The Great 'Cheapest Decent Laptop' Hunt

Nickynoo1

Hi,
I am torn between a toshiba A110-252, and a Lenovo 300 N100. Rubbish with pc's so dont know how to link, but seem to both have same spec on core duo processor, ram. Lenovo has bigger hard drive and a few other nice bits, and is cheaper. Which would you choose based on names etc. Also, would you recommend getting extended warranty?

Nickynoo1

Blagalot

Can recommend Lenovo. Bought my sprog the lower spec 3000 C100 and is very solidly built compared to a lot of other laptops in the same price bracket. Don't know what the Toshiba's like though.

HCDayantis

Nickynoo1 wrote:

Hi,
I am torn between a toshiba A110-252, and a Lenovo 300 N100. Rubbish with pc's so dont know how to link, but seem to both have same spec on core duo processor, ram. Lenovo has bigger hard drive and a few other nice bits, and is cheaper. Which would you choose based on names etc. Also, would you recommend getting extended warranty?

Nickynoo1

The pedigrees of each are pretty much equal, and as for extended warranty - I'm not personally going to buy an extended warranty purely because of pricing. If something goes wrong after the 1st year, I'll just despair instead.:rotfl:

Oh, and the site I've been watching has just lowered the N100 from 520 - 500. (Below smiley is a link).

:beer:

HCDayantis

angus1 wrote:

about my messages bout the Iqon Companion 5010 and whether it is suitable for playing games like Sims, as you suggested, I phoned the technical support number and was told that it has an integrated graphics card and would not be suitable for playing such games - would only very basic games such as solitaire and sonic hedgehog. So that's not much use.

He said all I needed to do was buy a graphics card - nvidia or something like that - he said was easy to install. Does anyone know anything about this - is it as easy as that and what sort of price are they? Is it going to be the case that I would be better buying a more expensive laptop? I think i can take this one back ok.

Am in such a muddle - it's very difficult when you don't understand all the terminology!

Well, I'm afraid I have absolutely no idea about the installation of graphics cards in laptops. Of course, it depends on the card and the laptop - I'm no expert. People on this forum may be able to help you more, too. Try posting there.

As for costing on graphics card, you can probably get a fairly decent one for ~£100-150. £200 is the price for a modern, mid-range (by today's standards) card. Ebay is good for graphics cards, in my experience with desktops, but laptop cards may be different. nVidia GO! cards are laptop ones, methinks.

drunknmunky

Evening all, I am thinking of going to comet next week to pick up an Acer 5102 WLMi for £499 with the following spec...

Processor AMD Turion 64 x2 Dual Core
Processor model number TL-50
Processor speed 1.6 GHz
Processor bus 1600 MHz
Processor cache 512 kB
Memory (RAM) 1024 MB
Storage (hard drive) 120 GB
Shared graphics 256MB
Screen size 15.4"
Screen type WXGA Widescreen TFT Screen with CrystalBrite Technology
DVD Dual Layer Drive
Built-in wireless networking Yes
Battery life (maximum) 2:30 hours
Laptop weight (kg) 2.85 kg

...does anyone know if this a good deal or not? From what I can see, for 499 it comes with a dual core processor, 1024MB RAM and 256 shared graphics, which is better than what I've seen elsewhere for the same price.

The full spec is here... http://www.comet.co.uk/cometbrowse/product.do?sku=363286&tab=specification#spec

Any advice would be much appreciated...
Many thanks
Munky

i-luv-free-stuff

ok im confused agian.
could any one compare these 2 and advise please.

http://www.comet.co.uk/cometbrowse/product.do?sku=363286&tab=specification#spec

or

http://www.laptopsdirect.co.uk/Aspire_Aspire_5101_AWLMi_Laptop_LX.ABH0J.083/version.asp

i need a a decent machine for internet , downloading music etc , a little basic photo editing (very basic)

thanks

HCDayantis

Well, your demands are quite low, and Comet's is cheaper. It wins there. It also seems to have better graphics and a Dual Core processor. It looks better to me overall, especially if you don't need any special slots for xD cards or anything...

i-luv-free-stuff

should i cancel my order then?
gulp.....i really dont know what to do!

HCDayantis

i-luv-free-stuff wrote:

should i cancel my order then?
gulp.....i really dont know what to do!

If it's possible, and you will get ALL your money back, yes. Especially as the site's just dropped the price from 510 to 500 pounds again. (Laptops Direct).
Unless the following appeal to you:

The Comet one doesn't have the following which the LD (Laptops Direct) one does:

Card Reader 5 in 1 for:
Memory Stick Duo
Secure Digital (SD)
Multimedia Cards (MMC)
xD Picture Cards
Memory Stick (Memory Stick will be a USB one which the Comet one WILL have, it's just that this one is part of a 5in1 array. The rest is exclusive to the Laptops Direct one)

I think that's it. So, if you're not intending on using any of the above, and cancellation is hassle-free, go ahead.

drunknmunky

Afterrnoon all,

I'm looking to get a laptop and have narrowed my search down to the following 2:

ACER 5102 £499

- AMD Turion 64 x2 Dual Core Processor 1.6GHz
- 512 MB Cache
- 1024 MB RAM
- 120 GB Hard Drive
- 256MB Shared graphics
- Screen size 15.4" WXGA Widescreen TFT Screen with CrystalBrite Technology
- DVD Dual Layer Drive
- Built-in wireless networking
- Battery life 2:30 hours
- Laptop weight 2.85 kg

Full Spec: http://www.comet.co.uk/cometbrowse/product.do?sku=363286&tab=specification

ADVENT 7111 £479

- Intel Core Duo T2050 Processor 1.60GHz
- 2 MB Cache
- 1024 MB RAM
- 80 GB Hard Drive
- 128 MB Intel UMA Integrated graphics
- 15.4" Widescreen Display
- DVD Dual Layer Drive
- 128MB Intel UMA Integrated graphics
- Built-in wireless networking
- No. of Firewire Connections 1
- Battery life 3:00 hours
- Laptop weight 2.7 kg

Full Spec: http://www.pcworld.co.uk/martprd/store/pcw_page.jsp?BV_SessionID=@@@@1505689909.1162216786@@@@&BV_EngineID=ccekaddjfdmdlefcflgceggdhhmdgmi.0&category_oid=-27751&sku=387548&page=Product&fm=null&sm=null&tm=null

From what I can see, the Acer one only has 512 cache (will this make a big difference?), but comes with 256Mb graphics.
However the Advent has a 2MB cache but only 128MB graphics.

(The hard drive size, laptop weight, battery life, £20 pound difference etc aren't that important to me)

The laptop will be used for filesharing, watching DVD's and a small amount of gaming.

So which should I go for?
Any ideas much appreciated....