laptop is it worth it?

[cigbunt]

Hi
i just had a walk up the road (leicester) found a lil computer shop i usally use online website.. but any hoo

i lookin for a cheap lappy. (any thing but a danm CELERON lol)

i do have a desktop AMD 4700 & X800 1GBram nothing great but i am plannin to upgrade to a ibm quad core soon (well i mean totally replace prob in late summer)

i need a lil lappy cus i wanna start doing my web design stuff & prob djing as well (ableton & traktor) n atm im using my comp through a panasonic 32" lcd whihc is great for movies, not 2 bad for games.. buts poo for designin cuz its hard to get a feel what it'll look like on a smaller screen!

anways i just seen a use lappy.

Advent
core 2 duo t5500 1.6
1gb ram
dvd/rw etc,
intel 945 256mb
wlan etc,,

bit scuffed not in the best con for

£250!? im not sure about this i find it hard 2 get a proper feel of laptop prices.. so much easier not 2 get ripped off building a desktop

anways i'd prob spend 250-350 maybe 400 if it was a good deal but nearer the 300 mark! what ya thinks people?

[staffsMike]

I wouldn't touch it with a barge pole persoanlly.

There's loads of deals around the £300 mark at the moment.

Personally I only buy dell and sony and since sony are out of budget I'd start here

Compare All UK Dell Vostro Deals and E-Value Codes | dmXdimension
or here for refurbs
MCS Technology Ltd > Dell Latitude - 1 Yr Warranty.

Other good places are ebuyer. Just look in the laptops section and order by price, there are some very good brands with prices in the £300's, I put a few of them in this thread
http://forums.hexus.net/find-me-barg...00-laptop.html

[cigbunt]

hmm cheers for that!

that MCS is a really good site

i like this one

MCS Technology Ltd > (129) Dell Latitude D620 Intel Core 2 Duo T7200 2.0ghz 2048mb/120gb/14" Wide XGA Screen/DVD-RW Drive/Wireless Network

Warranty............... 1yr MCS Return-to-Base Warranty
MCS Code............... 129
Model.................... Latitude D620
CPU...................... Intel Core 2 Duo T7200 2.0GHz
Memory (MB)........... 2048
Hard Disk (GB).......... 120
Optical Drive/s.......... DVD-RW
Screen Details.......... 14" Wide XGA Screen (1280 by 800)
Video .................... Intel Onboard
USB Ports................ Yes
Wireless Network Card Dell Wireless Network Adapter
PC Card Slot............ Yes
SmartCard Slot.......... Yes

im not 100% if its worth me payin a lil more for a better video card.. its not gonna b a hardcore gaming lappy...

[Agent]

I would personally be looking at a dell

Compare All UK Dell Vostro Deals and E-Value Codes | dmXdimension
The Vostro 1500 has some good deals on atm

[peterb]

Without wishing to have a go - can I suggest that you get a laptop with a caps key and a spell check - particularly if you are going to do web design! Writing in 'texdt speak' and with a lack of capitalisation and sentence construction makes your posts a bit of a turn off, and will do the same for web sites you design,.

As I sais, I'm not having a go, but I hope help you to get a better response to your posts (and eventually) web sites.

As for the laptop, you really looking at something that will last for a while withg good support. Agent has mentioned Dell and they are very good value for maney, and come with a good warranty - and can be customised to some extent when you buy it.

All that of course is true for something you buy from a local retailer if they are any good and you can return it easily if you do have a problem - provided you remain living nearby!

But generally, you get what you pay for - and cheaper laptops tend to be of a flimsier build quality, which may be an issue if you are using it as a portabl(As an example - some years ago I had an Acer laptop. It worked OK until I dropped it - in its padded case - and all the catches on the battery and hard drive holders broke. It kept on going with the aid of sellotape etc over the ports but... After that I had a Panasonic toughbook, which was bounced off aircraft, luggage racks, baggage handling stuff without complaint - although it might not have survived Terminal 5!

Now I'm not suggesting that you will be doing anything like that, but laptops built down to a price have to sacrifice something - it might be build quality, it might be support but you need to look very carefully at the package as a whole, not just at the technical specification and the cost - although it is difficult if you are on a tight budget.

You might find some student deals too - HP occasionally have discounts for students.

Good luck in your search - I hope you can find what you need within your budget! (You will - but might take a bit of time!)