Laptop Bargain - TOSHIBA A110-233

CountryWise

Saw this in PcWorld, this seems like good value for money, any thoughts on this?

TOSHIBA A110-233 - Save €250!
€749.99



Processor Type Intel Core Solo T1350
Processor speed 1860 mhz
Memory Size 512 mb
Memory Type DDR
Hard Drive Capacity 40 Gb
Optical Drives DVD SuperMulti Dual Layer
Screen Size/Type 15.4" WXGA
Sound Type 16 bit Stereo
Modem Type 56k
Wireless Enabled Yes
No. of USB Connections 3
No. of Firewire Connections 1
Other Interfaces WIFI 802.11a/g
Battery Type Lithium Ion
Battery life (up to) 3.5 hours
Software Titles Included Microsoft Works
Operating system Win XP Home
Weight 2.72 kg
Height 263 mm
Width 360 mm
Depth 38.5 mm

CountryWise

Thinking of buying a laptop soon and would also appreciate input on other bargains out there, just for basic use

Sharp

Dell €543 Includes





Intel® Celeron® M Processor 380 (1.60 GHz, 1MB L2 Cache, 400 MHz FSB)
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OPERATING SYSTEM
Genuine Windows® XP Home Edition, SP2 (incl Symantec PC Restore Recovery)
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SUPPORT SERVICES
Collect & Return, 90 Days Service only
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LCD
15.4" Wide Screen WXGA (1280x800) TFT Display
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MEMORY
512MB 533MHz Single Channel DDR2 SDRAM (1x512)
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HARD DRIVE
60GB (5,400rpm) Hard Drive
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OPTICAL DRIVE(S)
Fixed Internal 8X DVD+/-RW with Software
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SECURITY SOFTWARE
No Security/Anti-Virus Protection

[URL="Heres the link http://configure.euro.dell.com/dellstore/config.aspx?b=&c=ie&cs=ieepp1&l=en&oc=N08136&rbc=N08136&s=dhs&sbc=iedhsrsinspn_1300_2"]Here's the Link[/URL]

Just change the support services to 90 day return to reduce the price.

savemejebus

You could grab this from dell (epp site) for approx €750

Inspiron 6400
Intel® Core™ Duo Processor T2050 (1.60 GHz, 2 MB L2 cache, 533 MHz FSB)
Genuine Windows® XP Home Edition, SP2
Collect & Return, 1 Year Service only
15.4" Wide Screen WXGA (1280 x 800) Display
512MB 533MHz Single Channel DDR2 SDRAM (1x512)
80GB (5,400rpm) Hard Drive
Fixed Internal 8X DVD+/-RW with Software
Intel® Media Accelerator 950 Graphics Up to 256MB shared graphics memory

Would prefer it to the toshiba myself

killbillvol2

Personal opinion, but I'd prefer a Toshiba to a Dell. That's a great price for a Toshiba.

stevejazzx

killbillvol2 wrote:

Personal opinion, but I'd prefer a Toshiba to a Dell. That's a great price for a Toshiba.

Toshiba to a dell anyday, one of best makes of laptops there is, has ever been for that matter, Btw that core duo for 750 is the best value one on this thread.
However if people are going to but a laptop here s what to look for

core duo, better than centrino m, and now very affordable.
decent graphic chips, a lot of laptops have dodgy shred graphics malarky going on so look for one with a dedicated gpu.
at least 512 ram, that is bare minimum believe it or not some are still made with 256 but its becoming less common to see that.
weight, aroung 3kg or less is fine for portability. For frequent mobility you're looking at at 12/13' screen and weight of aroung 2kg or less.
Make, toshiba and sony use top quality external components in their design. The sony vaio vgn range is extremely well made piece of kit.
Hd, 40 gb is low. 80 is more or less standard in a good laptop.

chump

savemejebus wrote:

You could grab this from dell (epp site) for approx €750

Inspiron 6400
Intel® Core™ Duo Processor T2050 (1.60 GHz, 2 MB L2 cache, 533 MHz FSB)
Genuine Windows® XP Home Edition, SP2
Collect & Return, 1 Year Service only
15.4" Wide Screen WXGA (1280 x 800) Display
512MB 533MHz Single Channel DDR2 SDRAM (1x512)
80GB (5,400rpm) Hard Drive
Fixed Internal 8X DVD+/-RW with Software
Intel® Media Accelerator 950 Graphics Up to 256MB shared graphics memory

Would prefer it to the toshiba myself

That looks good? Can someone explain the epp site?

I personally would prefer a toshiba to a dell tho

Sonnenblumen

How about this for a deal!

Toshiba Satellite Pro L20
Intel Celeron M370 1.5GHz
40GB HD
256MB (got an upgraded to 512MB for extra € 40)
DVD Super Multi-Drive (Dual Layer)
15" TFT
LAN/Modem/W-LAN b/g
3 x USB 2.0 ports, 1 x TV-OUT
Windows XP Home ed
€ 649 (incl VAT), Its a cracker, collecting tomorrow!!

Have another Tosh Sat and never had any probs, great machines.

wideangle

Sonnenblumen wrote:

How about this for a deal!

Toshiba Satellite Pro L20
Intel Celeron M370 1.5GHz
40GB HD
256MB (got an upgraded to 512MB for extra € 40)
DVD Super Multi-Drive (Dual Layer)
15" TFT
LAN/Modem/W-LAN b/g
3 x USB 2.0 ports, 1 x TV-OUT
Windows XP Home ed
€ 649 (incl VAT), Its a cracker, collecting tomorrow!!

Have another Tosh Sat and never had any probs, great machines.

No firewire?

chump

firewire?
Sure ipods don't even use that any more, do they?

Personally, for 649+40(ram) = 689, the 750euro lappy is better. far better processor.

wideangle

Firewire is standard on all new camcorders these days.Concidering a laptop my self for video editing you see.;)

Lemlin

I worked for PC World for several years and I wouldn't buy from them. I know alot of staff who wouldn't either.

This is also one of their advertisements where they put the golden line "while stocks last" and use it to their advantage.

They'll get in about ten of this laptop and fifty or sixty of the next spec up which is about €150 to €200 more expensive. Then when people come in to buy the cheaper model the sales person is to sell them the higher spec through their own skill or, more often than not, just saying the other model was only while stocks lasted.

Most people have a credit card and are willing to pay the extra or else they sell them their fanastic credit options, where you pay 29.5% APR if you default on the payments!

You'd be amazed how many people fall for it.

KdjaCL

For 50 more in PC World Hp somfin

100gb HD , wireless, AMD 1.8 Thurion(sp) ATI x200 1gb ram DVD -/+ RW R and other stuff thats not important.

Mate got one today and once wiped off all the standard ****e its a fairly nippy laptop.

kdjac

TerrorFirmer

Sonnenblumen wrote:

How about this for a deal!

Toshiba Satellite Pro L20
Intel Celeron M370 1.5GHz
40GB HD
256MB (got an upgraded to 512MB for extra € 40)
DVD Super Multi-Drive (Dual Layer)
15" TFT
LAN/Modem/W-LAN b/g
3 x USB 2.0 ports, 1 x TV-OUT
Windows XP Home ed
€ 649 (incl VAT), Its a cracker, collecting tomorrow!!

Have another Tosh Sat and never had any probs, great machines.

How you think that is a cracker is beyond me - Toshbia are nice machines but 649 for that is overpriced and I wouldn't call it a bargin whatsoever.

CountryWise

Thanks for the good advice, i think i may go for the 750 above with a few extra's like a faster DVD +/-, one bit of advice i would appreciate is on speakers, i can get a set of dell Speakers for 15€ on their site but does anyone know any other better value speakers with better sound quality as i presume the Dell speakers will be pretty standard, also a price would be helpful?

CountryWise

Oh and i presume id be silly not to consider some kind of Anti Virus or can they be purchased elsewhere for cheaper or downloaded for free?

TerrorFirmer

Dell speakers are usually relatively decent and, to be honest, would be better then any other 15e speakers you'd get in the likes of PC World etc. I don't think you'd really need anything better, unless you really value your sound...

Anti Virus - you don't need it. Uninstall whatever crappy "trial" comes with the Dell - if thats applicable - and install AVG Anti-Virus. I use it on all my laptops and computers, never any problems, and its free.

www.free.grisoft.com

majiktripp

Amen to the free antivirus,Dell bundle the usual sh1te like McAfee which cripples even new systems and now they have Norton Ghost 10 on them too and the hard drive split in two?! so uninstall all that crap before you do anything if you go the dell rote after all

CountryWise

Great stuff and thanks, just saw their is a sticky thread for a load of free software too so its all good so far

chump

gf got a new laptop from dell recently, was horrific the amount of sh!te on it. Spent an hour or so trying to delete things, and then there was this stubborn pest of a problem that wouldn't go away. The hourglass mouse would appear every 9/10 seconds and the pc would chug.
From searching the internet found numerous people with the same problem on brand new machines and had to follow the instructions to get rid of it.

I just thought it was absolutely crazy that a new machine would arrive CRIPPLED.

Sonnenblumen

HavoK wrote:

How you think that is a cracker is beyond me - Toshbia are nice machines but 649 for that is overpriced and I wouldn't call it a bargin whatsoever.

I think the spec is fine for the intended purpose, mainly number crunching and related analysis, absolutely no gaming. Tosh are good, and yeah may be I was too excited by referring to it as a cracker, but still I think its a good deal.

You think not, fine so why not be a little helpful especially to others who might be considering purchasing a laptop and explain where in this instance the problem is, or better still where the solution might be.

TerrorFirmer

Chump - it is indeed disgraceful the state in which DELL laptops arrive. Especially when you consider some people haven't a clue how to use computers and wouldn't even be able to remove all the crap initially. But if you think DELL are bad, never get a Sony....

re: The Toshbia, I just think its overpriced, it is indeed of course suitable for the purpose but at that price you could get a better Dell 1300. And yes, I know people don't like dell, but I personally find the 1300 line extremely rugged and reliable and wouldn't hesitate to recommend one over a Toshiba if the price, of course, is right. E649 for the cheapest, most basic mobile Celeron cpu (the m370 1.5) and 256mb ram is pretty steep - for the exact same price you can get a Dell 1300 with 1.7Ghz Pentium M and 512mb ram, which vastly outpowers the toshiba's base spec.

And even for less, at 80 less then the toshiba, is another 1300 option is the (slightly) better Celeron 1.6 with 512mb ram and 15.4 widescreen....

And again, the same spec as the toshiba costing just over 500 (well 479 but with extra to upgrade the screen to match the toshibas)

I'm not trying to pimp dell, I just (this is not a joke) think they are great...but Dell are not for everyone

Saruman

Ah the eternal Dell are great dell are crap debate!
Well i have a Dell laptop since 03.. its a 5150 P4 3.06ghz And Battery life is about 5 hours (its before centrino).

Great laptop

FranknFurter

Just make sure you steer very clear of any of the Packard Bell or Advent machines they are trying so hard to sell. Cosmetically they look nice, but I guarentee you will have to return them within the first year.

b

TerrorFirmer

Writing from an Advent as we speak...:D

Sonnenblumen

HavoK wrote:

Chump - it is indeed disgraceful the state in which DELL laptops arrive. Especially when you consider some people haven't a clue how to use computers and wouldn't even be able to remove all the crap initially. But if you think DELL are bad, never get a Sony....

re: The Toshbia, I just think its overpriced, it is indeed of course suitable for the purpose but at that price you could get a better Dell 1300. And yes, I know people don't like dell, but I personally find the 1300 line extremely rugged and reliable and wouldn't hesitate to recommend one over a Toshiba if the price, of course, is right. E649 for the cheapest, most basic mobile Celeron cpu (the m370 1.5) and 256mb ram is pretty steep - for the exact same price you can get a Dell 1300 with 1.7Ghz Pentium M and 512mb ram, which vastly outpowers the toshiba's base spec.

And even for less, at 80 less then the toshiba, is another 1300 option is the (slightly) better Celeron 1.6 with 512mb ram and 15.4 widescreen....

And again, the same spec as the toshiba costing just over 500 (well 479 but with extra to upgrade the screen to match the toshibas)

I'm not trying to pimp dell, I just (this is not a joke) think they are great...but Dell are not for everyone

Fair play Havok on the replies. Dell might be better on spec but having had a couple of issues with Dell support on PC problems, I decided to avoid Dell Laptops and purchase from the local IT specialist retailer. At least if anythging goes haywire with support, I can vent my frustration in-store, rather than on the tel to someone quite remote physically and psychologically. My anger release valve retained for in-store ocassions is worth a lot of €.

DirkVoodoo

I have a question about bloatware. I was looking at an Acer but it says they only come with a repair disk and/or partition. Does this mean u cant do a clean install of windows? Can u use an existing CD with ur Acer windows license?

TerrorFirmer

You need to re-image from the partition, which yes, means no fresh install if they don't supply an actual CD as well....just a return to its "as purchased, bloated self"

Existing CD, no. If its retail the oem key from the acer won't work with it and you won't be able to activate it upon installation.

You'll just have to uninstall all the bloatware....