The Great 'Cheapest Decent Laptop' Hunt

oh_no_5

I've only read the last couple of pages so if it's been mentioned before....................sorry.

Walmart.com are doing laptops for $500.At the current exchange rate that is about 275 quid.Cost to DHL it over is another $50 (Walmart don't ship overseas except to US Forces post-boxes).They work on 240V and look identical to UK models.I'm not sure about any import duty that you might have to pay but if you knew someone in the States who would ship it as a "gift" then you would be quids in.Just a thought.

hollie.weimeraner

oh_no wrote:

I've only read the last couple of pages so if it's been mentioned before....................sorry.

Walmart.com are doing laptops for $500.At the current exchange rate that is about 275 quid.Cost to DHL it over is another $50 (Walmart don't ship overseas except to US Forces post-boxes).They work on 240V and look identical to UK models.I'm not sure about any import duty that you might have to pay but if you knew someone in the States who would ship it as a "gift" then you would be quids in.Just a thought.

Yes Walmart are doing "cheap" laptops but thats exactly what they are. Look at the spec. Have a look further down the page and compare a decent spec product with UK prices and you'll find there's not much difference eg Acer Ferrari UK price £1147 Walmart price $1947. Even in America you tend to get what you pay for;)

gmrsupplies

Could anybody who knows the slightest bit about Laptop's please look at this and advise me whether it is a good buy if I can get it for £594.99, Before everybody jumps in ?, I can get it for that as my Dad gets 15% off but only up to £1500 per year, I normally use all of his allowance !!!

Any advice would be appreciated,

Thanks
http://www.currys.co.uk/martprd/store/cur_page.jsp?BV_SessionID=@@@@0498878650.1120711127@@@@&BV_EngineID=ccciaddfdjlhidjcflgceggdhhmdgmh.0&page=Product&sku=439869&category_oid=-21154&fm=15&sm=1&tm=undefined

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gmrsupplies wrote:

Could anybody who knows the slightest bit about Laptop's please look at this and advise me whether it is a good buy

I'd probably say no - even with the discount. While Celeron-M processors are good you can get decent laptops with this one for £499. The main things it has to bump up the price are the widescreen, though I've read that the advantages are questionable over normal 15inch screens, and the graphics chip which may be a new updated version of the Intel chipset but it appears still to use system memory (shared graphics) (plus of course the Toshiba name). It's not a bad price but it's not great either. I'd prefer a Pentium-M with 64mb shared graphics and 15 inch screen. My Pentium-M with DVD writer and seperate graphics card was only £599 and thats the sort of bargain I'd be looking out for.

Fingers_2

Hi guys and gals,

despite being a regular visitor to the site this is my first post here, so lets hope it goes well.

Basically I'm looking for a new laptop but have a budget of £800 (+-£50) so can stretch a bit more than the cheapest bargain laptop. (although I'm more than happy to spend less!!). The plan is for a desktop replacement type, so can be used for work but also will be multimedia capable, and something which will last me as long as possible.

Having read through some of the posts on here i quite like the look of the acer aspire series here (http://www.laptopsdirect.co.uk/Acer_Aspire_16801690_Laptops/prod.asp), the 1691, or maybe spend a bit more and get the 1693? Any words of wisdom?

also what's difference between the graphics cards and extra memory (the ati radeon x600 or x700) is it worth the money?

And processors? worth the extra speed? should i also consider AMD versions. the 5014 and 5021 i think are roughly the equivalents, but for less money?

lots of questions, i know, but i'm hoping you may have lots of answers.

cheers

Fingers

hollie.weimeraner

Fingers wrote:

Hi guys and gals,

despite being a regular visitor to the site this is my first post here, so lets hope it goes well.

Basically I'm looking for a new laptop but have a budget of £800 (+-£50) so can stretch a bit more than the cheapest bargain laptop. (although I'm more than happy to spend less!!). The plan is for a desktop replacement type, so can be used for work but also will be multimedia capable, and something which will last me as long as possible.

Having read through some of the posts on here i quite like the look of the acer aspire series here (http://www.laptopsdirect.co.uk/Acer_Aspire_16801690_Laptops/prod.asp), the 1691, or maybe spend a bit more and get the 1693? Any words of wisdom?

also what's difference between the graphics cards and extra memory (the ati radeon x600 or x700) is it worth the money?

And processors? worth the extra speed? should i also consider AMD versions. the 5014 and 5021 i think are roughly the equivalents, but for less money?

lots of questions, i know, but i'm hoping you may have lots of answers.

cheers

Fingers

My son has just bought the 1682wlmi from Comet at £599 inc delivery and he's over the moon with it. These are quality laptops that have been reduced in price by Acer recently and IMHO are the best value laptops available at the moment. Build quality is excellent, screens are excellent, battery life is really good. There have been reports that Acer customer service has left a lot to be desired recently and it has been suggested this is one of the reasons for the prices coming down, another reason is that there are a number of new processor chips coming out (AMD's Turion for one) which may also account for the price drop.

If you have any doubts pop into your local Comet store and have a look at one (£100 dearer than online in store though).

If you are considering using the laptop as a gaming machine go for the one with the best spec graphics card and most memory. If you're using it for web browsing and word processing then both machines will be more than adequate.

the_canty

I recently bought an IBM Thinkpad R50e from here:

http://www.technoworld.com/productdisplay.asp?ProductID=24387

IBM have an excellent reputation for building robust machines, and this one is fine for surfing the web, storing a few photos / mp3s. The RAM is easily upgradeable, if need be, but for the time being I'm very happy with it

MissSunshine

Now i know diddly about computers, but Mr Sunshine's a bit of a buff and after a lot of internet research ordered one from Dell http://www1.euro.dell.com/content/default.aspx?=uk&cs=ukdhs1&l=en&s=dhs for my parents.

This was in June and i have no idea what model sorry, but Mr Sunshine said it was ample for what parents needed to do. It was a shade under £500, free delivery though it took 7 days, and there was a free printer thrown in :j

mjr600

The HP I mentioned earlier is even cheaper here, an authorised HP reseller as well.

http://www.inmac.co.uk/catalogue/item/HPNB0314

stanzelsa

i dont know if i've put this in the right place but i thought you should know about this. just been to staples in blackburn and their lexmark 16 black ink cartridge was £19,99, i was just about to buy one when i saw the stand behind the counter with special offers on and it had a promotional "european travel pack" which contains a lexmark 16 black ink cartridge and michelin route planning software and michelin guide for £9.99. could only afford 2 unfortunately but hope some of the rest of you can benefit from this