The Great 'Cheapest Decent Laptop' Hunt

Kilty_2

I've held an Acer in one hand, Dell in the other, same price range.

Dell wins hands down. Acer felt like it'd break with a bit of rough treatment that ANY laptop is bound to recieve if you are travelling with it.

angus1

Originally Posted by itsfrommark

....so is the dell inspiron 1300 currently the best value laptop for this specification?
Intel® Celeron® M Processor 380 (1.60 GHz, 1 MB L2 Cache, 400 MHz FSB)
Genuine Windows® XP Home Edition
Internal 8X DVD+/-RW Drive#
15.4" Widescreen WXGA (1280x800)
60GB Hard Drive
Memory - 512MB

This one here that Mark mentioned is probably your best bet at said budget, Angus.

Thanks for that. Is there anything for under £400 with anyone other than Dell (or Acer but you all seem to think Acer not up to much)? I've been told by person who I'm buying this present jointly with, not to get a Dell (for whatever reason I don't know ...)

i-luv-free-stuff

Kilty wrote:

I've held an Acer in one hand, Dell in the other, same price range.

Dell wins hands down. Acer felt like it'd break with a bit of rough treatment that ANY laptop is bound to recieve if you are travelling with it.

thats not really a problem as i wont really be traveling with it much it is just a replacement for my desktop as we need the spare room.

also...sorry for being a bit slow but i want to connect with a router and this dosent have gigabit LAN http://http://www.comet.co.uk/cometbrowse/product.do?sku=362964&tab=specification so will i not be able to go wireless with a router with this notebook?

HCDayantis

Not necessarily - a LAN can be from computer to component - for example, a wireless PC to a wireless Printer still counts as a wireless LAN connection. Same applies with Router > PC. Basically, 'Not Featured' on gigabit LAN means that they don't have the capabilities to go for a whole gigabit in speed of LAN. You are going to go wireless, and this will NOT affect that. Gigabit LAN is just something for the Big Bad Boys of the computing world. They still can be wirelessly networked.

Computer with no Gigabit LAN doesn't mean no LAN. Gigabit is just something to boast about that you'll never use You can, with the right software (Microsoft Windows can do it) wirelessly network two computers with wireless capability. You do not need this Gigabit stuff. Don't let that confuse you!

You can go wireless with it, as it says - it has integrated wireless. If it didn't, you'd probably find a slot where you could buy a network card to connect to the router anyway. Basically, you will be able to connect to a router. When you have a router, it will probably come with software that you can use to connect using the integrated wireless.

I'm afraid the Comet site suffers from oversimplification - it just ticks a box. I'd assume that means Integrated wireless 802.11 a/b/g LAN, like this one. In fact, I'd recommend that one over the Comet one - look at the price difference, and it appears to have approx. the same specs!

i-luv-free-stuff

thanks HCDyantis
its becoming a little clearer now.
is this laptopsdirect.co.uk a reliable company?
also i can get money off at comet thrugh quidco or mutual points but it will only be about 20-30 quid

HCDayantis

I've spoken with a rep. on the phone, they seem reliable. They have countless reviews, and I've snooped around on the web a bit. So, take it from me as a bit of a paranoid, this is a safe and trusted site!

i-luv-free-stuff

thanks again
im going to wait untill saturday i think.
my mate raves about scan.co.uk and says they have special offers on at weekend so i see what happens then but i am seriousley considering the one you recomended and if nothing else comes up i might go with it....
cheers

HCDayantis

Okay, best of luck with it!

angus1

Partner has just come in from Tesco with an Iqon Qompanion 5010. It's in a box with a laptop case, lexmark printer, mouse and usb key. Price was reduced from £500 to £400.

It's specifications are:
Intel Celeron processor 370
Windows XP home
512MB RAM
40GB hard drive
DVDRW
15.4 widescreen
56 k modem
wireless enabled
10/100 LAN
4 usb ports
6 cell li-ion battery
1 x PCMCIA

None of this means anything to me, buy I want to make sure it's suitable. It's for my 14 yr old daughter so quite light use but needs to be capable of playing games like Sims and running MSN etc.

Would really appreciate someone's advice on this.

Thanks very much

steve1221_2

Can't see anything on this model on the Tesco site and nothing comes up if you google it !!

The Lexmark printers aren't too bad until you try to get ink for them, at which point you find it's cheaper to buy a new one than to restock the old one with carts... (last one I checked for a guy at work, a black was 25 quid and the colour was close to 30. New printer cost 39.95 !!! It's true what they say, they make their momey from the ink, the printers a loss leader to get you hooked, it's just that Laxmark take it to new levels !!).