advice on buying laptop

Hazy

I'm looking for a new laptop for my business. As it's a new venture money is tight but the business is IT related so need it to be good enough for the forseeable future e.g. next 12-18 months. Ideally want to spend under £500.

It must have 1GB RAM, I would like it to have a decent processor, graphics card and 17" screen size.

Any advice gratefully recieved.

motorguy

Check out https://www.dmxdimension.co.uk - they have links to dells cheapest offers.

They have a link to an Inspiron 9400, 17inch screen, 1.73Ghz Core Duo processor, 80gb HDD, 1gb RAM, DVD rewriter, £529. Use the code on the site and go via quidco for 4.5% cashback, which brings the price to £510 ish.

Why do you need a graphics card for your business if you dont mind me asking?

Hazy

thanks for that but trying to avoid dell as in my experience they break down and have poor support when they do.

The business will involve lots of design elements and a few programs have minimum requirements hence the need for decent graphics card.

Blacksheep1979

I'd say avoid Acer as well (although many would disagree) as I've seen loads of probs with loads of them. Have a look at Asus and have you also looked into getting VAT reg'd (get VAT back) and also the fact that you can write of £x/year of the computer as business expense/depreciation of equipment.

ame_2

Hi, I am in a dilemma! I'm looking for a cheap laptop mainly for internet access as my old one has died.

A friend has a Sony Vaio laptop PCG-9R6M and is selling it for £250. It's 3yrs old & they paid around £1000 for it. it's a bit bulky & nas no internal wireless other than that looks good. All they've ever done with it is loaded photos on there.

Am I better off spending £300 (my budget) on a brand new laptop? is it likely a new laptop has better spec anyway? Can't find the spec of the sony on the web but know tech moves on a lot in 3 yrs, though sony is a great make...any advice?

Example of new one I'm looking at the Toshiba Satellite Pro L40-15Db on ebuyer. http://www.ebuyer.com/product/136539

Thanks!

Mac_Sami

Hazy wrote: »

thanks for that but trying to avoid dell as in my experience they break down and have poor support when they do.

The business will involve lots of design elements and a few programs have minimum requirements hence the need for decent graphics card.

This surprises me, although it depends on your status with Dell (SMB, partner etc) and the warranties you're taking out on the machines you're buying.

I've always had excellent service from Dell on their equipment with the standard 1 Yr Next Business Day callout. No quibbles, always on time, always fix the problem.

Push your budget to £550 - £600, and you can get some excellent Dell laptops with good quality screens, nVidia 8600GT graphics and 2.4 Core 2 Duo / 3GB RAM. However, if you're still wary about Dell, I guess you won't want to be buying from them, which leaves you little scope in the market (I wouldn't touch Acer with a bargepole, or Sony).