The Great 'Cheapest Decent Laptop' Hunt

Erosgirl

Have you seen the offers in Woolworth? http://www.woolworths.co.uk/ww_p2/promotions/index.jhtml?fid=feat5550001

pavlovs_dog

codetown wrote:

Not sure about the Tesco laptop, but I used in the past some "battry packs" which plug below the laptop and give a long battery life. They are designed mainly for travellers and should allow you use for 5-10 hours (depending on models). They are not light (prob. 1-2 kg) but are really up to the job of providing further juice to the laptop when needed.
Doa bit of research on these and you might find that your options on laptops are more numerous!

do you recommend any particular supplier/ place to start my hunt? all i seem to be able to find are replacement batteries

steady__eddie

There Dell laptops appear to be moving like hot cakes.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/4793143.stm

Kilty_2

Potentially affected batteries were sold with the following models of Dell notebook computers or separately as secondary batteries:

* Latitude: D410, D500, D505, D510, D520, D600, D610, D620, D800, D810
* Inspiron: 500M, 510M, 600M, 700M, 710M, 6000, 6400, 8500, 8600, 9100, 9200, 9300, 9400, E1505, E1705
* Precision: M20, M60, M70, M90
* XPS: XPS, XPS Gen2, XPS M170, XPS M1710

Doesn't affect me then :T

nej

Interesting how the cheap Dells don't have the problem.

swizzle_2

Hi

Been looking for a laptop and after reading all the stuff on here was leaning towards a Dell at £350. But for that I only get a 90 day return to base warranty.

Do they have offers on, offering a warranty upgrade?

Or is it that build quality good-so need for warranty?

Kilty_2

You'd get a call after 90 days offering you 3 years for £56.

Otherwise, it's a 12 month warranty (by law) but you must pay to return it to Dell after 90 days.

Build quality is good.

Bullshine_2

I reckon Dell's are excellent for the money. I have 2 desktops and a laptop. 1 of my desktops are 3 years old and the other just a year. my laptop is 6 months old and I have never had a problem with any of them.

pavlovs_dog

well ive been looking around and im hard pressed to find anything i like as much as the dell inspiron 6400.

im currently writing this sat in bed, having borrowed FIL's lappy - and i must say, i could get used to this whole portability thing. and my laptop typing and mouse skills are improving by the hour

my biggest concern now is the longevity of the battery. can anyone tell me how easy it would be to replace the battery of a dell lappy? also, can anyone offer a ballpark figure as to when the performance of the battery, and its ability to hold its charge and last its full charge will noticeably decrease? (ie how much use can i expect to get out of a battery that can run for up to 5 hours, is good for 300 charge/discharge cycles, and will be used for a few hours a day?)


final question, is there anything i can do to help prolong the life of my laptop battery? ie does running it off the mains where possible help?

thanks again for all the help and advice

p_d

Kilty_2

Replacing a Dell battery couldn't be simpler.

There's a switch on the bottom, push it as far as it will go, battery pops up slightly, lift battery out.

Insert new battery following instructions in reverse. Job done.