Is this laptop any good for me?

Cosmopolitan

Helle to all you clever techie people.
I just have a quick question re: getting a new laptop and hope you guys can help.
I currently have an Acer Aspire 5357z (or something like that I can't remember off the top of my head).
Anyway have had it for a few years and it's starting to get a bit 'clunky' and slow. I know it could probably be fixed but I'm in the position now where I can afford to buy a new one now and as I'm looking to move out of home soon I probably won't be in the position to purchase a new one when it finally gives up completly.
I have seen on the Argos website this laptop for £399.99, it looks like a good deal to me, but I'd like to see what you guys think. I tend to use my laptop for general internet/facebook/email/bbc iplayer etc, itunes, pictures from my camera etc. Just wondered if you thought this was a good deal or any other reccomendations at that price range.
Thanks:beer:

HP Pavilion G6 1164SA 750GB 15.6 Inch Laptop - Purple.

CPU and Memory:

• Intel Pentium dual core B940 processor.
• 2GHz processor speed.
• 4GB DDR3 RAM memory.
• 750GB hard drive.

Display features:

• 15.6 inch display.
• High definition display.
• Resolution 1366 x 768 pixels.

DVD optical drives:

• DVD+RW/DVD-RW(read/write).
• Dual layer.

Graphics:

• Intel GMA 4500M graphics card.

Interfaces and connectivity:

• Secure Digital (SD), Memory Stick (MS), Memory Stick Pro (MS-Pro), Multi-Media Card (MMC) compatible.
• 3 USB ports.
• 1 Ethernet port.
• 1 HDMI port.

Multi-media features:

• 0.3MP built-in webcam.
• Built-in mic.
• Built-in sound system.

Operating system and software:

• Microsoft Windows 7 Premium.

Software included:

• Microsoft Home Office and Student (trial Version).
• Anti-virus and security (trial version).
• Adobe Reader.

General features:

• Up to 4.5 hours battery life.
• Size H3.63, W37.4, D24.5cm.
• Weight 2.55kg.
• EAN/Barcode 886111917471.

Additional Information

Please note that this product is excluded from our 30 Day Money Back Guarantee. This does not affect your statutory rights.
Current selling price valid until 17/08/2011

GunJack

spend half of that......search ebay for advent modena m201, frompcworls/currys outlet shop. Were knocking them out new last week for £210 (edit - looks like they've gone, but many more reasonablr=e on there for under £200

decent acer refurb £185 with i3 processor and 3GB RAM !!!!

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/ACER-5741-Refurbished-15-6-Grey-laptop-/110723403198?pt=UK_Computing_Laptops_EH&hash=item19c7a10dbe#ht_2149wt_1199



refurb with 3 month warranty for £142 !!

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/ADVENT-MODENA-Refurbished-15-6-Black-Advent-laptop-/110723394400?pt=UK_Computing_Laptops_EH&hash=item19c7a0eb60#ht_1768wt_1199

free4440273

for your needs will suit u fine, yes and seems okay: for perhaps only a little bit more u might be able to purchase one with a more powerful i5 processor .

lee20010

The processor isn't too great, plus it would be good to know the speed of the Hard Drive.. if it's 5400RPM and you load up 200GB worth of data, that will slow right down.

I'd personally focus on something like this if you have £400 to spend

http://www.ebuyer.com/261451-zoostorm-laptop-7873-9028 8GB of ram is a nice touch.

Or

http://www.ebuyer.com/251331-asus-x52f-laptop-x52f-ex570v

stilltheone

Advent machines are cheap for a reason. A three month warranty would make me nervous. Finding parts for bits that fall of may be testing too. Also, let go of any idea of moving away from mains power for any useful amount of time.

lee20010

not looking to use the account much to be honest, just another thing to report to a CRA that goes in favour of me.

GunJack

stilltheone wrote: »

Advent machines are cheap for a reason. A three month warranty would make me nervous. Finding parts for bits that fall of may be testing too. Also, let go of any idea of moving away from mains power for any useful amount of time.

a little unfair, IMHO. I've had an ERT2250 for 3+ years that I got as a refurb with a 12-month warranty, and it has been and still is a very nice machine. Even running vista I still get 2+ hrs out of the battery when I need to. OK, so it is one of the rebadged models, but you'll probably find the newer ones are too

p.s. I've just fixed a m201, and it was pretty well put together and well laid-out to fix too

Cosmopolitan

Thanks for the help guys.
To be honest I'd rather go for a new one rather than a refurb.
What things should I be looking for in a sub£400 laptop? Brands to look out for/aviod like the plague?
I'd like to have a reasonable amount of space on the hardrive, but do have a 750gb external hardrive which I keep back up stuff onto. Things like photos etc I do tend to put on the external drive and not have too many on the actual laptop it's self. I suppose I just like to know I'm not going to run out of space. I think I currently have 320gb hardrive and wouldn't really want to go any lower than that.
I do tend to try and do quite a few things at once (facebook/email/iplayer/itunes all running at once) so I assume this would have an impact on something (RAM/Processor or something?) sorry I'm not very techie.
Also being away from the mains power isn't really an issue as I only really use it at home, however a good battery life would be a decent bonus I suppose.

getmore4less

but I'm in the position now where I can afford to buy a new one now and as I'm looking to move out of home soon I probably won't be in the position to purchase a new one when it finally gives up completly

That makes no sense stick your £400 that you were going to spend today in a sperate "laptop" saving account and leave it there when you move and you still have it when you need it.

Then try to fix the one you have while looking waiting for a stonking deal.

A backup of personal data reinstall will probably do the trick if you don't want to go through the detailed analysis of whats slowing it down.

For your basic usage the cheapest thing you can find will probably do the job so focus on the things that are important and those for when you leave home like movies/tv

stilltheone

GunJack wrote: »

a little unfair, IMHO. I've had an ERT2250 for 3+ years that I got as a refurb with a 12-month warranty, and it has been and still is a very nice machine. Even running vista I still get 2+ hrs out of the battery when I need to. OK, so it is one of the rebadged models, but you'll probably find the newer ones are too

p.s. I've just fixed a m201, and it was pretty well put together and well laid-out to fix too

For the likes of you and I, we can fix our own machines.

For the average user, support is poor and expensive.

Of course it's a generalisation, but I would be wary with just a 3 month warranty. But it is cheap.
It's a re-badged Shuttle A15.
They probably call it a Modena A15.

GunJack

^^^ true, but I was just reporting as I've found

Still think the acer i3/3GB ram is a cracking deal at the price, if I was in the market for a new one I'd probably snatch their hands off