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Help - is this a good laptop deal?
Former Member
Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
in General Chat
http://www.pcworld.co.uk/martprd/store/pcw_page.jsp?BV_SessionID=@@@@1032710504.1211883922@@@@&BV_EngineID=ccgcadeeekjkfeecflgceggdhhmdgmj.0&page=Product&sku=118057&category_oid=-34074&fm=undefined&sm=undefined&tm=undefined
I don't know anything about laptops and I've heard mixed reports about PC World so wanted to ask advice from people with a bit more of a clue. Basically I'm looking for an easy-to-use laptop, mainly for internet access, uploading photos from my phone and eventually a digital camera and downloading music (legally I mean). My housemate has a Compaq which I borrow now and again and like using it, and the finance deal on this (deposit of £40 then pay the rest 11 months later) sounds pretty good to me. But am I being a mug? Is there something I'm missing? Will PC World own my soul if I fall for their evil scheme?
Help me, I'm clueless!
I don't know anything about laptops and I've heard mixed reports about PC World so wanted to ask advice from people with a bit more of a clue. Basically I'm looking for an easy-to-use laptop, mainly for internet access, uploading photos from my phone and eventually a digital camera and downloading music (legally I mean). My housemate has a Compaq which I borrow now and again and like using it, and the finance deal on this (deposit of £40 then pay the rest 11 months later) sounds pretty good to me. But am I being a mug? Is there something I'm missing? Will PC World own my soul if I fall for their evil scheme?
Help me, I'm clueless! 0
Comments
The best value for money is in desktops. Our HP system with 2.4Ghz quad core (about 3 times faster than your laptop), and a 320Gb hard drive cost £650. If you're willing to live with something that isn't portable then the best deals are in tower systems, and not at PC World.
Also, avoid Norton. Use something like AVG. (which is free)
The spec looks fine to me and if it's 0% interest then even better.
You can always buy an external hard drive if you run out of space
couldnt disagree more
I went shopping with my auntie recently and didnt see any particulary good deals on desktops
and to be honest I dont see why anyone who has fairly limited needs (which i presume she has if she doesnt know a lot about computers) would need a 320GB hard drive.
Mine is MUCH smaller than that (think its only about 60GB...i know...old school....my dad built it 10yrs ago haha) and I have never run outta space yet, despite downloading LOTS of music, having my entire photo album on my comp and even the occasional film!
320GB is obscene IMO unless a) you'll actually come close to using it and b) the price is great
Your average £400 laptop has more then enough processing power to do 99% of non games related stuff.
This one is better in my opinion: http://www.play.com/PC/PCs/-/654/861/-/3477685/Acer-Aspire-5920-Core-2-Duo-T5450-1-66GHz-2GB-160GB-15-4-DVD-SM-Vista-Home-Premium-Laptop-Notebook/Product.html?searchtype=genre
It has a better screen (although the same graphics card) and also a card reader, although the processor is slightly slower.
or this is the same hard-drive as the pc world one, but faster processor: http://www.play.com/PC/PCs/-/654/861/-/3477695/Acer-Aspire-5920-Core-2-Duo-T7300-2-0GHz-2GB-120GB-15-4-DVD-SM-Vista-Home-Premium-Laptop-Notebook/Product.html?searchtype=genre and has a card reader and better screen!
I personally prefer ACER products.
I wouldn't suggest paying for something on finance such as a laptop/computer. If you save up for a laptop instead, then you'll still get what you want and by the time you have the money, there might be some better spec deals out there to be had!
Not directed at you, but too many people go by the 'buy now, pay for it later' method, which in my opinion isn't the right one - for certain products. My motto is what i can't afford now, i'll save up for and if i really want it, i do overtime etc to earn the extra cash! That's just my opinion though!:)
Spec:
And of course you can upgrade anything you want on it if you want to spend the same amount as the PC World one.
And if you're going to do the credit thing with PC World, be careful. I used to work for Currys which is the same company, and I know that the credit agreements are designed specifically so that something like 9/10 people don't pay them in time, and end up paying about 30% APR. They'll always ask for a big lump sum at the end, because most people who buy on credit are useless at saving up, and it catches them out.
As for the credit thing, I'm not useless at saving up - it's just I'm moving house in the next couple of weeks so will be needing to shell out for a deposit/rent/new furniture for the flat and so money will be a little tighter than usual. I hear what you're saying about waiting until I've got the money and usually that's what I would do, but I'm so sick of relying on other people to use email and the internet. Sounds like a petty reason maybe but it's important to me. I would never go for one of these credit deals usually as I do know how much they can sting you (one of the other finance deals for this laptop means you end up paying more or less twice as much as the original price) but this one looks different as the end price you pay is the same as advertised. But yeah maybe I'm being naive. Perhaps I'll just forget it for the time being.
Thanks for all the opinions.
Dell also does good money off sometimes. But at the end of the day for a fixed price you can get a fairly good system.
And also have to say to littleali that a desktop pc is much better value than a laptop, but you lose portability. In price terms for an OEM the difference between a 320gb hard disk and an 80gb hard disk in a desktop PC is about £10-£15 lol. I have over a terabyte of storage in my computer and even then that's getting close to the wire. Photos from a several megapixel camera can take up several megabytes each. Have a few hundred photos which is pretty easy tbh and youv'e used up quite a few of your precious gigabytes already.
For the price difference I don't see why anyone wouldn't get the larger disc. In fact the best 'value' in price per gigabyte terms is around 750gb at the moment, but that probably is in excess of the average users needs. Bear in mind that an up to date game can now take around 10gb on it's own to install.. if you've got the sims 2 and expansions I dread to think how much space you have left!
Back to the OP - you'll want to be looking at desktop replacement systems for your needs. Basically a laptop you might keep on a desk or coffee table that is pretty much fully functional like a desktop, the downside being they have shorter battery life and are bigger and heavier (as apposed to ultra portable laptops which are obscenely expensive and performance is average, look at the macbook air, for example).
I think the play.com link above is as good a deal as any, at the end of the day you only need it to work
Personally I think PC world is a bit of a rip off merchant, they don't tend to have deals anywhere as good as their competitors - their philosophy is high prices and high 'service' (that you have to pay extra for :yeees:). They make a higher markup per sale but make less sales.. if that makes sense. Have you ever been to a PC world that was busy?
There's nothing wrong with credit, it's just that the sort offered by PC World is rarely the best way of doing it. Find out about their credit deals before you ask them about any products, and then see if you can beat it elsewhere. You might be entitled to an interest free overdraft from your bank, and some credit cards offer you interest free purchases for a year (and that way, you can set it up to pay off the balance however you want - presumably the same amount per month until it's gone). Seriously, I would never touch store credit. Apply for one of these, and buy it on that instead.