janner
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Sp!ke
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My advice on any laptop is to get 3 years on-site warranty.
Acer throw in 2 years automatically and Dell throw in 3 years for a smallish fee as do HP and Toshiba. Make sure cover is next day on-site cover rather than back to base.
This is the only consumer item I recommend purchasing extended warranty for. (laptops break with alarming regularity)
That said, £300 for a laptop.... at these prices its almost worth considering annual upgrades anyway.
Acer throw in 2 years automatically and Dell throw in 3 years for a smallish fee as do HP and Toshiba. Make sure cover is next day on-site cover rather than back to base.
This is the only consumer item I recommend purchasing extended warranty for. (laptops break with alarming regularity)
That said, £300 for a laptop.... at these prices its almost worth considering annual upgrades anyway.
crammy69
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If either then the second one. I bought my son a DUal core Toshiba laptop from Currys online just before Xmas for £379 delivered, it came with Vista premium and its a wonderfull little machine, great screen resolution and vrey quick. I found an online discount code at http://www.hotukdeals.com/
If you scan through the computer searchs it comes up with the following
http://www.hotukdeals.com/computers/all/hot?page=2 a toshiba for £273 delivered!
Cheers
Simon
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janner
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For some reason I'm more comfortable buying from PC World than Dell.
The PC World ones do look mighty cheap!
The PC World ones do look mighty cheap!
£300 for those is a good price.
For photoshop I would recommned 2GB memory and if possible a seperate graphics card instead of shared.
I bought a 17" Toshiba with a discount vochure off the internet from PixMania (2 year warranty with that)
160GB H/D, 2GB Ram, Vista and only £470 the big screen makes it ace for viewing pictures etc.
this is similar although processor isn't..
http://www.pixmania.co.uk/uk/uk/758252/art/toshiba/satellite-p200d-139.html?itag=3894
Cheap one?
http://www.pixmania.co.uk/uk/uk/1162081/art/toshiba/equium-l300-146.html
The speed stuff is changing you can change them more regulary at these prices, sell them on flea bay and upgrade
For photoshop I would recommned 2GB memory and if possible a seperate graphics card instead of shared.
I bought a 17" Toshiba with a discount vochure off the internet from PixMania (2 year warranty with that)
160GB H/D, 2GB Ram, Vista and only £470 the big screen makes it ace for viewing pictures etc.
this is similar although processor isn't..
http://www.pixmania.co.uk/uk/uk/758252/art/toshiba/satellite-p200d-139.html?itag=3894
Cheap one?
http://www.pixmania.co.uk/uk/uk/1162081/art/toshiba/equium-l300-146.html
The speed stuff is changing you can change them more regulary at these prices, sell them on flea bay and upgrade
OP
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janner
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Thanks. When you click the link for that deal it's out-of-stock
My theory is that if I buy the PC World one I can take it into the shop and shout at someone if it goes wrong.
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janner
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That's good to know.
In the absence of horror stories I just bought the second one.
In the absence of horror stories I just bought the second one.
evdok
MB Enthusiast
But the service sucks! i hate going in there, i seem to be hanging around waiting for staff to wake up.
jpskiller
Active Member
plus if you have any problems like hardware faults takes them upto 28 days to fix even if just hdd faulty, they wont replace have too send away.
Loads HERE
Used Bigpockets loads of times, great bargins!
TBH, you'd be better getting a desktop with a decent graphics card rather than a laptop for PhotoShop
Used Bigpockets loads of times, great bargins!
TBH, you'd be better getting a desktop with a decent graphics card rather than a laptop for PhotoShop
lil.smartie
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I got a refurb Sony Vaio from PCworld business, it's fine, they didn't put a charger in the box so sent one FOC when I called & complained but that's been the only issue! Laptop is ideal for me, it's an old model with XP and not as fast as most new ones but for internet, accounts stuff and email it's ideal and I didn't want to start messing with Quickbooks & Vista......
Kate
Kate
Either get a cheapy from Asda or Tesco (300 quid for 2 gig ram and dual core last time I looked) or spend on a high end business grade machine. Only machines I'll recommend are Toshiba's Tecra range (I use one myself, come with brilliant warranty coverage and parts availability, mine is nearly 4 yrs old and had lots of abuse) or Panasonic's toughbooks. Other stuff is at own risk though the high end Sonys are good also.
Sp!ke
Administrator
Thats not been my experience... In fact of the £2000 17" models, Of the people I know that were foolish enough to buy them, they rarely managed to make them much past the 12 month warranty period. When looking into repair costs (sending back to Sony) they are generally not economical to repair. Laptops are not where Sony's expertise lie. For the consumer range, Tosh probably come out tops for a compromise between quality and bang for buck. Dell are tops for Support and warranty (make sure you get 3 years next day onsite). Close on their heels believe it or not is Acer in my opinion. For corporate use, requirements differ and its a whole different ball game.
Laptops go through a lot of abuse. Highly delicate static sensitive components throughout and they are slung in boots of cars, bashed about on aeroplanes and they are forced to run on batteries (therefore there is no earthing point) in all manner of harsh environments. Three years in the life of a laptop is a very long time.
Either make sure they have decent warranty or buy cheap with a view to upgrading anually.
PC world is the last place I'd buy a laptop from as the warranty sucks.
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It you buy refurbished, it does not meant they repaired it when a customer returned it disgusted. I bought a Toshiba in October from Currys for £495. I have to return it because the cursor jumped, I am so disgusted with it I want my money back in February. They said too late you can't get your money back after 28 days. I was so busy with my contract I didn't have the time dittering with them. This time I have the time to ditter with them. I been back at least 8 times before I managed to get an upgrade to Dell and paid an extra £100. The cursor still jumped when I type on the keyboard. I gave up. That refurbished laptop could be mine.
They said there is no log I complained. They said they have to go next door to get PC World to have a look at it. It been there 3 times and they said there is nothing wrong with it even I got snapshots of cursor jumped. When the guy behind the counter enter the data in my computer, that laptop is worths only £299 not £495.
All Dell PCs not sold direct by them are refurbished ie Currys, PC World and Tesco. If the processor speed is less than 2.2G forget it, it slow like hell.
They said there is no log I complained. They said they have to go next door to get PC World to have a look at it. It been there 3 times and they said there is nothing wrong with it even I got snapshots of cursor jumped. When the guy behind the counter enter the data in my computer, that laptop is worths only £299 not £495.
All Dell PCs not sold direct by them are refurbished ie Currys, PC World and Tesco. If the processor speed is less than 2.2G forget it, it slow like hell.
With all due respect Spike, a 17" machine is hardly designed for a life on the road, they are designer desktops, not road warrior laptops. SZ series 11 inch machines (I look after two of them), Portege and Tecra, proper laptops designed for a life on the road have no reliability problems, got a client on a european bike tour using a properly cased and protected Portege at the moment.
Anything over 14" is getting to be a bit bulky and heavy for road use, and is likely to be knocked too hard with just a small drop onto a desk. My 14" is regularly used at front of house for live music (hooked to an LS9 mixing desk) and has been dropped from that height onto the ground more than once. The screen was broken once by me falling asleep while reading web forums and dropping it onto the floor, another time by an african baggage handler.
I've never had a motherboard failure on a Toshiba or Sony business grade machine, in fact the only recent "beyond repairs" have been HPs with onboard Nvidia that were used at lan parties and got hot enough to destroy the board. Even screens need not write off the laptop - got equivalent (not original) screens for mine twice now - as the laptop cost 700 quid it's an economical repair - in fact we regularly replace screens for people now.
Anything over 14" is getting to be a bit bulky and heavy for road use, and is likely to be knocked too hard with just a small drop onto a desk. My 14" is regularly used at front of house for live music (hooked to an LS9 mixing desk) and has been dropped from that height onto the ground more than once. The screen was broken once by me falling asleep while reading web forums and dropping it onto the floor, another time by an african baggage handler.
I've never had a motherboard failure on a Toshiba or Sony business grade machine, in fact the only recent "beyond repairs" have been HPs with onboard Nvidia that were used at lan parties and got hot enough to destroy the board. Even screens need not write off the laptop - got equivalent (not original) screens for mine twice now - as the laptop cost 700 quid it's an economical repair - in fact we regularly replace screens for people now.
Sp!ke
Administrator
Sony do not make business laptops period. 
HughJarse
MB Enthusiast
I have a 17" sony - with built in blu-ray burner, had it about 18 months and its rock solid - It is most certainly not designed as portable though, as shoulder bruising does occur from its bag strap.
