The Great 'Cheapest Decent Laptop' Hunt

ssccootttt

bylromarha wrote: »

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.

Glad i checked out this thread, i think thats the one for me too, my budget is 400 and that pretty much is the best spec i can find for the money. :T

Also the offer has been extended to 9th Sept too

pickledtink

I was going to get a refurb as guided by my son who works in IT but as he now isn't speaking to me I'm lost.
Decided I'd better get a new laptop instead hoping for not much more than £300.00. Just need for office - word, ecxel etc . WIFI already included so don't have to faff around like my old one with dongle and installing it etc. Also hoping for on board dvd player at least so can watch one if stuck on lousy plane or whatever. I need it pretty light as will be mainly used whilst travelling out of the UK to keep in touch re bookings etc for my small business. Have always stuck with XP on home office PC but everything seems to be coming up as Vista so a bit woried about that.
I've come down to 2.
One lots of HD but vista basic and never heard of the make. The other much less HD but free upgrade to Windows 7 and Toshiba. Don't really want screen any bigger than these.
Can anyone advise me? Or suggest something else?
grateful for any replies. I'm getting a headache having been scrutinising this screen for the best part of last 3 days.
http://www.laptopsdirect.co.uk/Toshiba_Satellite_Pro_L300-26P_Laptop_PSLB9E-03V003EN2GB/version.asp

http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/partNumber/5081581/c_1/1|category_root|Office%2C+PCs+and+phones|14418968/c_2/2|cat_14418968|Laptops+and+mini+laptops|14419039.htm

pickledtink

....or maybe this?http://www.ebuyer.com/product/164844#

pickledtink

Without any response I'm leaning towards the Toshiba, It seems Vista is the operating system to go anyway but the HD capacity on this looks kind of weedy, Would that really matter for what I want to use it for?

I realise I'm looking to spend very little but I'm not exactly roling in it so if any of you knowledgeable persons wouldn't mind sparing 5 minutes of youe super multi megawhtist moments I'd be grateful.
If not I daresay it would be uttely dreadful if all your fingers fell off and you had to operate your fabidoozy machine with your ever so snooty noses.
In a bad mood? Moi? Yup.

JDPower

pickledtink wrote: »

Without any response I'm leaning towards the Toshiba, It seems Vista is the operating system to go anyway but the HD capacity on this looks kind of weedy, Would that really matter for what I want to use it for?

Definitely the Toshiba IMO. Has the best spec and 120Gb hard drive is plenty unless you'll be downloading lots of video clips, movies, music etc (mine has 120Gb HD and only actually using 40Gb of that)

chili2001

pickledtink wrote: »

....or maybe this?http://www.ebuyer.com/product/164844#

I usually direct people to this one, has a better spec than the Toshiba and is one of the best value for money laptops around at the moment.

beefster

Mandark wrote: »

As jaydee says, Lenovo make good solid business machines. They bought IBM's PC division. The N500 entry level machines are only £375 and have features which aren't standard with other laptops in the range such as built in bluetooth, decent webcam and good 4-5 hour battery life. They don't skimp on features. They always do well in reviews. I was looking at one for myself!

Been away.. come back and thought i would buy it and its dropped another £20 to £361 :rotfl::T:T:T

pickledtink

chili2001 wrote: »

I usually direct people to this one, has a better spec than the Toshiba and is one of the best value for money laptops around at the moment.

Thanks very much. I'd pretty much decided to follow your advice although I liked the included fre upgrade to windows 7 with the Toshiba.
I see some laptops have built in web cams and would like to set up skype ( sp?) so I can see and talk whilst away. Is it easy enough to just buy one and install as they're small enough? I just saw this one doesn't have one included. Sorry if these questions seem dumb . I really have fallen way behind on what can be done these days.:o

mike_the_bike_2

chili2001 wrote: »

I usually direct people to this one, has a better spec than the Toshiba and is one of the best value for money laptops around at the moment.

I agree with you about this in terms of the spec and the price. The only downside is that it does not come with a free or nearly free upgrade to windows 7.0 when its launched in Oct.

I'm just wondering whether after Windows 7.0 is launched all these Vista machines will end up with large discounts to clear stocks.

I actually ended up buying one of these from Aldi! . I really think having a 3 year guarantee on a laptop is worth having.

http://www.aldi.co.uk/uk/html/offers/2827_10747.htm

romany

beefster wrote: »

Been away.. come back and thought i would buy it and its dropped another £20 to £361 :rotfl::T:T:T

Hi can you tell me where you've seen it for this price as considering getting one of these. Thanks