Is this a good laptop?

[Sark79]

I am looking for a cheap laptop, my current laptop is ready to die.  I keep getting error messages and virus alerts, even after I got it repaired by a computer expert last week.  I think it is just age to be honest as he said there was nothing much wrong with it when he checked it. I got it checked yesterday by a guy I know who is into computers and the bloody thing wouldn't even switch on. For the last couple of years since I bought it , it has been used for about 6 hours a day on average and sometimes more than that. So it has served its purpose and I got my use out of it.

I need a laptop that will allow me to go online and use my current belkin router.  I will only be using it for my favorite sites ( youtube, blonde, wikipedia, bbc news/sport , etc ) .  I also need to be able to play poker as well on stars/blonde/etc.  I don't want to spend anymore than about £350 - 400  as I really don't need anything powerful or high tech.

I have found this laptop.   Is it any good? .  I am hoping to get it sorted out today or tommorow before I need to go back to work.   I already have a microsoft word package for my current laptop,  will this be ok or will I need to buy a new package as this laptop is vista?

I can't see if it comes with a power supply anywhere on the specs,  is it standard for a laptop to come with a power supply? 

thanks

http://www.currys.co.uk/martprd/store/cur_page.jsp?BV_SessionID=@@@@1690485025.1183368661@@@@&BV_EngineID=ccekaddlgdeeggjcflgceggdhhmdgmj.0&page=Product&sku=773552

[byronkincaid]

i'm no expert mate but i think you might need more RAM. I may have a different version of Vista on my laptop i dunno but it eats up memory.

[AndrewT]

i'm no expert mate but i think you might need more RAM. I may have a different version of Vista on my laptop i dunno but it eats up memory.

Blimey, yeah - 512MB is just nothing for a Vista machine.

In fact, it's so woefully not enough it makes me wonder about how many corners are being cut on the machine.

Can you still buy Windows XP machines new, because I'd go for that ahead of Vista for a general poker/internet machine.

[Sark79]

Ok,  thanks I am glad I asked now.    I found a few XP laptops at PC world the other day, but they only had 40gb hard drives.

[Sark79]

http://www.acernotebooks.co.uk/Acer_Aspire_3693WLMi_Laptop_LX.AY70Y.036/version-1.asp

This laptop is similar to my current laptop, however it looks the same as the curries link about in terms of power? 

[AndrewT]

Go to the Dell website and look at their laptops. They offer a range of customisation so you can have a play with different amounts of RAM etc and see the difference in cost.

[LLevan]

I would suggest steering clear of Vista till at least next year by which time the bugs should have been sorted. As per Microsoft rushed Vista out on general release and the consumer is being used as the guinea pig. As for a laptop itself, personally I would steer clear of any Celeron processor as it is far inferior to any other processor currently on the market and you will find it works extremely slowly. For the money for the laptop you've linked you would be better off buying a 2nd user laptop as long as it came with a guarrantee of sorts. Thats my own 2 bobs worth and I know lots of people are put off by buying 2nd hand but there are plenty of good 2nd user laptops available, the majority arriving on the market from either corporate company upgrades or customer returns that are checked over and then resold with a warranty.

[Sark79]

ok  thanks guys,  I will take the suggestions on board

[Longines]

As others have said, Vista with 512MB is asking for trouble. It needs 1GB min, 2GB preferred.

In your price range I would be tempted either of these two:

Dell 6400 £434 delivered
Dual Core T2080, XP Home, 15.4" WXGA, 1GB RAM, 80GB HDD, DVDRW, WiFi

Dell 1501 £399 delivered
Sempron 3500+, XP Home, 15.4" WXGA, 1GB RAM, 120GB HDD, DVDRW, WiFi

[kinboshi]

Memory is very important.  I've got a laptop through work, and it's less than a year old (an IBM, which I wouldn't have chosen, but there you go).  I do a fair bit on it, and usually have 4 or 5 applications running on it at once.

It was taking ages to process stuff (especially when I was using a graphics package or Poker Tracker was running), and so I upgraded the memory to 2GB.  Instabenefits.  It longer hangs or crashes.  I can run as many pieces of software at once with no delays or other problems, and the world is now a much better place.

£25 for 1GB of RAM from crucial.com (for my machine).  Money very well spent.  If you go to crucial.com (make sure you're on the UK site), it can scan your system and will tell you how many spare slots you have and how you can upgrade.  It also makes sure you get the correct memory type for your computer, so it saves any hassles there.  Memory has come down in price a lot, and it's definitely one of the best and simplest upgrades you can do.

So, if you do have (or buy) a computer that's lacking a bit of RAM - don't be a crazy horse and spend a bit of your winnings on some additional memory (and don't forget).

[Sark79]

Ok, thanks for the help.  I am so pleased I didn't go and buy that machine now,  I was just about to  .   

[fearisthekey]

If you go to Ebay.co.uk and browse through the second hand laptops you will notice that a lot of them are 'clone' type laptops (Acer, IPC, EI, Advent) which have started developing nasty faults like screens not working, motherboards packing in, etc etc.
I would pay that little bit extra and get a 'name' like Dell or Toshiba.

ps. A lot of the big manufacturers like Dell now sell new units with the same warranty but at a discount, through Ebay.

[Irishdenis]

Hi ,

Just for your info if you buy a Dell box then only take the one year warranty that it comes with. After that or for upgrades let me know and I can tell you where to go.

[Bongo]

I would suggest steering clear of Vista till at least next year by which time the bugs should have been sorted. As per Microsoft rushed Vista out on general release and the consumer is being used as the guinea pig.

I am led to believe that it was used internally at MS as the main OS for a year before it was launched...

[Muahahahaha]

As others have said, Vista with 512MB is asking for trouble. It needs 1GB min, 2GB preferred.

In your price range I would be tempted either of these two:

Dell 6400 £434 delivered
Dual Core T2080, XP Home, 15.4" WXGA, 1GB RAM, 80GB HDD, DVDRW, WiFi

Dell 1501 £399 delivered
Sempron 3500+, XP Home, 15.4" WXGA, 1GB RAM, 120GB HDD, DVDRW, WiFi

The 6400 is soooooo worth the extra - and they'll still put xp on ( I think I paid £10, but I don't have any of the teething problems my girlfriends having on her new tower )