Laptop £250

Rybo89 · 22 Oct 2012 at 14:18

Hello guys, we have decided to get are 7yo lad a laptop for Christmas as he likes to play flash games online.

Has to be blue, have good speakers and be able to play flash games.

Can any of you recommend anything?

Thanks

Edit: and mrs just reminded me it has to have a disk drive

beermonster · 22 Oct 2012 at 14:31

Lenovo G580 in blue isn't a bad spec, bit plasticky but at this price they all will be. Tad over budget at £299 new, might be able to find a refurb cheaper.

Rybo89 · 22 Oct 2012 at 14:43

Hello beermonster, thanks for the reply.

I don't mind if it is a bit over. Would prefer new though.

Found this on the Tesco site for £270

Acer, 756, Intel Pentium B977, 4GB, 500GB, 11.6, Laptop, Blue

Does this sound any good? Don't think it has a disk drive but you can buy external ones can't you what are just as good as a fitted one? Or maybe it is possible to fit a disk drive?

Thanks

Rybo89 · 22 Oct 2012 at 14:52

Just looking at this Lenovo, never heard of the make but it seems to have good reviews for the price.

Do they make good solid laptops then? Handle the odd drop? lol

Craig321 · 22 Oct 2012 at 14:55

Rybo89 said:
Hello beermonster, thanks for the reply.

I don't mind if it is a bit over. Would prefer new though.

Found this on the Tesco site for £270

Acer, 756, Intel Pentium B977, 4GB, 500GB, 11.6, Laptop, Blue

Does this sound any good? Don't think it has a disk drive but you can buy external ones can't you what are just as good as a fitted one? Or maybe it is possible to fit a disk drive?

Thanks

That Acer gets fairly good reviews (good enough for a 7 year old).

I haven't had a DVD/CD drive in my PC for ages now, they're really not necessary anymore - most software can be downloaded, or put on a pen drive. I do have a Samsung DVD+/-RW which is just as good as an internal drive.

beermonster · 22 Oct 2012 at 16:30

Rybo89 said:
Just looking at this Lenovo, never heard of the make but it seems to have good reviews for the price.

Do they make good solid laptops then? Handle the odd drop? lol

Lenovo bought IBM out a while ago, anything at this price range will be reasonably well made, they can suffer from weak hinges if not used correctly ie pushing back to far, and the plastics might crack more if dropped.

As it's for a kid I would seriously look at a refurb with 12months warranty, it's going to get battered anyway. You know what kids are like no matter how careful.

devious93 · 23 Oct 2012 at 13:11

beermonster said:
Lenovo bought IBM out a while ago, anything at this price range will be reasonably well made, they can suffer from weak hinges if not used correctly ie pushing back to far, and the plastics might crack more if dropped.

As it's for a kid I would seriously look at a refurb with 12months warranty, it's going to get battered anyway. You know what kids are like no matter how careful.

+1 on this, I busted a laptop at 13/14 and I'm 19 now and I'm very careful with my possessions, the plastic casing gets cracked, hinges may go and screens usually get broken getting a refurbished laptop on a well known auction site will usually work out cheaper and look like new, they might have some light scratches on the outside casing but that's usually about it unless they say otherwise.

The 7 year old will scratch it within the first week so saving yourself 100 pounds for a refurb and putting it towards a new screen when they eventually break it by accident can be spent without crying xD

Rybo89 · 23 Oct 2012 at 16:43

Haha he isn't that bad. He goes on my msi gx660r and respects anything electrical, knows not to eat or drink around the consoles,laptops,iPad etc.

Just prefer it to be pretty solid just incase it does have a drop.

I'll look at some refurbs later and see what can be had. I just don't understand all these CPU and GPU names these days. Are intel still the ones to go for? A few intel dual core processes can be had for the price.

Thanks