Topic: Budget laptop

[Simon]

A friend has asked me to have a look for a laptop, for around £350, and I came across this one, which looks OK to me, but as I don't have a clue about laptops, could someone give it the once over for me?  Also, do they all come with 56K modems, or do they all not now, assuming everyone has broadband?

Oh, and if anyone can find a better deal, please let me know!  Windows XP would be a preferred option.

TIA 

[sam]

it seems good, looks similar to a friend of mines (not the same but his is pretty ergonomic) - Acer make some good laptops. Will they use it as a laptop or a desktop replacement.. thinking weight issues - worth considering (it says light but I can't actually see a value!)

[Simon]

I think it will be a desktop replacement, so it will mostly be used on a desk.

[Lona]

Pc world are advertising a dual core laptop with 80gig hd for £399 on the telly just now.

http://www.pcworld.co.uk/martprd/store/pcw_page.jsp?BV_SessionID=@@@@0102548027.1187391533@@@@&BV_EngineID=ccffaddlkehgfdgcflgceggdhhmdgml.0&page=Product&fm=null&sm=null&tm=null&sku=102896&category_oid=-27751

[Simon]

Thanks Lona, that one looks good also, but I think there's a definite budget of £350 to be adhered to.  I'm actually tempted by one of these myself, but I've spent quite a bit already this month, so it will have to wait a while.  Apart from the screen size, how much better is the one at PC World to the one in my link?

[sam]

the problem is it is an advent.. they always use cheap components... well from my experience and what I have heard..

[Reno]

The specs look good to me clive. It's already obsolete. But if your friend just needs it for actual work and not game play then go for it. I have my doubts about that 1yr warranty though. It's not like you can easily just pop the case on a laptop. Thats why I use to always tell my customers to get at least a 3 year. Laptops get expensive when they need repairs.

[Simon]

The specs look good to me clive. It's already obsolete. But if your friend just needs it for actual work and not game play then go for it. I have my doubts about that 1yr warranty though. It's not like you can easily just pop the case on a laptop. Thats why I use to always tell my customers to get at least a 3 year. Laptops get expensive when they need repairs.

Which one are you referring to, Bob?  All consumer electronics carry a 1 year manufactures warranty, when purchased new.  I guess, if it went wrong within the year, the retailer would replace it and throw it back at the manufacturer, rather than attempting to repair it, unless it's something simple.

[Reno]

I was talking about the one you asked about to begin with. The other was out of your friends price range right? Over here department stores tend to sell things, advertised, with a three year warranty. Normally its 1 year with the store and an added 2 with the manufacture. What i was saying was I wouldn't buy one without a 3 year warranty.

[Simon]

Oh, I get you now.  I expect an extended warranty would be available somewhere, but having discovered a little more about the 6 year thing mentioned in this thread, I'm starting to wonder if a warranty means anything!

[Reno]

I wouldn't be surprised if they made you sign a waver at purchase having you relinquish your warranty rights in fine print.

[Simon]

Well, I've no doubt they would find some way out of it.

[Tony]

A friend has asked me to have a look for a laptop, for around £350, and I came across this one, which looks OK to me, but as I don't have a clue about laptops, could someone give it the once over for me?  Also, do they all come with 56K modems, or do they all not now, assuming everyone has broadband?

Oh, and if anyone can find a better deal, please let me know!  Windows XP would be a preferred option.

TIA 

if it was me, I'd go for one with a built in webcam like the Acer 5103WLMI

Acer 5103WLMI

Acer built in webcam

[Simon]

All they want it for is basic surfing, email and office tasks, Tony.  A webcam would just complicate things.   

Oh, and about TinyURLs?  Yeah, we use a spam blacklist mod, and for some reason, TinyURL is on it.  I could remove it, but I think it would only be temporary, as the database is automatically updated, so it would probably reappear again.  I'll check it out with Sam.  Alternatively, a Link type link could always be used to save long URLs, but it doesn't really matter, as the software creates a horizontal scroll bar, so as not to distort the page.



Edit:  Like you did while I was typing this!

[jww41005]

Here in Spain there's a big department store chain called 'el corte inglés' that promotes quite a lot of equipment from Acer.
El corte inglés is a high quality shop so, if they sell it, it must be alright.

John