The Great 'Cheapest Decent Laptop' Hunt

MTW_2

Hi, if you are looking for a laptop have a think about using Comet Clearance site. Customers bid for the goods.

The stuff is display and/or refurbed but good value.
I got this one for £380 yesterday (refurbed) RRP £499

ACER Aspire 5633WLMI Core 2 Duo T5500 1.6GHZ 1024MB 120GB 15.4 DVDA=RW Windows XP MCE

derbyjo

I am looking for something light and portable to do a little bit of work, but more for use with photographs. I have never used a Mac, and don't know anyone who has, but considering the difference in cost, do you think it would be better to go for a Macbook, or Macbook pro, or to get a laptop for £300 and some phot editing software? All advice gratefully received!

mountainchrisriver

Unless you are into gaming or serious pro photo use then a Macbook should be fine... Macs are ace for manipulating photos and other media... they take a bit of getting used to if you normally use windows pc's but the operating system is very intuative!

Would recommend the 2.16ghz version with upgrade to 2GB ram and maybe upgrade the hard disc size to 160 GB at the point of purchase as I think its hard to change as a DIY job... :eek:

Hope that helps... no computer expert but if you want any more advice happy to try and help! (Yes I am using a macbook to type this!)

derbyjo

Without it sounding stupid (which means that I acknowledge that it will!) can I plug in an external hard drive to a Mac Book? I have a couple that have all my photos on, and want to be able to use them.
Is it worth getting a new one, or are there some reliable sources for second hand or refurb models? I've had a look through the forum, and found the refurb part of the apple site, but there are none available. I think I'll pop to the Apple store and have a play with one, if I know I can use the ex hd.

mountainchrisriver

The Macbook has USB and Firewire connections so I would have thought there should not be an issue hooking up external hard drives... Apple store should be able to tell you for sure if you let them know the make and model (or post a new thread on the tech forum and some very clever computer people will probably tell you in an instant!

The only way I know you can get a cheaper Mac is if you are in some way connected to the education business, try this link to find out if you qualify:

http://store.apple.com/Catalog/uk/Images/routingpage.html?cid=OAS-EMEA-KWG-UK_Education-UK&aosid=p202&esvt=GOUKE101055803&esvadt=999999-0-1020009-1&esvid=100958

Its not a huge discount but hey...

Would imagine that as apple don't constantly change everything, like most other computer manufacturers, folks that use macs probably keep them until they die! They are great computers (I know i'm biased cos I have one!), well worth the outlay and means that you can avoid the Windows operating system :T

Clearways

None of the above I'd buy a Dell Laptop !

C_Ronaldo

Im looking at possibly getting a laptop but not sure which one to get, it would be used for surfing the internet, possibly a bit of college work, playing cd/and or listening to radio, wireless connectivity,
idealy id like XP but if not then vista,

i guess i wouldnt need a pricey laptop for what it would be used for, something reasonable i guess,
budget of say £300/£400

mountainchrisriver

C_Ronaldo...

Do you have a budget? May help get you some more advice...

aytch

mountainchrisriver wrote: »

The Macbook has USB and Firewire connections so I would have thought there should not be an issue hooking up external hard drives... Apple store should be able to tell you for sure if you let them know the make and model (or post a new thread on the tech forum and some very clever computer people will probably tell you in an instant!

The only way I know you can get a cheaper Mac is if you are in some way connected to the education business, try this link to find out if you qualify:

http://store.apple.com/Catalog/uk/Images/routingpage.html?cid=OAS-EMEA-KWG-UK_Education-UK&aosid=p202&esvt=GOUKE101055803&esvadt=999999-0-1020009-1&esvid=100958

Its not a huge discount but hey...

Would imagine that as apple don't constantly change everything, like most other computer manufacturers, folks that use macs probably keep them until they die! They are great computers (I know i'm biased cos I have one!), well worth the outlay and means that you can avoid the Windows operating system :T

Hi
I have just read this thread, and have to agree with mountainchrisriver, I used to have a windows laptop, then spent that little bit more and moved to a macbook pro - and would NEVER go back to Windows. I am spam free, pop up free and with firefox can do anything!!

I have an external hard drive and the mac finds it and I am able to drag and drop easily.

If you go to the website and go via the education route to purchase, they do offer a discount and do not ask for proof of school!

best wishes
:A

bandraoi

So what is the cheapest decent laptop at the moment?