The Great 'Cheapest Decent Laptop' Hunt

chili2001

selfyselfy wrote: »

Thanks for that.

Ive been thinking and think it would be best to get an optical drive built in in case she wants to put any software on.

I guess ill keep my eye out for a budget laptop.

Up to you but I wouldn't get anything below this spec to run vista:
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/164844 not a bad price for £330

selfyselfy

Ok if that spec will be better to run Vista then we might pay a little more.

Can you advise whether the Hp model above is better worse than this Dell I am also looking at?

http://configure.euro.dell.com/dellstore/config.aspx?c=uk&cs=ukdhs1&l=en&oc=N0054503&dgc=AF&cid=5212&lid=122756

Thanks

chili2001

selfyselfy wrote: »

Ok if that spec will be better to run Vista then we might pay a little more.

Can you advise whether the Hp model above is better worse than this Dell I am also looking at?

http://configure.euro.dell.com/dellstore/config.aspx?c=uk&cs=ukdhs1&l=en&oc=N0054503&dgc=AF&cid=5212&lid=122756

Thanks

Do you mean the bog standard inspiron 15 for £349.00?
If so, the HP is miles better still, and cheaper!

lolamancity

Hi

Apols for the laziness of this post, i currently have a 10 month old crazy child who i can't take my eyes off, so i've just jumped on here while he has a nap....

Basically, i'm pretty good with software knowledge, but rubbish with hardware knowledge, so need a bit of help.

I have a Dell Inspiron 6400 at the moment, but due to separation from my husband, i need to buy a new one for myself. I haggled to get this one and ended up (over a period of a few weeks of them continuously phoning me back, and me sticking to my guns) getting a pretty good deal... trouble is, i can't remember what i asked for or anything! I've had a Toshiba in the past and that had no end of troubles so don't think i'd touch that brand again.

I don't really have any money at all for a budget, but i'm considering a 0% credit card for the first time in my life and asking for money from relatives for my birthday in a few months to get it paid off, so ideally i don't wanna pay over £350.

I only really use my laptop for internet activities. I use the web a lot, i aquire and watch films on it, and most importantly, i transfer and store thousands and thousands of pictures and home video (baby related obssession!).

Basically my requirements are:

decent amount of memory
decent battery life (i have a 9 cell now)
integrated Bluetooth
XP (not Vista)

and a built in webcam (for Skype) would be handy but not essential.

Budget is £350 ish, but would prefer much less if poss


There's a great one on the Dell site at the moment (Inspiron 15) on special offer with 3GB Memory & 250GB Hard Drive for £349, but when i add the extras i want on it ends up at £430 which i can't justify

Can anyone help?

Thanks

Steve_xx

Laskys have the following:

Asus 701SD netbook with a 7 inch display screen and 8 GB hard drive

• 512 MB memory (RAM)
• 8 GB storage (hard drive)
• Wireless networking
• 1 media card slots

£159.99 and FREE delivery. Plus 2.5% cashback available from Cashbackkings.

Here's a link: http://www.laskys.com/computing/laptops_and_pdas/netbooks/asus_701sd_8gb_b.html?cm_mmc=Affwin-_-Feed-_-Netbooks-_-520160&refid=affil&referred_site=aw&_$ja=tsid:6094|prd:60612

greggypetty

Compaq has been the best laptop brand for me. They are cheap and work quite well.

timmay2606

sharica wrote: »

Hi.. My first post in this thread .. Only usually go on coupon thread.

My son is starting UNI in september and needs a laptop.

He has 400 to spend .. (Cashback would be good too)

Not sure what he should go for as i have only ever had PC'S.

Should he go for a free laptop with a phone contract or anyone got ideas for a Under £400 good laptop

Ta Muchly Shaz...xxx .. In meantime i will have a look through the thread.

:beer::beer:

The sub £300 laptops usually have a very small screen - not much good if it's going to be his primary comuter at uni. I would strongly recommend the HP 550 - it's around your £400 mark, the specs are good and the service from HP is excellent. Try using a cashback site to get some money off as well.

DO NOT go for the free laptop & mobile broadband. If your son is in halls he will have broadband access (99% of halls of residence do these days) and if he's sharing a house they would be well advised to get a braodband package they can all contribute towards. The mobile broadband contracts will tie him in for a period of time that means he would end up paying more than he would if he just bought the laptop, and he is not guaranteed reception.

When you choose a laptop think how he would use it - if he's going to be writing assignments and doing research then a mini laptop with small keyboard and tiny screen won't suffice. If it really is just for uni work and not gmes etc then he won;t need fantastic specifications, just enough to run his Office package etc.

And finally, in terms of software, Microsoft do MS Office 2007 Student edition for around £45, or OpenOffice is free, or a dodgy copy of MS Office is also free (just don't get caught!).

Hope that helps

Timmay2606
(IT Consultant & realist for 10+ years)

sharica

timmay2606 wrote: »

The sub £300 laptops usually have a very small screen - not much good if it's going to be his primary comuter at uni. I would strongly recommend the HP 550 - it's around your £400 mark, the specs are good and the service from HP is excellent. Try using a cashback site to get some money off as well.

DO NOT go for the free laptop & mobile broadband. If your son is in halls he will have broadband access (99% of halls of residence do these days) and if he's sharing a house they would be well advised to get a braodband package they can all contribute towards. The mobile broadband contracts will tie him in for a period of time that means he would end up paying more than he would if he just bought the laptop, and he is not guaranteed reception.

When you choose a laptop think how he would use it - if he's going to be writing assignments and doing research then a mini laptop with small keyboard and tiny screen won't suffice. If it really is just for uni work and not gmes etc then he won;t need fantastic specifications, just enough to run his Office package etc.

And finally, in terms of software, Microsoft do MS Office 2007 Student edition for around £45, or OpenOffice is free, or a dodgy copy of MS Office is also free (just don't get caught!).

Hope that helps

Timmay2606
(IT Consultant & realist for 10+ years)

Thanks for the help.. It will just be for uni stuff plus web surfing etc.. If he gets the living arrangement he applied for it has wireless included in the price..

He is taking his TV to play his ps3 and wii on

Thanks Sharon...xxx

confuzzled?

hello!
could someone help me out with which of theese is best? i have to buy from amazon as i got vouchers for my birthday and have up to £190 to spend.
i really only need something to get on the net while out and about and maybe store some photos but i just can't really work out the differences!
one is new the other two are used/display models - any advice? is it worth buying a used one when i can spend the extra few quid and get the new one?
i know they have different sized hard drives, but thats about it, thanks!

Acer Aspire One A110L 3G Netbook, Linpus Linux Lite Version, 8.9-inch Crystalbrite TFT LCD, 1GB RAM, 16GB SSD, 3G, Intel Atom Processor N270 (Brown) -£189.00 (new)

ASUS Eee PC 904HD BK003X Netbook, Windows XP Preloaded, 1GB RAM, 80GB HD (Black) 182.00 (used, display model)

Acer Aspire One A150-Ab Netbook, Linpus Linux Lite version, 1GB DDR2 RAM, 120GB HD (Sapphire Blue) (used 30 day return)

nicholataylor

refurbished laptops are always good, they have old price tags with new parts.