Good value Laptop advice...

[barq]

Dell Inspiron range are quite good quality cheap laptops.

The external hard drive plan is a very good one. Backup, especially the sort you can access from any computer you plug it into, is really important.

 

[Dayvo]

Dell Inspiron range are quite good quality cheap laptops.

I've got a Dell Inspiron 510m and can't fault it (touches wood). It is a little on the heavy side, but if it's for stationary use (i.e. not being traipsed all over the place) then it's compact and handy.
Mine's three-old now, but I'm sure there are updated models available.

 

[Van Nick]

Hi Fab Foodie,

One thing to bare in mind is that Intel have recently released a new range of processors called "Penryn". Now obviously a machine built with one of these new processors will attract a price premium, but it should mean that machines built with the older processors should start to become cheaper (probably after christmas).

I personally think very highly of Dell computers and bare in mind that you can very often get a better deal if you look at the "Small Business" section of their website rather than the "Home" section.

Another tip is to frequently check the http://www.hotukdeals.com website and filter deals by "Dell" or your preferred merchant. There are very often some voucher codes published on there that either reduce the price or qualify for upgraded RAM etc.

If you do buy a Dell machine, don't pay for extra RAM from Dell, because their RAM is notoriously expensive. Get it from Crucial instead (http://www.crucial.com).

One final tip is that as a student, your daughter should qualify for Microsoft Student Licensing software (see link below), so buy the computer with the minimalist software (even without Windows if possible) you can and then buy the software under a student license.

http://www.microsoft.com/Education/StudentSelect.mspx

Hope that helps.

 

[marinyork]

Why not Marinyork?

Are there any particular issues with that machine. It is the one I looked at at the CCL site.

The graphics card on it is awful. The chip isn't too hot either, it's a core when we're now a generation or two into core 2. It's a machine that I could have got for about the same price as when I bought this one earlier this year. My old landlord got a cheap dell on for about £300 on small businesses that is better than that system several months ago. Obviously the HP is a budget but its old budget rather than new budget. Getting a student version of Office is a good idea as you'll actually be given the discs!

 

[barq]

I've got a Dell Inspiron 510m and can't fault it (touches wood). It is a little on the heavy side, but if it's for stationary use (i.e. not being traipsed all over the place) then it's compact and handy.

I think any laptop at this price point is going to be a wee bit heavy. I only use my laptop for word processing and web browsing so I didn't need anything very fast (so I bought quite a cheap model) and weight hasn't been too much of a concern. I ended up opting for Dell because their battery life is pretty good - I get over five hours on my 6400n (I paid an extra £20 for a 9 rather than 6-cell battery).

 

[Crackle]

The graphics card on it is awful. The chip isn't too hot either, it's a core when we're now a generation or two into core 2

It's Dual Core!? As for Graphics card it's not up to gaming and 'heavy' image manipulation but it's fine for everything else, more important for FF's daughter is screen resolution, that'll be more limiting than the Graphics card. I think you'll find it's just OK.

HP are not budget stuff either, though they obviously make stuff to a budget to hit the market.

As said before though, based on personal experience I couldn't recommend the Pavilion based on two failures in one machine. In all other respects, it's well specced, quick but not lightning and well made and more solid than most

 

[marinyork]

When I looked it up it said it was X2 rather than X so what I said was correct with typos and mistakes out! some of the AMDs suffer from dodgy numbering and aren't always as fast as the T code suggests. The 6100 are rubbish cards, they really are and that was a while ago, now with the ge-force 9s and new ATIs out it really is crud. If you look at the Go's specs in detail you will see it is the case. I'm just saying that the machine FF was looking at originally was better. Warranties as some people have said are cheap from some companies/brands and expensive from others.

Dell's special screens, some people love them and some hate them!

 

[Crackle]

When I looked it up it said it was X2 rather than X so what I said was correct with typos and mistakes out! some of the AMDs suffer from dodgy numbering and aren't always as fast as the T code suggests. The 6100 are rubbish cards, they really are and that was a while ago, now with the ge-force 9s and new ATIs out it really is crud. If you look at the Go's specs in detail you will see it is the case. I'm just saying that the machine FF was looking at originally was better. Warranties as some people have said are cheap from some companies/brands and expensive from others.

Dell's special screens, some people love them and some hate them!

I didn't read the spec properly and misunderstood your post as a result.

 

[Fab Foodie]

Thanks guys.
Well, the HP was looking good for a while!
So far then, the Toshiba in Currys seems a fave, but I can't get any more details about it. Will also keep my eye on Dell.
I already have the Student edition of MS Office suite.
I'd love a Mac but funds certainly won't stretch there.

Anything else to seek-out or avoid like the plague?

 

[andyoxon]

FF, we bought a reasonably high spec 17" Dell laptop last November to replace our old desktop PC. I was very impressed with their customer service, over the phone, delivery etc etc, but also things like the online live chat technical help.

They seem to be doing good value machines... http://www1.euro.dell.com/content/products/features.aspx/notebooks_good?c=uk&cs=ukdhs1&l=en&s=dhs

The advice I was given was because laptops use custom components think seriously about a good extended warranty. We bought the Dell 3yr cover, but this is our only PC in the house.

 

[marinyork]

I'm sorry FF I'm sure you'll find something. I'll have a look on-line perhaps.

Andy the dell ones you quote suffer from the same problems we've talked about above. The 1501 is basically the machine my landlord bought 6 months ago on dell small business sale for about £300 (the 1501 has a better x2 processor, but identical ram, graphics card etc. so it's not a facile comparison). That said he's very happy with it, the only gripe he had was that it was "heavy" and not as small as my light 14" . He's also a bit of a naughty boy as dell rang him up very curteously and said is everything all right with your new machine and he was in a bad mood (perhaps another parking ticket or something) and said no I'm very hacked off and dell sent him £40 back! The Intel GMA 950 and ATI 1150 just aren't great graphics cards, I know, I have a 950 and landlord has an 1150. The GMA X3100 spanks it silly. Similarly as whoever said it earlier Penryn stamps on earlier even Core 2 chips let alone AMDs.

 

[Fab Foodie]

Thanks Andy, I'm narrowing down the options and Dell seems to repeatedly come-up trumps. It's a horrible amount of cash though...and then, the 3 year warranty seems a good idea....aaaaargghhh.
Least I know she'll really get some use out of it, especially with all her photo stuff...

 

[marinyork]

In another vote, one of my machines is a dell laptop, a 6400m that I bought getting on for a year ago. It's been one of the best buys of my life, apart from other things like my bike and pvr of course! I don't use this one for gaming or anything heavy but it does run games reasonably well and does run HD stuff. Not really any quibbles, the power lead is not long enough and that's about the biggest fault, it has a highish resolution and truelife screen that I love but drives others mad, it's light, quiet. I paid probably too much for it, but however I was amazed that for many of the months after I bought it, prices did not budge, infact they went up for a bit. The truelife screens seem to be like marmite though, they split the population rather violenty down the middle.

 

[andyoxon]

FF, Novatech was another place I considered last year. They were supposed to have a good reputation... seems like they have a reasonable range.
http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/nbranges.html most of the sub ~£600 laptops are GMA X3100 graphics which marinyork mentions above...

 

[marinyork]

Novatech, ebuyer and dabs are staple places to buy computer(s)/parts and it's not just me .