Best sub-500 squid laptop?

Solari · 4 Mar 2009 at 15:00

A mate of mine is after a sub-£500 laptop which is basically going to be used for internet access, watching the odd DVD, and playing the occasional game of Championship Manager.

I'd really appreciate some advice as I am not really that clued up on what's out there and what's good

I think if he could squeeze in some sort of gaming capability it'd help, even if he says he doesn't need it right now.

Cheers!

jbloggs · 4 Mar 2009 at 16:58

Maybe have a look at the Dell Studio 15...

Monkeynut · 4 Mar 2009 at 17:14

Don't get a Dell Studio 15, seriously.

jbloggs · 4 Mar 2009 at 21:23

Monkeynut said:
Don't get a Dell Studio 15, seriously.

Why?

neocon · 4 Mar 2009 at 21:39

jbloggs said:
Why?

Bad build quality (Irish) and customer service (Indian)

Monkeynut · 4 Mar 2009 at 21:57

Also the media bar doesn't work on any of them. You've also got to do silly workarounds such as disabling 802.11a to stop the audio crackling for some unknown reason.

jbloggs · 5 Mar 2009 at 10:29

Well then, if you think the Dell Studio 15 (and seemingly Dell laptops in general) is/are rubbish, what are your suggestions for a £500 laptop?

POB · 5 Mar 2009 at 10:42

neocon said:
Bad build quality (Irish) and customer service (Indian)

Dell's Indian call centre is the best Indian call centre I have ever experienced.

The people answering the phone, are clear, understand technical issues. They call back when promised and they are empowered to help.

The build quality on Dell machines is good, and its very easy to get parts at any point in the units life.

neocon · 5 Mar 2009 at 17:34

POB said:
Dell's Indian call centre is the best Indian call centre I have ever experienced.

The people answering the phone, are clear, understand technical issues. They call back when promised and they are empowered to help.

The build quality on Dell machines is good, and its very easy to get parts at any point in the units life.

i didn't have good build quality or customer service with my inspiron laptop. the HDD would become physically detached from the conectors inside and cause a BSOD. The machine would reboot displaying messages about no HDD. there solution was to take out the disc and re-seat it, they wouldn't admit it was bad build quality. i searched there customer service forum to see hundreds with the same issue.

i'm sure people do have good experiences with them, but i didn't