basic laptop required

[bubbles4920]

can anyone please recommend a basic laptop that my father in law is looking to purchase. unfortunately where they live out in the wilds they have been told that they cant get broadband. so can i assume that he will need quite a high speed computer as he will be on dial up which is mega slow. im not sure what memory is the basic one, he will only be using it to look up info, skype us for free as we live abroad and check his banking online. he wont be storing photos etc.
someone suggested lidl but not sure if they have any offers on, i was also recommended woolworths for the medion brand but again not sure. i see online they have one that is 1.8 speed, thats better than mine yet its a basic price. any recommendations most welcome, thanks!

[spook]

if you mean mobile broadband, check all network providers for coverage areas. he is bound to get some kind of coverage, even if a little limited at present. however most networks are up grading to cover more areas. just do some investigation work on what network transmitter towers are closest.

i'm on three for mobile broadband and i live 20ft from the coast and on smaal island with an idustrial port. don't worry there will be some sort of network coverage wherever he is.

[spook]

ps. any laptop should do. but the more, the modern, would be ideal. especially any one fitted with WIFI capabilty built in for accessing the web on the move ei, on trains etc.

[bubbles4920]

my father in law has got a bt landline but apparently they cant get broadband through their telephone exchange. so he will have to have dialup with an isp.

[Ethel]

A fast computer won't make the data come down the line any quicker - and any new laptop will be equipped to deal with high speed broadband.

[bubbles4920]

thanks for all your answers so far, really need to give my father in law a spec to look for , any ideas. im not sure abou the ram etc, i only know about the speed. thanks!

[vehelpfulguy]

I guess the guide price for a basic laptop is about �399.

There was an advert in today's Daily Mail (Thursday Feb 7th) for a laptop from Tesco that looked OK.

Fujitsu Siemens Amilo Pi2515 at �399.

Intel Core 2 Duo CPU T5450.

2Gb of memory (which is very generous)

160Gb hard dive (which is pretty large)

Vista home Premium (most cheap laptops have Home Basic)

Catalogue number 203-0452

http://direct.tesco.com/q/R.203-0452.aspx

[bubbles4920]

thanks for your answers, very helpful, will relay info!