

Sons gaming, need a few more details, solitaire/sudoku or ? please give examples as that will influence decision.

Generally £450 won't buy a 'proper' gaming laptop.

He wants to play flight/bus simulator and download the vehicles online. I don't play games myself so thanks for your advice.

Snooze

delete..........

sweetheartlmg

Hi,
Could someone kindly tell me if the below is a good buy pretty please! I'm not interested in gaming, just everyday use, internet and itunes. This computer is at £499.99, but there is a code for 19.66% extra off, total with postage £405.64, should I snatch it up or are there better deals out there?

http://www.bargaincrazy.com/epages/BargainCrazy.sf/secP2FxBttgqE2/?ObjectPath=/Shops/BargainCrazy/Products/F04014CV/SubProducts/F04014CV01R

Many thanks

Refurbished Sony VAIO CS11Z/R Laptop 14.1" - Red

Sony VAIO CS Series Laptop 14.1" - Red
Intel Core 2 Duo P8400 processor - 2.26GHz
4Gb DDR2 RAM
320Gb SATA hard drive
14.1" WXGA display
Blu-ray DiscTM Combo Drive (reader): BD-ROM/ DVD+-RW/+-R DL/RAM Drive
NVidia GeForce 9300M GS Graphics
802.11 a/b/g/n WiFi
Webcam
Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium
Dimensions : 33.5 cm x 24.5 cm x 4 cm
Weight - 2.6kg

harz99

Sweetheartlmg, do a google search for reviews and you will see that several users have had problems with this machine - fan noise and other matters.

In fact to anybody buying who is not au fait with any product -always search for reviews both from professionals and users - it really is easy and will help you narrow down your long and confusing list.

Coopdivi

sweetheart, there's no need to pay that sort of money for general use on a laptop especially as that's refurbished and comes with a 14'' screen.

Here's another refurbished laptop but with a 17'' screen from Argos Clearance. It costs £303.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/TOSHIBA-L350-203-17IN-LAPTOP-WINDOWS-VISTA-L350-203-REF-/330446932880?cmd=ViewItem&pt=UK_Computing_Laptops_EH&hash=item4cf02c0b90

If you would prefer Windows 7 as your operating system then click on the link in post no. 524.