artist Posted July 14, 2005 Report Share Posted July 14, 2005 I didn't know where to put this.I want to buy a laptop to take on holiday. The TV reception on the site in Yorkshire was almost nil and I need some sort of entertainment.I only want to put XP, PSP and maybe a few games on it. Would also like it to have a DVD player. I saw this (as a for instance):Sharp laptop athlon xp mobile processor 1400+ 512 RAM, 30 Gb hard drive, DVD player, CD-R RW burner. 2xusb 2,4x usb 1, firewire port. Belkin pc card (2x usb2 ports. Targus laptop case, Sony srs a 37 active speakers, just over two years old. £350That has obviously been sold by now - but is it good or not. There are SO many to choose from. I know I want at least 512 RAM - I have the xp/sp2 discs and also the disc for PSP so I'm not fussed about it having any progs on it.I'd like some opinions on this please. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlanHo Posted July 14, 2005 Report Share Posted July 14, 2005 I bought a laptop from the Dell Outlet site last month - a good spec, DVD burner and wireless built in for £500 - £200 less than list price. Like you I had been looking at second hand - but chickened out because you cannot be sure why it is being sold and if there are problems lurking. There were others on the Dell site that were cheaper but they were without wireless and DVD burner.Comes with the normal Dell warranty - you could do worse. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
-pops- Posted July 14, 2005 Report Share Posted July 14, 2005 I would never buy a secondhand computer - I've seen some of the things that people do to them and often there is the equivalent of a three course meal stuck down amongst the keys.Although I'm not a Dell fan, I think that Alan's idea is best - or you could try another dealer/supplier. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andsome Posted July 14, 2005 Report Share Posted July 14, 2005 Try Dabs.com. I bought my daughters Toshiba crap top from them for about £40 less than Dixons price. It was delivered in two days. I would NOT consider a second hand crap top, especially as new can be had for not much more than you have quoted. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Belatucadrus Posted July 14, 2005 Report Share Posted July 14, 2005 I've just replaced my laptop, as my original FIC dropped dead. I also got the replacement from Dell on their Special offers page. If you're prepared to adjust the warranty terms (and I was), you can save even more on the first price shown.Comet online are also worth a look as are branches of Staples. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andsome Posted July 14, 2005 Report Share Posted July 14, 2005 You could of course always buy a sky dish, stand on top of a hill and plug it into the back of the TV. OK as long as it doesn't rain. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deuces wild Posted July 14, 2005 Report Share Posted July 14, 2005 If you need it to play DVD's, why not buy a nice portable DVD player? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
expertec Posted July 14, 2005 Report Share Posted July 14, 2005 You can often get quite a reasonable deal from Dixons on end of line/ex-display stock. :)Also try http://www.morgancomputers.co.uk/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
artist Posted July 14, 2005 Author Report Share Posted July 14, 2005 If you need it to play DVD's, why not buy a nice portable DVD player?......for hubby.........not really interested myself. :) I'll look at some of those sites. I thought it would be at least £600 - £700 for new. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andsome Posted July 14, 2005 Report Share Posted July 14, 2005 If you need it to play DVD's, why not buy a nice portable DVD player?......for hubby.........not really interested myself. :) I'll look at some of those sites. I thought it would be at least £600 - £700 for new.My daughters Toshiba cast about £400. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
artist Posted July 14, 2005 Author Report Share Posted July 14, 2005 I've found 3 - going to have a better look then I'm going to put them on here ...... :rolleyes: By the way - is extra ram inserted like on a desktop? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
expertec Posted July 14, 2005 Report Share Posted July 14, 2005 By the way - is extra ram inserted like on a desktop?Something like that... it's not difficult. :)Takes a different type of RAM of course... SODIMMS rather than DIMMS. :rolleyes: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
artist Posted July 14, 2005 Author Report Share Posted July 14, 2005 So - what are your thought on these?http://www.comet.co.uk/comet/html/cache/237930.htmlhttp://www.dabs.com/uk/channels/hardware/n...klinx=3LQ3&mc=3http://www1.euro.dell.com/content/products...dhs1&l=en&s=dhs or there's one where you pick some specs - I wouldn't know where to beginhttp://configure.euro.dell.com/dellstore/c...&sbc=latit_110lThey all sound good to me for the price...... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
artist Posted July 15, 2005 Author Report Share Posted July 15, 2005 Help me out here, please....... :( Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trackrat Posted July 15, 2005 Report Share Posted July 15, 2005 You said that 512mb of ram were needed and all these only have 256mb.Take a lok at this one.http://www.europc.co.uk/home.aspx?ProductD...94&refId=kelkoo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
artist Posted July 15, 2005 Author Report Share Posted July 15, 2005 You said that 512mb of ram were needed and all these only have 256mb.Take a lok at this one.http://www.europc.co.uk/home.aspx?ProductD...94&refId=kelkooWhy is it better than the others?Apparently it isn't difficult to add more ram? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
micken Posted July 15, 2005 Report Share Posted July 15, 2005 Hi Artist, I've been looking around for similar spec laptops for my wife's school. That last link by trackrat looks good. My brother's a project manager & his company have used Dell for years, they're robust machines. You're getting a lot of new computer for your £'s there. :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trackrat Posted July 15, 2005 Report Share Posted July 15, 2005 You might find this useful.http://www.cnet.com.au/mobilecomputing/not...054282,00.htm#5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
artist Posted July 15, 2005 Author Report Share Posted July 15, 2005 Thanks trackrat - I am reading with interest......... :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Belatucadrus Posted July 15, 2005 Report Share Posted July 15, 2005 Another possibility similar spec to the Comet Acer, but this ones got WiFi.My old laptop had a 300MHz AMD chip and 3 Gb drive, by modern standards it was hopelessly obsolete, but for Internet stuff and general office work, it did everything I wanted as well as the the latest whiz bang device, if it hadn't dropped dead at an inopportune moment, I'd still be happily using it. The replacement was literaly the cheapest laptop I could find a Dell from the special offer page, it has a 1.4 Celeron M, 30Gb drive,256Mb RAM, CDRW on-board modem and LAN and it'll play DVDs. It is extremely good, yet I've no doubt that many will see it as hopelessly inadequate. Inadequate for what ? I'm not using it for Video editing or Quake three. The only thing it really can't do is keep up with the Joneses who just spent over a grand on that funky red Acer Ferrari model.AS to RAM, laptops are generally easier to upgrade than desktop/towers as access is usually via a panel in the base of the unit. 512 is nice, but I've never had any problem running XP on machines with 256. I've just upgraded my homebuilt PC from 256 to 512, some programs load faster, but operationally the performance isn't that different.It must be said however that I don't run NIS2005 or any real resource hogs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
artist Posted July 15, 2005 Author Report Share Posted July 15, 2005 Another possibility similar spec to the Comet Acer, but this ones got WiFi.My old laptop had a 300MHz AMD chip and 3 Gb drive, by modern standards it was hopelessly obsolete, but for Internet stuff and general office work, it did everything I wanted as well as the the latest whiz bang device, if it hadn't dropped dead at an inopportune moment, I'd still be happily using it. The replacement was literaly the cheapest laptop I could find a Dell from the special offer page, it has a 1.4 Celeron M, 30Gb drive,256Mb RAM, CDRW on-board modem and LAN and it'll play DVDs. It is extremely good, yet I've no doubt that many will see it as hopelessly inadequate. Inadequate for what ? I'm not using it for Video editing or Quake three. The only thing it really can't do is keep up with the Joneses who just spent over a grand on that funky red Acer Ferrari model.AS to RAM, laptops are generally easier to upgrade than desktop/towers as access is usually via a panel in the base of the unit. 512 is nice, but I've never had any problem running XP on machines with 256. I've just upgraded my homebuilt PC from 256 to 512, some programs load faster, but operationally the performance isn't that different.It must be said however that I don't run NIS2005 or any real resource hogs.Thanks for that - I'm still between 3 - comparing print-outs as I speak. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
expertec Posted July 15, 2005 Report Share Posted July 15, 2005 Mind you PSP is a real memory hog... for that 512 would be much better than 256! :ninja: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Belatucadrus Posted July 15, 2005 Report Share Posted July 15, 2005 Second caveat on my 256Mb/XP comments, all the PCs in question had VGA cards so weren't half inching 32Mb plus from the pot to run graphics. That said the Dell is still doing OK on its standard spec. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
artist Posted July 18, 2005 Author Report Share Posted July 18, 2005 So - I got the laptop.I only want to connect to the net for updates and a few downloads like AVG etc. The thing is - I don't want to get into all the bother of a network.Is it going to work if I install the ISP from the disc and just connect when I need to? Will it affect OE or IE?I feel this will be ok but would like another opinion....... :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Belatucadrus Posted July 18, 2005 Report Share Posted July 18, 2005 Check out your ISP some of them can provide a small download that will transfer your existing settings to a new PC like this easier to do and less likely to include Logos, browser branding and any other garbage that may be on the CD. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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