what laptop to buy?

[gucciman]

our daughter is nagging for a laptop for her xmas present. money is tight this year so we dont want to spend a fortune. i can see 2 options

1 - buy her a �399 bottom of range laptop that pc world and woolies regularly advertise.

2 - buy a used one off ebay, therefore possibly getting a higher spec machine than a �399 new one for less money

what are you thoughts? any suggestions? thanks

[vehelpfulguy]

I personally would not buy a second hand one. Anything could have happened to it and you have no comeback if it goes wrong.

For 400 pounds your can but a fairly decent notebook, try the Dell site, you can get one there for that price.

http://www1.euro.dell.com/content/products/cat egory.aspx/notebooks?c=uk&cs=ukdhs1&l=en&s=dhs

[Ethel]

Definitely the new one.

The Medion that Woolworths is currently selling is more than good enough.

My medion pc is nearly 4 years old and has been absolutely trouble free.

I would not recommend buying a used laptop.

[dodgyshirt]

The problem with Medion laptops is that if something does go wrong, such as a CPU failure, the repair will cost a lot more than other makes and can even involve it being sent back to Germany..
The Packard Bell one from Currys looks good but look around for other deals such as this one
http://www.technoworld.com/productdisplay.asp? ProductID=41672
Whatever you decide, make sure that it has at least 512mb of RAM as all laptops at the lower end of the market have shared graphics which require a portion of this.
256mb will not leave enough spare to cope with XP adequately.

[fo3nix]

Have a look at these:
http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/nbrange.htm l?RVF

The "pro" one (slightly more expensive) is a good little laptop. I think you'll be hard pushed to find one of similar spec on even dell's website for the same price, unless they have some special offer on.

I think they're based in Portsmouth. I have a friend with one, and has had no trouble with them at all.

[babydust]

go to pc world laptops start at �270

[dodgyshirt]

fo3nix, the drawback with Novatech's offerings is that their prices do not include an operating system which is an additional �57 meaning it is not such a bargain as it would first appear.
I have the greatest regard for Novatech products but this fact prevented me recommending it to someone on a tight budget.

[fo3nix]

Yes I realise this, but even when you factor that in, I still find them to be very competitive with dell.

[dodgyshirt]

No arguement there.

I'm not a fan of Dell.

[wendyl]

I bought a laptop for my grandaughter at the beginning of the year from Acer (direct) It has given no problems. More recently I purchased a similar one from them (Upgraded to 512 memory) Fast delivery and very helpful and prices still seem to be coming down