The Great 'Cheapest Decent Laptop' Hunt

claudio

I did read a few reviews on the HP Compaq nx6125 and battery life is c.4 hours. Requirements are basically, e-mail, surfing,word,cd (listen & burn), perhaps photos but not gaming. Is it any good ? As I said, can't get the Acer @ £299.99 for love or money.

Tharweb

claudio wrote:

As I said, can't get the Acer @ £299.99 for love or money.

Have you tried your nearest Comet recently? I gave up with Tescos as they were sold as soon as they came in, but had success at a local Comet store on Friday. They had loads of them apparently. The other Comet in my town was also advertising them on Saturday.

Hillfly

claudio wrote:

I did read a few reviews on the HP Compaq nx6125 and battery life is c.4 hours. Requirements are basically, e-mail, surfing,word,cd (listen & burn), perhaps photos but not gaming. Is it any good ? As I said, can't get the Acer @ £299.99 for love or money.

Order one direct from Comet
08705 425 425.
Its the Acer travelmate 2414WLMI product code 336483.

Be sure to lookup and non 0870 number for your area: http://www.saynoto0870.com/companysearch.php

claudio

Success. Phoned up Comet Customer Services who phoned my local branch & told them I would be in later today to buy on a pay & collect basis. It's now ordered & I was told that it should be in Thursday or Monday at very latest. Result

swizzle_2

Hi

Still looking at laptop`s the DEll Inspirion 1300 at £349 and £399, but what is battery life like?

It comes with a standad 4 cell 29WHR or you can upgrade to a 6 cell 56WHR one.

But what is the life of the normal one?

Thanks

Kilty_2

Normal battery is 2 hours maximum, expect 1h-1.5 in normal use.

6 cell quotes 4h maximum, it does 3-3.5 with ease, even when using wifi etc.

steady__eddie

Listened to an "expert" yesterday on B.B.C. local radio (W.M.) discussing laptops and 2 things amongst many caught my ear. Firstly, if you don't require mobility then buy a tower system. I could get by without mobility as I only move it if it's a nice day and I want to sit in the conservatory or the vacuum cleaner is prowling about. Do people want the sight of a thumping great tower and monitor ? I for one haven't got the physical space for one.
Secondly, if like me you run off mains power for the majority of the time, every now and again disconnect the mains and run off battery until the battery is fully discharged. Then charge up again, this will apparently extend the life of the battery.

pin

steady__eddie wrote:

Secondly, if like me you run off mains power for the majority of the time, every now and again disconnect the mains and run off battery until the battery is fully discharged. Then charge up again, this will apparently extend the life of the battery.

With the newer Li-ion batteries that most laptops now have, this is no longer the case, you don't need to fully discharge to get longer battery life.

Moneymaker

As a technical author I need a laptop which is very portable, good battery life, reliable, spell check in every application, wireless card and user-friendly. That's why I bought two second-hand iBooks off eBay. I fitted new batteries and I've been using them for 3 years without problems. The new Mac laptop looks rather good and feature for feature compares favourably with Dell prices. Well, except the Dell doesn't have built-in spell check for every application.

jazzeeeee5

OK - Now I have the bit between my teeth!

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=253707

Any better?

Jazz