The Great 'Cheapest Decent Laptop' Hunt

fjeer

Asus EEEPC is here, £197

http://www.google.co.uk/product_url?q=http://www.laptopsdirect.co.uk/Asus_Eee_PC_2GS_EEEPC2GS-BK004/version.asp%3Frefsource%3Dldfroogle&fr=AFJOqZ2fPc7FGyT8LsOJmVeTJpUzs3HQwUeUwBdMK8hOf8bM-mDA3tpBOOiVB-OSOvqIZVXFbiN_HJq5m4e6CUgmcBbVHFQMJFX6IO5muqwjVDjd4hz72kps7odIGn7X9kKzDPVpTs55oIr0JU3qA_WUzAiH-4Ow0AAAAAAAAAAA&gl=uk&hl=en&sa=title

It also comes with Linux instead of Windows, which (after a month or so) you'll wonder how you lived without!

Erica1_2

Hi

I'm about to start a CELTA (teaching english as a foreign language) course and will need a laptop as I write painfully slowly due to being dyspraxic. It needs to be no more than £500 and preferably less than that. It needs to be light as I will be carrying it around quite a lot and have a bad shoulder (advice on cheap good laptop bags also gratefully accepted).I'm going to use MS Word/Excel also inspirations software and am also interested in whether you can get any equipment/software that can either print onto overheads or project onto a white screen as I obviously don't like writing on the board either. Preferably with quite a big memory as I have Itunes and a lot of music!Also advice on printers to go with it please as I need a printer too! Hope I've posted in the right section I'm new at this and don't have a clue about computers.

I was reading how buying in the USA can save money on laptops is it worth doing this?

fatbobbutler

Can i get an expert opinion on this laptop..

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Sony-Dual-Core-Processor-Hard-drive-Accelerator/dp/B00131QZS6/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1203895474&sr=1-2



It's the Sony VAIO NR21..

I'm currently changing my beloved study into a nursery and will have no room for my 6yr old desktop, although I do need an upgrade anyway. I'm not going to be doing anything flash with it, but will be storing a lot of music for my I-pod and probably lots of photos too, all this along with the usual surfing and stuff, I have a wireless router for my Wii, so a decent laptop seems the obvious choice. I've got about £500 to spend..

I like Sony and think this is all I'll really need..

What do we think? Shall I go for it?

MUDGUTS

fjeer wrote: »

Asus EEEPC is here, £197

http://www.google.co.uk/product_url?q=http://www.laptopsdirect.co.uk/Asus_Eee_PC_2GS_EEEPC2GS-BK004/version.asp%3Frefsource%3Dldfroogle&fr=AFJOqZ2fPc7FGyT8LsOJmVeTJpUzs3HQwUeUwBdMK8hOf8bM-mDA3tpBOOiVB-OSOvqIZVXFbiN_HJq5m4e6CUgmcBbVHFQMJFX6IO5muqwjVDjd4hz72kps7odIGn7X9kKzDPVpTs55oIr0JU3qA_WUzAiH-4Ow0AAAAAAAAAAA&gl=uk&hl=en&sa=title

It also comes with Linux instead of Windows, which (after a month or so) you'll wonder how you lived without!

For a lot of people, the EEEPC is going to be a very viable alternative.

I think I'm going to get one. For me, the fact that it doesn't use MS windows is great.

In the longer term, I think this will bring down the price of cheap laptops, which seem to be stuck at £300 or so at the moment.

Once people who only need a small laptop start buying the EEE, other laptop makers will have to compete. This has a solid state drive, boots quickly, is tough, very portable and runs Openoffice and Linux.

JDPower

MUDGUTS wrote: »

For a lot of people, the EEEPC is going to be a very viable alternative.

I think I'm going to get one. For me, the fact that it doesn't use MS windows is great.

That's only cos it can't as it only has a tiny 2GB flash hard drive, fine if you're only gonna use it for office stuff and only install one or two programs but anything else and it's pretty hopeless.

Gary_Delaney

Hello,

I know little of tech stuff but I was wondering if someone wyse could point me in a better direction that tescos.

I want something to run word, excel, that i can play dvds on when on the road, download and store lots of music on, not too heavy to carry, that can use wi-fi and hopefully will last a few years. Budget, prepared to pay up to £500 I guess, but obviously cheaper would be nice.

Do I need to buy any add ons? anti-virus stuff? etc.

cheers

Gary

d123

Gary_Delaney wrote: »

Hello,

I know little of tech stuff but I was wondering if someone wyse could point me in a better direction that tescos.

I want something to run word, excel, that i can play dvds on when on the road, download and store lots of music on, not too heavy to carry, that can use wi-fi and hopefully will last a few years. Budget, prepared to pay up to £500 I guess, but obviously cheaper would be nice.

Do I need to buy any add ons? anti-virus stuff? etc.

cheers

Gary

Have a look at the Advent 9912 at PC World, £349.99 for a sub-notebook 12" screen, 1.8kg, so nice size for portability. I've had the model for over a month now, and build quality is very good.

For DVD's it has a DVD multi burner, so watching and burning DVD's is covered.
http://www.pcworld.co.uk/martprd/store/pcw_page.jsp?BV_SessionID=@@@@0397454251.1204135944@@@@&BV_EngineID=ccdcadedgijflffcflgceggdhhmdgmj.0&page=Product&fm=null&sm=null&tm=null&sku=001065&category_oid=-27757

With regard to anti-virus, look at avast ( www.avast.com ) for a very good free anti-virus program.

Direct link to the free English version - http://files.avast.com/iavs4pro/setupeng.exe

JDPower

Gary_Delaney wrote: »

Do I need to buy any add ons? anti-virus stuff? etc.

There's no need to pay for stuff like anti-virus, there are plenty of excellent free anti-virus (AVG Free, Avast), anti-malware programs (SuperAntiSpyware, Spybot, Spyware Blaster) and firewalls (Sygate, Online Armor, Comodo). Personaly I use AVG, Spybot, Spyware Blaster and Sygate.

As for laptop recommendations, read back a few pages, there are plenty already mentioned (you mentioned wanting lots of music download space so look for something with a biggish hard drive - 120GB+)

fatbobbutler

Hello all,

Is this a good laptop / deal??

http://www.shop.bt.com/ProductView.aspx?Quicklinx=4XKR#imagegallery

Thanks in advance

JDPower

fatbobbutler wrote: »

Hello all,

Is this a good laptop / deal??

http://www.shop.bt.com/ProductView.aspx?Quicklinx=4XKR#imagegallery

Thanks in advance

Looks pretty good to me.