The Great 'Cheapest Decent Laptop' Hunt

jbatista

T4i wrote:

I too am looking into laptops, never owned one before. The only reason I want one is so I can sit downstairs using the net.

I really don't need a beefy CPU as it wont be doing that much work, I'd rather have more memory than the latest CPU speeds, not too fussed about HDD space either as I will be using a wireless network to store files on my desktop upstairs, so oviously needs wireless, but not essential as I can just by a dongle later.

Not really bothered about battery life either as we have plenty plug sockets downstairs to run the laptop off, anyone seen any good offers that suit my needs??

I have been looking at this 1, as pointed out battery life is not that good though
http://www.pcworld.co.uk/martprd/store/pcw_page.jsp?BV_SessionID=@@@@1732823468.1158593405@@@@&BV_EngineID=cccdaddilhilhiicflgceggdhhmdgmi.0&page=Product&sku=489722&fm=1&sm=1&tm=undefined&tabIndex=1

Or try the toshiba thats in Currys,PC world and Dixons at £399

Kilty_2

Meatbingo wrote:

The Celeron M 1.6ghz in my laptop happily beats my desktop Athlon XP2800+ by a decent margin.

:T :T :T :T :T :T :T :T :T :T :T

My Celeron-M 1.5 beats my (now archaic (sp?)) 2.0Ghz Pentium 4 (Williamette core) by a decent margin also

kchok

I have seen this one on time computers website looks quite good but not sure about the price??
Processor - Mobile AMD™ Sempron 3000 Processor
Time Computer - TIME TRAVELLER A740 WIN3000 - MemoryMemory - 512MB DDR RAM
Time Computers - TIME TRAVELLER A740 WIN3000 - Hard DiskHard Disk - 80GB Hard Disk
Time Computer - TIME TRAVELLER A740 WIN3000 - GraphicsGraphics - ATI Radeon 128MB Integrated Graphics
Time Computers - TIME TRAVELLER A740 WIN3000 - Optical Drive 1Optical drive - Double Layer 16x Multiformat (+/-) DVD-Rewiter Drive
Time Computer - TIME TRAVELLER A740 WIN3000 - DisplayDisplay - 15.4" Widescreen high definition display.Windows XP Home Model
Laptop Price £ 539.00
http://laptops.timeuk.com/computers/bargain_computers/17768

Browntoa

Time/Tiny Computers went bust about 18 months ago owing customers loads of money and having no PC's, this is the same family in the same factory under a new name (and run from Saudi where they did a bunk to )

BE WARNED

withabix

They won't sell many at that price anyway - it's overpriced by about £100-£140 against the market at present.

I agree with Browntoa - don't touch them with a bargepole. They peddled rubbish and aren't ther most reliable supplier in the market by a long shot.

Hopefully they won't be around for long.

Just got a fairly good price at Tesco for an Acer 3634WLMI (version LX.ABU05.333) for £399.94 for the missus (£384 if you deduct value of Clubcard Deals). Actually quite impressed with the build quality for the price.

Spec here:

Intel Celeron-M 380 Processor 1.6 GHz
1024 MB DDRII-533MHz SDRAM
60 GB Hard Drive
DVD Dual Layer Drive
15.4" WXGA Widescreen TFT Screen with CrystalBrite Technology
Integrated gigabit LAN
Integrated wireless 802.11 b/g LAN
Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition Pre Loaded
3 X USB2
PCMCIA card slot
Front audio connectors

Graphics are only 64MB shared but it isn't going to be a gaming machine!

kchok

Thanks Browntoa.
As far as I know Time computers only put together the different parts.AMD, ddr ram graphic card and all other parts in it are same as any other computers.Beside that They give you 12 months 0% interest free And then I suppose you could settle that with credit card.Thats about the manufacturer's warranty period too.Or am I being naive to think like that?

Spitfire

Do Tescos still have those £299 laptops?

Browntoa

kchok wrote:

Thanks Browntoa.
As far as I know Time computers only put together the different parts.AMD, ddr ram graphic card and all other parts in it are same as any other computers.Beside that They give you 12 months 0% interest free And then I suppose you could settle that with credit card.Thats about the manufacturer's warranty period too.Or am I being naive to think like that?

the parts are all the cheapest available, poor quality build ( I've seen one with cross threaded screws on the Cd drives where they forced them in) premium rate support (Support for customers without Support Packs: 0906 200 1002. Please note that calls are charged at £1.00 per minute)

12 Month Standard Warranty


Parts and Labour Costs only

Customer pays carriage costs

T4i

Any views on this?

FUJITSU SIEMEN AMILO 7320G Laptops - £399.99

Best spec I've seen for the price so far, went in to Curry's and had a look, the display model was playing a DVD - looked crisp!

Also, are there two types of laptop screens? Some I looked at are the ones I kow about - a dull looking plastic

The others I've seen look more like glass, shiny. Does anyone know what I'm on about? lol

withabix

Spitfire wrote:

Do Tescos still have those £299 laptops?

Not a chance!!

The £299 ones are long gone.

You may still find the other two Acer models in stock, now reduced by £50 to £399 and £549 respectively and marked as 'Reduced To Clear' on the SEL. Take into account the Clubcard points and the 5p off a litre of fuel and they're cheaper still!

If you're REALLY lucky, the SEL will have the reduced price and you will be charged the higher price, resulting in a free laptop!! Had my fingers crossed but it went through at the SEL price!!!