The Great 'Cheapest Decent Laptop' Hunt

C_Ronaldo

Im after a laptop but not sure which one to get, id like a dual core processor, 1Gb or more of ram, 100Gb HDD, floppy not required, wireless ability, ethernet port i guess, usb port as well, id rather stick with Win XP as an OS, £500 max funds

Pepsi35_2

Rec'd my new laptop and it is very good :j Bought from Ebuyer, didn't know the make so I was a bit wary - read reviews from other people so took a chance -
Make Maxdata NB ECO 4011IW UK
wireless
vista basic

best bit £310-00 - £299 with discount if paid through google

I'm pleased with it - one of the cheapest I have seen :T got everything I need , as I do all my photography work on my desktop - quick, tracked delivery as well brill !

Sharon

bambam69

Hi - Can anyone tell me what the difference is between buying from Dell home and Dell small business? I read somewhere the return policy is different?

Have seen what looks like a great deal on a dell Vostro with amd duo core processor, 1gb ram, 120 gb hd for about 350 after delivery and vat (also get 5% off with quidco).

Can anyone better this?

JDPower

bambam69 wrote: »

Have seen what looks like a great deal on a dell Vostro with amd duo core processor, 1gb ram, 120 gb hd for about 350 after delivery and vat (also get 5% off with quidco).

I bought that a couple of months ago when they were doing free delivery (cost about £320 all in, with an upgrade to the dual core processer). Its a pretty good little laptop for the price. Only negatives I've found was a lack of a physical volume control (have to use volume tray icon or keyboard shortcut). Also I have a very minor problem one of the mousepad buttons, though that may just be a one off issue with my particular laptop.

Having said that it runs really well and I've been very happy with the performance of it. And I got it with XP which was a major positive as I wasn't wanting Vista.

beefster

http://www.shop.bt.com/productview.aspx?Quicklinx=4NHD&CategorySelectedId=11105&PageMode=1&NavigationKey=11105,50600,46400000,403520000

Just a quick update to say that the Lenovo (IBM) N200 i ordered a couple of weeks ago is the dogs wotsits for the money. Very pleased with it but yet to use all the facilities it has. I would recommend it for anyone looking for a good lappy around £400 - 450.

Makes my desktop look ancient!

bradshawce

Have a look at the Novatech range. Good specs for good prices.
http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/nbranges.html

student87

Hey, what''s your view on this please?

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/128979

grae-uk

bambam69 wrote: »

Hi - Can anyone tell me what the difference is between buying from Dell home and Dell small business? I read somewhere the return policy is different?

Have seen what looks like a great deal on a dell Vostro with amd duo core processor, 1gb ram, 120 gb hd for about 350 after delivery and vat (also get 5% off with quidco).

Can anyone better this?

As far as i am aware the returns policy isn't any different, but the warrenty packages might be onsite rather than return to base on Small Business Machines.

I am an IT Consultant and buy many Dell machines for clients and tend to have a good idea of the Dell range. The Vostro range is a new entry level machine range for Small Businesses and you can currently get a VERY good machine for a much better price than the equivalent Home Inspiron machine which are very similar.

You don't say what you want to do with your machine but i would tend to advise getting a 2GB machine if you are going to run Vista. Most techies like myself say that 1GB is the VERY minimum for any Vista machine, and if you are just browsing the web and sending a few emails, maybe the odd word doc or two then you might get away with it. But if you are a heavier user with many applications open at a time (by many i mean 3-4 or more) then you will have a far more usable machine with 2GB!

Hope this helps

Graham.

pjomara

One place I'd recommend is Dell's ebay shop. (http://stores.ebay.co.uk/Dell-Outlet)
It's cheaper than the Dell outlet store and all items have a 12 month warranty.
I got an Inspiron 720, Core 2 Duo 1.8, 2GB Ram, 160GB HD, Vista Business, 256MB GeForce Graphics for £400.
Also, got a decent desktop for £160.
Most of the current ones up there have a minor scratch but there's lots available that aren't scratched like the one I got.

grae-uk

pjomara wrote: »

One place I'd recommend is Dell's ebay shop. (http://stores.ebay.co.uk/Dell-Outlet)
It's cheaper than the Dell outlet store and all items have a 12 month warranty.
I got an Inspiron 720, Core 2 Duo 1.8, 2GB Ram, 160GB HD, Vista Business, 256MB GeForce Graphics for £400.
Also, got a decent desktop for £160.
Most of the current ones up there have a minor scratch but there's lots available that aren't scratched like the one I got.

looks good, thanks for sharing!