cheap *reliable* laptops

[dexteruk]

hi folks

will shortly be binning my desktop pc and getting a laptop.

at home i'll plug it into my keyboard/cordless mouse/19" monitor, but want something a little easier to move around with me

it would need to have

dvd player, cd rom, 2x usb ports (digi-cam and BB modem) ideally some form of sound card/onboard sound as well as half decent graphics

want 256-512meg memory,


am after suggestions as to where i can get something to fit the spec, they would need to have decent customer service -having spent a lifetime on the phone to Dell *customer service* (customer service my arse) trying to get a mate's laptop sorted i will kill anyone who even suggests them.


thanks

dex

[Aitch]

Morgan Computers sell refurbished laptops very cheaply - I bought one from them about 12 months ago. The first one they sent to me was faulty and they exchanged it with no quibbles.

[200sxer]

Got a mate who makes PC's and laptops to order, can give you his number if you want :)

[dexteruk]

aha both sounding interesting - i know self-building a desktop is pretty straightforward - didn't know there were many people doing custom laptops...


any contact for morgan computers?

[Aitch]

www.morgancomputers.co.uk :thumbs:

[200sxer]

Phone Adam at H2o Networks and say Jon from 'Access This' gave you his number:

07966 48 2003

[Keith_C]

Had a zillion Compaq's, and always thought them great.

On a Fujitso Siemens now as Compaq didn't have a spec I wanted last time I bought, and am more impressed with it than I was with my last Compaq.

Couple of other in the office also have Sony Vaio's and are pleased with them.

[dexteruk]

i've heard the toshiba's are reckoned to weigh a little more than most - but that's not a worry as long as they are reliable...


have looked at the morgan computers site and there's a couple on there for around £650 inc vat that fit the spec quite nicely :D


200sxer - will give your man a ring in a month or two when i am ready to buy - don't want to waste his time unnecesarily in case i change my mind (again) and buy a turbo or something instead...

[gaz.thomas]

My home laptop is a fujitsu-siemens and I've got no complaints with that. My work machine is a dell and, apart from the truly horrendous customer service (we're a corporate client with about a gazillion machines on our service contract yet it still took them over a year to sort out the wireless+WEP issue that occured on *all* of our laptops - and we're still waiting for the dell/unisys engineer to fix the last few) the machine itself is great.

I think, generally speaking, 'business' machines tend to be more robust, but less well spec'd for the money.

Gaz
-x-

[SFC]

Have always got on well with:

IBM Thinkpad (get what you pay for)
Toshiba (likewise)
Acer (more budget oriented, my current lappy is an Acer and I'm v happy with it)

oh, and Dell ;)

Morgan are a good bet

[bren]

Off topic but can you upgrade the graphics card in a laptop? Ours has a 64mg card, can you get 128s and if so, where from?

[mattpayne]

Off topic but can you upgrade the graphics card in a laptop? Ours has a 64mg card, can you get 128s and if so, where from?


nope... :(

[dexteruk]

my parents run a computer training company - they bought a stack of dell desktops, and a couple of laptops


had a problem with one - called the dell people, engineer appeared that afternoon and replaced it


i couldn't believe the difference in their response for a business customer....

i will never ever buy a dell (unless it's a present for someone i hate)

[Evan Jones]

http://www.novatech.co.uk/NOVATECH/Home.html

And they have one on sale cheap at the moment - 499 with no operating system or 549 with XP Home:

http://www.novatech.co.uk/NOVATECH/NBrange.html?SCH

I have had one of these, slightly older earlier spec with 2.0 Gig processor and it hasn't missed a beat, + I have been a long term Novatech customer with nothing but praise for their service.

No personal connection, I don't own any shares in Novatech and genuine unsolicited plug on their behalf...... beats everyone else on their own make stuff for value for money + quality. Check them out before going for the easy answer Dell's etc of this world.... if you are a private individual you might as well whistle for any real service.

Good luck....

[_Rob_]

my compaq has always bee reliable! :thumbs:

[madanton]

Try novatech, good quality. I've had no problems.

http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/nbranges.html

Depends on your pocket.


:thumbs:

[bren]

We got our laptop from Novatech, its been fine, no probs at all :)