Anybody know where to get cheap laptops from

[BoredBloke]

Because I'm supposed to know about all things IT - when compared to some of my mates, around this time of year I usually get asked to find laptops and PC's at knock down prices. The sort of 'we want state of the art' but will only pay state of the ark prices.

So I have been asked to find a good laptop at less than £500 all in - anybody know one. Not keen on the Ebay route incase the kit goes pear shaped. It is for a kid to do homework on and surf the net.

Any ideas?

[MarillionFan]

Dodgy Jeff normally knocks 'em out at my pub for £200 this time of year. No questions asked y'here.

[malvolio]

Tesco?

Seriously, they do a cooking model with XP, 40Gb disk and basic spec for around £260, off the shelf... No use for a professional but more than good enough for hacking around with.

[PRC1964]

I've given up offering any advice other than buy a Dell.

If you give real advice, you'll get no thanks and they'll expect you to be on call for all their problems for the next 10 years.

[cojak]

If you give real advice, you'll get no thanks and they'll expect you to be on call for all their problems for the next 10 years.

Ooh - there's a story there....

[tacpot]

Laptops Direct?

www.laptopsdirect.co.uk.

I bought an Acer laptop from laptops direct and was happy with the service. They are also offering a cut-price Vodafone 3G card. I got mine free on the Pay-as-you-go tariff, but this offer has now ended; the card is now £49 but if this still includes £20 of credit, this is worth thinking about.

tp

[DaveB]

Woolworths and Aldi both sell Medion boxes cheap. The spec is astounding and you wouldnt want to play Battlefied 2 or some such on it but for basic surfing and doing home work it would do just fine. I've had a Medion tower system for almost 5 years now and havnt had a problem with it so I'd say the reliability is ok too.

[hattra]

I recently bought an Acer from Comet for £399, with 512mb ram, 80gb disk & wi-fi. Not the world's faster CPU (only 1.7ghz), but ample reward for some decent GCSE results! Could probably have got it a bit cheaper elsewhere, but you do get the full retail guarantee & support bit. They had one cheaper (about £299) but without wi-fi & only 40gb disk. I think their cheapest dual core is around £499

[tim123]

You can get a basic Tosh from PC world for 399.

I know that don't want to buy there, but you ought to be able to get a similar deal from your favourite reseller.

tim

[AtW]

Dabs.com - a lot of brand laptops below £500.