recommend me a cheap lappy...

[SooTyLaD]

my brother in law wants a nice reliable lappy for basic stuff like surfing the net and a bit of champ man and a few other 2d things, nothing intensive

preferably wi-fi but that can always be pcmcia'd afterwards so for about 200-300 quid could you recommend some sort of make/model that'd do the trick?

was thinking along the lines of fleabay and 1.5 centrino, 512 ram & 30gig HDD sort of spec - seen a few for that price but dont really know what sort of thing would be the best bet

cheers peeps

 

[RobH]

In terms of a processor you want a Intel Pentium-M Centrino, stay away from Pentium 4's because they drain the battery and also Celerons which are not very powerful. You probably want 512MB of RAM at least a CD/DVD combo, most have CDRW built in by default anyway. In terms of hard drive space, if it's not going to be used for video or lots of applications then a 30GB hard drive will probably be suitable.

One thing you should ask about if you can is the battery, does it retain a charge and if so how long? Laptop batteries can die after a couple of years and will definatly reduce in capacity after only a short while.

 

[GuruJockStrap]

Cheapest laptop I can find brand new is this Dell Inspiron 1300:

Intel Celeron M 380 (1.6Ghz, 1MB Cache, 400MHz FSB)
256MB
40GB HD
14.1" Display (1280x800)
24xCDRW/8x DVD Combo Drive
4 Cell Battery
Integrated Sound, Graphics and NIC
Windows XP Home
90 Day warranty

All for £298.99.

Wireless and RAM can be upgraded from the site but its cheaper to get it elsewhere.

256MB DDRII can be had for around £20 new, and a Mini PCI Wireless Adapter for around the same price.

So in total, around £340 for a brand new laptop.

Worth thinking about when looking on the Bay.