The Great 'Cheapest Decent Laptop' Hunt

skinnerneil

Staples is running a promotion for a Fujitsu Siemens Amilo L7320G

Celeron M 1.7 Ghz
40 Gb HDD
15.4 " widescreen
512 Mb memory
DVD RW

£ 399 Inc VAT. http://staples.co.uk.sec-web.com/retail/wk29/wk29.pdf

This sounds pretty good to me.

Can anyone offer me any advice ? Cant find any reviews of this specific model.

steady__eddie

Afraid that I can't help with this specific model but I bought the one that they had on offer just before last Christmas. Not much difference from this one as far as I can see (I'm a grade A technothicky) but mine has a 60 Gig drive. The price then was over 500 so deals are deffinitely getting better.
I've had no probs. so far and I must say that the wireless I find to be excellent, good connection anywhere in house and garden where my Tosh seems to struggle.
One word of warning however, STAPLES. They appear to be going down the Comet route, if anything goes wrong with it after 30 days or whatever the short time period is, they will try to fob you off by saying that it is YOUR responsibility to return it to the manufacturer even though Sale of Goods Act etc.

Supportlounge

As a local computer company owner, I regularly meet customers who have bought, or are looking to buy a cheap PC or laptop.

Some, though not all of my customers, have less advanced IT skills and require more support. However after using my company, my customers appreciate the value of the service that they get.

Buying a cheap PC is one thing, but what about the support if something goes wrong, or simply if you have a question? Some of the best online deals come from companies that can be a nightmare to deal with if anything goes wrong. Of course it's great when things go right: cheap PC delivered quickly, correct amount debited, and the equipment never went wrong. But you'd be surprised how out of control the foul-ups can get, even when the most senior people have become involved in the situation.

Aggravation and time are worth money. Consider what an extra £10 or £20 gets you from a different company which is set up to provide a service.

Dell has been mentioned previously in this thread. I know some people who have found that dealing with Dell can be a great inconvenience. But they sell cheap PCs.

If all you are looking for is a cheap product, then lower your expectations of after-sale service. If you want support and service after you've paid your money and taken delivery, then please ensure this is one of your buying criteria when looking for a supplier.

The same goes for broadband - cheap broadband currently equals lack of service. If you don't mind running the risk of lousy or non-existent service with ongoing bills then free broadband may be for you. Otherwise I professionally recommend a paid-for product from a reliable ISP until TalkTalk, Orange and whoever else enters the market sorts out their processes and systems.

Hissey_Missey

Tchibo are selling this laptop for £444, Does this look any good?
http://www.tchibo.co.uk/is-bin/INTERSHOP.enfinity/eCS/Store/uk/-/GBP/TdUkDisplayProductInformation-Start?ProductSKU=0004963
I'm looking for one under £500 preferably with a firewire built in and ready to go.

Top-quality 15.4" widescreen
Mobile Intel® Celeron® M 350 processor, 1.3 GHz
60 GB hard drive plus 256 MB RAM
Intel® PCI Express Technology
Multi-standard CD/DVD burner
Modem and network adapter integrated (56 K V.90 modem and 10/100 Mbit Fast Ethernet LAN port)
WLAN (802.11g/b up to 54 Mbit/s)
Li-Ion rechargeable battery
3-year guarantee
Software:
Microsoft® Windows® XP Home Edition SP2 (recovery version and CD-ROM)
Microsoft® Works 8.5 (OEM version)
HOME CINEMA Suite (OEM version)
Nero Burning ROM 6 plus Nero Recode 2-SE
eTrust AntiVirus (OEM versions)
Ports:
3 x USB 2.0
1 x PCMCIA type II
1 x TV out
1 x LAN (RJ45)
1 x modem (RJ11)
1 x 1394 IEEE FireWire
1 x audio out, S/P-DIF, digital out
1 x VGA out
1 x microphone in
Measurements (W x H x D): approx. 354 x 34 x 250 mm
Weight: approx. 2.7 kg

claudio

Help please.
Is this one any good for £320...?
HP Compaq nx6125
Main Specifications
Manufacturer's Part Number: EY535ES
RAM: 256 MB (installed) / 2 GB (max) - DDR SDRAM
Manufacturer Warranty: 1 Year
Networking: Network adapter - Ethernet, Fast Ethernet, Gigabit Ethernet
Battery: Lithium Ion
Input Device: Keyboard, Touch Pad
Hard Drive: 40GB
Telecom: Fax / modem - MDC - 56 Kbps
Weight: 2.7 kg
Localisation: United Kingdom
Optical Storage: CD-RW / DVD-ROM combo - integrated
Power: AC 120/230 V ( 50/60 Hz )
Display: 15" TFT active matrix 1024 x 768 ( XGA )
Processor: AMD Mobile Sempron 3100+ 1.8 GHz
Operating System: Microsoft Windows XP Home

pavlovs_dog

claudio and hissey missey - if you can tell us what you would need the lappy for, we can try to advise you :beer:

Secret_Lady

pavlovs_dog wrote:

claudio and hissey missey - if you can tell us what you would need the lappy for, we can try to advise you :beer:

I'm also looking for a laptop, I've looked and looked but the more I look the more confused I become!! I would like it to be fast and have spare memory capacity, if that makes sense?

I want to use it for

• e-mail
• surfing the net
• photo's
• exel
• word
• powerpoint

I do not need it to play games. Any advice or help in what I shouldbe looking for will be much appreciated.

pavlovs_dog

Secret_Lady wrote:

I'm also looking for a laptop, I've looked and looked but the more I look the more confused I become!! I would like it to be fast and have spare memory capacity, if that makes sense?

I want to use it for

• e-mail
• surfing the net
• photo's
• exel
• word
• powerpoint

I do not need it to play games. Any advice or help in what I shouldbe looking for will be much appreciated.

you're looking for the same sort of thing as me then! what sort of budget did you have in mind? if battery life isnt too much of an issue for you, then the tesco acer £299 really is a bargain.

unfortunately, i need a long battery life so will probably end up buying a dell inspirion 6400.


to give you an idea, when looking at specifications, something with at least 1.5 GHz processer, 256MB ram and 40-60 GB of memory would be a resepctable starting point.

other than that, its a case of taking your time and doing your research properly. i also found it helped to go to currys/comet/pc world to get a feel for the actual size of the laptop

happy hunting :beer:

Hillfly

Comet have a good £299 laptop - same as the Tesco one

http://www.pcadvisor.co.uk/forums/index.cfm?action=showthread&threadid=252754&forumid=2

Doesn't appear on the website but i have seen the add on tv. This would do nicely for web, email and the odd photo task.

Hissey_Missey

pavlovs_dog wrote:

claudio and hissey missey - if you can tell us what you would need the lappy for, we can try to advise you :beer:

Hi, mainly need it for home use so battery life not so important. Don't do games etc, so mainly photos, (lots of them), video editing, dvd burning, and surfing the web. Decent memory is important as is reliability. Not sure is the Mobile Intel® Celeron® M 350 processor, 1.3 GHz offfered with the Tchibo is any good. ANy thought would be gratefully appreciated.
Thanks.