The Great 'Cheapest Decent Laptop' Hunt

MissPop

elfmay wrote: »

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.

Actually, I quite resent the accusation that my niece is destructive. As I mentioned in my post about her scribbling on the laptop, she did it when she was about a year old, so I don't think she can really be held accountable for that. She's a lovely little girl and is being brought up beautifully, but I'd challenge any one year old in a room with a laptop not to do something to it. To be honest, I'd blame her mum more for letting her anywhere near her Macbook.

Let's not get into the finer details of child rearing, I just think that young children can learn just as well from other sources, like books or toys, and that a laptop is just an unnecessary expense.

But hey, money was very tight for us when I was growing up, so my mum couldn't afford to buy us laptops at that age. I got my laptop when I was 16 and starting college, after wanting one for a good 5 years.

thecrazy1_2

hi all
i know this question has been asked so many timesbefore but its been a while since i looked at laptops not sure what's good and what's not
don'tlaugh but i have been wanting to buy a laptop for the past few years but its never been the right time so now finally i can, i don't know what to get.
this is what i need:
lightweight, 95% of the time i will use the internet along with spreadsheets and word won't play games but may want to watch tv/ movies i will be using lots of pdf and family history based documents and working with others so screen needs to be clear.
i like toshiba and samsung poss sony any ideas please

thanks all

elfmay

MissPop wrote: »

Actually, I quite resent the accusation that my niece is destructive. As I mentioned in my post about her scribbling on the laptop, she did it when she was about a year old, so I don't think she can really be held accountable for that. She's a lovely little girl and is being brought up beautifully, but I'd challenge any one year old in a room with a laptop not to do something to it. To be honest, I'd blame her mum more for letting her anywhere near her Macbook.

Let's not get into the finer details of child rearing, I just think that young children can learn just as well from other sources, like books or toys, and that a laptop is just an unnecessary expense.

But hey, money was very tight for us when I was growing up, so my mum couldn't afford to buy us laptops at that age. I got my laptop when I was 16 and starting college, after wanting one for a good 5 years.

Actually I never said your niece was destructive!!!! I quoted the person asking about the laptop for their daughter and was commenting on the general theme of the replies to that post. i.e. that 8yr olds don't need/deserve/should have etc a laptop of their own. For reasons such as the fact they would destroy/not look after it etc!

For whats it worth, IF I had quoted you, I would have agreed that letting a 1yr old loose on a laptop is a bit silly. At 1 my DD would have probably tried to eat mine! At the least it would have been covered in rusk, which I can't imagine is covered by warranty!

And yes when growing up money was tight at our house too. Our first computer was a commodore 64!!! :rotfl: It was a shared christmas present between me, my sis and brother! I'm lucky enough to be in a position right now where I can spend a little bit more on my kids at christmas. Maybe the op is too? And as I said earlier, I don't think the price of laptop is excessive compared to games consoles etc.

MissPop

elfmay wrote: »

Actually I never said your niece was destructive!!!! I quoted the person asking about the laptop for their daughter and was commenting on the general theme of the replies to that post. i.e. that 8yr olds don't need/deserve/should have etc a laptop of their own. For reasons such as the fact they would destroy/not look after it etc!

For whats it worth, IF I had quoted you, I would have agreed that letting a 1yr old loose on a laptop is a bit silly. At 1 my DD would have probably tried to eat mine! At the least it would have been covered in rusk, which I can't imagine is covered by warranty!

And yes when growing up money was tight at our house too. Our first computer was a commodore 64!!! :rotfl: It was a shared christmas present between me, my sis and brother! I'm lucky enough to be in a position right now where I can spend a little bit more on my kids at christmas. Maybe the op is too? And as I said earlier, I don't think the price of laptop is excessive compared to games consoles etc.

Sorry, I obviously read your post a bit wrong then. Bit touchy at the moment!

Just for the record, you can get Xbox 360's now from £130, and if you look in the right places (ie pre-owned sections in Game, eBay etc) you can get very decent games for as little as a fiver Plus I think Wiis are coming down in price, and they have some great exercise/family/educational games.

Anyway, fair enough, obviously it's your choice and your money, it's just not something I'd do.

MaddenLover85

If you want a laptop as good as a Sony for half the price, I strongly suggest going to Staples and buying a Fujitsu, you can get a really good spec one for £350.

Looking at those results I am horrified how many people think Toshiba are good, they are seriously the WORST laptops that you can buy.

Please take my advise I don't want my fellow money savers to be wasting their hard earned money on rubbish laptops. I am a qualified Web Design and Applications Support Technician so please take my word on this; Do NOT buy a Toshiba, please, go for the Fujitsu or Sony instead.

caffenero

Og_Troff wrote: »

I just bought a Dell Vostro 1000 laptop. 80gb 2gb ram from their Dell Outlet

Please review your details below.
Order Summary:
£230.59 Service Tag No. *******
V1000 Sempron 3600 (2.0GHz/256KB)
£55.31 1 BUY NOW & SAVE ! MONEY OFF VOUCH

£175.28 Order Sub Total
£0.00 Estimated System Shipping* for Standard
*Monitor Shipping is no additional charge when purchased with a System
£205.95 Grand Total Including Delivery and VAT
Shipping on Accessories: applicable shipping
on accessories will be added.


That's a bargain. You have to select the discount at the end of the transaction as an 'option' though.

thanks og, ill be having a look at this, cost 205 total?? i always get confused on the dell site thoug

caffenero

caffenero wrote: »

thanks og, ill be having a look at this, cost 205 total?? i always get confused on the dell site thoug

og i cant even find this on the dell website, the vospre ones only show under business and there isnt a 1000 model, please can you help!

caffenero

cheapest laptop i can find on dell is 286 inc vat. i hate their site i can never work out the deals i take it i missed the one from og

bob_a_builder

i hate their site i can never work out the deals

Use this to find the DELL deals

http://www.dmxdimension.com/

caffenero

bob_a_builder wrote: »

Use this to find the DELL deals

http://www.dmxdimension.com/

thanks!

if i am using it right looks like the vostro 1000 laptop is 251 with the offer.

http://www.dmxdimension.com/dell-uk/vostro-deal-comparison/

any ideas how often the offers change, my mate has asked me to find a laptop close to 200 !!! what a task!