The Great 'Cheapest Decent Laptop' Hunt

dc2447

Jacinta wrote:

Thanks for the tip dc2447! I saw a lot of people auctioning laptops on ebay with Open Office but I didn't know if it was supposed to be any good or not.

No worries.

Jacinta

Are there any good (cheap/free) anti-virus and DVD/CD playing software that you know of? I think my new (refurbished) laptop will come with Win 2000 but will be otherwise blank.

Also, I just had a look at the demo on the Open Office website, it looks great!

pin

Jacinta wrote:

Are there any good (cheap/free) anti-virus and DVD/CD playing software that you know of? I think my new (refurbished) laptop will come with Win 2000 but will be otherwise blank.

Also, I just had a look at the demo on the Open Office website, it looks great!

Anti Virus - AVG

Firewall - Zone Alarm

CD / DVD playing software - I use Media Player Classic

Jacinta

I had a look at those - this is great! Thanks pin!

Jacinta

I think the best deals really are to be had on ebay. You have to check all the time though. I just won a bid, and for £282 (postage and VAT included) I got a BRAND NEW Dell PRECISION M70, with:

DVD BURNER
WiFi Enabled
Intel Pentium M Processor 760 2.0 GHz
1GB RAM
60 GB hard drive
15 inch screen with Windows XP pro loaded
3 year warranty

Bargain!!! Just hope it works, the guy who sold it to me lives on the other side of the globe so no chance of chasing after him for my money back :P

dc2447

dvd software - check out VLC

I would be very wary of very cheap laptops on ebay this time of year

Ebuyer are doing a 399 acer laptop at the moment, no wlan and it's an acer.

AFAIK there isn't a deal to touch the Staples thinkpad at the moment

Fifer

However, he's quite relaxed about supplying it with MS Office Professional for no extra charge - but obviously without the disks.

Mmmmmm.


I'd second Open Office though. Fantastic package, I've installed it on FIL's new laptop, along with AVG, Spybot and a few other legal freebies.

oh_no_5

PC World are doing a refurbished E-Machines notebook for £300.

Check https://www.pcworld.co.uk

I don't know too much about this particular model,it seems a bit basic but you get a full 12 month warranty and a free Vodaphone "thingy" that you could knock out on E-Bay if you didn't want it.

davilown

Hi

I need a relatively cheap laptop with a reasonable spec for under £375 if poss. I need it for word processing and searching the internet only (via wireless) I've looked on Dell and found the chepest - £329 but does anyone know how good/bad they are please.

Cheers

:beer: monster

panther

Saw these in my local Staples for £549. I'm very tempted but don't know much about laptops so if anyone can confirm if this is a good deal?

FUJITSU SIEMENS Amilo Pro V2040

Intel Pentium M Processor 725 1.6 GHz
Level 2 Cache 2 MB
RAM: 512 MB (2 x 256)
60GB HDD
DVD±RW
15Inch TFT 1024 x 768 pixels
6 cell Lithium Ion

4 x Hi-Speed USB
1 x audio - SPDIF
1 x display / video - S-video output
1 x headphones - output - mini-phone stereo 3.5 mm
1 x microphone - input - mini-phone 3.5mm
1 x modem - phone line - RJ-11
1 x network - Ethernet 10Base-T/100Base-TX/1000Base-T - RJ-45
1 x IEEE 1394 (FireWire)
1 x display / video - VGA - 15 pin HD D-Sub (HD-15)
Ethernet, Fast Ethernet, Gigabit Ethernet, IEEE 802.11b, IEEE 802.11g