The Great 'Cheapest Decent Laptop' Hunt

JamesN

RS-Eleven wrote: »

To reply to my own post, is there anything I'm missing that is wrong with this one?:

http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/partNumber/5070475/c_1/1%7Ccategory_root%7COffice%2C+PCs+and+phones%7C14418968/c_2/2%7Ccat_14418968%7CLaptops+and+mini+laptops%7C14419039/c_3/3%7Ccat_14419039%7CLaptops%7C14419040.htm#tabrev

Seems to fulfil my criteria...

it's cheap for the price but for £80-100 more you could get so much more from a new laptop. I imagine it would run quite slowly and it isnt really suitable for vista or windows 7

RS-Eleven

JamesN wrote: »

it's cheap for the price but for £80-100 more you could get so much more from a new laptop. I imagine it would run quite slowly and it isnt really suitable for vista or windows 7

Thanks. Is it just the lack of RAM that would do that? Processor speed seems reasonable.

vix2000

Whats the cheapest dual core laptop around at the moment?

JDPower

RS-Eleven wrote: »

Thanks. Is it just the lack of RAM that would do that?

And single core processor.

JamesN

RS-Eleven wrote: »

Thanks. Is it just the lack of RAM that would do that? Processor speed seems reasonable.

As JD correctly said the processor is only single core. For 2009 this is very slow. RAM isn't normally an issue as it can usually be upgraded. Though the processor is a lot more difficult/expensive to change. Normally the whole motherboard needs changing. So basically you'd need to buy a whole new laptop.

A dual core processor of say 1.7gHz, would mean it had two cores of 1.7gHz giving a total of 3.4gHz of processing power on multi thread operations.

Almost no one has single core anymore they are very much out of date. The laptop i have is 3.5 years old and has a 1.66gHz dual core. It's worth spending an extra £100 if you can as this will future proof it so much more.

I'd really recommend not getting that laptop as it will struggle with the latest software available. If you are trying to cut costs you can get desktops quite reasonably priced at present, upgrading desktops in the future is also much easier.

RS-Eleven

JamesN wrote: »

As JD correctly said the processor is only single core. For 2009 this is very slow. RAM isn't normally an issue as it can usually be upgraded. Though the processor is a lot more difficult/expensive to change. Normally the whole motherboard needs changing. So basically you'd need to buy a whole new laptop.

A dual core processor of say 1.7gHz, would mean it had two cores of 1.7gHz giving a total of 3.4gHz of processing power on multi thread operations.

Almost no one has single core anymore they are very much out of date. The laptop i have is 3.5 years old and has a 1.66gHz dual core. It's worth spending an extra £100 if you can as this will future proof it so much more.

I'd really recommend not getting that laptop as it will struggle with the latest software available. If you are trying to cut costs you can get desktops quite reasonably priced at present, upgrading desktops in the future is also much easier.

Thanks for the explanation, think I understand that a bit better now. Don't really want to spend as much as £100 more, but will try and find something in between with a bit more 'oomph'!

JamesN

No problem, what's the maximum your budget will allow? i'll point you in the direction of how much you can get for it. The more i think about it the more i think the original laptop is not a good deal at all for £250.

Edit: I've also just thought your sister might like a netbook, these are the small laptops which are great for portability, any idea what she would be using it for? / how old is she? cause i have a feeling girls like netbooks because they are "cute", i could be wrong, it's just my opinion. Just noticed the your earlier post about not wanting a notebook by which i assume you mean netbook (the smaller laptops) so ignore this first edit if that is the case.

Also found another one for £250 here which is far better. Though it does only have xp pro, which as an OS is perfectly stable. But i beta tested windows 7 and i must say i do love it!

edit 2: something odd about the shop on that link, cant seem to validate it, so if you could stretch to £320??? then this would do the job quite nicely HERE if you go through quidco aswell you can get another 4% off apparently? i dont use cashback sites so not entirely sure how/if they work. This would make it just £307.

mutley74

What DAK anyone think of the Acer 5738 at Currys/Pc world for £399. It has Intel due core, 3GB ram, 250GB HD, web cam, 4USB etc.

Some cheaper acers at Simply acer but has anyone bought from there, or anyone know any better deals to buy an equivalent laptop .budget is no more than 400.

sweetheartlmg

Acer AS5332 T3000 3GB 160GB Windows 7 15.6" Laptop

Can anyone tell me if the laptop above with windows 7 is a good buy please, I don't know much about laptops, but I need one for myself just to surf the net, and download music to ipod.
Its from Tesco and it cost £328 (I'm sure there are a few small codes around to save £5) and there are double points at the moment.

*max*

mutley74 wrote: »

What DAK anyone think of the Acer 5738 at Currys/Pc world for £399. It has Intel due core, 3GB ram, 250GB HD, web cam, 4USB etc.

Hi! I just bought this one from Curry's after days of comparing. I got it yesterday, and so far, it has been great! The screen is nice and bright, the sound is amazing! I only had my Acer netbook to compare it to, but it's infinitely better. It's very fast, and I was able to watch a dvd, browse online and listen to youtube all the same time (which is amazing for me! lol). I definitely don't regret my purchase!