Lidl offers

odie

Lidl are offering computer stuff again

http://www.lidl.ie/ie/index.nsf/pages/c.o.oow.20050613.index

Targa Traveller 826T MT32 mobile Power

It is this one http://www.targa.co.uk/cms/targa_2_459.php?produkt_id=383

Redrocket

some nice bargains there odie,
that external hard disk is cheap
also i like the look of those garden knomes

Saruman

The mini dvd player plays Divx apparently!

Redrocket

theres not enough info on it, im happy with my silvercrest dvd player, the 60 euro one from a few weeks ago

Drag00n79

Am I right in thinking the external harddrive for €139 is well worth it considering the internal one is €129? Both the same size — 250GB.

Redrocket

well considering external hard drives from komplett..

Maxtor OneTouch USB2.0 160GB 8MB 7200RPM is 133euro
and
Maxtor OneTouch II USB2.0 300GB 16MB 7200RPM is 227euro

seems like a definate bargain

Anchises

Webcam is a Silvercrest - seems dear for a perfectly ordinary webcam....

LIDL support site for webcam (and other PC stuff);

http://www.mysilvercrest.de/en/kategorie.php?k=13

Don't forget the MY - silvercrest.de seems to be a bunch of hippies or a witch coven

fatherdougalmag

The external drive will operate slower than the internal one because it runs over USB as opposed to the internal IDE interface in a PC. Also, it will probably be noisier. Then there's the advantage of having a portable HD versus an internal drive. I guess it depends on your needs.

PiE

Anybody any opinions on the 2.1 speakers? Specs don't seem too bad for the price.

http://www.mysilvercrest.de/en/artikel.php?a=9

Kazaanova

Yeah was thinking about getting the speakers too. No idea how good they are or how much speakers generally cost, is 24.99 good? I'm not looking for top of the range or anything. I think a while ago they had 5.1 speakers for 34.99.

Basq

I think the speakers are fantastic! I got them last time they were in!

Any opinions on the hard drive? I know it was the same one they got in last time.. worth getting!?

Stephen

Anyone have full specs for the laptop?

odie

Stephen wrote:

Anyone have full specs for the laptop?

See first post above

Stephen

Cheers. I know someone who is after a decent laptop

GlennaMaddy

The external hard drive was 199EUR the last time Lidl ran that offer.

External hard disk speed over USB 2 is very fast, read/write I/O speed is about 75% of what you'll find on an internal HD on IDE

vibe666

the 2 hard drives on offer aren't identical, the USB one has an 8mb cache, the internal one has a 16mb cache, which will improve speeds.

also as has been mentioned above, an internal IDE interface will be a smidgen quicker than a USB one as well in sustained transfers (i.e. copying big files).

seems like a good deal until you see that a (basic 2mb cache) samsung spinpoint 250gb internal drive from komplett for 131 delivered, and the higher end branded drives are only a tenner or so more.

small price to pay for guaranteed quality.

also, if one does go tits up from lidl, what are your chances of getting a replacement from them if they only have limited stock?

quick RMA to komplett and you're sorted.

also, if you really need it mobile then get onto ebay and you'll pick an enclosure up for pennies, and you can pick your own style!

just something to think about.

Akula

anybody know if the internet hdd is ide or sata?

milltown

Who even needs an external hard drive when you can buy the MP3 player with "unlimited memory" for €79 ?
Once I transfer all my MP3s onto that bad boy I'll have all the hard disk space I need.
In fact, maybe I'll get two Unlimited, unlimited memory!
I'll use one purely for voice recording, just leave it on ALL the time. Make it a lot easier when it comes time to write my memoirs.

monkeyfudge

milltown wrote:

Who even needs an external hard drive when you can buy the MP3 player with "unlimited memory" for €79 ?
Once I transfer all my MP3s onto that bad boy I'll have all the hard disk space I need.
In fact, maybe I'll get two Unlimited, unlimited memory!
I'll use one purely for voice recording, just leave it on ALL the time. Make it a lot easier when it comes time to write my memoirs.

Unlimited memory? Is it magic? Does part of it exist in another dimension?

EDIT:

http://www.lidl.ie/ie/index.nsf/pages/c.o.oow.20050613.p.MP3

Oh I see.. very nice... I guess it really must be magic.

Evil Phil

The external hard drive comes with a 36 month warrenty from the manufacturer so you can get it fixed/replaced.

Pet

Is the laptop any good for the price? And what about that AMD processor, what speed is it (it says 3000+, but I remember they did that before with a 2.7ghz one..) and is it comparable to a Pentium 4?

sikes

the internal hard drive is the one i got when they were last on sale were western digitial.

dont forget when u order off komplett you have to pay for postage, the cost of a hd case etc. this external hard drive is a great deal. will be picking up another one

Akula

I'm guessing that "unlimited" memory means it has an expansion slot? Probably SD.

bk

Pet wrote:

And what about that AMD processor, what speed is it (it says 3000+, but I remember they did that before with a 2.7ghz one..) and is it comparable to a Pentium 4?

It runs at 2Ghz, however you can't compare this with the Ghz speed of a P4 as they are completely different architectures.

The 3000+ is equal in benchmarks to a P4 running at 3Ghz.

See the following for benchmarks comparing the two:
http://www23.tomshardware.com/index.html

odie

AMD speed info here

http://www.amd.com/us-en/Processors/ProductInformation/0,,30_118_12651_12658,00.html

odie

Just checked Northern Ireland Lidl's price for the laptop
It is £899 which works out at €1,339.11 according to http://www.xe.com/ucc/ currency converter
Over €150 cheaper. Worth the trip


http://www.lidl.ie/ie/index_ni.nsf/pages/c.o.oow.20050613.p.Notebook

Emmo

is it worth the conversion rates, you cant use your credit card in Lidl or Aldi can you?

Emmo

Stephen

No, you can't. They will take laser or cash only. Dunno if the nordie ones take laser either.

sikes

bk wrote:

It runs at 2Ghz, however you can't compare this with the Ghz speed of a P4 as they are completely different architectures.

The 3000+ is equal in benchmarks to a P4 running at 3Ghz.

See the following for benchmarks comparing the two:
http://www23.tomshardware.com/index.html

they both use the x86. they are exactly the same architecture

WellyJ

you know what he means sikes,

EG, the AMD 64 3500+ runs at a clock speed of 2.2GHZ, but is comparable with 3.6GHZ P4 not 2.2GHZ P4

Clock speed is highly overrated

bk

sikes wrote:

they both use the x86. they are exactly the same architecture

While they both use the x86 instruction set and therefore more or less appear the same to the OS. There actual architecture is completely different.

AMD Ahtlon 64 uses a relatively short pipeline while P4 uses a very long pipeline. Also AMD 64 uses a different interconnect technology and a completely different branch predictor and there are many more differences.

sikes

its a different implementation of the same architecture. machine code and instruction set must be the same.

Velcrow

vibe666 wrote:

also, if you really need it mobile then get onto ebay and you'll pick an enclosure up for pennies, and you can pick your own style!
just something to think about.

Good advice!

bk

sikes wrote:

its a different implementation of the same architecture. machine code and instruction set must be the same.

I'm afraid you are confused about the definition of the word Architecture in CompSci. From a dictionary:

Computer Science. The overall design or structure of a computer system, including the hardware and the software required to run it, especially the internal structure of the microprocessor.

http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=architecture

The "internal structure of the microprocessor" of AMD 64 is very different from the Intel P4 Netburst architecture. As long as the inputs (x86 CISC instruction set) and the outputs (results) are the same then it looks like a x86 CPU to the OS.

Nowadays x86 means the instruction set used, it hasn't actually meant the CPU architecture in years, no existing CPU architecture (P4, AMD) is anything like the original x86's CPU's, in fact they are radically different (stealing many ideas from RISC and SIMD architectures).

BTW sorry for the off topic conversation.

lensman

Pet wrote:

Is the laptop any good for the price? And what about that AMD processor, what speed is it (it says 3000+, but I remember they did that before with a 2.7ghz one..) and is it comparable to a Pentium 4?

my son got this laptop when they had it in last time, top notch kit, plays
c.o.d , far-cry and such very smooth.

odie

Look....lets face it an AMD 3000+ running at 1.8 or 2.0 ghz is gonna outperform any P4 3.0 Ghz and most 3.2 Ghz macines with the same spec....Get over it and buy AMD 64bit.....they are the dogs b******s.

Call_Me,Stan

Ok, i'm going to get that mp3 player and if it take SD cards, then the 256MB card for €29.99. Is that good value?

sikes

bk wrote:

I'm afraid you are confused about the definition of the word Architecture in CompSci. From a dictionary:


http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=architecture

The "internal structure of the microprocessor" of AMD 64 is very different from the Intel P4 Netburst architecture. As long as the inputs (x86 CISC instruction set) and the outputs (results) are the same then it looks like a x86 CPU to the OS.

Nowadays x86 means the instruction set used, it hasn't actually meant the CPU architecture in years, no existing CPU architecture (P4, AMD) is anything like the original x86's CPU's, in fact they are radically different (stealing many ideas from RISC and SIMD architectures).

BTW sorry for the off topic conversation.

that definition is a bit strange though that you have there. the way i knew it is that it refers to the orgaisation, hardware and instruction set archiecture that defines the new definition for archiectutre.

the old one of course, which i was reffering to ;-) , being the instruction set archuiecture.

bricks

http://www.discounter-news.de/forum/showthread.php?tid=30

http://www.lidl.ie/ie/index.nsf/pages/c.o.oow.20050613.p.Notebook

300 Euros cheaper in German Lidl

wolfe25

bricks wrote:

http://www.discounter-news.de/forum/showthread.php?tid=30

http://www.lidl.ie/ie/index.nsf/pages/c.o.oow.20050613.p.Notebook

300 Euros cheaper in German Lidl

Even the Germans are learning how to rip us off.

Stephen

Aldi/Lidl stuff is always cheaper on the continent, but bear in mind the difference in VAT rates. 21% here versus 16% in germany. It probably doesn't explain the entire difference but its a good chunk of it.

smemon

this lidl laptop is a 1.8Ghz turion, not a 2Ghz as posted earlier.

also, the mp3 DOES accept SD memory cards, sure theres a picture of one beside it in the brochure i picked up yesterday. (actually the exact €29.99 card their selling).

the more i research this stuff on the net, the more i realise this isnt actually good value stuff as the lidl name suggests. lidl tapping into rip-off ireland imo. using their cheap name to sell high-priced products, making a handsome profit, hoping customers don't notice and just buy them because they're from lidl and 'have to be good value'.

Brian017

The 256mb SD cards are €60 in Argos though.

chump

It's not good value compared to the continent or certain online vendors, fair enough.

Good value to the Joe on the street in this country? It sure is...

'tis all relative 'tis

smemon

chump wrote:

It's not good value compared to the continent or certain online vendors, fair enough.

Good value to the Joe on the street in this country? It sure is...

'tis all relative 'tis

yeah fair enough,tis good value by irish standards to the man on the street. but to the average irish joe on the internet, tis not great value.

denismac

Are we in Ireland getting second - best service from Lidl? When you look at the upcoming bargains on their UK or continental stores we are not getting the same value. They can offer 300GB drives everywhere else but they dump the unsold 250GB drives on us. Also a couple of months ago, when they were offering a 17" LCD monitor in Ireland everywhere else had the option of a 19" monitor.
I don't like to be discriminated against.

Basq

denismac wrote:

They can offer 300GB drives everywhere else but they dump the unsold 250GB drives on us.

250GB hard drives for €139... they can keep dumping them on us for that price!

I'd like to know how much are they charging for the 300GB hard drive in the UK?

EDIT: According to this thread, they sold the 300GB external hard drive for £129 (€194 approx) last week. Not sure if i'd pay the extra €55 for the extra 50GB to be honest. But that's just me!

MorningStar

denismac wrote:

I don't like to be discriminated against.

It's a distance and market thing. THe UK give tax breaks so that NI is treaated like the rest of the UK so no extra shipping costs or reduced. In Irelland we are further away so the logistics mean they add shipping or ship the smaller item.
We do similar to people in Donegal and that's in the same country. So it may not be discrimination and even if it is to rip us off it would be taking advantage of our economy and not discrimination.

bk

MorningStar wrote:

It's a distance and market thing. THe UK give tax breaks so that NI is treaated like the rest of the UK so no extra shipping costs or reduced. In Irelland we are further away so the logistics mean they add shipping or ship the smaller item.
We do similar to people in Donegal and that's in the same country. So it may not be discrimination and even if it is to rip us off it would be taking advantage of our economy and not discrimination.

Given that most of these electronics are made in Taiwan or China and shipped to Europe, I'd imagine the difference in shipping cost to UK as opposed to Ireland is trivial.