The Great 'Cheapest Decent Laptop' Hunt

flyingflea

Have a look at ebay.co.uk . I bought a laptop which was less than a month old and had only been used a few times (basically new!) for £560.00 inc. delivery.

Specs are as follows:

Packard Bell 15.1" TFT Screen
Intel P4 2.8gHz
512mb RAM
40gB HDD,
SD, MMC, Compact Flash Card Reader,
6 x USB
Firewire
DVDRW
CDRW
Audio,
Lan
Modem
Carry Bag & AC Adapter

and very nice it is too!

Just make sure the buyer has more than 20+ feedback and hasn't had a recent burst of negative feedback.

Jolly_Roger

My bargain basement Dell laptop (mentioned above) is due to be delivered tomorrow. So, why buy such a machine? Well, like Martin, I am a freelance journalist. I already have a very nice £1600 desktop computer, but recently started using Dragon voice-recognition software to try and speed up some mundane tasks involving material acquired either from the Internet or sent by email. I find that by using voice recognition software, I can speak information from one document into a Word document using a split screen. Unfortunately, if you want to work at any speed -and I do- then you really need a much larger Word document in front of you, not the squeezed up box that you are reduced to when working with HTML documents. So, by using two computers, you can open a Word document on one and use the other to have a full screen display of an original document. By using split screen applications, I have cut much of my work timings by a third. This actually helps me save money by giving me more time to either do more work or use that additional time in other ways. Being self-employed, computers are tax deductable at a rate of 25% a year, so effectively pay for themselves in around four years. While I agree that cheap laptops don't have the all singing, all dancing approach of my desktop, they nevertheless do have a role to play. In fact, most people, myself included, overpay for all computer equipment, buying too high a spec for the work that we actually need to do with the machine. So many deals you can get through PC mags are aimed solely at people requiring gaming power; if you just word process or surf the Net then more basic equipment is not needed. I always get blackmailed into more expensive purchases by the offspring, who also cannot wait to get their grubby little hands on the laptop to do homework on.
Just one word of warning: everytime I buy a computer, the manufacturer goes bankrupt within a year. Maple went under to be followed by Multivision. The only exception to the rule so far has been Mesh; but I would never recommend anybody buying their equipment, given horrible experience with customer service!

zaxxon

Piii 500 with 256mb of ram 14.1 tft screen lan/usb/56k/
£205
http://www.complete-computer-care.co.uk
prices include VAT and there is no delivery charges if you live in Northern Ireland, £15 to mainland uk (role reversal for a change....)

Normandie_2

As a virgin money-saver I am aiming to make a good impression so apologise if my first posting appears a bit needy  :)

Like many of you, I am working up to buying the best spec laptop I can for the least money. I have read and re-read much of this site and have just taken a look at the Dell offer(s) mentioned - albeit a bit late in the day.

Anyway, can anyone tell me if they can match or better the following Dell offer for a similar or better spec laptop?

Dell Inspiron 1150 - £767.18 incl. VAT

• Mobile Intel Pentium 4 Processor (2.80GHz);
  15" XGA;
  Microsoft Windows XP2 Home Edition;
  Memory 512MB 266MHz DDR RAM;
  Hard Drive 40GB;
  Modem Internal 56K v.92;
  CD ROM/DVD ROM Fixed Internal 24x CDRW/ 8x DVD
  Combo Drive with Software;
  Microsoft Works 7.0;
  8 Cell 65WHr LI-ION Primary Battery

;D Thanks so much!

Hi,
I've just bought the Dell Inspirion 1150 with the same spec as above, except for I chose 2.6GHz, and added the Wireless 1350 802.11 a/b/g mini PCI card for WiFi. The total cost including VAT and delivery was £585.19, from the Dell site, which I thought was quite good.

Dell are doing an extra 10% off prices for the Inspirion laptops bought online. This offer only lasts until the 25 Oct, so you have to be quick. Code needed is $zpb1rhpnt1m4d

philiprann

Warning re everything electrical. Looking at their site today - a message appears as follows:

This site has been suspended as of 30/9/04.
The site owner of ww.everythingelectrical.buzzsites.net is currently under investigation.

Please contact your local CID (Police) and Trading Standards for more information or advice.
:-[

RICHie_K_2

Regarding importing laptops from the states, I remember reading a thread on this site about that topic. I’m not certain, but I’m pretty sure it said something along the lines of, laptops being imported from America are not liable to any kind of tax, there was a link to the information but I can’t find it. You could try contacting the HMC&E Tariff Classification Service on 01702 366077.

freeonline

Im afraid you pay a premium for small/light laptops at the moment.

Think carefully about your needs before buying a cheap laptop - although a £399 machine will be perfect for some users others may quickly regret not spending more.

This comes from my own experience of cheaper laptops not being fully featured (inferior connectivity, no DVD writer, etc), having inferior screens (can only be viewed from 1 angle, blur during animated display, etc), tend to be larger and heavier and with poor battery life.

If mobility is important I would strongly recommend checking out more expensive slimline models as some cheaper ones are not very mobile at all! Your cheap model may look portable and yes you will be able to lift it, but a modern Sony Viao for example will slot into your back pack without you knowing it is there, whereas your old skool machine will need a seperate case and trust me, they are heavier than they look...! People dont seem to notice the weight problem until they've actually owned one!

My experience with users is that many come back wanting to exchange their large cheap version with a fully featured slim line model that actually suits their needs!

If you are just looking for a PC that doesnt take up much space at home, or to pack in your student daughter/son's bag then the bargin bucket is for you - at the end of the day any new PC will have the power to run modern software.

Note: Check what 'free' software is supplied with your new machine, perhaps you save hundreds on hardware but will have to splash out hundreds on software eg a new copy of Office - no you cant (legally) just install the one that came with your desktop :P. I find that you save much more in the long run by getting good software deals - eg a recently paid £10 more for a DVD-writer than I needed to but it came with Nero - worth £40. I guess not a consideration for the Long John Silvers out there - ooo arr!

Good luck

Thank you so much for your generous reply.
I' ve been asked by a GP to investigate as he was interested in a lighter one.
I found in this month PC pro mag the following reviews:
Fujitsu Siemens LifeBook p7010 given 5 stars. 1.3 k.g screen 10.5.= £1,650
Sony VAIO VGN-X505VP given 3stars. 0.825 k.g. screen 10.4.= £1,780
Too expensive!!!
I think he will be pleased with a 2.5 k.g =cheaper.
The problem that many sites don't mention anything about
weight !!!!

Thanks again

SaleHunter

Hi,

I'm not sure if this is the "done thing", but I will be getting plenty of offers on laptops from now until christmas, one of my suppliers has an agreement with his supplier that he will shift 1000 of them by the end of the year.

Most of these laptops will be going on ebay, however, i'm willing to offer MSE'rs first option on them at a reduced price (as I wont have to pay ebay fees).

The first I have on offer is an ECS Desknote A929 which I have created a listing for, with full specs here http://www.platinumcomputing.org.uk/Auctionpics/Laptop/ECS%20Desknote%20A929.htm I have 5 of these, ebay price was due to be £400 + shipping but mse'rs will get £15.00 off. You'll notice in the listing that the warranty section is blank, i'm just awaiting an update from my supplier as to whats offered on this, it will probably be a full manufacturers warranty.

I have some Sony Viao's in stock, but I dont want to go on at length in case I get a slap from the mods.

I understand there will alway be concerns about the authenticity of relatively new posters offering expensive electrical goods, and rigtly so. However, i'm happy to accept payment by escrow (by a site of the buyers choosing, providing it's legit) although I would recommend pppay.com (run by the owners of ebid.co.uk) as it's only £0.99 per transaction.

Apologies in advance if this goes against board policy, but this is a genuine offer that will allow mse'rs to save cash on already well priced laptops.

PM's welcome

Cheers
Salehunter

pepemia

[The first I have on offer is an ECS Desknote A929 which I have created a listing for, with full specs here http://www.platinumcomputing.org.uk/Auctionpics/Laptop/ECS%20Desknote%20A929.htm I have 5 of these, ebay price was due to be £400 + shipping but mse'rs will get £15.00 off. You'll notice in the listing that the warranty section is blank, i'm just awaiting an update from my supplier as to whats offered on this, it will probably be a full manufacturers warranty.

I have some Sony Viao's in stock, but I dont want to go on at length in case I get a slap from the mods.

Hi
Looking for a lap top , could anyone give me an honest opinion of the above , does this seem an ok offer ?
Many thanks to all that can help

Malestrom

Did anyone else see the feature about Everything Electrical on Watchdog this week? Sounds like a lot of people got ripped off through PayPal

Remember, if something looks to good to be true, it usually is!