Laptop recommendations
Discussion
Hi chaps, any recommendations for a cheap laptop? It will not be the main computer in the house as I have a 3 year old Dell PC which is adequate for my basic needs (net browsing, music and film downloads, film editing etc). It needs to be able to hook up to a wireless network and main use will be in the lounge as a sofa net browser and plugged in to the plasma to show any downloaded films and browsing the net on the big screen. A DVD writer would be a bonus as I dont have one on the PC but if its not an essential and will depend on the sort of premium for adding a writer...
Define cheap 
For £499 inc VAT, you can pick up something like a Fujitsu Siemens Amilo L7310W:
Celeron M360 Processor
256MB Memory
40GB Hard Disk
14.1" Widescreen TFT
DVD±RW (+R double layer)
Windows XP Home Edition
If you spend a little more, you could get something like an Asus notebook, all of which come with a 2 year global warranty, and I think a carry case + optical mouse. If you want a bit more grunt, you'll probably be looking at £650+ for a Turion or Pentium-M based notebook.
For £499 inc VAT, you can pick up something like a Fujitsu Siemens Amilo L7310W:
Celeron M360 Processor
256MB Memory
40GB Hard Disk
14.1" Widescreen TFT
DVD±RW (+R double layer)
Windows XP Home Edition
If you spend a little more, you could get something like an Asus notebook, all of which come with a 2 year global warranty, and I think a carry case + optical mouse. If you want a bit more grunt, you'll probably be looking at £650+ for a Turion or Pentium-M based notebook.
Jinx said:
Dell do an Inspiron 1300 for about £399 including VAT and delivery
Forgot about Dell! Actually, the base Inspiron 1300 has been reduced to £339 inc VAT and shipping at the moment!
Intel Celeron M Processor 370 (1.50GHz, 1MB L2 cache, 400MHz FSB)
256Mb DDR RAM
14.1" TFT
8x DVD +/- Writer
Damn good price!
Phil,
A couple of weeks back I bought a Dell 1300 for a mate in Ireland, absolutely cheap as chips, you really can't go wrong for that price.
The TFT is good, the keyboard is good and the whole thing has a very solid feel about it, much better than my Dell 8500. At that price they are almost giving them away.
A couple of weeks back I bought a Dell 1300 for a mate in Ireland, absolutely cheap as chips, you really can't go wrong for that price.
The TFT is good, the keyboard is good and the whole thing has a very solid feel about it, much better than my Dell 8500. At that price they are almost giving them away.
Muncher said:
Phil,
A couple of weeks back I bought a Dell 1300 for a mate in Ireland, absolutely cheap as chips, you really can't go wrong for that price.
The TFT is good, the keyboard is good and the whole thing has a very solid feel about it, much better than my Dell 8500. At that price they are almost giving them away.
cheers for that mate, did you go for the base model or go for the 399 with the bigger screen?
shnozz said:
Phil,
A couple of weeks back I bought a Dell 1300 for a mate in Ireland, absolutely cheap as chips, you really can't go wrong for that price.
The TFT is good, the keyboard is good and the whole thing has a very solid feel about it, much better than my Dell 8500. At that price they are almost giving them away.
cheers for that mate, did you go for the base model or go for the 399 with the bigger screen?
I went for the cheapest option as my mate is as tight as arseholes.
It's probably worth going for the £399 one as the £60 odd also gets you a slight RAM upgrade which is really needed. The screen is only wider, so probably the only benefit you will see is for widescreen films.
The power adaptor is also smaller than mine which is useful.
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