Cheap Laptops - Fujitsu Vs Toshiba?

Marcos · 9 Sep 2006 at 19:12

What do you guys think of fujitsu laptops?

And any other good cheap laptops?

£450-£500 max

Hawk Tuah · 9 Sep 2006 at 19:32

We got some fujitsu's at work. Terrible.

Best cheap laptop I've ever bought was a Gateway for the missus. It was about this time last year and I got a very thin lightweight laptop with a 1.7 Centrino, 15ins screen, dvd writer, 60gig, 512ram. Got that for £490, which at the time was a massive bargain I thought. It was in a dixons window (ex display model so got an extra £10 off

) and it was the last one in the shop. I think it must have been a pricing error, because the same model was back out again a month later for £750!.

Marcos · 9 Sep 2006 at 19:51

Bug One said:
We got some fujitsu's at work. Terrible.

Best cheap laptop I've ever bought was a Gateway for the missus. It was about this time last year and I got a very thin lightweight laptop with a 1.7 Centrino, 15ins screen, dvd writer, 60gig, 512ram. Got that for £490, which at the time was a massive bargain I thought. It was in a dixons window (ex display model so got an extra £10 off ) and it was the last one in the shop. I think it must have been a pricing error, because the same model was back out again a month later for £750!.

the spec you got is exactly what i'm looking for, lucky b@#$%*d!

squiffy · 9 Sep 2006 at 19:54

You can get a pretty good Acer for that.

£500 inclusive of VAT.
Acer Aspire 3102WLMi - LX.ABK05.116
AMD Sempron 64 3200+ 1.6GHz
1024 MB DDRII-533MHz SDRAM - Low cost double memory offer – call for details!
100 GB Hard Drive
DVD Dual Layer Drive - To read DVDs and CDs and write CDs, DVD+, DVD- and large Dual Layer DVD
15.4" WXGA Widescreen TFT Screen
Built in 0.3 Megapixel Webcam
Integrated gigabit LAN
Integrated wireless 802.11 b/g LAN - Call for advice on Wireless networking
Integrated 5-in-1 card reader
Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition Pre Loaded
1 year warranty - upgradeable to 3 years

Scottland · 9 Sep 2006 at 19:59

From the ones I've been looking at, Acer seems to be the better of the cheapo ones.

FWIW - My gf has a Toshiba and it's frequently broke.

squiffy · 9 Sep 2006 at 20:02

I like the Toshiba keyboards though, good quality feel to them. Acers are a bit spongey and don't have positive feel "depth" of full-size and Toshiba keyboards.

Scottland · 9 Sep 2006 at 20:05

squiffy said:
I like the Toshiba keyboards though, good quality feel to them. Acers are a bit spongey and don't have positive feel "depth" of full-size and Toshiba keyboards.

No good if the laptop is bricked though

sean · 9 Sep 2006 at 20:09

A few fellow students have bought Toshibas around the £600 mark and they're really sound laptops. About the only complaint I hear is the silver paint picking up scratches real easy.

Acers are pretty decent too. Build quality is night-and-day compared to their computers of a few years ago.

Hawk Tuah · 9 Sep 2006 at 20:21

squiffy said:
You can get a pretty good Acer for that.

£500 inclusive of VAT.
Acer Aspire 3102WLMi - LX.ABK05.116
AMD Sempron 64 3200+ 1.6GHz
1024 MB DDRII-533MHz SDRAM - Low cost double memory offer – call for details!
100 GB Hard Drive
DVD Dual Layer Drive - To read DVDs and CDs and write CDs, DVD+, DVD- and large Dual Layer DVD
15.4" WXGA Widescreen TFT Screen
Built in 0.3 Megapixel Webcam
Integrated gigabit LAN
Integrated wireless 802.11 b/g LAN - Call for advice on Wireless networking
Integrated 5-in-1 card reader
Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition Pre Loaded
1 year warranty - upgradeable to 3 years

Thats a blinding spec for £500, but its nice to actually feel the laptop to check it doesn't feel cheap and eaily breakable.

squiffy · 9 Sep 2006 at 20:24

It was £470, so it's gone up in price. Haven't owned Aspire range but I've used Travelmates.

bitslice · 9 Sep 2006 at 20:33

Fujitsu - don't know
Toshiba - I've got a pile of them, take your pick, all turds

Dell - only seen a few, seemed OK
IBM - notice the number of really old 2nd hand IBM's still being sold ? it's because they last.

.

squiffy · 9 Sep 2006 at 20:36

bitslice said:
Fujitsu - don't know
IBM - ...notice the number of really old 2nd hand IBM's still being sold ? it's because they last.

.

Who cares? By the time the laptop is wonky you want to replace it with up to date machine. You'll still need a new battery for a old laptop, that'll be considerable expensive for something worth nothing.

I'm going to ditch a Acer, keep the 60GB drive...it's lasted a few years now (Travelmate 270)

bitslice · 9 Sep 2006 at 21:20

squiffy said:
Who cares? By the time the laptop is wonky you want to replace it with up to date machine.

I guess it depends what you want it for,
all the IBM's I've used have been well overspec for Office use for years.

tbh. I took the batteries out of my laptops, as I've never been more than a few feet from a socket.

squiffy · 9 Sep 2006 at 21:23

bitslice said:
I guess it depends what you want it for,
all the IBM's I've used have been well overspec for Office use for years.

tbh. I took the batteries out of my laptops, as I've never been more than a few feet from a socket.

Lithium Poly batteries have a finite lifespan, whether they're used or not. So you might as well use them after all you've paid for the battery. Might as well get a desktop if you don't take advantage of "built in UPS" that laptops offer.

bitslice · 9 Sep 2006 at 21:36

squiffy said:
Lithium Poly batteries have a finite lifespan

true,
I only use them for notes and internet, so I'm not too fussed about power outs. I just got fed up of lugging a battery about.

rather perversely the main PC's have a UPS....

RoachycaL · 9 Sep 2006 at 21:38

I cant say anymore than I only buy Acer laptops because I love them to bits - their top quality, reliable and great laptops not to mention all of their equipment

Btw Ive had 3 of their laptops, I know someone said up there ^ they had a travelmate 270, I had a 280 - their great but I do always manage to destroy the batteries in my laptops which is wierd.

Ex-RoNiN · 9 Sep 2006 at 22:09

Toshiba have rubbish hard drives.

squiffy · 9 Sep 2006 at 22:12

Ex-RoNiN said:
Toshiba have rubbish hard drives.

Well you better complain to iriver as well. They use Toshiba drives. No problems with Toshiba drives, not the fastest or quietest but seem reliable enough. The 20GB was left on for years, no bad sectors.

UKTopGun · 9 Sep 2006 at 22:39

Bug One said:
We got some fujitsu's at work. Terrible.

Best cheap laptop I've ever bought was a Gateway for the missus. It was about this time last year and I got a very thin lightweight laptop with a 1.7 Centrino, 15ins screen, dvd writer, 60gig, 512ram. Got that for £490, which at the time was a massive bargain I thought. It was in a dixons window (ex display model so got an extra £10 off ) and it was the last one in the shop. I think it must have been a pricing error, because the same model was back out again a month later for £750!.

That price sounds about right to me even if it was last year?

Massive Attack · 9 Sep 2006 at 23:03

personally i wouldnt buy a fujitsu or toshiba i would go for a dell as all the ones i have seen.used have been rock solid and you just cant beat the specs for the price