{"id":617548,"date":"2025-11-11T14:02:29","date_gmt":"2025-11-11T12:02:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/?p=617548"},"modified":"2025-11-11T14:26:21","modified_gmt":"2025-11-11T12:26:21","slug":"the-cheapest-laptop-in-south-africa-comes-with-a-few-nasty-surprises","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/hardware\/617548-the-cheapest-laptop-in-south-africa-comes-with-a-few-nasty-surprises.html","title":{"rendered":"The cheapest laptop in South Africa comes with a few nasty surprises"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

MyBroadband bought the most affordable laptop in South Africa, which cost R1,499, and soon discovered why it was so cheap.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

MyBroadband searched for the lowest-priced laptop in South Africa to put it through its paces and assess whether it is worth the money.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We came across the Proline Celeron V116, which Game offered on special for R1,499 as part of a Black Friday deal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As can be expected for the highly affordable price, the laptop’s hardware specifications were extremely low, with 4GB RAM, a 500 GB hard drive, an 11.6″ HD 1366 x 768 screen, and an N4020 Processor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Game website stated that the Proline Celeron V116 came with a one-year warranty, which was crucial, as evidenced by the reviews.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many people who bought this laptop from Game complained about technical problems with the hardware.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One user said he liked the exterior and its small size. However, it had many glitches, including switching itself off and updating itself about 9 times a day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another user said, “I received the laptop today and am very disappointed. I am going to try to exchange it as soon as possible.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“The laptop only worked for five days, and now it’s just blank. I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone,” said one Game customer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The review section for the Proline Celeron V116 was littered with similar complaints about hardware problems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Half the alphabet on the keyboard was not working, and none of the numbers were working,” one reviewer said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“I went in for an exchange, and the new one, while in the store, couldn’t turn on five minutes after the power was switched on. I opted for a refund,” he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another user complained that he was asked for a password the first time he started the laptop, which caught him by surprise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“How can a new laptop require a password, but it has never been used before. I’m returning it to the Game in Knysna,” he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bad news about the Proline Celeron V116<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

MyBroadband decided to put this laptop through its paces to see if it was worth the low price of R1,499. After all, it does not come cheaper than that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Game salesperson was friendly and very helpful. She pointed us to the laptop and explained the purchasing process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, she paused and said we should take note that the Proline Celeron V116’s warranty comes with a few caveats.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She informed us that the warranty does not cover the laptops’ hardware at all, whether it was the keyboard, screen, or hard drive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She made it clear that if any of the hardware components on the device fail, it will not be fixed or replaced.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She explained that the Proline Celeron V116’s warranty only covers the software which is installed on the device.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This seemed strange, but considering the complaints about hardware failures associated with this laptop, it was not surprising.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many returns, which would require hardware fixes or replacements, would cost far more than the profit on the device.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, this may be in contradiction with South Africa’s Consumer Protection Act (CPA), which dictates an implied warranty of quality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The CPA states that the distributor and the retailer must warrant that the goods comply with the requirements and standards applicable by law.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It added that the consumer may return the goods to the supplier without penalty within six months after they were purchased and delivered.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The supplier must, at the consumer’s direction, repair or replace the failed, unsafe, or defective goods or refund the consumer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

MyBroadband will review the Proline Celeron V116 laptop and share its findings in a separate article.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

MyBroadband bought the most affordable laptop in South Africa for under R1,500, and soon realised why it was so cheap.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":23,"featured_media":617549,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_sma_x_autopost_status":"idle","_sma_x_autopost_error":"","_sma_x_post_id":"","_sma_facebook_post_id":"","_sma_instagram_post_id":"","_sma_threads_post_id":"","_sma_x_attempts":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[20373,8967,37312,102156],"class_list":["post-617548","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-hardware","tag-consumer-protection-act-cpa","tag-game","tag-proline","tag-proline-celeron-v116"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/617548"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/23"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=617548"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/617548\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":617770,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/617548\/revisions\/617770"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/617549"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=617548"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=617548"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=617548"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}