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Laptop under €450

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Comments

  • #32
    beauf
    Closed Accounts Posts: 22,648 ✭✭✭✭beauf


    Problem is they are selling some very low end laptops beside normal ones. No one is going to know the difference unless you've done your homework well.


  • #33
    ssmith6287
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,341 ✭✭✭ssmith6287


    After working in computer retail for a long time the i3,5, and 7 arguement is quite constant. People generally think its age. But yes it a standard. I always tried to humanise so think BMW. 3,5, and 7 series. Personally I would rather buy a €500 high end i3 then a €500 low end i5, ram and hdd are irrelevant because they are easily changed imo. Usually if you get an i3 therelll be a min of 4gb ram which is plenty for most tasks


  • #34
    beauf
    Closed Accounts Posts: 22,648 ✭✭✭✭beauf


    ssmith6287 wrote: »
    After working in computer retail for a long time the i3,5, and 7 arguement is quite constant. ...

    Check out the Intel Core i3-4110M @ 2.60GHz

    https://www.cpubenchmark.net/laptop.html

    The Pentium N3540 is also in that list.


  • #35
    JackNow
    Registered Users Posts: 65 ✭✭JackNow


    I ordered this Lenovo from amazon Germany Friday and I am expecting it this week. Great spec for a laptop at €435 plus €12 delivery. the thing is it does not have an operating system on it, but this suits me fine as I have a Windows 8.1 DVD.

    http://www.amazon.de/dp/B00FQLVHK0/ref=pe_386171_38075861_TE_item


  • #36
    beauf
    Closed Accounts Posts: 22,648 ✭✭✭✭beauf


    JackNow wrote: »
    I ordered this Lenovo from amazon Germany Friday and I am expecting it this week. Great spec for a laptop at €435 plus €12 delivery. the thing is it does not have an operating system on it, but this suits me fine as I have a Windows 8.1 DVD.

    http://www.amazon.de/dp/B00FQLVHK0/ref=pe_386171_38075861_TE_item

    FYI thats a used one.
    Used - Very Good
    Good condition, with power cable and power supply, in original packaging. (Slightly damaged packaging) with statutory 12 months warranty.


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  • #37
    JackNow
    Registered Users Posts: 65 ✭✭JackNow


    Didn't see that hidden in there. but non the less it is still a very good price for the laptop. It sounded way too good to be true. But I am not too disappointed.


  • #38
    beauf
    Closed Accounts Posts: 22,648 ✭✭✭✭beauf


    Great price for a quad.


  • #39
    Capt'n Midnight
    Moderators, Recreation & Hobbies Moderators, Science, Health & Environment Moderators, Technology & Internet Moderators Posts: 92,385 Mod ✭✭✭✭Capt'n Midnight


    djburchgrove wrote: »
    Secondly, don't be afraid to buy re-furbished to save even more money, or from Amazon Warehouse Deals.
    Just to be clear, if considering a refurb then only a recent one. Anything more than a year or two old and you'd be better off waiting until Tesco have something for €300 and buying that instead.


    Yes the 1720 is past it's sell by date.

    If you had a more recent laptop then perhaps consider spending a little over €100 on an SSD.

    When buying a laptop it's worth spending a little extra to get one with a socketed processor rather than a soldered one on the off chance you can get a better CPU cheap on ebay in a year or two. But check that the socket supports better CPU's so there will be something to buy later.

    RAM is another addon you can get later, again check the specs before you buy so that there is enough in it to have a usable laptop today.


    check this - but your laptop is probably too old and Harvey Norman aren't the cheapest to begin with and no prices
    http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2057400406


    Another option is to sell off the old laptop to help fund the new one, learn about recovery partition and using sdelete or other tool to wipe the free space. dban means a clean install which is difficult if you cant get your mits on a Vista CD or whatever it came with


  • #40
    beauf
    Closed Accounts Posts: 22,648 ✭✭✭✭beauf


    Depending what you are using it for a 1720 might not be that much worse than laptop than a 300 Tesco job.

    For example

    Intel Pentium N3540 @ 2.16GHz scores 1,812 passmark
    Intel Celeron N2840 @ 2.16GHz score 1,017 passmark
    The 1720 might have up to a Intel Core2 Duo T8300 @ 2.40GHz 1,476 passmark

    It may also have a Nvida 8600GT, and 17" Full HD 1920 x 1200 or 1440 x 900. And the 1720 has 5x 2.0 usb ports and dual hard drive bays. That said the screen might be shagged and the laptop on its last legs. A lot of those 1530/1330/1720 had failing graphics cards.

    A lot of the cheap laptops are missing features, have poor screens etc. But they might be better in other regards, lighter, better battery life, better screen, new Windows licence. Warranty etc.

    Buy yeah I wouldn't put money in an old laptop. Other than a SSD. As you can use that in a new laptop.


  • #41
    tinofapples
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,961 ✭✭✭tinofapples


    It has crossed my mind to sell the 1720 to help fund the new laptop but my daughter (Age 7) has her eye on it :rolleyes:


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  • #42
    beauf
    Closed Accounts Posts: 22,648 ✭✭✭✭beauf


    tinofapples wrote: »
    It has crossed my mind to sell the 1720 to help fund the new laptop but my daughter (Age 7) has her eye on it :rolleyes:

    I have an even older 9400. Plays FULL 1080i movies, minecraft etc. With a SSD its fine on the web. But its with the Nivida GFX. The intel GFX of that time is a lot less able to do that kind of stuff. I've had to repair mine about 4 times though. Mine runs the Windows 8 fine too.


  • #43
    Capt'n Midnight
    Moderators, Recreation & Hobbies Moderators, Science, Health & Environment Moderators, Technology & Internet Moderators Posts: 92,385 Mod ✭✭✭✭Capt'n Midnight


    250GB Crucial SSD €108 , cheap and cheerful and as beauf said you can move it to a new laptop later
    http://www.amazon.co.uk/Crucial-CT256MX100SSD1-256GB-Includes-Spacer/dp/B00KFAGCWK/ref=sr_1_sc_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1426941499&sr=8-1-spell&keywords=ssd+crucuail

    upgrading the CPU is biggish job, but they are now cheap on the interweb but not worth doing unless you have a big step up, not worth it for 10-15% unless you are running something that it can almost keep up with. check if people have tried faster cpu's in your machine and what BIOS they used. Also NB you can't use a CPU with more watts than your motherboard supports.
    €20 got me 20% extra MHz and hyperthreading
    but more importantly , to me, the ability to run 64bit virtual machines

    maybe the 1720 could use a T9500 but they cost a good bit more on ebay



    you could also add a saorview USB tuner for about €10

    other option is to backup everything and do a clean install , that will speed up things up a bit if you've accumulated crud on the way but time consuming


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