gingeRS

Can somebody recommend a laptop for circa £400 please.

I need one for using around the house, preferably with decent graphics, and a nice build quality. I have seen a lot of deals online, but none in the flesh, so what are people’s recommendations. I want a laptop with a 15 inch screen and DVD drive, so not a netbook. My housemate recommends acer models, as he has one, but his is 12 months old and an American model, so doesn’t compare to the ones available, Here. Have seen some nice ones on ebuyer by acer and also a decent model with a 17 inch screen available through ebay, with a slightly lesser CPU,

What laptops do people on here have, and what would they recommend, I like the look of the vaio models, but they seem to be 2-300 more for a similar spec.

Opinions and recommendations appreciated thanks

Porkie

iTrader: (1)

I always buy Dell....

just bought a new little netbook one actually. Just because it looked 'cute'

Chip

iTrader: (3)

netbooks are great till you start using them and then realise the screen is too small to use as a laptop, and you remember that if you want a small screen to look at the net with you have one on your phone already

Cossie_ray

iTrader: (7)

Dell all the way

Chip

iTrader: (3)

Which one would you recomend to suit his 400 quid budget then mate?

666

dell xps, had no probs so far (thay start form about 500 thow)

Porkie

iTrader: (1)

Keyboard annoying on Iphone...

Netbook looked cute... and was only cheap (until I specced it up and managed to spend £523 on it )

I have another 2 Dell laptops if I need a big screen.. and the 10' screen looked ok on this too...

I just fancied new toy and wanted to see what windows 7 was like. oh... and if I hadnt mentioned it... it looked cute

MikeR

Fashion victim ^^^^

I quite fancy a Toshiba net book as they seem really practical, rather than lugging my lap top every were

Mike

gingeRS

yeah, i use a dell laptop for work on a daily basis and musty admit it is pretty stable, there was one for £400 at pc world i was gonna look at after work today.

it seems if you spec them to something similar to what £400 would get you from asus or acer (through ebuyer), though they seem to go over the £500 range?

Porkie

iTrader: (1)

its worse than that....

I thought to my self the Piano black finish will complement my black glass kitchen tops and dining room table....

I have reached old age and clearly become a bird all at the same time

Chip

iTrader: (3)

The keyboards and cases are a dell are so much better, the spec might seem the same on lesser brands but they miss out on the basics.

anything aimed at business is generally a good bet.

Porkie

iTrader: (1)

its worse than that....

I remembering thinking to myself the Piano black finish of the laptop case will complement my black glass kitchen tops and dining room table really nicely

I have reached old age and clearly become a bird all at the same time

what a cnut!

Chip

iTrader: (3)

Twat

MikeR

Mike

utternutter

stay away fromm advent, e systems etc all the lesser makes that seem very competitive in spec, crap components, i learned a verty hard lesson with a advent recently, it had 4 mohterboards ina year lol

just bought a dell, the 400 quid machine there avertising on tv with the red top, very happy with it great little machine nice and quiet. heard nothing but good things about dell machines, bought mine from pc world although doubt that will make much difference with warentee

zetec-Sam

iTrader: (2)

WTF? "always buy Dell?" Have you been smoking some messed up shit? Dell are shit, they use poor quality parts, their customer service is dreadful, and don't get me started on the 'aparently' 'game orientated' piles of shit that xps' are...
I'm not a big laptop person (I build desktops), but fucking hell, I know dell are shit.
Basically, look for the best spec for the money (outside of dell ofcourse) basically the bigger numbers, get asmuch processing power as possible (GHz) ram doesn't matter as much as its so cheap now anyway you can always upgrade. PM me if you find some n want opinions

Mrs T

i got a acer from curry was on offer down from 479 to 379 had it 6 weeks and its already gone in to be fixed,

LHD220Turbo

iTrader: (4)

can you recommend him one then?

LHD220Turbo

iTrader: (4)

i've always had Toshiba laptops, they arent as pretty or cute as some but they always seem to last me well and dont have any issues.

the components always seem to last

daveandhelenturbo

iTrader: (1)

I've just bought my other half a dell inspiron 1545, should be 500 but it's got 100 pound off, can't fault it and helen was happy because it's got a pink lid lol

zetec-Sam

iTrader: (2)

No, I never said I could, I'm only steering him away from shite. I said I'd help if he had a few to choose from, but I'm not recommending one from nothing. If he wanted a desktop I could recommend/build him one to his budget, but, if you read my post, I'm not the biggest laptop person.

JohnnyB

Dell and HP, look for the ones with long warrantys

gingeRS

well i have been looking at the ASUS X5DIJ and X5DIN models for around £400, both seem good value

there's also an Asus on ebay for £350 with a top spec and 17 inch screen, but i'm always a little apprehensive about ebay becuase of warrenty issues etc

nealo

ACER laptops are very very good - they come so well spec'd up for the money you pay aswell.

I like the dell laptops the new one that is always advertised on the TV is a pretty ok deal but remember thats just £400 for the bog standard black edition, you have to pay extra if you want it in any of the colours you see on the advert.

My problem with buying online is always the comeback, what if it fucks up in the first few weeks/months you have to then package it all up and send it back rather than just popping to the shop you bought it from and asking for a replacement.

BM08

My sister has an acer, shes always got it on when i see her and never complains about anything going wrong on it.

utternutter

i go the dell 1545 from pc world in red for 399

pete mcrash

iTrader: (1)

really cant decide atm if i want a new tower or a laptop...........

gingeRS

in an ideal world i'd replace my media pc with a laptop and docking station, but cant find any docking stations for sale???

are they a business only thing

Chip

iTrader: (3)

Clearly your parents have been lieing to you and really "she" is your brother if "she" can go that long without complaining about anything let alone a laptop.

andy888

always had HP Pavilions. get abused to death. never had any issues (touch wood). never run slow or crash etc. currently got a DV6700 had it a year and its brilliant imo. not too clued up on computers in general though its only going by expenrience. i'm on it everyday too.

i also bought this one cos i thought it looked good though!

Markb_s1

I'd recommend dell too... they're really not bad reasonably priced machines.

used to get Toshiba at work all the time as they were the best built, and most reliable but for the last few years their systems have gone to shit imo.

Tangodeltasierra3

acer ferrari one - £390 - best looker, decent spec, go 4 it

kosman

i got a acer,its sweet.

Porkie

iTrader: (1)

There is at least 2 IT professional on this thread reccomending DELL and lots of normal users....

in fact its pretty much everyone APART from you....

have you considered its YOU smoking 'some messed up shit'???

Their customer service is awesome in my personal experience when a mates girlfriend found some dodgy emails on my computer that he had borrowed and threw it out of the bedroom window.

I had a brand new BETTER spec laptop in under 2 days. NO questions asked!

I love Dell

Mike C

iTrader: (1)

Dell for me.

Porkie

iTrader: (1)

are you smoking funny shite or something?!??!!?

phil_rs

iTrader: (3)

Can't beat smoking that funky shit! Dell for me too!

pete mcrash

iTrader: (1)

acer aspire 5738....use this code and save £20......XMas5
http://www.currys.co.uk/martprd/stor...5&category_oid=

t4 and greys

iTrader: (5)

just dont buy advent /dell or acer as they are shiiite

just payed 900 for a acer platinum laptop and 2 days in the motherboard decided to turn to jelly and start spilling out of were you put the cd,s in

took that back and got a better spec acer for same price as compensation ,got that home and the speakers were blown

just whatever you buy make sure you get a good warranty with it

zetec-Sam

iTrader: (2)

take the piss all you want. They're low quality shit that will break.
Get yourself a good pc, you'll see the difference...
I've been building pcs for years now, and judging by alot of 'it professionals' you can get that title by know how to press alt+ctrl+del. I know alot of people that are not 'IT professionals' that would wipe the floor with most apparent professionals. Go post on a decent pc forum, asking about dell, they'll all tell you they're shite.
But go on, carry on taking the piss about something you 'think' you know the most about. Just because some pc world worker told you they're top quality, doesn't mean they are...