Cheapest Laptop/Chromebook?

[HSH28]

Found this thread after a little search. My gf is looking to get a new laptop and has a budget of £300-£400. I see ASUS is recommended here so had a look at a few. Any particular models anyone would recommend? I know very little about laptops so could use some advice as she knows less than me. Just looking for something reliable, that she can use basic stuff on (web, movies, Office).

Not sure what Lenovo's are like and I know Acer seems to get shunned a bit.

I'd get this for £350:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Samsung-350V5C- ... B009SJCX5Y

Not available at that price.

[Super Dragon 64]

It was when I posted it.

[SandyCoin]

What about this version?

http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/partNumber/1074396.htm?CMPID=GS001&_$ja=cgid:7122584582|tsid:41408|cid:152481902|lid:53713687382|nw:g|crid:26849273222|rnd:5017036771199564359|dvc:c|adp:1o1

[Green Gecko]

Alarm bells, I recommended a Samsung to a friend and the hard disk shortly died within weeks. Never again. But the disk in a cheap tosh went as well.

Also hinges completely strawberry float on nc-10 netbook.

Also wifi dead, pressure marks and dust on screen, and randomly freezing mouse and keyboard on my MacBook Pro.

Dell recently cooked because it was just used too much I guess.

I often doubt whether generic electronics companies can reliably manufacture computers but nowadays I think they're just all gooseberry fool.

Don't buy cheap laptops. Always get a warranty, nothing is built to last.

I'd consider a Lenevo next just because of the absurd number of businessmen relying on them. Or maybe if I fix the mac myself it won't strawberry float up again because I'm not a Chinese slave in a factory.

At least you can actually fix a pc.

[HSH28]

Don't buy cheap laptops. Always get a warranty, nothing is built to last.

On the other hand my parents Acer which is a couple of years old has never had any issues whatsoever.

[Green Gecko]

I think doing extreme things like moving them or pushing the CPU or hard disk ever is also a factor.

[HSH28]

Yeah I guess, for light use they are ok. If its something you intend to use more than occasionally then you are probably better off investing a bit more money in it.

[Drunken_Master]

I think doing extreme things like moving them or pushing the CPU or hard disk ever is also a factor.

Extreme Laptoping?

I've got two cheap laptops, a HP netbook and a horrible HP plastic monstrosity. Both are still going, although I'll confess the HP plastic monstrosity would probably be dead in the hands of a normal user.

Temperatures reached 90c on it the other day. It has a dedicated Nvidia card. Had to strip it down completely. The thermal paste had turned into something akin to rubber.

Laptops have improved since then however. Can't see the problem in getting cheap ones. Provided the user looks after the laptops and tries to keep the clean. (Especially from dust) And well maintained.

[Mogster]

I inherited an old XP Acer a few years ago that was pretty decent for the time and it's still going strong. Even the battery's holding up actually. On the other hand I've seen cheap Asus' die after a couple of years.

It's not so much the brand you need to be worried about as the particular model, especially when it comes to generic stuff like hard drives. Personally I wouldn't bother with any cheap laptop unless you desperately need one and can't afford anything more.

I'd consider a Lenevo next just because of the absurd number of businessmen relying on them.

I watched a tour of the ISS recently and was surprised to see Lenovo laptops all over the place. If it's good enough for NASA!