Cheap laptop - where?

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Proto said:
Should I be bothered if it's loaded with Vista? Or buy a used machine with XP? Or push the boat out and go Windows 7?

They will all do what you want. It's going to be harder to find machines running Vista and XP new though.

If you can find a laptop running a flavour of Linux like Ubuntu, that would be fine too, and probably cheaper.
 
Pass Novatech every night on the way home...... not that you needed to know that
 

amos

Veteran
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I used Laptops Direct last year and have been very happy with what I got. They do brand new and refurbished models, plus if you're near enough to one of their stores you can pick up from them rather than getting it delivered.
 
i've just bought an acer; haven't got it yet though (hopefully tomorrow). my spec is that it must (must!) be lightweight and portable. In the rummaging I've discovered that most new laptops in the lower pricerange have max res (as the Toshiba you link to) of Resolution : 1,366 x 768. What that means is you can't get more stuff on the screen by sizing up to a larger screen, the stuff on the screen just gets bigger.

It depends what you want the laptop for; if it's desktop replacement then no issues with size/weight; but if it's to be portable these things might be more of an issue.
The acer I'm getting/got is this one but not getting it from that store.

EDIT: of course the one I've linked to doesn't have a CD/DVD drive as it's too small. If you need one of those a larger laptop will be needed - or an external CD/DVD drive.
 
Sorry, my point was rather that the one I'm getting/got is 1366x768 on an 11.6" screen vs 1366x768 on a 15.6".... so in going for the larger screensize you haven't gained anything except that the things being displayed are larger; there's not more on the screen. Not sure I'm describing this properly!
 
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Proto

Proto

Legendary Member
I bought this in the end, http://www.ebuyer.com/product/187463 very slightly different spec to the previous one I listed (but surprisingly the same Toshiba part number :smile:), and it should be here tomorrow.

Regarding screen size, don't laugh, but one thing I wanted it for was to watch iPlayer when on my turbo trainer. So, bigger screen = better, but more than one person has warned me off buying a 17" laptop - too big, too heavy, too cumbersome.

Anyway too late now, it's on its way!

Had a delivery from Amazon yesterday, MS Office 2007 Student/Home edition, 3 user licence for £60.00 delivered which seems pretty good value. So that'll go on the laptop. Amazingly nobody in the house can remember (or will admit to) buying it using my wife's credit card, but with three students in the household it will be well used.

PS Hell will have to freeze over before I'd ever use DABS again. They sold me a completely unsuitable back up drive and expensive software some years back. They are almost impossible to communicate with and their return policy is tantamount to theft. Never, ever again.
 

woohoo

Veteran
Proto said:
PS Hell will have to freeze over before I'd ever use DABS again. They sold me a completely unsuitable back up drive and expensive software some years back. They are almost impossible to communicate with and their return policy is tantamount to theft. Never, ever again.

Well, they are owned by BT. ;)
 
OP
OP
Proto

Proto

Legendary Member
Well, it's arrived. Looks very good, screen is fantastic. Windows 7.

Machine is physically big, and quite heavy, so not really the most portable device, but will meet the family needs. If I was going to be carting it around in my backpack, then a 12" or so screen would be first choice.

Turbo session tonight coming up!!

Anyway, thanks for all the help
 
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