The Great 'Cheapest Decent Laptop' Hunt

random456

Thinkpads are brilliant. i had no problems with mine and it was second hand when i had it. they might not look very modern but they are hard wearing and very well built, and all the reviews i have read have been very favourable. I just got a gateway laptop from toys r us (after spending a week going round pc world, comet, currys, 2nd hand shops etc)..i don't buy online and what i got for £350 was a 14'' laptop, vista, gig ram, glass 'ultrabright' widescreen, aluminium keyboard, decent radeon graphics, only a celeron but it's plenty for me and it was the cheapest and best spec in all the high street shops at the time. currys and pcw have a big sale on at the mo so if you're looking for something dearer they have got SOME good deals (not that i'm endorsing those places! grr, just letting you know about the sales)
missed out on a great deal at tescos...they had a top spec gateway laptop, dual core, 2 gig ram 160 hard drive..for 450..that is until we went to buy it next day and were told it had beenrecalled due to barcode prob and was meant to be £600! if only we had bought it on the day! i know tescos policy thing but they had all been taken off the shelves by then so it wasn't worth the hassle when they had none in stock.

toasterman

I've just noticed that in the poll at the top - why aren't IBM/Lenovo, HP or Dell listed as options?
Compaq is there although it's been a while since I've seen anything branded Compaq...think HP have converted everything over to that.
So seems odd that HP and Dell are the most popular computer manufacturers in the world but they don't feature....

Zagu

Ive just got an email from Ebuyer, and thought it might be worth posting.

ACER ASPIRE NOTEBOOK - MULTIMEDIA & PERFORMANCE

Breaking The Barrier between People and Technology

This laptop comes Pre-Installed with Windows Vista and features a crisp widescreen display provides a comfortable viewing experience ideal for prolonged use. Integrated wireless connectivity allows quick and easy access to networks and broadband internet whether at home or on the move, making this a versatile purchase.


Main Features:

Brand New Microsoft® Windows Vista™ Home Basic
Aspire 5051AWXMi, AMD Turion™ 64 Mobile Technology MK-36 (2.0 GHz, 512 KB L2 cache), 14.1" WXGA TFT LCD, 1280 x 800 pixel resolution, ATI Radeon® Xpress 1100 integrated 3D graphics, with up to 256 MB of shared system memory, 512MB of DDR2 memory, 60GB 5400RPM hard disk drive, 8X DVD-Super Multi double-layer drive, 5-in-1 card reader, 6-cell battery.


Specifications:

ATI Radeon® Xpress 1100 chipset

MD Turion™ 64 Mobile Technology MK-36 (2.0 GHz, 512 KB L2 cache)

512MB of DDR2 533/667 MHz memory, upgradeable to 4 GB4 using two soDIMM modules (dual-channel support)

60GB Hard Disk Drive

8X DVD-Super Multi double-layer drive

14.1" WXGA TFT LCD, 1280 x 800 pixel resolution, supporting simultaneous multi-window viewing via Acer GridVista™

Acer InviLink™ 802.11b/g Wi-Fi CERTIFIED® solution, supporting Acer SignalUp™ wireless technology
LAN: Fast Ethernet, Wake-on-LAN ready
Modem: 56K ITU V.92 with PTT approval, Wake-on-Ring ready

PC Card slot (Type II)
5-in-1 card reader (SD, MMC, MS, MS PRO, xD)
Three USB 2.0 ports
External display (VGA) port
S-video/TV-out (NTSC/PAL) port
Headphones/speaker/line-out jack with S/PDIF support
Microphone-in jack
Line-in jack
Ethernet (RJ-45) port
Modem (RJ-11) port
DC-in jack for AC adapter


512 MB / 1 GB / 2 GB3 DDR2 533/667 MHz soDIMM module
9-cell 7200 mAh Li-ion battery pack
6-cell 4000 mAh Li-ion battery pack
External USB floppy disk drive
3-pin 65 W AC adapter
(option)

Acer Empowering Technology (eNet, ePower, ePresentation, eDataSecurity, eLock, eRecovery, eSettings Management)
Acer Arcade™

*299.99 inc vat offer ends 15th of june 2007

Not amazing, as the screen is a 14.1" and it only comes with 512Mb, but with free delievery and a price of £290 inc VAT + Google checkout, someone might like it.

Ebuyer

wazza

Zagu wrote: »

Ive just got an email from Ebuyer, and thought it might be worth posting.



Not amazing, as the screen is a 14.1" and it only comes with 512Mb, but with free delievery and a price of £290 inc VAT + Google checkout, someone might like it.

Ebuyer

also seen this email. I have been told that you need a 1Gb memory to run vista smoothly so why do some manufacturers only supply 512Mb?

Sammz

toasterman wrote: »

I've just noticed that in the poll at the top - why aren't IBM/Lenovo, HP or Dell listed as options?
Compaq is there although it's been a while since I've seen anything branded Compaq...think HP have converted everything over to that.
So seems odd that HP and Dell are the most popular computer manufacturers in the world but they don't feature....

The thread was started in 2004.

Zagu

wazza wrote: »

also seen this email. I have been told that you need a 1Gb memory to run vista smoothly so why do some manufacturers only supply 512Mb?

So they can sell them for the magical £x99. I recently got a Toshiba for £299, plus the memory, making it £300_and_something, and even with 1Gb it still takes a while to load up. I did give it a try with 512Mb when I first got it, and the load up time was ludicrous. If you do go for this one, Id get the extra memory, and Id also phone Dell first to see what offer you can get from them.

robmcdougal90

how do i go about haggling to get a dell, the spec i am looking at is
Inspiron 1501

AMD® Turion™ 64 X2 Mobile Technology TL50
1024MB 533MHz Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM
120GB (5400rpm) SATA Hard Drive
15.4" Wide Screen XGA TFT Display: 1280x800
256MB ATI ® Radeon® Xpress 1150 HyperMemory™
Fixed Internal 8X DVD+/-RW Drive including Software
6 cell Lithium-Ion Battery
McAfee® Security Centre™ 8.0 - 36 Month Protection
Collect & Return, 90 Day Service only

Which comes to £411 inc vat and del, what can i upgrade or get money off??thanks in advance

Sammz

rob - you might want to take a look at the £411 Inspiron 6400. I posted a link a couple of days ago. Dell wouldn't give me any deals on it though.

robmcdougal90

do you have a link to it, cant see it on the website for that much

robmcdougal90

im trying to haggle on live chat sales, is it better to ring them up?