Buying a Laptop - help!

goldbyron

I am planning on buying a laptop after Xmas (hoping that there may be some sales on). I have never bought a laptop before and am a bit stuck. I have looked on the internet at some specs I may want so here goes:

Wanting a thin and light laptop - screen size 14-15 inch.

Processor - Intel Core 2 Duo looks to be the recommendation.

Memory - up to 2GB - need it for internet, word processing and MP3.

Wireless networking - ideally built in so only a PC card is required.

Budget is £400-£500.

Any recommendations on which word system is the best as well would be appreciated (need it for working at home and studying).

Thanks!

Mr_Warren_2

Bought a DELL Inspirion for daughter who is at Uni. She had it for 2 years now and is very happy with it (wi-fi etc the lot). Should be in those price range now, visit the Dell website they should have laptop bundles on special offer.

motorguy

Mr_Warren wrote: »

Bought a DELL Inspirion for daughter who is at Uni. She had it for 2 years now and is very happy with it (wi-fi etc the lot). Should be in those price range now, visit the Dell website they should have laptop bundles on special offer.

+1

Oh, and use www.dmxdimension.com as they list the best Dell deals at any given time.

cymru78

Just the other day I bought a Lenovo N200.

I didn't buy it from the link given but from Ebuyer at the same price but they are out of stock at the moment.

Unless you are planning on using lots of latest 3D games then this could be ideal.
I was after a laptop with the exact spec this has (min 1gb ram, integrated webcam, built-in card reader) and this was the only one I could find for under £500.

TBH, I have not yet received the laptop, but I am very confident that I have made the right choice.

The website the link takes you to do add extra ram, but charge about £60 - much cheaper to do it yourself if you really want 2gb....I'm just going to see how it goes with 1gb as i am unsure if i will keep vista or put xp on.

epz_2

yeah its a lot cheaper to upgrade your own ram, you can get two 2 gig sodimms for £50 if you look about

that said 2gigs i massive overkill for web surfing, i develop oracle on a 1/2 gig p4 at work.

Hillfly

pgilc1 wrote: »

+1

Oh, and use www.dmxdimension.com as they list the best Dell deals at any given time.

Actually don't use DMX dimesion to make the actual purchase - it might be good to get some 'Ecodes' from their site for decent prices but then go via quidco so you can earn the cashback!

Be sure to check out the HotUKDeals website - a guy called MikeT posts all the best Dell deals and misprices on there. He has turned up some real bargains throughout the last year. Currently there isn't many top notch deals on the Dell site so fingers crossed for the sales as you say.:money:

Mat_Lock

epz wrote: »

yeah its a lot cheaper to upgrade your own ram, you can get two 2 gig sodimms for £50 if you look about

that said 2gigs i massive overkill for web surfing, i develop oracle on a 1/2 gig p4 at work.

Depends now though, because most new laptops come with Windows Sh**sta...I mean Vista. That alone needs 1gb minimum really just to run conveniently. The more memory the better.

Oh and make sure it's an Intel Core 2 Duo processor. Makes life a heck of a lot better at the moment.

bainy

Here's a few for you to ponder that fit your criteria: -

HP 6720s Business Laptop Core 2 Duo T5470 15.4 1280 x 800 (WXGA) Brightview TFT, Vista Premium, Bluetooth, Office 07 Ready, 2048mb 667DDR2, 120GB 5400 HDD Intel 802.11abg, 1 year Warranty

available at ebuyer for £489.99 delivered

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/133308

or

Samsung R60 Plus Laptop Blue Core 2 Duo T5450 1.66GHz 2048MB 120GB DVD?RW 15.4\" TFT Windows Vista Home Premium

available at ebuyer for £489.99 delivered

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/136531

or

Asus X51RL-AP999 Laptop Intel Core 2 Duo T5250 120GB 2048MB DVD-RW WLAN ATI XPRESS X1100 128M Share VRAM 15.4" Vista Home Premium 2 year warranty

available at ebuyer for £439.98 delivered

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/134522

goldbyron

Thanks for all your advice. I have wittered it down now to:

Samsung R20
Samsung R60
Sony Vaio NR10
Dell Inspiron 1520
Toshiba Satellite A200-1RK

Anyone got one of these and any feedback?

Thanks

Fester_2

http://www.hotukdeals.com/


Dell Inspiron delivered £374.

Intel Pentium Dual-Core Processor T2130 (1.86 GHz, 533 MHz FSB, 1 MB L2-cache)
Genuine Windows Vista® Business - English

OR

Genuine Windows® XP Professional - English add £0.00
2048MB 667MHz Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM [2x1024]
160GB (5400rpm) SATA Hard Drive
Intel Media Accelerator 950 Graphics


You have to build it yourself with the components listed on the hotukdeals site and it will come out at £374.

bainy

Heres another cracker of a system to throw into the mix: -

Acer Travelmate 5720 Core2 Duo T7300 2GHz / 2gb Ram 160gb 15.4tft Dvd Super Multi Vista Home Premium @£473.51

http://ecommerce.cbccomputers.com/Inu_products/INU_ProdDetailsL4.asp?ref=07938035

go for the one with the most bang for buck thats in your budget, cheapest isn't usually the best. Personally I'm not a lover of Dell (should be hell) thats my opinion, know of so many people that have had problems with them, however some people swear by them. If it was me I'd pop down to my local pcworld, comet, currys, dixons etc and have a test drive of the systems your interested in, then once you've made your decision order it online as you'll save money, you could also try to get them to price match the online retailer.