Cheap laptop advice needed

kelou

Hello all,
Hope someone can give me some advice, my laptop has gone kaput and I am looking for a new one. I only really use it for surfing the net, although sometimes I upload music to my mp3 player, but I did get an external hard drive last year to store all my pics and music (thank goodness!)
I have spent this afternoon having look round and have seen a few but not sure what I should be looking for.
Pc world had a toshiba satellite l450d-13x for £349.99 or a compaq presario cQ61-4155a again for £349.99 both seems to have 2gb ram and 250gb hard drive.
Comet has a toshiba L450d-13z for £339.99 with 2gb ram and 160 gb harddrive, and Argos has a fujitsu L13710 for £329.00 with 2gb ram and 160 gb hardrive.
Do any of these sound suitable, or any other ideas would be very welcome!
Thanks.

desisaver

Have you considered a netbook? If all you are using it is for surfing and MP3 transfer then it should be ideal. It is also ultra-portable and will be able to run Openoffice or MS Office. Only downside is the screen is usually under 10' although bigger ones can be had. On the plus side you can get one for about £200! All the usual suspects make good ones especially Samsung, MSI, Asus, Dell & HP.

HTH

rhythmsoup

I wouldnt think its a good idea forking for a new PC if all you do is surf the web. If you are looking to do online streaming like BBC iPlayer then you might need something with more CPU grunt. As a general rule go for the best CPU you can get for your money.

When you say "kaput" what went wrong? It might be simple to fix?

Donnie

This Toshiba is cheap at £240 and fine for your simple needs.

kelou

Thanks so much for all your replies. I had kind of discounted the netbooks as I sometimes upload cds to my mp3 player and I understood that you wouldnt be able to do that with a netbook?
My laptop had a flickering screen which gradually got worse and worse until it stopped altogether. I did take it in to be repaired but it couldnt be salvaged, although they did manage to get all my info on to a memory stick thankfully!
The toshiba one looks great although do I need to worry its been reconditioned?
Sorry to be an idiot but no idea what a cpu with more grunt is! as you can see technology is not something I know an awful lot about!

ormus

the tosh satellite is a good machine, and good value, but i wouldnt buy it from pcworld nor comet.

01001011

With the netbook, you may buy an external USB DVD drive, or convert the one in your old laptop like this http://www.sammynetbook.com/plugins/forum/forum_viewtopic.php?47351.0

Donnie

kelou wrote: »

Thanks so much for all your replies. I had kind of discounted the netbooks as I sometimes upload cds to my mp3 player and I understood that you wouldnt be able to do that with a netbook?
My laptop had a flickering screen which gradually got worse and worse until it stopped altogether. I did take it in to be repaired but it couldnt be salvaged, although they did manage to get all my info on to a memory stick thankfully!
The toshiba one looks great although do I need to worry its been reconditioned?
Sorry to be an idiot but no idea what a cpu with more grunt is! as you can see technology is not something I know an awful lot about!

Don't worry about the reconditioned thing. Most was delivered as new. If in doubt, you can send it back. You are dealing with Argos, so no problems to be expected.

A CPU with more 'grunt' is not necessary in your case, as you don't play games and the like.

The Toshiba in my link should cover your needs comfortably for some time to come. Not only that, but I would choose it in preference to the ones you mention in your original post. Not only for the specification, but the choice of retailer.

Donnie

01001011 wrote: »

With the netbook, you may buy an external USB DVD drive, or convert the one in your old laptop like this http://www.sammynetbook.com/plugins/forum/forum_viewtopic.php?47351.0

But why bother? It's an inferior machine with which to begin.

01001011

Inferior in what way? Both machines have enough CPU power for the OP. A new netbook can be bought under £200, even cheaper for a reconditioned one.

Donnie

01001011 wrote: »

Inferior in what way? Both machines have enough CPU power for the OP. A new netbook can be bought under £200, even cheaper for a reconditioned one.

CPU, Graphics, small screen, no DVD drive.....an utter waste of time unless it's used in a mobile setting.

I have one, but I use it for travel.
In no way would I, nor anyone I would imagine, want to use such a small screen on a long term basis.

Surprised that you even raised such a question.