Getting a laptop pretty soon...

mrapoc · May 27, 2007, 14:41:46

Any of you spot any good deals on here? http://www.play.com/PC/PCs/-/654/861/3-/RegionHome.html?searchtype=genre

I'm after a laptop that is really good performance (hell even capable of playing games) but the deals are really what i'm after if you understand. I want to stretch my budget as far as possible...£500 being around my max. If a Core2Duo lappy with 1gb+ ram (2gb if theres an awesome deal) comes into my price range that would be my ideal choice - storage isnt really an issue as I have an external. Know any other good deals about?

Thanks

Sorry my writing is a bit "wtf" but im a bit hungover

Rik · May 27, 2007, 17:42:18

Misco email me offers most days, I'll keep my eyes open.

Tanzanite · May 27, 2007, 18:52:25

Not sure how you feel about vista but how about this one? Here

RobMc · May 27, 2007, 19:03:42

I notice that this laptop comes with Vista Home Basic. I'd seriously suggest considering Home Premium as a more full product, but at the price it's hard to beat.

Rob.

Tanzanite · May 27, 2007, 19:04:45

Or This one?

Or this one

mrapoc · May 27, 2007, 23:30:22

Woah nice deals. How do you reckon they'll game like? Will there be any in the 2gb range sneaking in you reckon? Just need an awesome deal that I know will last as i dont like buying/selling in short periods of time. If its gonna have vista, may as well be home premium yeah. Thanks for the ideas, keep them coming and ill look through and weigh my options

Gilba · May 27, 2007, 23:50:15

I had a quick look at Play and found three that seem quite good to what you want.

A HP one, Toshiba and for an extra £20 a Samsung.

But if your to bothered about Dell have a look, they have some good Core2Duo deals in your price range that come with either XP or Vista.

Tanzanite · May 28, 2007, 09:31:11

I have a more expensive laptop but the graphics are an Nvidia and only 128mb but it's not shared (Personally I prefer Nvdia over anything else). It's enough to play fairly recent games such as the Sims 2 which is very heavy on graphics use. You'd probably be fine if it's 256mb graphics shared but it's debatable whether it would play any new games coming out in the future, may end up being a choppy picture.

I did hear something about in the near future laptops are going to have better graphics cards to be able to play all all the games coming out in the future but depends whether you want to wait or not.

Also, don't worry too much about getting one with 2GB memory. The prices came down recently. As long as there's space for it, it's easy to buy another 1GB youself and fit it. Depending what type of mem you need, I think they're around £40 now instead of £100 which is was at the beginning of the year and you may even get it cheaper on Ebay.

I have a 1GB mem that's going spare which I'd like to sell for about £30. Give us a shout when you've bought it and I can tell you which one it is.

There is this one but more money. Probably go down in price if you wait a bit. Definitely worth it for the graphics which are pretty much the top end of what you can get in a laptop at the moment.

mrapoc · May 28, 2007, 09:53:21

ooo I do like that lappy!! What makes you think its going down in price?

Thats a very nice system lol. The reason I want to be able to game is I'm not allowed my pc in my room...so ill want to watch my films off my external (nice screen!?) plus when I get bored play a bit I suppose.

Tanzanite · May 28, 2007, 10:31:50

They all go down in price. Mine went down £100 a week after I bought it! lol I got it £300 cheaper than it was meant to be as well.
I think I'd go for that more expensive one if you can. Keep an eye on it to see if the price changes.
Some people think Acer's aren't so good but my son has one and it's excellent. If I'm honest with myself , it's better than my Sony lol

RobMc · May 28, 2007, 11:24:47

I bought an Acer Aspire 5610z back in February and I've been very pleased with it. It has the 15.4" TFT CrystalBrite (1200x800) screen which is a delight to view. I didn't buy it to play games so I can't really comment on how good it would be for that.

One word of caution, and this isn't limited to Acer, when reading the small print you may find that laptops with 1GB or more of ram often use both memory slots. This is something to consider if you think you might need more memory in future.

Rob.

Dolph146 · May 28, 2007, 13:53:34

you like that laptop, here it is much cheaper
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ACER-ASPIRE-5633WLMi-LAPTOP-CORE2DUO-1-66GHZ-1GB-DVD-RW_W0QQitemZ120124871520QQihZ002QQcategoryZ177QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

id trust the seller considering hes a powerseller with the tons of feedback. IMO id much rather buy a laptop off eBay ( from reputable seller of course ) as you get way more bang for your buck

although some people arn't comfortable, your choice though.

Tanzanite · May 28, 2007, 14:52:13

That's not actually the same laptop, less memory, worse graphics card etc.

mrapoc · May 28, 2007, 15:02:18

I would be a lot more comfortable with the extra ram for futureproofing plus the better graphics set so im not limited to just work and no play.

Thats a nice looking lappy, just need it to drop in time for my birthday lol

Any others similiar to that around? It even has a pci-e gfx interface

Inactive · May 28, 2007, 15:20:23

Quote from: Dolph146 on May 28, 2007, 13:53:34
you like that laptop, here it is much cheaper
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ACER-ASPIRE-5633WLMi-LAPTOP-CORE2DUO-1-66GHZ-1GB-DVD-RW_W0QQitemZ120124871520QQihZ002QQcategoryZ177QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

id trust the seller considering hes a powerseller with the tons of feedback. IMO id much rather buy a laptop off eBay ( from reputable seller of course ) as you get way more bang for your buck although some people arn't comfortable, your choice though.

No VAT at the listed price, VAT extra, and delivery charge looks a bit OTT to me.

To each his / her own, as they say.

Tanzanite · May 28, 2007, 15:21:52

I'd never buy a laptop from ebay, no matter how good the feedback. I wouldn't buy any electrical item from there full stop. But that's just my opinion lol

mrapoc · May 28, 2007, 15:33:12

Lol, no to ebay personally, as i'd want a guarenteed warranty etc.

Its mainly for long lasting (throughout college) and so i can do stuff upstairs in my bedroom (watch films etc.) as my parents wont let me have the main pc in my room as i'd be gaming all day

So as long as the laptop lasts - anythin else it can do is a bonus for me...I could play cnc3 all night . The 2gb of ram is really what I'm after as ram is pretty crucial for laptops imo as the cpu isnt as high clocked and the lack of decent gfx cards etc.

So that laptop seems the choice atm, hopefully itll be around £500 come july

Inactive · May 28, 2007, 15:54:03

Quote from: Tanzanite on May 28, 2007, 15:21:52
I'd never buy a laptop from ebay, no matter how good the feedback. I wouldn't buy any electrical item from there full stop. But that's just my opinion lol

I only buy electrical items under £25/£30 on eBay, I wouldn't risk any more than that.

The seller of the listed laptop does not even offer a year warranty on it, just leaves it the manufacturer, which is actually illegal for a VAT Registered business.

I certainly wouldn't even consider buying anything of that value from eBay, even if the seller is reputable.

Dolph146 · May 28, 2007, 17:50:01

thats just ignorant not buying anything off eBay. But each to their own, you just need a good head on your shoulders to buy off eBay.

Tanzanite · May 28, 2007, 17:52:05

We weren't talking about 'anything', just electrical/laptops/high value items

I have been selling and buying from ebay for years.

Rik · May 28, 2007, 18:25:39

Quote from: Dolph146 on May 28, 2007, 17:50:01
thats just ignorant not buying anything off eBay. But each to their own, you just need a good head on your shoulders to buy off eBay.

It's not terribly polite to call people ignorant for making a decision you don't agree with, perhaps you might choose your words a little more carefully in future please.

There have been many well documented cases of people being scammed on eBay, like Inactive, I would err on the side of caution with a major purchase, but as you say "each to their own".

Dolph146 · May 28, 2007, 18:55:27

i apologise if its not polite, its not meant in an offensive way just a true fact. One shouldn't just write something off because *some* people arn't as adept as others at using a service.

Rik · May 28, 2007, 19:02:29

It's up to individuals to make their own judgement calls about buying from places like eBay. Taking a different point of view to you does not make them ignorant, it merely indicates that they have had different experiences to you.

I am very security concious and have been taking steps to protect myself against ID theft for many years - as long as I've been using online banking, since 1986. I shred everything mildly sensitive, I never reveal details in ways I shouldn't, but I've still had one instance of credit card fraud and one of someone using my Amazon account to buy goods from a private seller, paying with another person's card in the past six months.

If some of us are more cautious than you, it may just reflect that we've been bitten along the way.

Inactive · May 29, 2007, 00:12:30

Quote from: Dolph146 on May 28, 2007, 17:50:01
thats just ignorant not buying anything off eBay. But each to their own, you just need a good head on your shoulders to buy off eBay.

Dolph, for your information, I did not say that I wouldn't buy" anything ", I stated clearly that I wouldn't buy high value items such as laptops.

You implied that I didn't have a " good head " on my shoulders to buy from eBay, well I have been buying and selling on eBay since 2001, without any major problem.

You stated that I was " ignorant " for not buying such items.

Rest assured .. I am very far from ignorant when it comes to buying or selling, I evaluate the whole purchase, including risk, total cost, warranty, returns policy, etc.

Your quoted seller charged an excessive delivery charge, did not include VAT and did not give a sellers guarantee.

We all buy / sell based on different values, please do not call others ignorant because they have different standards to your own, it is rude and unwelcome.

MoHux · May 29, 2007, 09:35:24

Quote from: inactive......... Your quoted seller charged an excessive delivery charge, did not include VAT and did not give a sellers guarantee.

Enough to make most people think twice I reckon!!

Plus matching graphics card and operating system alone would make the prices comparable. But I know which build I would trust most.

Lance · May 29, 2007, 09:42:58

I also would not consider buying anything of high value on eBay, for many of the reasons given by others already.

I am more than happy buying low value items, and indeed have been for many years.

Dolph146 · May 29, 2007, 10:41:49

Quote from: Inactive on May 29, 2007, 00:12:30
Dolph, for your information, I did not say that I wouldn't buy" anything ", I stated clearly that I wouldn't buy high value items such as laptops.

You implied that I didn't have a " good head " on my shoulders to buy from eBay, well I have been buying and selling on eBay since 2001, without any major problem.

You stated that I was " ignorant " for not buying such items.

Rest assured .. I am very far from ignorant when it comes to buying or selling, I evaluate the whole purchase, including risk, total cost, warranty, returns policy, etc.

Your quoted seller charged an excessive delivery charge, did not include VAT and did not give a sellers guarantee.

We all buy / sell based on different values, please do not call others ignorant because they have different standards to your own, it is rude and unwelcome.

in the auction description it states VAT will be added onto final price, is that so hard to understand? And laptopsdirect is probably more untrustworthy than the seller on eBay. At least he has lots of feedback and laptopsdirect are terrible, please read http://www.reviewcentre.com/reviews61649.html

great website tanz gave there!

Tanzanite · May 29, 2007, 10:45:49

I bought mine from laptops direct. No problems here.

Tanzanite · May 29, 2007, 11:02:36

Here you go then, same laptop, different shop here

and here

and numerous other places...

Lance · May 29, 2007, 11:04:48

I used to use a Acer laptop at work... Had no problems with it and the build quality was fine. Certainly wouldn't hesitate buying one for personal use.

Rik · May 29, 2007, 11:06:02

Mine has been fine, and a lot better than the Evesham one, only criticism I have is poor battery life (2 hours), but I don't use it on battery that much so...

Inactive · May 29, 2007, 11:18:03

Quote from: Dolph146 on May 29, 2007, 10:41:49
in the auction description it states VAT will be added onto final price, is that so hard to understand?

Dolph, you would clearly be happy to spend that amount of money with an eBay seller, that is fine, clearly nobody else on here would.

This is a link to the sellers own website, hardly inspiring stuff...gives a mobile phone number only.

http://www.tronec.co.uk/payme.htm

27 negs at eBay in 12 months, and lots of neutrals is hardly confidence inspiring either.

Now we have all given our own valid reasons why we don't share your confidence in buying high value items from eBay.

Is that so hard to understand?

Tanzanite · May 29, 2007, 11:35:45

Lance · May 29, 2007, 11:36:29

LOL

Rik · May 29, 2007, 13:09:51

Hey, Eve, who let you at the staff stationery cupboard?

Tanzanite · May 29, 2007, 13:12:42

lol

Inactive · May 29, 2007, 13:33:09

Tanzanite · May 29, 2007, 13:34:48

You forgot this one

Rik · May 29, 2007, 13:37:13

Tanzanite · May 29, 2007, 13:42:09

this one could have been useful a little earlier

Inactive · May 29, 2007, 13:44:08

Quote from: Tanzanite on May 29, 2007, 13:42:09
[

this one could have been useful a little earlier

Indeed.