Which value-for-money laptop, or what minimum specs?

K T

K T

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Hi myBB'ers,

I have a technophobe friend looking for a value-for-money (cheap, basic) laptop that he can use to surf the Interweb, send/receive email, listen to music and watch movies (on the laptop and maybe, but not necessarily, on a TV) that's it, full-stop.

I initially suggested that he needs an HTPC but he doesn't want to be "tied down to one place in the house", and may need mobility in the future. He isn't fussy about quality or size, but price is his major criteria.

Does anyone have any suggestions? Or does anybody know what minimum specs I need to look for? I'm thinking that the watch movies part is the most critical when it comes to the spec of the machine. Any thoughts?

TIA.
 
Well all laptops can watch movies these days!

What you wanna look at is price, performance, screen size, quality and maybe, battery life.

But basically you get cheap laptops with small screens called netbooks. They have like 10" screens, a bit small for movies, but they are the cheapest. They generally have Atom processors which is also very slow. Battery life 2-10 hours depending on model. They also don't have built in CD/DVD drives. R2500-R3500

Then you get laptops with a bit bigger screens, like bigger netbooks. Here it's pretty decent if the screen is largish, the CPU isn't an Atom and the battery life is good. (5-6 hours) I liked the Lenovo U350 but it was discontinued. That was like R4000.

Then you get like 15" laptops which are cheap, usually have like a 2-3 hour battery life, a DVD rom a medium-power processor, which these days is pretty darn good. This price range can be anything from R4000-6000.

There are a lot of categories and a lot of other details, I could go on! But hope this helps.
 
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Thx Syn, do you have any recommendations in the 15", R4000-R6000 range? I think that's a price that he could deal with.

When reading laptop reviews, there are so many things that could be real deal breakers that I get the feeling that one could easily end up with a donkey that "meets" all the specs, but doesn't deliver at all. So something that comes recommended is quite essential.
 
Pretty much any laptop is fine. I don't have any recommendations! And I'm not lus to shop around now. Try get an Intel dual core chip, at least. 2gb of RAM, preferably 4gb. Decent hard drive space, at least 250gb. Yeah.

Also try to get Windows 7 home premium at least. Unless you're going the piracy route (which I should obviously not mention even exists)

Hmm I don't know if you can get that for less than R6000. You could probably if you shop around! If I find something nice looking I'll let you know.
 
HP 625 http://h10010.www1.hp.com/wwpc/uk/e..._uk/en/smb/psg/psc404redirect-ot-xx-xx-/chev/

±R4800 HP WT019ES 625 series , with built-in 2.0mp webcam - Amd Turion64x2 QL-64 Dual-Core 2.1GHz ( L1 : 2x128k , L2 : 2x512k ), 1Gb DDR3-1333, AMD RS880M chipset, upto 512mb hypermomry ATI Mobility Radeon HD4200 vga , 15.6" Lcd ( 1366x768 WXGA ) , Hdmi TV-out , 250gb 7200rpm SATA HDD, DVD+/-RW ( DL ) , built-in sd card reader+ bluetooth + WiFi + 10/100 lan + express card , with windows 7 Home basic + Office 2007 Ready ( professional with 60 day free trial )
 
Thanx Postman, I also saw that one. It looks great except for the 1GB RAM and Win7 Home Basic. Think it would still do?

Edit: @Syn, quick on the draw I see
 
https://rebeltech.co.za/index.php?m...d=4374&zenid=1db6575cbb0dc86787c5b04ee324919f

GIGABYTE Q1580L Notebook: Intel Celeron Dual Cor
R3,254.68
GIGABYTE Q1580L Notebook: Intel Celeron Dual Core T3100 1.9GHz Processor, 1GB DDR2 800MHz Memory (1x 1GB - 2 Slots), 250GB 5400RPM 2.5" SATA HDD, 8x DVD Super Multi Writer, 15.4" Glare Type 1280x800 Gloss Widescreen, 0.3 Megapixel Webcam
Intel GL40 Express Mobile Chipset, Intel GMA X4500M Graphics, Integrated Gigabit LAN, Wireless LAN 802.11 b/g/n @ 300Mbps, FreeDOS Operating System, 2 Year Global Warranty With Fetch And Repair, 3x USB 2.0 (1x USB/eSATA Combo), 1x Headphone Jack, 1x Microphone Jack, 1x D-Sub VGA, 1x HDMI, 1x RJ-45 Ethernet, 3-In-1 Reader

No OS though

https://rebeltech.co.za/index.php?m...d=4375&zenid=1db6575cbb0dc86787c5b04ee324919f

GIGABYTE Q1580L Notebook: Intel Celeron Dual Cor
R3,487.24
GIGABYTE Q1580L Notebook: Intel Celeron Dual Core T3100 1.9GHz Processor, 1GB DDR2 800MHz Memory (1x 1GB - 2 Slots), 250GB 5400RPM 2.5" SATA HDD, 8x DVD Super Multi Writer, 15.4" Glare Type 1280x800 Gloss Widescreen, 0.3 Megapixel Webcam
Intel GL40 Express Mobile Chipset, Intel GMA X4500M Graphics, Integrated Gigabit LAN, Wireless LAN 802.11 b/g/n @ 300Mbps, Microsoft Windows 7 Starter 32-Bit, 2 Year Global Warranty With Fetch And Repair, 3x USB 2.0 (1x USB/eSATA Combo), 1x Headphone Jack, 1x Microphone Jack, 1x D-Sub VGA, 1x HDMI, 1x RJ-45 Ethernet, 3-In-1 Reader
 
K T said:
I have a technophobe friend looking for a value-for-money (cheap, basic) laptop that he can use to surf the Interweb, send/receive email, listen to music and watch movies (on the laptop and maybe, but not necessarily, on a TV) that's it, full-stop.
Click to expand...

1GB with Windows Starter is perfect for this.
 
Synaesthesia said:
No that seems fine. It's pretty big and thick but decent qualty.

@PostmanPot, that's pretty good, but only 1gb RAM, and Windows Basic, which would have to be upgraded.
Click to expand...

K T said:
Thanx Postman, I also saw that one. It looks great except for the 1GB RAM and Win7 Home Basic. Think it would still do?

Edit: @Syn, quick on the draw I see
Click to expand...

Would be fine mostly for basic use, I would recommend a 1GB upgrade though at ±R250.
 
At the moment I think that there is an Acer e-machine at Incredibel connection for 3999 - not sure of the exact specs - just saw the picture and the price in the ad - but I do know that it has 2Gb of Ram and a 250Gb hard drive.
 
Have you tried Incredible Connection. They have a demo sale on and some good laptops for the price range you are looking at. You might have to visit a few stores to find the one you looking for.
 
Lenovo on special at Hi-fi corp for R3 699:

• Intel® Celeron® Processor T3100 (1M Cache, 2.00 GHz, 800 MHz FSB)
• 2GB DDR3 Memory
• 250GB Hard Drive
• 15.6 inch LCD
• DVD Writer
• Webcam
• Windows 7 Home Basic
 
I would go with Postmanpot's recommendation. I like the fact that the graphics is a Radeon HD4200 and lots of other features like HDMI. Maybe just a 1gb more memory in the future if the machine is struggling ...
 
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Dan C said:
I would go with Postmanpot's recommendation. I like the fact that the graphics is a Radeon HD4200 and lots of other features like HDMI. Maybe just a 1gb more memory in the future if the machine is struggling ...
Click to expand...

I've heard it handles COD4 on medium settings. :D
 
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