The Great 'Cheapest Decent Laptop' Hunt

playaz

Actually - anyone know of any under £400 laptops that use GeForce 8600M graphic chipsets (these seem good from what i am reading)

S0litaire

One thing to consider is what you are going to use the laptop for?

If it's Games then to be honest a Desktop would be cheeper.

If it's business then Dell, Acer, Medion Would be fine

But if it's Surfing, typing letters email and a like then think of going for one of those Asus Eee PC's they are small (9 inch screen) light 0.95kg and under £350 They don't have a huge hard drive (20Gb)

Specs: Asus Eee PC 900

If you get the Windows XP version you get a smaller disk.


Handy tip. (for anyone who is IT literate or knows a guy who is...)

If you have a store bought copy of XP (Not one that came with a PC that has OEM on the disk). Then you can use it on your new laptop or Desktop.

When you get the new machine and power it on you will get a "I Agree" or "I Decline" option. This is the licence agreement. Reject the initial question about agreeing to the OS EULA (End User Licence Agreement)

Then contact the company you got it from and state that you declined the EULA of the OS provided and request that they reimburse you for the cost of the OS. They will ask you to return all documents and software you got with the machine relating to the Operating system. (usually "Recovery Disk" or "OEM" disk + user guide, quick-start guide).

They may sent you out a disclaimer for you to sign stating that you have removed all traces of the OS from your machine.

The money you get back will probably be between £20 and £50 but it's the principle.. Why buy the OS more than once if you already legally own a copy you can use.

Then you are free to install your previous or any Free alternative OS on the machine.

*Note* If a version of windows marked as OEM can only be used on the machine it was purchased with. You can not use it on another machine.


Well you could always look into Linux..

www.ubuntu.com (Free OS)

flashnazia

Feel bad for asking as ppl have better things to do but...

Can anyone quickly answer because....I am the tightest git around but...., I need to buy a laptop cos I have been putting it off for six months and I'm using a borrowed Dell that was made in the dark ages....

I'm looking to spend as little as possible and get as much as I can for it (typical tight git speak)

Have seen a few on Dell's site (http://www1.euro.dell.com/content/products/features.aspx/dotw_laptops?c=uk&cs=ukdhs1&l=en&s=dhs) but need to check before I take the plunge.

Here goes....

Reliable Company, Dell or Toshiba? Acer or what?

Screen, What the hell is Truelife, Truebright, WXGA etc

Dual core, core 2 duo, what's the diff and is it worth paying for instead of getting celeron, AMD etc

DVD±RW/ DVD-RAM Does this indicate I can burn CDs?

Integrated Speakers- do they come as standard?

As you can tell I'm not just a tight git but a bit of a thick one too....

Thanks for any answers

tandeh

http://www.hotukdeals.com/item/182984/dell-vostro-1700-laptop-2-4ghz-c2d-/
looks top for spec

smokeyjoe_2

We've been running on old desktops for sometime so OH and I decided we fancied laptops but obviously buying two made price a big issue!

We had slight doubts but went for:

BELINEA O.BOOK 1 INTEL CELERON 530 120GB HD 1024MB RAM WEBCAM VISTA BASIC WHITE
* Processor: Intel Celeron-M 530 1.73GHz, 533MHz FSB, 1MB L2 Cache
* RAM: 1GB DDR2 (Max Memory 2GB)
* Hard Drive: 120GB Serial ATA
* Screen: 15.4" Widescreen TFT (1280x800)
* Optical Drive: DVD±RW Super Multi Double Layer
* Graphics: Integrated Graphics supporting 256MB
* Wireless LAN: Yes
* Bluetooth: No
* Battery Life (Depending on Use): Upto 2 Hours
* Weight: 2.7kg
* Operating System: Windows Vista Home Basic
* Fast Ethernet 10/100
* Built-In Camera

We paid £329 (this also included a laptop case) for each plus got the shop to upgrade to 2GB ram for free.

I must say we are really impressed, we use our computers mainly for internet and using MS office (we run our own business) - it's really fast and we we also supported a local small business.

eponymous

You can pinch yourself that you're not dreaming. The DSG is notoriously slack when it comes to price competitiveness (using spotty salesmen at PC World, Currys and Dixons who rely on fear and ignorance by pushing warranties is coming to home to roost) and as they're going through a tough time, they've smartened up their act.

So I must admit that I bought this Samsung R60+ laptop yesterday as an emergency same-day purchase and it's great, Vista excepted. Except it was a click and collect from Currys. I got a few percent back via quidco. However, you can save even more this way.
It's actually £389 at Dixons.co.uk - and no, Currys didn't price match with their online bretheren. Start at Quidco Then, add SAVE 10 code in the voucher, which brings it down to 379 and with the Quidco discount, you have a £ 400+ laptop for £367.63. Ignore the Norton 360 - it's rubbish - I have used it before, likewise the extended warranty. If they go wrong, they'll go majorly wrong in the first year.
A VERY good and well reviewed laptop that was 550+ last summer for a year's worth of daily newspapers. GET IN!!!

chandrakant

:j HP G6065EA Notebook PC
</B>● Genuine Windows Vista® Home Premium 32-bit
● AMD Athlon 64 X2 TK57 Mobile Technology
● 160 GB SATA Hard Disk Drive
● 15.4” WXGA HD BrightView Widescreen
● 2048 MB (2 x 1024 MB)
● Super Multi DVD Writer (+/-R +/-RW)
● Webcam with integrated microphone
priced at £399
use voucher code
HPSPLDIS at check out to get 10% off plus free shipping.
bring it down to £359.10
use 'quidco'(can't coment on relibality) for further 5% cash back cost around £341 ish....
sellect special offer and you can get free HP cary case too!!!
i can confirm that laptop is briliant,fast good looking and light..
i don't think you can get better deal than this...
good luck
http://h41306.www4.hp.com/item?partner=1223&sku=BKH948EACC&jumpid=in_rm_r2515_uk_en_dsc_hho_20080502171534819

krumped_up

anyone know where i can find really decent laptops for under 250 quid? Is ebay the still the cheapest? im talkin second hand and refurbished stuff here, of course...

Conorrr

The Best Priced Laptops out there are the Medion Ones at ALDI but they are only avaliable for a couple of days maximum and then they are withdrawn

example

monkeyspanner

krumped_up wrote: »

anyone know where i can find really decent laptops for under 250 quid? Is ebay the still the cheapest? im talkin second hand and refurbished stuff here, of course...

Depends what you want re spec. but you can get a v.basic New Dell Vostro for this sort of price.

Here's the link http://configure.euro.dell.com/dellstore/config.aspx?cs=ukbsdt1&kc=pcuk5&oc=n0510001&x=10&y=6

Works out at about £258 delivered and you can get 5% money back if you enter via Quidco.