Laptops

[chippy1970]

Its my 11 year old sons birthday soon and we want to get him a laptop around £300 I suppose. I thought Dell as we have aways had Dell desktops but apparently Dell laptops are not all that.

Anyone recommend any other good ones ?

 

[paultnl]

Have a look at ebuyer, they have an Acer Aspire 5336 for under £260

LaptopIntel Celeron Dual Core T3500 2.1GHz
3GB RAM
320GB HDD
15.6" TFT,Webcam
DVD Writer,HDMI
Free Webroot Internet Security + Free Carry Case
Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit

 

[whacky]

Have you considered a tablet? My wife purchased an Advent Vega and is very pleased with it.

If it's aimed at school/homework it's perhaps not the best idea.

 

[Dibs-h]

Its my 11 year old sons birthday soon and we want to get him a laptop around £300 I suppose. I thought Dell as we have aways had Dell desktops but apparently Dell laptops are not all that.

Anyone recommend any other good ones ?

Our 9 yr old - even when he's somewhat older, will always have to use the desktop\s in the living room\s. For the simple reason that whatever he is doing online must be in plain site of me or his mother. So whilst we could buy him a laptop - not willing to.

Dibs

p.s. I was in the market for a laptop - and bought a used IBM X60s Dual core for £130. Whatever you get - find out how much a new battery costs!

 

[Steve Jones]

I had a Dell laptop bought me 3 years ago, excellent machine not a bit of trouble.

Steve

 

[jameslee30]

I have a dell and have had no problems. Battery isnt great though but has never bothered me.

I got mine from the dell outlet (google it but make sure its the uk one). I got a 900quid laptop for just over 500. Most of them are customer returns, but the most they may ever have is a cosmetic scratch. all machines are in full working order with a years warranty (extendable if your willing to pay).

Hope this helps, James.

 

[OPJ]

I've been using an Acer Aspire 5741-A since Christmas. No idea what they cost new (they were on sale in Argos, at the time) but it really is great for the money. I only really use it for the internet (if only my mobile broadband connection was better! ...That's Three's problem! ;-)). Haven't tried doing much gaming or anything else on it.

I have only recently started having some slight issues with the battery, in the sense that, where it used to charge up to 100%, it now seems to stop charging at around 80%. As the laptop is still well within its warranty though, I suspect this is something I may be able to resolve quite simply (I've never short-charged or anything like that).

A full charge can last a good three-hours, depending on what you're doing (ie. the system will have to work harder to display videos and images, etc.).

 

[Protoclown]

Nowt wrong with Dell,
http://www.dabs.com/products/dell-inspi ... ntent=TB00

 

[WorkmateTom]

HP should be considered before making a decision.I have found them very reliable over more than 15 years use. Also, I would like to ask chippy1970 about his Father's involvement with the Workmate - if that is possible.

 

[Pvt_Ryan]

Dell is what I would generally recommend.

but try laptopsdirect.co.uk they are pretty reasonable for pricing and specs.

 

[chippy1970]

HP should be considered before making a decision.I have found them very reliable over more than 15 years use. Also, I would like to ask chippy1970 about his Father's involvement with the Workmate - if that is possible.

No worries all I know really is that my dad had his own engineering company years ago I think it was based in Acton west London . He said a guy came in with plans for the workmate and asked my dad to make the prototype for him.

My dad retired years ago now he's 81 now. Another one of his claims to fame was the round tea bag lol. Before retiring he worked for tetley as a project manager where he helped design the first machines to make round tea bags. He has various patents under his name for parts of the machines he designed and built. He then travelled the world overseeing the fitting of these machines in India , Australia, America etc etc .

 

[chippy1970]

Have a look at ebuyer, they have an Acer Aspire 5336 for under £260

LaptopIntel Celeron Dual Core T3500 2.1GHz
3GB RAM
320GB HDD
15.6" TFT,Webcam
DVD Writer,HDMI
Free Webroot Internet Security + Free Carry Case
Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit

Cheers Paul we went for this one in the end its cheap enough that we can give it a shot and not worry if its crap which Im sure it wont be. I noticed its about £100 cheaper than most places Ive seen this model.

Chris

 

[chippy1970]

The Aspire turned up yesterday , its my boys birthday tomorrow so when we open it all up tomorrow I can let you know what I think of it in case anyone else is thinking of buying one.

 

[Ironballs]

Battery on the Acer I'm typing from now lasted approx 6 months before dying. Used most days

 

[Chems]

Yeah who ever told you that Dell wasn't all that is another person who doesn't know what they are talking about. Walk into any office in the world and see what they are using. They aren't the best on the market but they certainly are the ford of computers. Bought 3 dell laptops in the past few years for different people (sisters etc) and all going strong.

Buy an Acer is equivalent to chucking your money down the drain.

Checkout the Dell Outlet, its PC and laptops spec'ed online and then cancelled, or with scratch and dent, I've had 2 scratch and dent laptops and could never find the scratch or dent!

http://www.dell.com/uk/dfh/p/laptops?c= ... redirect=1

Bought my dad his desktop from there last year, it was a refurb I think, just the tower unit. It was £460 the same model from the main dell shop was £800 so some good savings to be made. My current computer is a dell outlet too and had it for about 2 years also going well.

 

[knappers]

As someone that supports laptops for a living, I agree. I keep getting users bring their home Acer laptops to me to sort out, and I have to say they are pretty rubbish. Dell are pretty good, and Toshiba used to be okay, but HP still do it for me. Don't even mention Advent!! Most of our service engineers are pretty hard on their laptops, and the HPs last reasonably well. Panasonic tough books last forever, but are just too expensive.

Si

 

[chippy1970]

Cheers guys there's nothing like warning me after I've bought it :roll:
Where were you lot when I posted last week ?

Any way to be honest it looks a good laptop for the money can't expect too much for £260 can you

 

[gregmcateer]

I use a Toshiba Sat Pro, which has been solid, if a bit slow, and as most laptops, got a sh~@ battery. I got the Missus an Acer 7 thousand and something last year and it goes like greased lightning - no complaints, except she and the kids hog it - think I'll go out to the garage and tinker with MY tools!
Greg

 

[Chems]

Where ever you bought it from just take it on back!

 

[andycktm]

I bought an acer(5810t) for my son xmas 2009,i don't think its been off yet youtube etc.
Still 100% battery the lot i guess some people are just unlucky!