The Great 'Cheapest Decent Laptop' Hunt

MissPop

littleange_com wrote: »

I don't think you are ever too young to start learning how to use a computer and not to mention all the other ways you can use it to learn things, you just need to be a little careful thats all.

Much better than sticking them in front of the television.

Yeah, but do children need their own laptop? To be honest, I thought I was too young to have a mobile phone at 11, but it was a necessity as I travelled a long way to school every day and needed to keep in touch with my mum.

My OH's sister lets her 18 month old play with her Macbook >.< £1000 piece of equipment with keys missing and pen all over the screen.

littleange

MissPop wrote: »

Yeah, but do children need their own laptop? To be honest, I thought I was too young to have a mobile phone at 11, but it was a necessity as I travelled a long way to school every day and needed to keep in touch with my mum.

My OH's sister lets her 18 month old play with her Macbook >.< £1000 piece of equipment with keys missing and pen all over the screen.

I guess it all depends on how much other family members need to use the computer too. There is nothing wrong with each child having their own as long as they understand how much it cost and that they need to look after it.

stamford

littleange_com wrote: »

I don't think you are ever too young to start learning how to use a computer and not to mention all the other ways you can use it to learn things, you just need to be a little careful thats all.

Much better than sticking them in front of the television.

I doubt if an 8 year old fully appreciates being careful with a £300 item - a £100 job from Bigpockets maybe....................

littleange

stamford wrote: »

I doubt if an 8 year old fully appreciates being careful with a £300 item - a £100 job from Bigpockets maybe....................

I guess it depends on how they have been brought up, I'm sure you can be responsible for something at the age of 8! You could make them do chores for points or something before they got it so they felt like they had earned it if you don't think they would apprechiate it.

New laptops don't really come much cheaper than £300, if you buy a used one no doubt the battery won't last 5 minutes. You'd be better off with a desktop if you didn't want to spend £300.

and6868

Can you please let me know if this is a good laptop? its £489 and i want to give it to my daughter for Christmas. Is it worth getting one this early or wait untill a little closer. I dont know if there are better deals that time of year or availability get scarce.

Cheers Andrew



Acer Aspire 7720G Notebook Laptop, Core 2 Duo T7300 2.0GHz, 17" TFT, 2048MB RAM, 2x160GB Hard-drive, DVD±RW with HD Capability, GeForce 8400M Graphics, Integ Webcam, WiFi, Vista Home Premium

MissPop

and6868 wrote: »

Can you please let me know if this is a good laptop? its £489 and i want to give it to my daughter for Christmas. Is it worth getting one this early or wait untill a little closer. I dont know if there are better deals that time of year or availability get scarce.

Cheers Andrew



Acer Aspire 7720G Notebook Laptop, Core 2 Duo T7300 2.0GHz, 17" TFT, 2048MB RAM, 2x160GB Hard-drive, DVD±RW with HD Capability, GeForce 8400M Graphics, Integ Webcam, WiFi, Vista Home Premium

IMO (bearing in mind I'm not as tech-savvy as some of the posters in this thread ) that looks a pretty good deal - nice fast RAM and processor, seperate graphics card all good for gaming/movies) and I couldn't fill a hard drive that size in a lifetime Do have a look around though, as you MIGHT be able to find it with a few quid off somewhere (however, I think that is a pretty reasonable pirice for something with those specs)

JDPower

and6868 wrote: »

Can you please let me know if this is a good laptop? its £489 and i want to give it to my daughter for Christmas. Is it worth getting one this early or wait untill a little closer. I dont know if there are better deals that time of year or availability get scarce.

Cheers Andrew



Acer Aspire 7720G Notebook Laptop, Core 2 Duo T7300 2.0GHz, 17" TFT, 2048MB RAM, 2x160GB Hard-drive, DVD±RW with HD Capability, GeForce 8400M Graphics, Integ Webcam, WiFi, Vista Home Premium

Not bad, probably being sold off cheap due to the now defunct HD-DVD format support DVD drive (tough it'll work fine for regular CD/DVD use).

There are a couple of variations on the spec of that laptop for £449 on Play.com (both have a slightly slower processor):

http://www.play.com/PC/PCs/4-/3595211/Acer-Aspire-7720g-Core-2-Duo-T5550-2GB-160GB-17-DVD-SM-Vista-Home-Premium-Laptop-Notebook/Product.html?cm_mmc=Froogle-_-PC-_-Computers-_-Acer%2BAspire%2B7720g%2B%2F%2BCore%2B2%2BDuo%2BT5550%2B%2F%2B2GB%2B%2F%2B160GB%2F%2B17%22%2B%2F%2BDVD-SM%2B%2F%2BVista%2BHome%2BPremium%2B%2F%2BLaptop%2B%2F%2BNotebook&source=5066&engine=froogle_pc&keyword=Acer+Aspire+7720g+%2F+Core+2+Duo+T5550+%2F+2GB+%2F+160GB%2F+17%22+%2F+DVD-SM+%2F+Vista+Home+Premium+%2F+Laptop+%2F+Notebook

http://www.play.com/PC/PCs/4-/3477772/Acer-Aspire-7720G-Core-2-Duo-T5250-1-5GHz-2GB-240GB-17-WXGA+-DVD-SM-Vista-Home-Premium-Laptop-Notebook/Product.html?cm_mmc=Froogle-_-PC-_-Computers-_-Acer%2BAspire%2B7720G%2B%2F%2BCore%2B2%2BDuo%2BT5250%2B1.5GHz%2B%2F%2B2GB%2B%2F%2B240GB%2B%2F%2B17%22%2BWXGA%2B%2B%2F%2BDVD-SM%2B%2F%2BVista%2BHome%2BPremium%2B%2F%2BLaptop%2B%2F%2BNotebook&source=5066&engine=froogle_pc&keyword=Acer+Aspire+7720G+%2F+Core+2+Duo+T5250+1.5GHz+%2F+2GB+%2F+240GB+%2F+17%22+WXGA%2B+%2F+DVD-SM+%2F+Vista+Home+Premium+%2F+Laptop+%2F+Notebook

(Personally I'd pick the first of those two options as I can't see many requiring 2 120GB hard drives as the second has, plus the first has the slightly better processor of those)

xoanon_2

The laptop is a decent spec but horses for courses.

You are getting, and paying for a dedicated gfx card, albeit an older one. Is your daughter going to want to play games?

17" screen is great but not so great if you want to take your laptop around with you a lot.

Finally, and most importantly, if this isn't an early present and is going to be stored away until Christmas - nearly 3months away - I would wait. There will be deals as companies vie for your custom. Plus, despite being out of the loop for a while and not knowing specifically what is coming out, products will come out in time for Christmas driving prices down on the not-five-minutes-old-technology.

and6868

thank you all for your replies

elfmay

rich1lfc wrote:

hi can anyone help!? my 8 year old daughter has asked for a pink lap top for christmas can anyone recommend one priced around £300?
laura

PC world have this ?

Might be ideal as a little 'starter' laptop?

My 5yr old DD wants a laptop, pink of course! So she's getting one of these. :rolleyes: My cousin actually bought one of these for her 8yr old a few weeks ago. She let her 13yr old on it to see what she thought of it and it got a huge thumbs up from her? OK, its not all singing and dancing, but it's wireless, built in webcam, 4gb and its light and compact for a little one to carry around.

As for the comments regarding buying an 8yr old a laptop, there are worse things to spend money on for kids. I consider @ £200 for a console and £40 per game a waste of money! I'd much rather 'waste' £300 on something that could be educational and useful as well as fun.

And not all children are destructive! :rolleyes: My DD certainly doesn't understand how much things cost, though she does understand some things cost 'lots' and has to be taken extra care of etc. She uses my laptop and has yet to pull keys apart or scribble on the screen! In fact she has never scribbled in her reading books or put barbie down the loo! Maybe I just have an exceptionly well behaved child? Or just maybe I brought her up to look after things!!? :rolleyes:



Kids are much more technical now, they use computers in school and at home. I think its only natural they want one of 'their own' I'd much rather buy the item above for £170 than spend as much on a DS and a few games.