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Netbook / Laptops under £200 - recommendations wanted

Hi guys,

My mother needs a netbook / laptop and I wanted to know if anyone could recommend one for under £200. She only needs it to browse the web, primarily for online banking. I was thinking of getting her a Dell Inspiron Mini 10v for £199.

Specs:
10.1" Widescreen WSVGA with Truelife (1024x600)
PROCESSOR: N-Series Intel® Atom™ Processor N270 (1.60GHz, 533MHz, 512K cache)
OPERATING SYSTEM: Ubuntu 8.04
MEMORY: 1024MB 533MHz Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM
HARD DRIVE: 8GB Solid State Hard Drive

Seems ideal, it'll be super quick and as it's Ubuntu she'll avoid a majority of virus/malware issues that plague regular Windows users.

Before I decide to get this I'd like to see if anyone has other recommendations or if possibly I might have missed something. Her eyes are not great so perhaps it might be a little too small, I'm not sure.

Comments

  • Donnie
    Donnie Posts: 9,862 Forumite
    MSI WIND U130 or something with a bigger screen, Acer Aspire One AO751 with an 11.6" screen.

    Wouldn't bother with the 8GB SSD drive. Think it would be a handicap.
  • outlaw777
    outlaw777 Posts: 881 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 500 Posts Name Dropper Combo Breaker
    Ask your mother what OS she likes and is familiar with before making any purchase.
  • Carrot007
    Carrot007 Posts: 4,534 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper
    I would think for an older person a decent screen size would be a must.

    And if only basic stuff like you say is needed there is a good choice of older refurb laptops around, here is one example site:

    bigpockets.co.uk

    There is a cheap-ish hp 6220 on there, I use a 6120 for work and it is great, this is slightly better so it cannot be too bad!

    And you can always go down a linux route for safety but on the other hand if you secured windows help can be found easier!
  • gonzo127
    gonzo127 Posts: 4,482 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture Combo Breaker
    to be honest for the very basic use of net that would be fine (although you would need to update to ubuntu 10.04 very soon (launched at the end of april) however i would recommend going into somewhere like PC world DO NOT BUY ANYTHING FROM THERE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! and letting your mum have a play and look at one with a small screen since that is going to be a major factor in her use,

    it might be better to get a refurb normal laptop with a bigger screen than a new netbook that she would struggle to use
    Drop a brand challenge
    on a £100 shop you might on average get 70 items save
    10p per product = £7 a week ~ £28 a month
    20p per product = £14 a week ~ £56 a month
    30p per product = £21 a week ~ £84 a month (or in other words one weeks shoping at the new price)
  • BexTech
    BexTech Posts: 4,772 Forumite
    I have an Acer Aspire One D250 which I got for under £200.

    You could have a look at: http://www.argos.co.uk/ProductDisplayTRK019?partNumber=5083053
    It's PAC not PAC Code, it's MAC not MAC Code, it's PIN not PIN Number, it's ATM not ATM Machine, it's LCD not LCD Display, it's DVD not DVD disc... It's no one not noone, It's a lot not alot, It's got not gotten... Panini is the plural of panino - there is no S!!
    (OK my English isn't great, the sciences, maths & IT are my strong points!)
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