The Great 'Cheapest Decent Laptop' Hunt

Mandark

wazza wrote: »

Looking for a laptop with around 17" screen for my sister. Max price £400. My 12 year old nephew will use it for surfing etc while the family will use it for watching movies via DVD etc so it need not be fancy.

Thanks

17" screens for £400 is tricky but there are some. There's the Compaq CQ70-220EM at PC World. It's low spec even for the price band and Vista Basic is mean but it should do the job for you at £350.
http://www.pcworld.co.uk/martprd/product/seo/009906

If you dropped the screen size down to 15-16 then a whole range of decent laptop become available in the £350-£400 price range.

This one from emachines is pretty decent spec wise for the money - £391 - 17.3" Intel Dual Core T4200, 2 Gb RAM, 250 Hard drive but the laptop may not be built to the same standard as a Compaq or an Acer or a Toshiba.
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/168953

Hope that helps.

wazza

Mandark wrote: »

17" screens for £400 is tricky but there are some. There's the Compaq CQ70-220EM at PC World. It's low spec even for the price band and Vista Basic is mean but it should do the job for you at £350.
http://www.pcworld.co.uk/martprd/product/seo/009906

If you dropped the screen size down to 15-16 then a whole range of decent laptop become available in the £350-£400 price range.

This one from emachines is pretty decent spec wise for the money - £391 - 17.3" Intel Dual Core T4200, 2 Gb RAM, 250 Hard drive but the laptop may not be built to the same standard as a Compaq or an Acer or a Toshiba.
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/168953

Hope that helps.

was thinking of this one

http://www1.euro.dell.com/uk/en/home/Laptops/laptop-inspiron-17/pd.aspx?refid=laptop-inspiron-17&s=dhs&cs=ukdhs1&ref=lthp

COF

Having just accidently smashed the screen of my year-old Compaq (well, stepping on it), I need to get a new laptop, yet don't have masses to spend. I would say I am looking at spending £300 max.

I'm looking for something around the 15" mark (or better), Windows Vista Home Premium or XP (I'd rather not Home Basic), 2GB ram (consider 1GB if the price is good enough), 160GB hard drive minimum, and an ok-ish graphics card (I know that anything around this price will be low end, so I guess I'm looking for the best of a bad bunch). Also, in regards to prosessor, I would very much prefer a dual-core processor, not a single core.

Am I asking too much for less than £300 or should I be able to find something at this?

EDIT: Just come across this refurbish Medion for £270.

• Genuine Microsoft® Windows Vista® Home Premium
• Intel® CoreTM 2 Duo processor T5250
  • 1.5GHz, 2MB L2 Cache, FSB 667
• Intel® Graphics Media Accelerator X3100 based on PCI-Express technology
• High definition audio with 2 integrated loudspeakers
• 15.4" TFT WXGA widescreen colour display with 1280 x 800 pixels
  • 16:10 format for optimized DVD playback
• 8x Multi-Standard DVD-/CD-Writer with DVD-RAM and Dual Layer support
  • DVD±R/±RW/±R DL/-RAM +CD-RW+DVD-ROM
• 160GB hard disc drive
• 2GB DDR II RAM
• Intel® PRO/Wireless 3945
• Wireless LAN 802.11a/b/g with up to 54Mbit/s
• 10/100 Mbit Fast Ethernet LAN port
• V.90 modem incl. modem connection cable
• Fingerprint sensor
• Integrated and Microphone array
• Integrated 4in1 card reader
• External AC adapter
• Li-Ion battery

I'm informed that a "Core 2 Duo" processor is superior to a dual-core, although I don't understand why exactly.

newz

I've been looking at the Dell Inspiron 1545 with an Intel Celeron Dual Core T3000 processor, one laptop has 4GB Ram and 160Gb hard drive whilst the other has 2GB Ram and 250 GB hard drive, can anyone advise which would be better? It's basically for surfing, emails, downloading music etc nothing too demanding.

Thanks!

http://configure.euro.dell.com/dellstore/config.aspx?b=&c=uk&cs=ukdhs1&kc=HDP1&l=en&m_30=136643&oc=N0054510&rbc=N0054510&s=dhs


http://configure.euro.dell.com/dellstore/config.aspx?c=uk&cs=ukdhs1&l=en&oc=N0054502&dgc=AF&cid=5212&lid=122756&acd=a32642544f5ca5c042ce9dab13dd4018

happychappy69

as the title says - I'm considering buying a laptop (my first, I'm downsizing my house to a caravan and need the space) and could do with some advice.

The machine will need to have a card reader and be eligible for the window7 upgrade

It'll be primarily used to run CS2 and surfing - but I do tend to run several applications at once - I've a poor attention span

here's a couple I've been considering

Acer Aspire 5536-643G

Compaq Presario CQ60-420SA

I'll consider all possibilities - am trying to future proof as much as possible

thanks for all replies

JDPower

newz wrote: »

I've been looking at the Dell Inspiron 1545 with an Intel Celeron Dual Core T3000 processor, one laptop has 4GB Ram and 160Gb hard drive whilst the other has 2GB Ram and 250 GB hard drive, can anyone advise which would be better? It's basically for surfing, emails, downloading music etc nothing too demanding.

Depends on your needs. If you need lots of hard drive space for downloaded movies and music go for the bigger hard drive (and have the option of upgrading the RAM yourself if needed in future). If you don't need the HD space go for the 4GB RAM one and have the resultant improved performance (and have the option of buying an external hard drive for storing stuff on if you need more space in future)

Mandark

wazza wrote: »

was thinking of this one

http://www1.euro.dell.com/uk/en/home/Laptops/laptop-inspiron-17/pd.aspx?refid=laptop-inspiron-17&s=dhs&cs=ukdhs1&ref=lthp

If you're starting with the lowest spec system from £349, then try and bump up the processor to the most that you can afford then you should be quids in. Didn't realise they were starting the Inspiron 17 at such a low price. That's not too bad.

Mandark

COF wrote: »

Having just accidently smashed the screen of my year-old Compaq (well, stepping on it), I need to get a new laptop, yet don't have masses to spend. I would say I am looking at spending £300 max.

I'm looking for something around the 15" mark (or better), Windows Vista Home Premium or XP (I'd rather not Home Basic), 2GB ram (consider 1GB if the price is good enough), 160GB hard drive minimum, and an ok-ish graphics card (I know that anything around this price will be low end, so I guess I'm looking for the best of a bad bunch). Also, in regards to prosessor, I would very much prefer a dual-core processor, not a single core.

Am I asking too much for less than £300 or should I be able to find something at this?

EDIT: Just come across this refurbish Medion for £270.

I'm informed that a "Core 2 Duo" processor is superior to a dual-core, although I don't understand why exactly.

Let's start with processors. Intel's older dual core processor is two separate processors working together. The newer Core 2 Duo chip has the two processors (or cores as they are known) together on the same piece of silicon. Therefore communication between the two cores is much quicker. The Core 2 Quad processor is essentially a linked pair of Core 2 Duo chips. Core i7 chips have four cores all on the same piece of silicon, which is why they're the fastest chips of all.

The Medion laptop that you've identified has a reasonable spec for the money. You could get that new plus more spec for another £100 though.

Mandark

happychappy69 wrote: »

as the title says - I'm considering buying a laptop (my first, I'm downsizing my house to a caravan and need the space) and could do with some advice.

The machine will need to have a card reader and be eligible for the window7 upgrade

It'll be primarily used to run CS2 and surfing - but I do tend to run several applications at once - I've a poor attention span

here's a couple I've been considering

Acer Aspire 5536-643G

Compaq Presario CQ60-420SA

I'll consider all possibilities - am trying to future proof as much as possible

thanks for all replies

I'd get the Acer for its 3 hour battery life alone. I'd also take a look at the Lenovo N500 which is referred to a page or two back in this thread. Take a look at the Toshibas under £400 as well.

But I guess if you're doing photo editing and running multiple applications then you want as powerful processor as you can get in a laptop under £400. That's likely to be Intel T6400 Core 2 Duo or T5750 C2D.

bylromarha

newz wrote: »

I've been looking at the Dell Inspiron 1545 with an Intel Celeron Dual Core T3000 processor, one laptop has 4GB Ram and 160Gb hard drive whilst the other has 2GB Ram and 250 GB hard drive, can anyone advise which would be better? It's basically for surfing, emails, downloading music etc nothing too demanding.

Thanks!

http://configure.euro.dell.com/dellstore/config.aspx?b=&c=uk&cs=ukdhs1&kc=HDP1&l=en&m_30=136643&oc=N0054510&rbc=N0054510&s=dhs


http://configure.euro.dell.com/dellstore/config.aspx?c=uk&cs=ukdhs1&l=en&oc=N0054502&dgc=AF&cid=5212&lid=122756&acd=a32642544f5ca5c042ce9dab13dd4018

Just bought this Dell Inspiron 1545

Core 2 Duo processor, 4GB RAM, 250 GB, free upgrade to windows 7, £399 inc shipping and VAT. Offer ends tomorrow. Quidco 5% too.