The Great 'Cheapest Decent Laptop' Hunt

caffenero

also the vostro is a business laptop, what difference does that make to service/warrenty etc

berrya1

Hi I was wondering if someone could help... Im going to use the examples given in the sub £400 laptops page on the main site as benchmarks. This page was updated on 07/10/08, however I feel the deals got worse, not better.

To outline I am after a powerful/ speedy laptop for less than £400. I will use this laptop for internet, some gaming, work etc So I deem Speed as the most important factor.

I picked the following laptop as the best value for money, speedy laptop:

Acer TM5720 £339 - Dabs
Processor - 2 Ghz Dual Core (T7300)
Bus Size - 800 Mhz
Cache - 4mb
Hard Drive - 160gb
RAM - 1gb (max 4gb)
Battery - 6 cell (3 hr)

Whilst the new update shows the following laptop as the best solution for speed:

Fujitsu - Seimens Esprimo Mobile U5505 £377 - Ebuyer
Processor - 2 Ghz Dual Core (T7250)
Bus Size - 800 Mhz
Cache - 2mb
Hard Drive - 250gb
RAM - 2gb (max 4gb)
Battery - 6 cell (3 hr)


Now obviously the Fujitsu laptop has a bigger Hard drive, and bigger initial RAM. However, considering I want to upgrade RAM to 4gb anyway and 160 gb Hard drive is way too much anyway (let alone the 250gb!) I believe the Acer to be better value for money. Especially when the Cache is twice the size. This may not seem must but it adds that little bit of power when processing.

Now what I want to know is if anyone can use the above benchmark and find a more powerful/ faster laptop for less than £400? I don't think its possible!!

Given that processor & RAM I believe are the most important aspects that make a machine fast... these will be the judging factors.... can anyone help??

Also if anyone has any tips or disagrees please do not hesitate to say!

Thanks for the help.

boobbby

berrya1 wrote: »

Hi I was wondering if someone could help... Im going to use the examples given in the sub £400 laptops page on the main site as benchmarks. This page was updated on 07/10/08, however I feel the deals got worse, not better.

To outline I am after a powerful/ speedy laptop for less than £400. I will use this laptop for internet, some gaming, work etc So I deem Speed as the most important factor.

I picked the following laptop as the best value for money, speedy laptop:

Acer TM5720 £339 - Dabs
Processor - 2 Ghz Dual Core (T7300)
Bus Size - 800 Mhz
Cache - 4mb
Hard Drive - 160gb
RAM - 1gb (max 4gb)
Battery - 6 cell (3 hr)

Whilst the new update shows the following laptop as the best solution for speed:

Fujitsu - Seimens Esprimo Mobile U5505 £377 - Ebuyer
Processor - 2 Ghz Dual Core (T7250)
Bus Size - 800 Mhz
Cache - 2mb
Hard Drive - 250gb
RAM - 2gb (max 4gb)
Battery - 6 cell (3 hr)


Now obviously the Fujitsu laptop has a bigger Hard drive, and bigger initial RAM. However, considering I want to upgrade RAM to 4gb anyway and 160 gb Hard drive is way too much anyway (let alone the 250gb!) I believe the Acer to be better value for money. Especially when the Cache is twice the size. This may not seem must but it adds that little bit of power when processing.

Now what I want to know is if anyone can use the above benchmark and find a more powerful/ faster laptop for less than £400? I don't think its possible!!

Given that processor & RAM I believe are the most important aspects that make a machine fast... these will be the judging factors.... can anyone help??

Also if anyone has any tips or disagrees please do not hesitate to say!

Thanks for the help.

Yes! there is avery slight difference in speed depending on your processor and RAM but this is hardly noticable on a modern computer. What makes the real difference is the connection speed to your ISP. Cable customers can choose their connection speed

Rainbow_Butterfly

Hello, would love some help if possible.

We are looking for a laptop for me to use upstairs for university study, and also for my hubby to take away with him for a few months at a time as he is in the military.

We need wireless internet, dvd writer, for it to be reasonably quick and ideally for it to be able to play games from a couple of years ago for hubby - fifa etc. A built in webcam would be a bonus too. A tiny screen is out as I will be looking at it for hours at a time, so need 16in+

We have 400-450 to spend.

I am clueless with computers, only had one laptop before, a toshiba A60 and it was a ******* nightmare, overheated terribly, wouldnt hold charge etc etc.

Am I right in thinking that one that blows out air from underneath is better? The toshiba sucked from under and blew out the back and used to turn itself off all the time from being too hot.

Thanks all.

JDPower

Rainbow_Butterfly wrote: »

only had one laptop before, a toshiba A60 and it was a ******* nightmare, overheated terribly, wouldnt hold charge etc etc.

Am I right in thinking that one that blows out air from underneath is better? The toshiba sucked from under and blew out the back and used to turn itself off all the time from being too hot.

Oh I feel your pain there, my last laptop was a Tosh A40 or A60 and suffered exactly the same. In the end the processor ended up damaged from constant overheating. As a result I always have my current laptop (a Dell Vostro) sat on a cooling pad, may be unnecessary but just a few quid to extend my laptops life is a small price to pay IMO - I got a cheap £10 three fan pad from Maplin about two year ago and its still going strong (there are plenty available at the likes of Amazon, Maplin etc)

Max_M4X_WW

Hi, My parents are after a 'cheap' laptop around £300. They want to look at photos, use word the internet etc. Nothing major.

I'm looking on dell, ebuyer, tesco, pc world etc and am stumped really. Think the normal sort of screen size is 15", dont know if we can get a 17" for the money?

BUT they all seem to be wide-screen, you don't take photos in wide-screen! So this doesn't make sense to me. We had the same problem when finding a non widescreen digi photo frame.

Can anyone suggest any suitable laptops?

Thanks

debjay

Despite lots of helpful advice on here I still haven't decided on which laptop for my 12 year old daughter.

What does everyone think of this?

http://www.currys.co.uk/martprd/store/cur_page.jsp?BV_SessionID=@@@@0279877989.1223898673@@@@&BV_EngineID=ccdcadefgjmdhemcflgceggdhhmdgmj.0&page=Product&sku=576061&calling_page=Product#productInformationSection

Would the graphics card be ok for gaming? Esp The Sims

Is this one the same?
http://www.comet.co.uk/shopcomet/product/438189/ACER-5920G-302G25HN/tab/reviews#reviews

chiefmissile

As posted on page 111, i think the lap top you are questioning is available on Misco deals for £379 http://www.misco.co.uk/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=308484&sourceid=6642

I think its the same one, but lots cheaper.

Hope this helps

debjay

chiefmissile wrote: »

As posted on page 111, i think the lap top you are questioning is available on Misco deals for £379 http://www.misco.co.uk/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=308484&sourceid=6642

I think its the same one, but lots cheaper.

Hope this helps

Dont think it is the same as the ones I have posted have separate graphics cards. I found it really difficult comparing ACERS as even same model number has different spec

littleange

elfmay wrote: »

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.

Consoles seem to have a pretty bad reputation, which I think is a little unfair. I'd much rather my kids (if I can ever afford any) be sitting infront of a console than just stuck infront of the television. Console games can be educational aswell, they are much more advanced today and provide players with a challenge, which stimulates the child, and many provide exercise. They can also be quite social either in the house together or if you play online, I'm sure it would be a great way to spend time with your kids. And as someone has already pointed out the prices have dropped quite a lot or you could always rent.

I grew up with a sega master system and a mega drive, which my parents made me do chores to earn, people I have met who say their parents wouldn't let them have a console have said they felt like they missed out.

Technology used to cost a lot more than it does today so it is not surprising most of us didnt have a pc until we were teenagers. Computers are used for pretty much everything today so it is a huge advantage to your child to start them off as early as you can.