Best time to buy a laptop?

timefortea

I'm getting a laptop for Christmas, and have a limit of £350. I've found one I like (here, and I'm sure there are better spec laptops out there but I like the look of it so ). I was just wondering, would you expect the price to drop in the run up to Christmas? Whether I buy it now or on December 24 I still won't be able to use it until Christmas Day, so there's no rush.

(The advertised £50 voucher with every laptop deal runs out on 30/11/11, but it's rubbish so I'm not bothered about that. If you delve into the T&Cs it says that it can only be used for two weeks in February, and with a minimum spend of £200.)

grizzly1911

There is never really a good time as prices and specifications are constantly moving.

I would suggest you need to fix your specification and shop around, being prepared to consider alternative brands.

The link you give isn't necessarily the best unit or place to get the most competitive deal.

We have just purchase one looked where you have c.£420, v similar on a well known internet site with some Amazing deals for £350, then eventually picked up a better deal at John Lewis for a higher spec processor and bigger hard drive at John Lewis, with a 2 year guarantee at £350 with a cash back deal not promoted at the other two. Just an example on a given week.

If you want to compare processors "CPUBenchmark" will give you relative performance rankings although these aren't absolute.

We have 2 HP desktops and they don't endear me to the brand.

grumpycrab

My initial reaction - PC World - HP - AMD - Blue - is to run a mile. But the CPU is OK(ish). The graphics card that comes with it is nothing to write home about.

So with the latter in mind I recommend playing safe with something like an Intel i3-2310 or (2nd gen i3-380m). Remember you cannot upgrade the CPU so get the best you can afford.
e.g.1 i3-2330M is nearly 50% "better" than the HP. £341 Dell -> http://www.hotukdeals.com/deals/dell-inspiron-15r-n5050-core-i3-2330m-3gb-ram-320gb-hard-drive-341-core-i5-388-dell-1064766
CPU benchmarks -> http://www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu_lookup.php?cpu=Intel+Core+i3-2330M+%40+2.20GHz

Or, and my current favourite, i3-2310M for £330 -> http://www.hotukdeals.com/deals/fujitsu-ah531-15-6-intel-sandybridge-core-i3-win7-laptop-4gb-ram-8gb-max-500gb-hdd-1063231

If you can I recommend getting a warranty extension. approx 3 year extension for above Fujitsu is £50.

In my opinion prices are likely to go UP from now to Christmas. If you can get a well-specced i3-2310M for £330 now, I'd go for it ASAP.

closed

have you touched it, or like it from the picture?

Millionaire

That's a funky colour.

It just so happens I was looking at a laptop for someone who wants a HP (I also saw the one you linked to)and I have recommended them this one

http://h40059.www4.hp.com/uk/homelaptops/product.php?id=QG840EA&experience=direct

bigger pics here

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Pavilion-G6-1253SA-Notebook-i3-370M-Processor/dp/B0060TVO3W/ref=sr_1_4?s=computers&ie=UTF8&qid=1321705189&sr=1-4
Depends whether you like the colour.

Also as someone mentioned earlier and it's what I do, get a hands on look before you buy.

PS: HP have 6% cashback at Quidco/Topcashback.