Just wondering if anyone has seen any good laptop deals floating around at the minute? I need at least a dual-core processor, 3GB ram and if possible a 7200 rpm hard drive, and for the thing not to feel flimsy (especially the keyboard, I hate it when they flex).

check out the Lenovo website – if you buy direct they have some great deals

also look at Europc.co.uk.

I was dissappointed with the Lenovo I looked at – keyboard not as good as I thought it would be considering the IBM link.

Several places have outlet style places for ‘refurbished’ but these are normally ok – my last two Dells have been ‘refurbs’ – if someone sends something back, not necessarily because it was broken, it can’t be sold as new and so goes to the ‘refurb’ outlet.

Argos have one on ebay. Europc is one. There is a Dixon one if you look for it. The Argos one has a Samsung R580 for someting like £450 the other day, but it is gone.

I was dissappointed with the Lenovo I looked at – keyboard not as good as I thought it would be considering the IBM link

Lenovo has nothing to do with IBM they bought out the laptop and desktop business from IBM..

it is also true that some of the thinkpads are less robust, but that only applies to the cheaper thinkpad series.. the mid and top range ones are properly robust..

Plus the in general thinkpad comes with nice matt screens… still do not understand the rise of the shiny screen on laptops…

Tesco are doing £400 Dell

How can you say “Lenovo has nothing to do with IBM” and “they bought out the laptop and desktop business from IBM.” in the same sentence?

Old IBM were bombproof, the newer Lenovo – well, not so. My wife’s 3000n200 died without warning and the MB is dead. Repair cost – circa £200 when new can be had for £299. Not so hot nowadays.
My old Dell is still working but has always felt flimsy.
Check argos, dixons, currys, get the best price and have it matched by J. Lewis.

Hairy mobo failures happen with all manufacturers, but I’d still say Lenovo are one of the most solidly built.

Anyway on topic dixons have got an Acer core i3 for £380.

I know, I’m still livid with Lenovo for the poor design of the MB. Possibly the better models are still very reliable (ThinkPad).

My brother just bought the i3 Acer from mentioned above (but from Comet).

Had a play on it yesterday, nice machine.

I can get a 10% discount at comet as well, seems like a good bet. I’ll look into it 🙂

If that’s the case it’s a no brainer.

Yep, only problem is the lack of a decent graphics card but I should get by. I’ll be using it mainly for internet/music and that but also Photoshop and music recording. Both of which mainly rely on the processor and RAM I think… faster HDD would have been nice for recording but pretty much every laptop in this price range has a 5,400rpm so I’ll have to compromise.

Anyways it’ll be a LOT better than my current laptop which is in tatters now 😆

bought one yesterday and it works well not for gaming due to graphics but otherwise good
Does have loads of rubbish on to delete – norton, nc affee office that just ask you to connect to register
Get 3 DVD ready to back it up on start up though! doing mine at the moment as it keep sreminding you

Can’t you just get rid of the backup reminder stuff? Sounds like it might be easier to just format it straight away and install a fresh copy of Win7.

Just bought this ‘ere laptop today from Currys/PC World.
H-P G56-130sa laptop
500Gb hard drive
4Gb RAM
2.3GHz pentium dual-core
webcam
lightscribesupermulti 8x dvd drive (whatever that is)
15.6″ HD LED display

£379

Still getting to grips with it but it’s a few light years ahead of the one i started today with…

Saw that one on the Comet/Currys/whatever website. Think the spec is a bit lower (apart frm the hdd size) than the Acer which is around £340 after my 10% discount, so I think I’ll probably go with that (and a fresh install of windows as I cba with all the acer bloatware) 🙂

yes you can but not with uninstall provided you need to use something else. i was waiting till i had restire discs first thogh – you can just take all the drivers though and reinstall windows

Plus the in general thinkpad comes with nice matt screens… still do not understand the rise of the shiny screen on laptops…

Indeed – that’s one of the main reasons I’m using a Lenovo (X100e). Doesn’t feel flimsy at all, despite being one of the budget models, and very decent keyboard considering it’s an ultraportable.