The Great 'Cheapest Decent Laptop' Hunt

callansdad

question from a laptop thicko,

i have no idea about laptops i am thinking of buying one for my wife (she has a job which is based on the internet a kind of live help thing).

My question is i know that laptops have wireless connections but how does this work? Does this mean that we can go for a trip in the car and my wife can work away in a 'live situation' whilst we are travelling?

Thanks for your help

Matt_F-Smith

Jim_Rob wrote:

Don't know if these guys have been quoted yet, but do have a look at http://www.buyit247.net and click on the "Grade 2 computers" link at the bottom of the page - they usually have some good headline deals.

Best deals if you've got a bit of time and are happy researching models and specs is to get their spreadsheet of available models:
http://www.pc-interworks.co.uk/stock_list.csv

and have a very careful look through it - they have deals which are not listed on the main pages and (even better) can make mistakes when listing models which you can spot and get underpriced machines.


James

Having bought a refurb myself last year (from a different place - https://www.europc.co.uk) I gave PCInterworks a shot, and they're great!

There are some top deals to be had, especially if you heed the advice and wait for the stock list to be updated (every mon/wed/fri?) Just bought an Intel Centrino 1.5ghz, 15" screen, 256mb ram, 40gb hard disk, Microsoft XP-Home installed, DVDRW-Drive and WIFI built-in for £369 inc shipping

I'm a tek-head and reckon this is a good deal, unless you want to wait for the next Dell deal...... what with Christmas coming and all!

Why go elsewhere

Matt

Sabz

Free laptop

theres an incentive for taking/going on an I.T. course where you can get a free laptop, yes thats free laptop I said, all they ask is you contribute £150 towards it which is fair enough considering its worth about £700 odd quid and you get a fantastic qualification afterwards. All you need do is this foundation degree, which lasts for a couple of years, or you can just do it for a year.

At the end of this course you get a free laptop and an invaluable skill for life.

These courses are run in Birmingham.

It just might be worth mentioning that I do hear of other colleges/further education establishements also offering different incentives in order for you to sign up/partake e.g. a local learn direct centre offering free choice shopping vouchers to the tune of £30 for each course undertaken, and a free brand new dell computer on completion of the ECDL course and some other minor courses.

Just really to sum up, it might be worth seeing what local colleges offer in your area

greyster

You can get the £399 PC World (Dixons and Currys too) laptop for £374.99 with voucher (link below). You have to order from their website as its an online offer. Delivery is free and takes up to 5 days. Mine took 3 working days.

http://www.ukshops.!!!!!!/vouchers.html

Can't find a better deal for a brand new laptop with 1 year guarantee.

Browntoa

https://www.medionshop.co.uk/

under Notebook computers

Medion Electronics
REFURBISHED Intel® Celeron® NB with 2.0 GHz
MD2853 Intel® Celeron® with 2.0 GHz, Microsoft® Windows® XP Home, 14.1" TFT XGA Colour Display.

£ 319.99

or

Medion Electronics
REFURBISHED Intel® Pentium® 4, 2.66 GHz. Microsoft® Windows® XP Home.
MD2837 Intel® Pentium® 4 with 2.66 GHz. Microsoft® Windows® XP Home. 15" TFT XGA Colour Display, 512 MB DDR-RAM, 40 GB Hard Disk.

£ 349.99

oh_no_5

Here's one from Woolies,it seems a reasonable spec for the money.


http://www.woolworths.co.uk/ww_p2/product/index.jhtml?pid=50501958
Evesham Quest Explorer G320 Laptop -
Non Variant
PRICE: £449.99
YOUR PRICE: £404.99
YOU SAVE: £45.00
Features:
# Processor - Via C3 1.2GHz Mobile Processor
# Operating System - Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition
# Memory - 256MB DDR RAM Memory
# Hard Drive - 40GB,
# Optical Drive - CDRW/DVD Combo- Copy CDs, Play Cds and DVDs
# Graphics - Integrated AGP
# Screen - 14" XGA TFT Screen (1024 x 768)
# Sound - Built-in audio and Speakers
# Keyboard - Advanced Keyboard with 2 button TrackPad
# Ports - USB 2.0 x 4, 10/100 LAN, 56k Modem
# VGA Port for external TFT / Monitor
# External Microphone Port
# External Speaker Port
# LPT Parallel Printer Port
# Software - Roxio Easy Media Creator 7 - Advanced tools to capture,edit,enhance & burn photo, music & data
# Software - BULLGUARD Internet Security - Free 90 day antivirus definition updates to protect your laptop

mikewillis

morgan computers normally do good deals on laptops.

If u want a really good sub notebook, i'd go for the Sony Vaio T2XP for 1240 pounds on the dixon website.

Pulse

The laptop which oh_no has posted would certainly be sufficient for light use, but in terms of performance will not compare to the other £400 laptops posted in this thread, such as the IBM R50e, due to the processor being so weak.

As for the laptop Browntoa posted, to be honest, it's a good enough laptop, but I used to work for Medion, and you'll be lucky to have no problems when you take it out of the box, let alone in the first year or so! And you have to be careful, because Medion are VERY reluctant to do anything about any problems their computers have.

terriermann

I have just ordered a basic Inspiron 6000 laptop from DELL for £450 delivered with 1 year collect and return. Reasonable spec 512Mb Ram, CDRW/DVD, 1.4 CeleronM, Wifi enabled, XP. I know this is a not a gamers machine and there are issues with on board graphics which cannot be upgraded, but for basic software applications and internet browsing it should fit the bill. A lot of the Dell laptops seem to have 15% off and double memory promos at the moment. Hope this may be useful.

dougadam

I found the best buys on eBay.