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Posted: Wed 29th Oct 2008, 1:39 pm My mum wants a laptop for xmas... so i was wondering if anyone has any suggestions as to where to buy one from. I have used Dell in the past for my own pc and found everything about them top notch.
Anyone got anywhere else to suggest to compare prices with etc... she would only need a basic one, as she would only use it for reading emails and browsing websites.
Most Helpful Member 2008/9
Posted: Wed 29th Oct 2008, 1:47 pm Novatech - I swear by them. 
There's also DABS. A lot of college's and unis get there stuff from there.
"I've Made Mistakes Just Like Everybody Else,
But Instead Of Letting Go Of It,
I Can't Forgive Myself"
Posted: Wed 29th Oct 2008, 1:51 pm http://www.alienware.co.uk/product_detail_pages/Area-51_m17x/area-51m_overview.aspx?SysCode=PC-EU-LT-A51M17X&SubCode=SKU-DEFAULT
Im a CUNT 
Posted: Wed 29th Oct 2008, 1:54 pm 
God needed an angel and saw your smiling face. It broke my heart to see you go but your not alone. R.I.P Mum </3
Posted: Wed 29th Oct 2008, 2:03 pm Zaid wrote:
http://www.alienware.co.uk/product_detail_pages/Area-51_m17x/area-51m_overview.aspx?SysCode=PC-EU-LT-A51M17X&SubCode=SKU-DEFAULT
lol at over £2000...
was thinking more around £400 mark
Most Helpful Member 2008/9
Posted: Wed 29th Oct 2008, 2:27 pm Hiro wrote:
lol at over £2000...
was thinking more around £400 mark
If all she's after is a computer for e-mails and internet.......Have you/has she thought about an eee PC Netbook?
Or is the eyesight on the way
"I've Made Mistakes Just Like Everybody Else,
But Instead Of Letting Go Of It,
I Can't Forgive Myself"
Posted: Wed 29th Oct 2008, 2:32 pm
Most Helpful Member 2008/9
Posted: Wed 29th Oct 2008, 2:38 pm Hiro wrote:
She'd probably use it for writing letters and things too.. she retires an xmas so she probably will need something to keep her occupied. Ive seen some ok ones at Dell so might give them a try... that site you suggested is quite good to tho.
Ok cool. There's also Misco - A lot of companies use them as well.
"I've Made Mistakes Just Like Everybody Else,
But Instead Of Letting Go Of It,
I Can't Forgive Myself"
Posted: Wed 29th Oct 2008, 4:22 pm I got my mum a Ubuntu Dell laptop ages ago. She still uses it and has become pretty proficient in Linux. Mostly I got it for security. My mum was hopeless on computers. Always downloading shit or installing and running shit. With Linux, she can't do that. If she needs software, it's in a huge repository of software provided by Ubuntu which means the code is clean and secure. She doesn't game, so she doesn't need windows. She's not a web developer / graphic designer so she doesn't need windows of OS X.
Although it helped that I use Linux and could point her in a direction when she had a problem.
eek
Posted: Wed 29th Oct 2008, 4:28 pm 
Xbox GT: I Epik v2 I
Posted: Wed 29th Oct 2008, 4:49 pm eek
Posted: Wed 29th Oct 2008, 8:53 pm eek wrote:
I wouldn't recommend a netbook now unless someone specifically wanted one or where planning of saving the planet. The Dell I got my mum uses a Centrino and it's far better than my Eeebox which uses the Intel Atom. Granted the RAM on the laptop has been ramped up to 4GB (though she only gets to use 3GB thanks to 32 bit computing) and my Eeebox only has 1GB of RAM (which will be going up to 2GB soon). Intel have already released a mini-itx board featuring a dual core Atom. I'd wait until that makes it's way into low power machines before getting one. My current Eeebox is only a single core and even with Windows XP it's still really slow when attempting to multi-task. When AVG starts up a scheduled scan, everything grinds to a halt. So it'll be getting a 1TB 2.5" drive (when they become affordable enough) and turned into a (very affordable and cost effective) home server.
i use a netbook as a second machine. there not really ment to be high powered 4gb machines. there made for web browsing so if thats all his mum will be doing its cheap and ideal. i dont want it to compare to my desktop to be fair. There good to buy for average users and someone who needs to be mobile. However i admit if your gonna be staying at home with the laptop i would get a slightly bigger one. However im on the train now with my dell mini 9 and i would recommend it to anyway. only £20 to up it to 2gb ram as well
Posted: Wed 29th Oct 2008, 11:19 pm I was originally going to get a Dell Mini 9. But the lack of customability for them stopped me. I'd love something with an SSD though. However the size of the SSD in the Linux version is only about 8GB to the Windows version 16GB. Which annoys me. As there's only a £40 price difference. Considering a Windows license can cost up to £60 for a disc and p&p I don't think the Linux version is priced fairly enough against the Windows version, especially when you take into account the cost per GB between an SSD and an old style platter HDD.
That said, once they get dual core atoms, custom colours for enclosure (like their bigger counterparts) and the keyboard layout is reworked and the fact they're much cheaper than the 901 from Asus, I'll probably jump on one. I want a little machine for penatration testing. And it would be nicer than lugging around a 15" one.
There's a Mini 12 (yep, 12" screen) out there somewhere, I haven't found any pictures though. 1280x800 with 1.3 or 1.6 Atom, Vista Home (lol on a 1.6 let alone a 1.3 CPU) or Ubuntu, 60 or 80 GB HDDs (must be old style platter HDDs) and a GB of RAM, slated for late November release.
Actually, I was searching while I was writing this. It's a Jap release only to begin with. Yes, its the Japanese Dell site, it looks like gobbildygook but the stats are there at the bottom. The Atom Z520 is the 1.3Ghz and the Z530 is the 1.6Ghz. (Look out for the Z540 @ 1.9Ghz in future). No move to 802.11n in the wireless area though (which is silly as my eeebox is 802.11n capable).
eek
Posted: Thu 30th Oct 2008, 9:47 am eek
Posted: Thu 30th Oct 2008, 11:50 am The keyboard layout isn't to bad to be honest and yeh the proc isn't the best but the SSD certainly makes up for it. It boots in about 25seconds which is pretty quick. You can purchase bigger SSD drives of ebay for reasonable prices and upgrade it.
oh yeh, LOL at the 12" coming with vista, they really shouldn't bother with vista on one of these.
I bought the 16gb version, i have upgraded it to 2gb ram for £20 and i had a spare 64gb SSD laying around (lucky me) so its actually a pretty decent spec now. I think its shocking dell don't offer more custom choices for spec etc..
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