Best sites to buy a laptop from?

[Pob255]

Well of our current batch of HP's only one has a problem, smashed screen, because it was droped on a concreate floor

However that is not the best indication of the life span of a laptop, ie there is no way you can tell if a new model will last or not, only time will tell.
So we have to base our choises on past experence.

On the subject of dell's roughtly 2 years ago we go 16 dells, and another 16 3months later
The 2nd set were a new "improved" model which replaced the original ones.
So far we've had to call out the engineer for every one of the new "improved" models, but not one of the older models.

The speed at which companies are changeing laptop models these days is makeing it far harder to guess/predict what is going to last and what is going to be a fault ridden flawed design.

I would not exepect any laptop to fail in the first year, however after 3 years thing get far more shakey

[Syd]

I've done ALOT of research into a lappie at eaxctly the same price point you are talking about.

Ive pretty much decided on a Dell Inspiron/Vostro 1500

Like this:

Inspiron 1500 £830 inc

Intel® Core™ 2 Duo T7100 Processor (1.8GHz,800MHz,2MB L2 cache)
OPERATING SYSTEM Genuine Windows Vista™ Home Premium
COLOUR CHOICE Midnight Blue Colour with Microsatin Finish & Integrated 2.0 mega pixel web camera
LCD 15.4" Wide Screen WXGA (1280 x 800) Display with TrueLife™
MEMORY 2048MB 667MHz Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM [2x1024]
HARD DRIVE 160GB (5400RPM) SATA Hard Drive
GRAPHICS CARD nVidia® GeForce™ Go 8600M GT with 256MB DDR2 dedicated graphic memory
OPTICAL DRIVE Fixed Internal 8X DVD+/-RW Drive including Software
PRIMARY BATTERY Primary 9-cell Lithium-Ion Battery (85 WHr)
WIRELESS CONNECTIVITY Intel® Pro Wireless 3945 802.11a/b/g Mini-Card - Europe edit
MICROSOFT SOFTWARE Microsoft® Works 8.0 - English edit
HARDWARE SUPPORT 1 Year Base Warranty - Collect & Return edit
ACCIDENTAL DAMAGE SUPPORT No Accidental Damage Support edit
SECURITY SOFTWARE No Security/Anti-Virus Protection - English edit
Shipping Documents English Documentation and Eng/Ire Power Cord Inspiron 1520
Dell System Media Kit Resource DVD - (Diagnostics & Drivers)
Modem 56.6k V.92 Capable Internal Modem & Adapter - UK
Standard Warranty 1 Year Base Warranty - Collect & Return
Money Off - Shows in Strikethrough Save £90 (inc VAT)
Power Supply 90W AC Adapter

or

Vostro

BASE Intel® Core™ 2 Duo T7100 Processor (1.8GHz,800MHz,2MB L2 cache)
OPERATING SYSTEM Genuine Windows Vista™ Ultimate (32Bit) - English HARDWARE SUPPORT Base Warranty - 1 Year Business Hardware Support
LCD 15.4" Wide Screen WXGA (1280 x 800) Display with TrueLife™
INTEGRATED WEBCAM Matte Jet Black without Camera
MEMORY 2048MB 667MHz Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM (2x1024)
HARD DRIVE 160GB (5400RPM) SATA Hard Drive
GRAPHICS CARD nVidia® GeForce™ Go 8600M GT with 256MB DDR2 dedicated graphic memory
OPTICAL DRIVE Fixed Internal 8X DVD+/-RW Drive
PRIMARY BATTERY Primary 9-cell Lithium-Ion Battery (85 WHr)
Services & Software
ACCIDENTAL DAMAGE SUPPORT No Accidental Damage Support
SECURITY SOFTWARE McAfee® Security Centre™ 8.0 - 24 Month Protection - English
Accessories
CARRY CASES No Carry Case
WIRELESS CONNECTIVITY Intel® Pro Wireless 3945 802.11a/b/g Mini-Card - Europe
MICROSOFT SOFTWARE Microsoft® Works 8.0 - English
Also included with your system
Gedis Bundle Reference List N0715003 - Vostro 1500 (3)
Order Information Vostro Notebook Order - UK
Futuristic Information sku - Futuristic Order Flag sku Number
Shipping Documents English Documentation with English Power Cord
Dell System Media Kit Resource CD - contains Diagnostics and Drivers
Power Supply 90W AC Adapter
Modem 56.6k V.92 Capable Internal Modem & Adapter - UK
Keyboard Internal Keyboard - UK/Irish (QWERTY)
Standard Warranty Base Warranty - 1 Year Business Hardware Support
Online Promotion Option for GEDIS Configs Dell Internet Order.

£774 inc VAT

Soon to order mine, just deciding which colour to go with

[Applesink]

My budget is £800 - £850, 900 at a push, it's going to mainly be used for work, music and browing the internet.

The specs I have in mind are: core2duo, at least 1.6GHz, 1 (If not 2) gigs of ddr2, a 15" screen, ample hard drive space, nice looking case, good battery life, decent graphics card, a quiet laptop which isn;t going to break my back.

The Dell XPS M1330 - beautiful machine - if you are willing to push your budget a bit further. Here is the spec and price I paid: (I've deleted all the usual suspects):

210-18157 XPS M1330 CORE 2 DUO T7500 2.20GHz,800,4M
230-10081 13.3" WXGA (1280x800) Display with TrueLife
320-10146 Tuxedo Black & 2.0 mega pixel Camera for CCFL Display
370-12184 Memory Dual-Channel 2048MB (2x1024) 667MHz DDR2 SDRAM 1
400-13387 200GB (7200RPM) SATA Hard Drive
429-12648 8xDVD+/-RW Slim Slot-Load Drive, including SW
490-10649 NVIDIA® GeForce¿ Go 8400M GS (128MB GDDR3) 1
619-10906 English - Vista Home Premium 1
754-10026 Base Warranty - 1 Year XPS Premium Hardware Support

Subtotal 854.05
VAT 149.46
Total 1,003.51

[Applesink]

oh and don't forget to go onto http://www.hotukdeals.com early on a Thursday to pick up Mike T's Dell's misprices.

[Marcos]

I just recommended a friend to get the HP DV2657 from cclonline.com, seems like a great spec/price and a very good looking laptop

couldnt find a better price either