Hi all.

My Mum and Dad have charged me with finding a cheap laptop for their business.

Basically they just need something with WIFI internet, a decent amount of hard drive space (over 80gb), and that can use CAD/Google Sketchup.

Ideally a bigger screen would be better as portability is not really high on the agenda, but may be needed sometimes.

Budget, cheap as possible.

Joel

I bought an HP from Ebuyer a year or two ago & it's been very good.

HP 6735s Laptop - Laptops at Ebuyer

i like my Dell.

Dell Inspiron 15 Deals, Evalue Codes, Discounts and Coupons

Compaq CQ60-212 - you can buy it from Staples

Compaq Presario CQ60-212EM Notebook PC (NG447EA) specifications - HP Home & Home Office products

My girlfriend has a Dell and not impressed with the quality of it.

I like my HP so might stick with that marque.

I have an AMD processor in mine and I was told that Intel ones are better? Is this right?

The latest Dell Inspiron 15 doesn't look too shabby on the quality front and there are always good offers on the go.

I just ordered a 15 for someone who wants a basic wifi laptop and it does what is asked of it for £329 delivered.

There are cheaper laptops out there but we all know someone with a horror story to tell after buying a super cheap pile of crap to find no after sales service when it inevitably goes pop/falls to bits within 6 months.

I'd check the graphics requirements for the CAD software (some have a limited list of approved types) and work from there as many laptops have integrated graphics chips which may not have enough performance for CAD use.

Just for info I have an ASUS that has a separate graphics chip & graphics memory that came with two years warranty rather than one and has worked without issues for over two years and 50,000 miles in the boot/back of a Fabia VRS.

Joel, what needs it to be a laptop out of interest?

I got the Toshiba L300 160GB.Nice laptop

I've got a HP which is ok. I've had 2 Acers in the past but I would'nt buy another, lots of facilities but rubbish build quality. Also had a Gateway which was ok.

I've got an HP which has been a good basic laptop.

Toshibas are good too.

Saw a Samsung on QVC last night with an 18.4" screen for £699.

Do they really need a portable laptop?

Cheap + big screen is going to mean b^gger all battery life.

Yes a laptop would be preffered for two reasons:

a) to remove from the shop after closing

to take to clients houses to show kitchen designs etc, even if its just plugged in its still portable

Spotted this Toshiba on offer, told my Mum to check the local store,

here is the spec

Intel Core 2 Duo T5800 processor.

2GHz processor speed.

1MB cache.

2GB DDR2 RAM.

15.4in screen size.

Resolution 1280 x 800 pixels.

Widescreen.

250GB hard drive capacity.

Multiformat dual layer optical drive.

24x CD-ROM read speed.

4x CD-RW write speed.

24x DVD-ROM read speed.

6x DVD-RW write speed.

Shared graphics.

Up to 858MB graphics memory.

3 USB ports.

1 Ethernet ports.

Intel HD sound.

Built-in webcam.

Wireless enabled.

Windows Vista Home Premium operating system installed.

Software included: Microsoft Works (and Office trial), Toshiba DVD Player, uLead DVD Movie Factory.

3 hours 20 mins battery life.

Size (H)3.77, (W)36.2, (D)26.7cm.

Weight 2.5kg.

for £329, seems good to me!

Yes a laptop would be preffered for two reasons:

a) to remove from the shop after closing

to take to clients houses to show kitchen designs etc, even if its just plugged in its still portable

Spotted this Toshiba on offer, told my Mum to check the local store,

here is the spec

Intel Core 2 Duo T5800 processor.

for £329, seems good to me!

Yep , better spec than the dell at that price and a decent brand.

I'd go for that

Only 7 left in the country!

But found this similar toshiba on Dixons for £335

AMD Athlon 64 X 2 Dual Core TK-57, (1.9GHz, 512KB Cache, 1600MHz FSB), Genuine Windows Vista Home Premium, 2GB Memory, 160GB Hard Drive, DVD Super Multi Drive, ATI RADEON X1200 Graphics, Built in Webcam, 3x USB, Wireless Enabled

Or this HP Compaq

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/160960

Sounds alot like my Tosh laptop.

Min had/has 200gb HD and came with Vista Ultimate.

If it's for demoing to clients and always going to be near power would it not be better to look for a 17" screen. Might be worth the extra for when the client has forgotten their specs.