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Netbooks & cheap laptops

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    Netbooks & cheap laptops

    Subject to finding a new contract, I was thinking of buying ms doodab a netbook or cheap laptop to stop her grabbing my laptop all the time. Something reasonably small and light that she can use for internet / facebook / email / basic word and excel type stuff.

    Anyway, the other day I saw a 2nd hand lenovo thinkpad in a shop, so I checked ebay to see if the price was fair (it wasn't) and now I'm thinking of buying her a 2nd hand thinkpad X200 or X61, which are pretty cheap i.e. around £350 for an X200 or X200s or half that for the older generation X61.

    Something like this laptop on ebay would be ideal, as I have spare memory and HDD lying around to upgrade it to decent spec, and that would give her a quality lightweight laptop with a proper keyboard. Even if I have to stump up £100 for a new battery I think that makes more sense than spending the same sort of money on a brand new netbook or £4-500 on a low end laptop. Would you agree?
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    #2
    Personally I'd rather have a warranty, laptops just die and they aren't as easy to fix as desktops.

    You can get a dual core with W7 from eBuyer for £250, good enough for surfing the net and doing a bit office work.
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      #3
      Originally posted by gingerjedi View Post
      Personally I'd rather have a warranty, laptops just die and they aren't as easy to fix as desktops.

      You can get a dual core with W7 from eBuyer for £250, good enough for surfing the net and doing a bit office work.
      Indeed, I bought a 15.6" Asus with Win 7 64 bit and dual core processor for £239 recently.
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        #4
        What will she be using it for? If its just surfing the web, then I would look into getting her a netbook.

        In the last few weeks, there have been quite a few cheap ones that have come up on Hot UK Deals.

        For example, a Samsung N150 for £110. Alternatively, Argos are currently selling a Sony VAIO M Series for£200.

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          #5
          Originally posted by gingerjedi View Post
          Personally I'd rather have a warranty, laptops just die and they aren't as easy to fix as desktops.

          You can get a dual core with W7 from eBuyer for £250, good enough for surfing the net and doing a bit office work.
          I'm not seeing anything small and light on there at that price though, those are all 2.5kg+ 15.6" jobs.

          Good point about the warranty, although TBH I am more inclined to trust a 2nd hand Lenovo than a cheap box that only comes with a 1 yr warranty anyway. I think they might even sell you a new warranty for a price.
          Last edited by doodab; 9 July 2011, 12:57.
          While you're waiting, read the free novel we sent you. It's a Spanish story about a guy named 'Manual.'

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            #6
            Originally posted by Clippy View Post
            What will she be using it for? If its just surfing the web, then I would look into getting her a netbook.
            Internet and office docs mostly. Perhaps a bit of photo editing. It is likely to get carried around and actually used as a portable though, which is why I'm not really looking at 15" ones.
            While you're waiting, read the free novel we sent you. It's a Spanish story about a guy named 'Manual.'

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              #7
              Originally posted by doodab View Post
              Internet and office docs mostly. Perhaps a bit of photo editing. It is likely to get carried around and actually used as a portable though, which is why I'm not really looking at 15" ones.
              In which case, perhaps a CULV based, 13"/14" laptop would be more appropriate.

              Currys have some Samsungs on their eBay clearance shop which might fit the bill.

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                #8
                Netbooks used to be constrained to a maximum resolution of 1024x600* so if considering those check it's a newer specced one as 600 vertical pixels is tulip for browsing and other things, unless you like to scroll up and down lots.


                * by Intel (if using their Atom chip) and by Windows (if using their XP, leading some vendors (e.g. HP) to use Vista instead, on a 1gb netbook with a granny-slow cpu )
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                  #9
                  Originally posted by PAH View Post
                  Netbooks used to be constrained to a maximum resolution of 1024x600* so if considering those check it's a newer specced one as 600 vertical pixels is tulip for browsing and other things, unless you like to scroll up and down lots.
                  Netbook screens are tulip for browsing or reading anything anyway.

                  The other day, permie Boss was showing us the Acer i3 15" laptop he's just bought for his wife for <£400. I was quite impressed, certainly not a brick like my old Dell but thin and light enough to really be portable. Netbooks were only for posers, and they don't even make sense for that now in the post iPad world.
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                    #10
                    Originally posted by VectraMan View Post
                    Netbook screens are tulip for browsing or reading anything anyway.

                    The other day, permie Boss was showing us the Acer i3 15" laptop he's just bought for his wife for <£400. I was quite impressed, certainly not a brick like my old Dell but thin and light enough to really be portable. Netbooks were only for posers, and they don't even make sense for that now in the post iPad world.
                    A little unfair, I think.

                    Netbooks pre-dated smartphones and (current) tablets and really allowed people to access the web whilst away from home.

                    The original concept of a stripped down machine for a small price got stretched by the major manufacturers to enable them to charge more and increase their margins but also made consumers question buying one when they could buy a 15" machine for not much more.

                    Agreed that, with the increase in tablets, the role of the netbook is falling into question but I still think there is a role for a machine that allows you to quickly access the web for a quick browse/burst of information and only costs £100 - £120.

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