Advice on what Laptop to buy

[P1 Forever]

Hi everyone,

I am looking to buy a Laptop computer this month but don't know were to go for the best deals. It is only for browsing the internet and e-mail use so nothing too fancy, looking to spend less than £400 if thats possible.

If any of you have advice for me or links to special deals then I would be very grateful.

Cheers for now.

[bjkeates]

You're bound to get loads of different replies from people who have a laptop they like. My reply is no different - I've got an Asus A6U series, it's higher than the price range you suggest but they do make lower spec models as well. There are online dealers who specialise in Asus models, found easily on Google. The thing which impresses me most about it (apart from value for money) is the build quality - it feels solid and durable without being overly heavy. It's just generally good.

If I were you, I'd steer clear of unknown cheapo makes. My mum's just got a free one through the school where she works. It's an unrecognised brand, obviously very cheaply built and plasticky and the build quality is poor. The keyboard flexes down in the middle when you type, for example.

I suggest you pick up a copy of "What Laptop" - it's a good magazine and can probably help point you in the right direction.

[IB4138]

Just bought an Acer Aspire 3614. Excellent fast machine which cost €649, so you should be able to find one in the UK for round about your price limit.

[Farmer 1]

Avoid Toshiba! No internet help, just an 0870 number, and don't reply to emails.

[bjkeates]

I'll second that. Avoid Toshiba like the plague. I've never owned one but my girlfriend and two other friends have had them and they're not very good, to put it simply. Their support is pretty non-existent.

[planecrazy.eu]

Hey, i would say an Acer or a Dell, I got an Acer and love it, game me a great spec for the money. I got an Acer for my partner, its a Turion 64/1.8, 80 Gig and 512 Ram all for £450 from Comet. And Acer support and extended support are great and good value.

[rotorcraig]

Agree; take a look at Acer and Dell.

RC

[oncemorealoft]

Recently brought a lap top for my daughter to take away to College. Looked for advice on this site and decided to go for an Acer. While I'd heard of the brand before I wasn't convinced of their quality/value. However, having read the various comments which all seemed positive I went for an Acer TravelMate 2423WXMi.

It's great value for money and and I wished I'd trusted ACER before.

[spannersatcx]

Have an Acer too, can't fault it for spec and price.

[P1 Forever]

Hi Guys,

thanks for your advice.

I have been looking at the pcworld website this morning and there's a Advent Intel Celeron laptop going for £349.99!! As I said it's just for internet and e-mail use so this seems good value.

Any of you got an Advent laptop or have experience using one?

P1.

[Warren Rabbit]

If you buy cheaply enough it becomes a throwaway item. The compromise is between build quality and price; in other words you get what you pay for but sometimes you get better than waht you pay for. Your needs are as basic as a computer owner gets so your Advent will do what you want it to. Check and compare the Dell website for their cheapest laptop, it will do everything you want it to, and you know they'll still be around next month. Prolly a better chance of some resale value too. I've had six Dells, only one problem, the tech was out in two days and replaced the motherboard no questions asked.

[bjkeates]

P1, I've just looked at the one you mean on the PC World website. The next door neighbours have got an Advent PC which I set up and with which I saw no build quality problems so I imagine the laptops would be built to about the same quality. The spec of that laptop is pretty basic but perfectly adequate for your needs. Bear in mind that it's got built-in WiFi and a DVD-Rw drive as well... both bonuses, not all cheap laptops come with that.

I'd say for that spec, basic as it is, that's a pretty good price. You may, however, want to go into a store and look at one - I don't know how much you'll be moving it round but it looks a little chunky in that picture. Not judging either way, but you should have a look at one beforehand if at all possible, or at least Google it for reviews. Do have a shop around on the internet as well though... PC World are by no means a cheap place to shop. They do have some good deals, but you may find you can get that one even cheaper elsewhere.

One final thing, just as an aside - if you buy from PC World, do not - I repeat, do NOT - pay extra for the Norton Internet Security offer that you get as an option with it. It's an absolute pile of crap, and will absolutely drain your system's resources. When you get the laptop home, the first thing you should do is get on the internet and download AVG or Avast (virus protection), and ZoneAlarm (firewall), or use any other product you have experience and are happy with.

[Carrier]

I agree with the posters above who advise you to avoid Toshiba. Mrs C and I bought a Toshiba Satellite 5200 PS520C-31POEP laptop in Canada three years ago. We have been having continual problems with it since it was purchased from Future Shop.
As one example, our laptop has a DVD burner but we have never been able to record on a DVD. We are unable to refer to the instructions. The specification mentions the DVD burner but the instructions both on the computer and in the printed manual make no reference at all to DVD recording or even to a DVD burner being on the computer. They refer only to CDs and CD functions. For three years Toshiba has ignored our requests for a manual for the DVD version of the computer. When the Better Business Bureau of Mid-Western Ontario became involved Toshiba finally sent another manual for the CD only version. Doh! Despite the efforts of the Better Business Bureau and Ontario’s Ministry of Consumer & Business Services we have still not received the correct manual and are still unable to use the DVD recording function. The Windows Xtreme Pain operating system software supplied with this laptop can also only fairly be described as flakeware.
This Toshiba computer is so bad that we have considered buying a used PowerBook or iBook by mail from somewhere like CPUsed in Toronto just so that we can have a reasonably reliable computer. However, why should we have to do this? We paid a substantial sum for this laptop. It is up to Toshiba to support its products and solve the problems. Indeed, the problems should have been solved before this computer was put on the market. Why don’t companies such as Toshiba have competent product development procedures and effective quality control systems in place? The same comments apply to the Microsoft Windows XP operating system. This has had a continuous stream of updates in a ludicrous number of attempts to get it to perform as intended. It is impertinent of Toshiba and Microsoft to prematurely release products and use the public as unpaid and involuntary product testers! It is even worse that they then refuse to correct the defects.
Honest and competent companies stand by their products. They want to solve any problems and have their products perform as intended for their customers. The obvious conclusion one has to arrive at from our treatment is that the companies mentioned above do not fall into the category of honest and competent companies! As per the McLibel case in the UK and EU courts we do not have the resources to force these dishonest companies to perform. In any case it would be impossible to take any action from this distance. I have no doubt they are taking advantage of this.
We had a Power Mac 6100/66 for more than eight years in Canada. It worked well and did what it said on the box. We intend to return to a Macintosh for our next computer, as soon as we are able to return to the First World. Readers considering buying a new laptop should look at the new MacBook. Apart from the Mac’s known ease of use and industrial strength OS, anything that is designed for today’s dumbed-down students and their abuse of everything has to be a rather practical and strong piece of equipment.

[Rivenx]

I support Acer too. Been using one for more than 3 years and have only upgraded the RAM. Still runs great and I have done lots of stuff with it. Video encoding, DVD home video, dual boot XP and Vista Beta, game patching, tonnes of downloads, Wifi, password cracking, etc... This brand is a bang for the buck. I tend to steer clear of Dell. Their specs is average and not really impressive.

Laptops are dirt cheap in WSSS. You can get a Linux Acer for only GBP310!!;)

[BDiONU]

I am looking to buy a Laptop computer this month but don't know were to go for the best deals. It is only for browsing the internet and e-mail use so nothing too fancy, looking to spend less than £400 if thats possible.
If any of you have advice for me or links to special deals then I would be very grateful.
Since the advice seems to be go with Dell how about a Dell Inspiron 1300 for £399 inc VAt & Delivery. Link here http://configure.euro.dell.com/dellstore/config.aspx?b=&c=uk&cs=ukdhs1&l=en&oc=N06135&rbc=N06135&s=dhs&sbc=ukdhsftdppnotebook1 You need to remove the 3 year at home support and go for 90 day collect and return to get the price.

Intel Celeron 1.6Ghz Processor
Windoze XP home & MS Works 7.0
512Mb SDRAM
60Gb HDD
14.1 inch screen
8 x DVD
Internal Fax/Modem and Wireless card


BD

[airborne_artist]

Tesco have been selling Acer laptops in their Tesco Extra stores at £399.99, with what looked liked a good spec.

[soggyboxers]

Carrier,
Couldn't agree more - my Toshiba was a disaster and I'd never buy another. However, I'd steer clear of Apple as well if my first experience of them is anything to go by. I finally took delivery of my first MacBook just 3 days ago and I'm returning it to Apple as it has so many faults. May be that's what comes of manufacturing them in China. Their only promise for my replacement machine is that it will arrive here 2 days after I return to Nigeria until December. I'd stick to Dell if I were you. Their delivery times and after-sales are far superior to Apple or Toshiba.

[SyllogismCheck]

Whoa there! Has any one who's suggesting Dell machines actually handled a recent one? If so, I've no idea why you're recommending them. I'm using a few month old one now, thankfully provided to me F.O.C, and the build quality is nasty. The one before this lost a screen due to pressure on it from the outside and through a well padded bag. This one doesn't look much better. If I press on the bcak of the lid now, I can make lots of nasty looking things happen to the screen, about twice this moderate finger pressure and I reckon it'd crack just like that. The keyboard is nasty and clattery too.

I have an HP which feels like it's of at least twice the quality of this Dell, and have recently used an Acer which was only a smidge behind the HP. I'd go an Acer without a doubt, and wouldn't so much as entertain spending my own money on a Dell.

[longarm]

Seen an Acer Aspire 5622WLI for 599 quid. Seems to be a good spec machine if you're budget will stretch.


Intel® Centrino® Duo mobile technology, featuring:
Intel® Core™ Duo processor with 2MB L2 Cache
Intel® 945PM Express chipset with 667MHz FSB
Memory
1GB (2 x 512MB)
80GB
ATA/100 Hard Disk Drive
DVD-Super Multi Double Layer drive
15.4" WXGA Acer CrystalBrite™ TFT LCD with 1280 x 800 pixel resolution, supporting simultaneous multi-window viewing via Acer GridVista™
16.7 million colours
Graphics
ATI Mobility™ Radeon® X1300 with up to 512 MB of HyperMemory
MPEG-2/DVD hardware assisted capability
Communication
56K ITU V.92 modem with PTT approval; Wake-on-Ring ready
10/100Mbps Fast Ethernet; Wake-on-LAN ready
Intel® PRO/Wireless 3945ABG network connection (dual-band tri-mode 802.11a/b/g) Wi-Fi CERTIFIED™ solution, supporting Acer SignalUp™ wireless technology
I/O Interfaces