The Great 'Cheapest Decent Laptop' Hunt

Charlton_King

Question:

Are new laptops likely to come down further in price?

matty2767

i was looking to purchase one of these http://www.play.com/PC/PCs/4-/3477557/Acer-Aspire-5720-Z-Intel-Pentium-Dual-Core-T2310-1-46GHz-2GB-80GB-15-4-DVD-SM-Vista-Home-Premium-Laptop-Notebook/Product.html

but i have read that acer have poor build quality with keys missing and buttons not working. is this true or are they just more widely reported than other manufacturers?

thanks

matt

edit: i just saw this which i think is better http://www.ebuyer.com/product/140414

cutterschoicenotmine

rhodyate wrote: »

is this laptop a good deal?
<H1>TOSHIBA SAT A210-1CO

Product code 441252

• Screen size: 15 inches
• Processor: AMD Turion 64 x2 Dual Core
• Memory (RAM): 2048 MB
• Storage (hard drive): 120 GB
• Operating system: Windows Vista Home Premium

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• All specification features
• Accessories & offers

Product price

£399.99
Save a total of £150


Collect from store

Yes that is.

Just be aware folks. As the product is cheap, components inside are cheap. If I hadn't been "In the know" shall we say, I could have spent £100+ replacing my Compaq Pres V5000 CPU FAN from PC world. It lasted 2 years then went finally. Lucky a replacement on ebay was only £7.50 but who without loads of previous training, experiance wants to take a laptop apart?

Also parts like fans can be impossible to find new replacements for. As the products are cheap they aint well supported and replacement parts can have to be second hand.

Guy_laister_2

tommyc352 wrote: »

Anyone recomend me a laptop, it would be used primarilly for:

Listening to music
Photo's - with a bit of editing
Needs WLAN
Webcam (optional - although ideal)
Able to play some games, although FM08 probably the most it will be used for...

Budget is around £500 if possible, ideally like something with 150gb HDD

Cheers

Tom

I would personally recomend the Dell vostro 1400, It's cheap for the money, It's very reliable, looks very nice in black

DescriptionVostro™ 1400 NB(N0414002)Date & Time: Monday 14 April 2008 9:14 PM SYSTEM COMPONENTS Vostro™ 1400 NB(N0414002) Qty 1 Intel® Celeron® Processor 550 (2.00 GHz, 533 MHz FSB, 1 MB L2-Unit Price £309.00 Limited Offer! Save 10%
Expires 01 May 2008 - £4.00 Limited Offer! Save 10%
Expires 01 May 2008 - £2.00 Catalog Number: 202 N0414002 Module Description [FONT=arial,helvetica]Show Details[/FONT]BaseIntel® Celeron® Processor 550 (2.00 GHz, 533 MHz FSB, 1 MB L2-cache)

Microsoft Operating SystemGenuine Windows Vista™ Home Premium - English

Memory2048MB 667MHz Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM (2x1024)

KeyboardInternal Keyboard - UK/Irish (QWERTY)

Video Card128MB nVidia® GeForce® 8400M GS

Hard Drive160GB (5400rpm) SATA Hard Drive

Modem56.6k V.92 Capable Internal Modem & Adapter - UK

Optical Devices Fixed Internal 8X DVD+/-RW Drive including Software

Wireless Networking Dell™ Wireless 1490 802.11a/b/g Mini-Card - Europe

Shipping DocumentsEnglish Documentation with Eng/Ire Power Cord and English Adobe

Gedis Bundle ReferenceN0414002

Microsoft Application SoftwareMicrosoft® Works 9.0 - English

Standard Warranty1Yr Basic Warranty - Next Business Day

Enhanced Service Packs 1Yr Basic Warranty - Next Business Day Included - No Upgrade Selected

CompleteCare Declined CompleteCare

Protect your new PC No Security/Anti-Virus Protection

BluetoothDell™ Wireless 355 Bluetooth 2.0 Module (up to 3Mbps) with Enhanced Data Rate

Order InformationVostro Laptop Order - UK

Primary BatteryPrimary 6-cell Lithium-Ion Battery (56 WHr)

Carrying CasesNo Carrying Case

Dell System Media KitResource DVD - (Diagnostics & Drivers)

Colour ChoiceMatte Jet Black with 2.0 mega pixel camera

Online Promotion Option for GEDIS ConfigsDell Internet Order

LCD14.1" Wide Screen WXGA (1280x800) TFT Display with TrueLife™

TOTAL :£303.00 Additional Discounts and Coupons Free Shipping Expires 30 April 2008 Total excl. VATVAT RateTotal incl. VATSub-total£303.0017.50 % £356.03Total Delivery Charge£51.0617.50 %£60.00Delivery Charge Discount-£51.0617.50 %-£60.00Total Price£303.00£356.03As low as £15.33/month(ex. VAT)
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£356.03!!!

Not bad for the spec and i just bought one!

You have to spend over 299 ext vat to get free delivery.

Has every thing you would want
http://www1.euro.dell.com/content/products/features.aspx/4x_vostro_1400?c=uk&cs=ukbsdt1&l=en&s=bsd

http://www.dell.com/downloads/global/corporate/imagebank/notebooks/vostro_1400_300.jpg










EDIT: ****YOU CAN NO-LONGER BUY THIS LAPTOP FROM DELL UK****

Fortyfoot

Hi there, I have just bought this 2GB HP laptop from Ebuyer. Details of this were given by "siliconbits" in his "Dirty Dozen" article giving details of 12 laptops under £300. The extra 1GB memory was shown in the "checkout" and came in a £5 laptop bag which was ordered at the same time. It was simple to add the 1GB, which needed to be firmly inserted into the slot.

Thanks for your post "siliconbits" :beer:

OUR CHEAPEST 2GB LAPTOP ONLY £289.99
EXCLUSIVE TO EBUYER!!!
For your ease we have now included Microsoft Office 2007 on many of our new products (qualifying products will say "Office 2007 Ready" in the description). This is included as a 60 day trial* so that you can test and try out the software at your leisure. Having tested the software all you need to do to continue using Office 2007 is purchase one of the following license keys listed with our quick find codes:-
GE316T – HP Microsoft Office 2007 Basic quick find 127128
GE317T – HP Microsoft Office 2007 PRO (MLK) quick find 128922
GE318T – Hp Microsoft Office 2007 Small Business quick find 128487
* If you no longer wish to use this software then it will automatically expire at the end of 60 days from start-up.
With its fresh new look, impressive combination of mobile office features, the best Intel processors and a starting weight of only 5.5lbs/2.49kg, the HP Compaq 6720s is an excellent price-for-performance package.
Specifications

brooksie

http://www.woolworths.co.uk/web/jsp/product/index.jsp?pid=50977504


or
http://www.woolworths.co.uk/web/jsp/product/index.jsp?pid=50954364
Hope the links work, but which one of these would you recommend, I can get 30% off either of these till sunday, its for my daughter for her birthday, no high tech stuff just surfing school work etc. Thanks, all advice appreciated

pingu

brooksie wrote: »

http://http://www.woolworths.co.uk/web/jsp/product/index.jsp?pid=50954364

or
http://http://www.woolworths.co.uk/web/jsp/product/index.jsp?pid=50977504
Hope the links work, but which one of these would you recommend, I can get 30% off either of these till sunday, its for my daughter for her birthday, no high tech stuff just surfing school work etc. Thanks, all advice appreciated

didn't know it was extra 10% off weekend which makes it 20% off not 30%;)

brooksie

My son works there not me, but he asked his manager who said 30% as extra 10% is on till sunday and it would come off one of these, perhaps she got it wrong but would still like to know if they are worth it. Thanks

Sarah1970

Hi

I too am looking to spend around £350 (ish) on a laptop. I know siliconbits has created a great top 12 list, however do you think someone could put a list in order of the best top 10/12 in order of best overall performance/value for money etc (with number 1 being the best).

I am so confused there are that many out there, and obviously I want the best that my money can buy. I also want it to be able to run vista as I have a desktop PC that I have XP on and if I don't like vista I can always load XP on it instead.

Thanks All in advance

interceptor02

This not a bad little machine if you are on a budget

http://www.hotukdeals.com/item/174160/vostro-1000-notebook-258-57-dell/