New Laptop needed

[Barry Scott]

Just thought i'd ask for some help from the all seeing TEF.

My little sister needs a new laptop, she smashed hers playing poker, and wants to spend as little as possible.

I don't want to waste her money and have found a few on Staples and Tesco Direct with 2-4GB Ram, 160GB+ HD and Celeron Dual Core for between £330 and £400.

I ideally think she should have Windows 7, 3 or 4GB Ram and a Core 2 Duo or some other proper dual core, not celeron/sempron crap.

She doesn't use it for anything really, so doesn't actually need any great spec, but when i look the price constantly creeps up because i think she should spend an extra £30 here and there for more ram better processor etc.

Will it really matter if she gets a Celeron and 2GB of ram is what i really want to know and has anyone seen any really sweet bargains for around the £300 mark?

Thanks friendly TEFers.

[Peter Venkman]

Surprisingly recently I have a few friends that have bought these

http://www.pcworld.co.uk/martprd/store/pcw_page.jsp?BV_SessionID=@@@@0117520389.1258109603@@@@&BV_EngineID=ccfgadeildlefflcflgceggdhhmdgml.0&page=Product&fm=null&sm=null&tm=null&sku=907584&category_oid=

http://www.pcworld.co.uk/martprd/store/pcw_page.jsp?BV_SessionID=@@@@0117520389.1258109603@@@@&BV_EngineID=ccfgadeildlefflcflgceggdhhmdgml.0&page=Product&fm=null&sm=null&tm=null&sku=240757&category_oid=-28487

Both fit the bill at around £300-330 both are refurbished both have good dual core processors.

I have had a few of these delivered and they are all brand new returned products with faults repaired and all have 1 year guarentees and boxed.

And approx £50 off retail price, I would have no hisitation in buying them even though they are from the dreaded PCWorld.

[Samdy Gray]

I managed to pick up an Acer Aspire 5536 which had 3GB RAM, 250GB HDD and an Athlon Dual Core
for £350ish. Can't seem to find the same deal online any more though.

And yeah, I'd steer clear of Sempron and Celeron. For the kind of money you're looking at you can easily get better than a crappy Celeron!

[Samdy Gray]

And approx £50 off retail price, I would have no hisitation in buying them even though they are from the dreaded PCWorld.

I got mine from PCWorld too. I always vowed never to buy from them, but surprisingly they had the best deal.

[Barry Scott]

Cheers. Those PC World ones look perfect, although they are sans Windows 7.

Are they available in Store or is it online only? Because i'll also get her to get Kaspersky 2010 while it's £19 or whatever in store.

[Peter Venkman]

They are online only deals, but if you are willing to spend £10 more there is a win 7 upgrade its a similar spec but a smaller HD.

They do have some good deals in there TBH.

http://www.pcworld.co.uk/martprd/store/pcw_page.jsp?BV_SessionID=@@@@0801156634.1258111627@@@@&BV_EngineID=cccladeikmmhleecflgceggdhhmdgmi.0&page=Product&fm=null&sm=null&tm=null&sku=852262&category_oid=-34460#productInformationSection

[Barry Scott]

That's fucking perfect jj. My sister likes those Compaqs as well, so that's pretty much on the money. Cheers.

[Sippo]

http://www.laptopshop.co.uk/cheapest-refurbished-laptops.htm

http://www.laptopsdirect.co.uk/GRADE_A1_-_Acer_Aspire_5735_Laptop_A1-LX.ATL0Y.008/version.asp?PID=1315

[land_of_bo]

Does it have to be a laptop? There are some good netbook deals around with Win 7 for sub £300

[Barry Scott]

Yeah, has to be a Laptop, as she hates tiny screens. She's got, sorry had, a 15.4" and she wants that again.

[jonny72]

She's got, sorry had, a 15.4" and she wants that again.

I bet she does.

[Barry Scott]

Thanks all. I've just got her the Windows 7 number jj showed, with Kaspersky at £19. Everyone's a winner.

[Chubbs]

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/172314

bit above budget but still...

[Barry Scott]

That was lucky. Completely forgot to check eBuyer. I think i'd have felt sick if i could've got her something better for similar money.

That looks good, but she was determined to spend as little as possible, within reason, and being charged with sorting it out means you really don't want to waste money that isn't yours.

[pauld]

That looks good, but she was determined to spend as little as possible, within reason, and being charged with sorting it out means you really don't want to waste money that isn't yours.

Although there is your 10% "lazy cow" commission to consider