The Great 'Cheapest Decent Laptop' Hunt

elstree-it

I'm surprised no one has mentioned ebuyer.com and insight.com/uk/, both of whom compare well with DABS (who told me that a returned laser printer wasn't faulty after the manufacturer had told me it was, which put me off them) and have proved to be reliable suppliers when I have used them. They both sometimes have specials that are worth checking out as well.

I would recommend always to check them before buying computer items elsewhere.

squidzin

Has anybody noticed that the laptop bargainbabe told us about, i.e. ...

http://www.student-laptops.co.uk/acatalog/New_Laptops.html
Toshiba Satellite Pro A60 with DVD and CD-RW including delivery and VAT.

...was priced at £499 on this site but was out of stock is now back in stock but priced at £619!

This is the same laptop isn't it or am I missing something here??

F1F1

Has anybody noticed that the laptop bargainbabe told us about, i.e. ...

http://www.student-laptops.co.uk/acatalog/New_Laptops.html
Toshiba Satellite Pro A60 with DVD and CD-RW including delivery and VAT.

...was priced at £499 on this site but was out of stock is now back in stock but priced at £619!

This is the same laptop isn't it or am I missing something here??

Yes, I mentioned it yesterday in another forum and just happened to have a look at the page again. Was shocked to see it had risen by £120!!

It also appears that there are various versions of this laptop with the same name, so it would be wise to check specs carefully when doing price comparisons.

Toshiba Satellite Pro A60
40Gb, 14" & XP Home
40Gb, 15" & XP Pro
60Gb, 15" & XP Pro

mattb_3

Ok, this might not quality as a 'decent' laptop in a lot of people's eyes, but I am looking for a Pentium 2 laptop for my sister in law and don't want to spend more than £150. I think a basic P2 laptop running Windows 98SE would be fast enough as she only wants to surf, email and use MS Office. From my research so far it seems ebay is about the only place you can get a Pentium 2 laptop at that price, and even then they usually seem to sell for £200 or more.

Can anyone help?

lagrian

My input on old laptops is if you are after an old laptop say a P2, from experience with working in IT is to ask your IT department at work (If you have one) or your friend to ask theirs for old laptops.

Most departments will have lots of old equipment that is never used anymore including laptops. Each company will have its own policies on what to do with old equipment, my fathers for instance just throw them out, my work place give them to charity, but if someone else wants them we just try and get a favour out of them.

Warning with old laptops though they may be more trouble than they are worth, i.e. Batteries are very rarely chargeable and sourcing new batteries for old laptops is either impossible or expensive (unless you get lucky on ebay). This goes with most parts.

I would rarely pay any money for a used/refurbished laptop.

Mattb, I would ask your sis in law if she actually needs a laptop, as you can build a decent small desktop for a simliar price or even buy prebuilt for a little more using Mini ITX boards (which are actually found in some laptops).

Also old laptops in my opinion don't give us the benifits that are associated with laptops today (eg. Portablility) An old laptop can wieght allot, have no chargable battery, poor performance and a poor screen so if the person doesn't need portability I would suggest a cheap desktop instead.

My girlfriend recently wanted a laptop and I asked her why , she couldn't really come up with a practical reason , the reason I got was that was she thought they were stylish and she liked the thought of looking business like , which I suppose is fine if you aren't on a budget. A desktop would suit her allot more.

Of cource with old laptops you can still shove them under the bed out the way and use them as a very large paper weight.

So remember you IT department at work, and give them a break while you are at it.

Matt_F-Smith

Not sure how often people check, but Europc have more laptop stocks in right now. They won't be around long


http://www.e-inbusiness-affiliate.com/u/europc/t.asp?id=1622

(affiliate link again)

Matt

mattb_3

My input on old laptops is if you are after an old laptop say a P2, from experience with working in IT is to ask your IT department at work (If you have one) or your friend to ask theirs for old laptops.

<snip>

Mattb, I would ask your sis in law if she actually needs a laptop, as you can build a decent small desktop for a simliar price or even buy prebuilt for a little more using Mini ITX boards (which are actually found in some laptops).

I managed to get one from the IT department! A P3 Dell laptop at a very reasonable price (£50 donation to charity) so I'm a very happy chap :-)

You're right, desktops are generally much better value - I was surprised at the high prices for old laptops on ebay, even Pentium 1's. In my case, my sister-in-law just has a room in a shared house so a desktop would have taken up too much room.

USELESSHIPPY

Re: £499 for a PRO A60 ---the link does'nt show anything like that price. Have i missed something? For £499 i'll have one but it needs to come down to around that or below of course....any help much appreciated

chelleon

I think this will take some beating.

Bear in mind that I have never ordered off this company so I cannot verify.

FUJITSU LAPTOP £399.99 - New!!!!!!!! Pentium

FUJITSU AMILO D7830 LAPTOP

P4 2.66Ghz CPU,
256 memory,
40gb HDD,
DVD-RW,
15" TFT,
ATI RADEON 9000,
CDRW/DVD ,
USB,
XP & Works,
1 year warranty

http://www.everythingelectrical.buzzsites.net

Click on Computers, then Laptops!

I doubt this can be beaten, but I hope someone proves me wrong!!!! ;D

lagrian

I think this will take some beating.

I totally agree, this is really good for the price, if you find cheaper I'd be very suprised.

I'd love to hear if anyone actually has had experience with this company and what they thought, anyone ?