What is the minimum spec you would look for in a cheap laptop?

bexterwho

Hi all

I'm after a new laptop as mine is giving up the ghost. I want to spend the minimum I can to get a reasonable machine. It will only be used for internet browsing, photos, skype and occasional word processing etc (I use Open Office at the moment for that).

I'm pretty clueless so can anyone tell me what the minimum spec in terms of memory, ram, speed and anything else I should look for?

Thanks

custardy

post a budget
my 3 year old poverty spec dell could handle your needs
so you dont need much spec
just the best you can get for your money

bexterwho

I would spend up to £300 if I have to, but obviously would prefer to spend less.

victor2

Consider a refurbished laptop. Most will come with Windows 7 on them, avoid Vista, but if you come across one with XP on it, it should be cheap and may well meet your needs.
With any laptop, but especially refurbished ones, I would say stick to a major known brand like HP, Toshiba etc. Currys, for example, do refurbished units with a warranty, which is vital on a laptop as a failure of one part can easily render the whole unit useless.
If you already have a copy of XP you can install then a low end laptop capable of running Windows 7 will almost certainly run XP with power to spare.
As custardy said though, you would have to give an indication of your budget to get more detailed responses. Sorry, you already have while I was drinking a cup of tea and composing my reply!:)

closed

Most giving up the ghost/my laptop is dying threads are easily solved software problems. Post more info on what giving up the ghost means.

bexterwho

closed wrote: »

Most giving up the ghost/my laptop is dying threads are easily solved software problems. Post more info on what giving up the ghost means.

The problems with my laptop are:

Wireless doesn't work. It started out that it would just drop the connection and tell me the wireless switch needed turning on (it was on at the time). I'd reboot several times and it would work again, but eventually drop off again. Now, it doesnt seem to work at all and I have it permanently plugged into the router.

The battery doesn't charge so it is permanently plugged into the mains.

There was an incident with a child and a cup of milk on the keyboard. The keyboard was going crazy and continually activating keys so if I tried to open a browser window it would keep opening new tabs until I managed to close it down. I disconnected the keyboard and added a usb one.

In the process of disconnecting the keyboard I somehow managed to disconnect the mouse and the sound card, so I now have a usb mouse and no sound.

victor2

Sounds like you need a new laptop!

closed

remove the keyboard completely from laptop, clean the keyboard with isopropyl alcohol or water, let it dry out thoroughly for a day or so, then reconnect and make sure sound connector is in place, drivers are ok in device manager, and nothing is muted. Or look at prices for a replacement keyboard.

battery little you can do about apart from replace, after a couple of years plugged into the mains, they deteriorate but how often do you need it on battery?

wireless could be software, signal, settings, try backing up all data, and restore to factory settings.

nottseagull

I would recommend a minimum of 1GB RAM, with a spare slot so you can double it if need be.

globalds

Dell outlet is a good place to look when buying on a budget.

Link here:

http://outlet.euro.dell.com/Online/InventorySearch.aspx?brandId=7&c=uk&cs=ukdfh1&l=en&s=dfh

You need to think about how you will use it.

Is a nice big screen more important than a nine hour battery.

Does it get lugged around so weight is an issue or just occasionally moved from room to room.

If you go though the Dell outlet site remember VAT and also check a few times ..Mondays and Tuesdays will be better than Saturdays and Sundays as new stock is added and fewer people will be searching.

Laptop purchases are as much being in the right place at the right time as getting what you can afford.
If you have the luxury of being able to wait for an offer then a site like Hotukdeals is worth watching ,and then pile in when the ones in the know pronounce it as a scorching hot deal.....Your £300 quid will go a long way then.


EDIT

Something like this .

http://www.hotukdeals.com/deals/advent-sienna-500-refurbished-lapto/770387#comments