Laptop under €450

tinofapples

Hey lads and lassies,
I'm finally in the market for a new laptop to replace my Dell Inspiron 1720 which is well due it's time in the knackers yard. Usage is very basic really, just general home usage with a possibility of running the odd game (Although that doesn't happen much anymore, not even FM).

• Web Browsing
• DVD/Media playback
• Hooking up to Projector/TV

Would have liked to stay below €400 but had a browse in DID today and was told about this one which I might stretch to:

http://www.did.ie/toshiba-satellite-8gb-1tb-laptop-l50-b-1ur-prd

Have any of you seen/heard of anything on a par pricewise or less and a better machine ? Or alternatively have any of you any knowledge/reviews of this machine ?

Many thanks.

djburchgrove

Right first of all buy online.

DID, Harvey Norman, PC World, Power City are all going to rip you off.

Secondly, don't be afraid to buy re-furbished to save even more money, or from Amazon Warehouse Deals.

For your money you should be able to get a generation 4 i5 processor if you shop around.

Don't bother with gimmicks like touchscreen, Ive had it on mine for a year and maybe found it useful once .

I'd recommend a 13" screen, best of both worlds in terms of viewability and portability.

If you join Dell VIP club you will save 10% on Dell.ie too.

You could pick up an Acer E5-571/2 around that price.

Ebay.co.uk deals section usually has some good refurbished offers, however with the Sterling/Euro Rate these days you'd probably be better off looking at the Warehouse section of amazon.de.

Anything sold and shipped by Amazon themselves will deliver to Ireland for about a tenner. Just make sure its a UK version laptop as some will have a german layout keyboard. AZERTY rather than QWERTY.

tinofapples

djburchgrove wrote: »

Right first of all buy online.

DID, Harvey Norman, PC World, Power City are all going to rip you off.

Secondly, don't be afraid to buy re-furbished to save even more money, or from Amazon Warehouse Deals.

For your money you should be able to get a generation 4 i5 processor if you shop around.

Don't bother with gimmicks like touchscreen, Ive had it on mine for a year and maybe found it useful once .

I'd recommend a 13" screen, best of both worlds in terms of viewability and portability.

If you join Dell VIP club you will save 10% on Dell.ie too.

You could pick up an Acer E5-571/2 around that price.

Ebay.co.uk deals section usually has some good refurbished offers, however with the Sterling/Euro Rate these days you'd probably be better off looking at the Warehouse section of amazon.de.

Anything sold and shipped by Amazon themselves will deliver to Ireland for about a tenner. Just make sure its a UK version laptop as some will have a german layout keyboard. AZERTY rather than QWERTY.

Thanks for reading and your input. Touchscreen doesn't interest me at all. Most of the time my current laptop is hooked up to either a tv or projector wireless keyboard and mouse.

I'll take your recommendations on board and have a longer look online today. I was on Dell last night for awhile, is the VIP club a simple registration process ?

djburchgrove

tinofapples wrote: »

Thanks for reading and your input. Touchscreen doesn't interest me at all. Most of the time my current laptop is hooked up to either a tv or projector wireless keyboard and mouse.

I'll take your recommendations on board and have a longer look online today. I was on Dell last night for awhile, is the VIP club a simple registration process ?

Yes, just lash it into Google and it should be found easy enough.

beauf

I've an old 17" and I'd really miss the large screen. Depends how portable it needs to be.

tinofapples

beauf wrote: »

I've an old 17" and I'd really miss the large screen. Depends how portable it needs to be.

I wouldn't buy 17" again tbh, it kinda goes against what a laptop should be. Most of the time I'm at home the laptop is hooked up to either a tv or projector so the physical size of the screen isn't as important although I wouldn't go too small as I used a samsung netbook previously and the screen was too small.

amazon.de is not easy navigate even with google translate.

beauf

For me a 17 works perfectly. It's a portable workstation I can set up in any room.

Everyone is going to have different needs. For portable use I like a 14". We've a 13" and while fine for light use, I wouldn't like it for longer periods or work.

djburchgrove

tinofapples wrote: »

I wouldn't buy 17" again tbh, it kinda goes against what a laptop should be. Most of the time I'm at home the laptop is hooked up to either a tv or projector so the physical size of the screen isn't as important although I wouldn't go too small as I used a samsung netbook previously and the screen was too small.

amazon.de is not easy navigate even with google translate.

Do your product searching on Amazon UK. set a budget of around 400 sterling and see if you can get it on the .de website for withing your price range.

Furzy

djburchgrove wrote: »

Right first of all buy online.

DID, Harvey Norman, PC World, Power City are all going to rip you off.

Secondly, don't be afraid to buy re-furbished to save even more money, or from Amazon Warehouse Deals.

For your money you should be able to get a generation 4 i5 processor if you shop around.

Don't bother with gimmicks like touchscreen, Ive had it on mine for a year and maybe found it useful once .

I'd recommend a 13" screen, best of both worlds in terms of viewability and portability.

If you join Dell VIP club you will save 10% on Dell.ie too.

You could pick up an Acer E5-571/2 around that price.

Ebay.co.uk deals section usually has some good refurbished offers, however with the Sterling/Euro Rate these days you'd probably be better off looking at the Warehouse section of amazon.de.

Anything sold and shipped by Amazon themselves will deliver to Ireland for about a tenner. Just make sure its a UK version laptop as some will have a german layout keyboard. AZERTY rather than QWERTY.

I'd second this - esp re the 4th gen i5 - you should also consider Adverts.ie - should pick up a fairly new one for €400 or under. The feedback serves as a useful indicator about the sort of person selling. I've bought and sold several laptops there and never had any problems.

tinofapples

I'm not so sure I can get a better deal online than this machine :

• 8GB RAM
• 1TB HD
• Intel Pentium N3540 processor 2.1 GHz

for €419.99

djburchgrove

that's the biggest rip off ive ever seen.

the processor in your phone is more powerful than a Pentium.

croo

djburchgrove wrote: »

the processor in your phone is more powerful than a Pentium.

A 1990s pentium maybe but this is a fairly recent quad core chip.
http://cpuboss.com/cpus/Intel-Pentium-N3540-vs-Intel-Core-i5-4200U
Enough power for an average user I would have thought

lostinstereo

Argos is generally very good for cheap laptops.

I got a Toshiba C50-B-13N (I would post a link but boards won't let me because I'm a new(?) user) for Christmas and its still on offer now.


Its worked perfectly for me so far. No complaints at all !

tinofapples

djburchgrove wrote: »

that's the biggest rip off ive ever seen.

the processor in your phone is more powerful than a Pentium.

I've been looking around and can't find anything better taking into account ram, hd and processor , point me in direction of something better spec'ed ??

Argos offerings perhaps :

http://www.argos.ie/static/Product/partNumber/2492898/c_1/1%7Ccategory_root%7COffice%2C+PCs+and+phones%7C14418968/c_2/3%7C19780850%7CLaptops+and+netbooks%7C14419039/c_3/4%7Ccat_14419039%7CLaptops%7C14419040.htm

http://www.argos.ie/static/Product/partNumber/2487157/c_1/1%7Ccategory_root%7COffice%2C+PCs+and+phones%7C14418968/c_2/3%7C19780850%7CLaptops+and+netbooks%7C14419039/c_3/4%7Ccat_14419039%7CLaptops%7C14419040.htm

beauf

djburchgrove wrote: »

that's the biggest rip off ive ever seen.

the processor in your phone is more powerful than a Pentium.

Theres lots of different types of pentiums.

croo wrote: »

A 1990s pentium maybe but this is a fairly recent quad core chip.
http://cpuboss.com/cpus/Intel-Pentium-N3540-vs-Intel-Core-i5-4200U
Enough power for an average user I would have thought

That particular one is the latest one of the atom family. As you say its got decent ommff. Enough for most things.

But its not a cut down i3 that some of them are. Thats a different family. Modern Pentiums can be decent, depending which one you get.

I wish Intel wouldn't confuse their product lines with their naming.

Furzy

tinofapples wrote: »

I've been looking around and can't find anything better taking into account ram, hd and processor , point me in direction of something better spec'ed ??

Argos offerings perhaps :

http://www.argos.ie/static/Product/partNumber/2492898/c_1/1%7Ccategory_root%7COffice%2C+PCs+and+phones%7C14418968/c_2/3%7C19780850%7CLaptops+and+netbooks%7C14419039/c_3/4%7Ccat_14419039%7CLaptops%7C14419040.htm

http://www.argos.ie/static/Product/partNumber/2487157/c_1/1%7Ccategory_root%7COffice%2C+PCs+and+phones%7C14418968/c_2/3%7C19780850%7CLaptops+and+netbooks%7C14419039/c_3/4%7Ccat_14419039%7CLaptops%7C14419040.htm

Gosh that Acer @ €326 looks like a great deal - I'd snap it up right away - can't see you doing any better that that for a new laptop.

tinofapples

Furzy wrote: »

Gosh that Acer @ €326 looks like a great deal - I'd snap it up right away - can't see you doing any better that that for a new laptop.

It does look the best value out there but not stocked in any location near me :mad:

ssmith6287

Youll find that with argos. Its almost like theyre trying to sabotage the competition. I remember a few years ago they were advertising macbooks for €200 below Apples RRP, not one to be found in the country though. But people would go into the other shops see them for €200 dearer and think theyre a rip off

beauf

I think they know people watch the price trackers. So they play with the prices to attract people.

tinofapples

Any Argos stores I checked hadn't either of them in stock.

Intifada

Not sure if I should hijack this thread or make a similar one....

I'm looking for a replacement laptop after my diaster of an Acer that I paid loads for and looked after, broke for no reason. I would rather avoid that brand again but whatever is good value I suppose.

All I really want is an SSD, one large enough for Windows 7/8 and a few programs.

tinofapples

A very similar machine to the one I listed earlier on did.ie only a tenner cheaper:

http://www.argos.ie/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?storeId=10152&catalogId=14551&langId=111&productId=718806

tinofapples

tinofapples wrote: »

A very similar machine to the one I listed earlier on did.ie only a tenner cheaper:

http://www.argos.ie/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?storeId=10152&catalogId=14551&langId=111&productId=718806

I bought this machine last night €409 minus a One For All voucher for €30. For anyone else looking they also have a Lenovo machine priced at €379, I was tempted to opt for this one instore but stuck with the Toshiba.

http://www.argos.ie/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/Search?storeId=10152&catalogId=14551&langId=111&searchTerms=3384338&authToken=

Intifada

tinofapples wrote: »

I bought this machine last night €409 minus a One For All voucher for €30. For anyone else looking they also have a Lenovo machine priced at €379, I was tempted to opt for this one instore but stuck with the Toshiba.

http://www.argos.ie/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/Search?storeId=10152&catalogId=14551&langId=111&searchTerms=3384338&authToken=

I might be wrong but the processor is pretty poor on that one, no?

tinofapples

Intifada wrote: »

I might be wrong but the processor is pretty poor on that one, no?

Pretty poor in comparison to what ? An i3 or i5 ? Perhaps, but everything is relative $$$$$$

Intifada

tinofapples wrote: »

Pretty poor in comparison to what ? An i3 or i5 ? Perhaps, but everything is relative $$$$$$

Well yeah. Even the i3 is pretty dated. The laptop I bought 3 years ago has an i5.

beauf

It's not cheaper than an i3 though.

Intifada

beauf wrote: »

It's not cheaper than an i3 though.

Here's one that works out at €393
http://www.saveonlaptops.co.uk/PSSG0E-024001EN-Toshiba-Satellite-Pro-R50-B-12X_1663721.html

tinofapples

Intifada wrote: »

Here's one that works out at €393
http://www.saveonlaptops.co.uk/PSSG0E-024001EN-Toshiba-Satellite-Pro-R50-B-12X_1663721.html

Thanks for suggestions, after the "horse has bolted" :rolleyes:

4GB DDR3 RAM
500GB HDD

Intifada

tinofapples wrote: »

Thanks for suggestions, after the "horse has bolted" :rolleyes:

The threads are the for everyone to read and don't cease to become relevant once the OP has made their purchase.

I think a rubbish CPU will be a far more significant bottleneck than 4gb of RAM or half a terabyte of HDD space - both of which can be upgraded at relatively little cost or hassle compared to a CPU.

beauf

Intifada wrote: »

Well yeah. Even the i3 is pretty dated. The laptop I bought 3 years ago has an i5.

Not with you. They bring out a new i3, i5, i7 every year. You might find a new i3 is faster than a old i5. There are also low power versions as well as normal versions. Pretty much impossible to compare them unless you compare benchmarks from a decent site.

Same with atoms celerons and Pentiums so many versions you'd have to do done research to know what performance they are. Some are brilliant for battery life.