The Great 'Cheapest Decent Laptop' Hunt

Grumpy_Old_G*t

If you are thinking about buying 'Advent' from DSG (Dixons, Currys & PCWorld) be aware that the name Advent is just a badge and the PC's are made by various manufacturers like Medion, Quanta & Uniwill. DSG must get them cheap as they are on the face of it good value for the spec.

However
The 3 year warranties offered by DSG are often considerably more expensive than companies like Acer and Toshiba.
and
Customer support is DIRE-try the Advent links on the PCWorld support page:rolleyes:

But we don't want to be totally negative do we?

So I agree with bestvalueformoney the Advent 8111 is quite good. Made by Uniwill who are owned by ECS (Elite) a pretty big Taiwanese manufacturer.
and a source of drivers should you ever need a reinstall. (Uniwill model number is L51 II)

Buy from Dixons £499.99 and use the laptops20std discount makes £479.99 for a very good value laptop.

Great site for Advent info
http://www.w00tw00t.co.uk/support/

zenmaster

I have just ordered the Advent 8111 from PCWorld. PCWorld offer a Vista upgrade which Curry's and Dixon's do not.

There is also a 5% discount code around but it is FOR NHS STAFF ONLY.

foreign_correspondent

Hi,
have ordered one of these:
http://www.woolworths.co.uk/ww_p2/product/index.jhtml?pid=50790683

was looking for a decent amount of RAM for less than £400, and with 1024Mb of memory (2 x 512MB) DDR2, and 80GB hard drive this looks like the best spec available at that price range.

On the downside, its not tiny or particularly lightweight, (although its not too bulky either)and the battery life isnt massive (90 mins according the the spec, which I expect is optimistic) but I can live with that!

CAFCGirl

Hi, sorry total techno-phobe here.

On the above from Woolworths is that 90 min battery life from full charge.

Can it still be run just straight from the mains?

foreign_correspondent

"On the above from Woolworths is that 90 min battery life from full charge.

Can it still be run just straight from the mains?"

Yes it can be run straight from the mains, the 90 minutes is just how long it will run for on a charged up battery and without being plugged into the mains. I dont need to use mine away from a power source for that long at a time, so the battery life isnt much of a problem.

linzi_h

ive just got a compaq 310 for £400 - thats with staff discount of 10% so its usually £449 from currys.digital. here is the laptop itself on the pc world website but its £50 more on here

http://www.pcworld.co.uk/martprd/store/pcw_page.jsp?BV_SessionID=@@@@1291953801.1168214113@@@@&BV_EngineID=cceiaddjlegllifcflgceggdhhmdgmh.0&pageFrom=SimpleSearchProducts&page=Product&sku=889047
its a great laptop for the money. plus i sold my other 1 for £200 that was given to me so therefore it only cost me £200 in total! bargin!

buckrogers

got one of these today
http://www.woolworths.co.uk/ww_p2/product/index.jhtml?pid=50790683
after looking around, plenty of memory not to bothered with battery life
as i will use the mains mostly

but very pleased with it :-)

PeteHerts

Levono 3000 N100 0768 - Core Duo T2400 / 1.83 GHz - Centrino Duo - RAM : 512 MB - HD : 80 - £447.87

http://www.pyramid.com/Product.aspx?StockCode=633736&ref_Source=Ciao&ref_StockCode=633736&ref_Type=CPC



Product Description Lenovo 3000 N100 0768 - Core Duo T2400 1.83 GHz - 15.4" TFT
Dimensions (WxDxH) 36 cm x 26.7 cm x 3.9 cm
Weight 2.9 kg
Localisation English / United Kingdom
Platform Technology Intel Centrino Duo
System Type Notebook
Built-in Devices Stereo speakers, wireless LAN aerial, Bluetooth aerial
Embedded Security Fingerprint reader
Processor Intel Core Duo T2400 / 1.83 GHz ( Dual-Core )
Cache Memory 2 MB - L2 Cache
RAM 512 MB (installed) / 2 GB (max) - DDR II SDRAM - 667 MHz - PC2-5300
Card Reader 4 in 1
Hard Drive 80 GB - Serial ATA-150 - 5400 rpm
Optical Storage DVD-Writer - integrated
Display 15.4" TFT active matrix 1680 x 1050 ( WSXGA+ ) - 24-bit (16.7 million colours)
Graphics Controller NVIDIA GeForce Go 7300 TurboCache - 128 MB
Audio Output Sound card
Telecom Fax / modem - CDC - 56 Kbps
Networking Network adapter - Ethernet, Fast Ethernet, Bluetooth, IEEE 802.11b, IEEE 802.11a, IEEE 802.11g
Wireless NIC Intel PRO/Wireless 3945ABG
Notebook Camera Integrated
Input Device Keyboard, touchpad
Power AC 120/230 V ( 50/60 Hz )
Battery Lithium Ion
Run Time (Up To) 2.2 hour(s)
Operating System Microsoft Windows XP

Home Edition
Manufacturer Selling Program Express Selection
Manufacturer Warranty 1 year warranty

Schneaky

I have just purchased the Acer Aspire 5101AWLMi from ebuyer.com, which I am extremely pleased with:

http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/products/index.html?rb=24400744139&action=c2hvd19wcm9kdWN0X292ZXJ2aWV3&product_uid=121052

* Processor: Mobile AMD MK-36 Turion 2.0GHz Processor
* RAM: 1024MB DDR2-533MHz
* Hard Drive: 120GB
* Screen: 15.4" Widescreen TFTwith CrystalBrite Technology
* Optical Drive: DVD±RW Super Multi
* Graphics: ATI Radeon® Xpress 1100 integrated 3D graphics
* Wireless LAN: 802.11b/g
* Warranty: 1 Year
* Operating System: Windows XP Media Center Edition
* Windows Vista Compatible (includes upgrade voucher)
* Fast Ethernet 10/100
* Built-In 0.3 MegaPixel Camera
* Flash Memory Card Reader (MMC, MS, MS-pro, SD, SM, XD)

Lovely machine, and excellent service from ebuyer, with free delivery (quoted at 5 days - took 2).:T

researcher

I've been asked by some elderly relatives to recommend a cheap laptop - they will only want it for connecting to the net and writing the occasional letter. Any suggestions - my knowledge is very sparse on laptops. They'd like to spend as little as possible and total beginners regarding computers.

:beer: