Anyone got a minute to help me choose a laptop/notebook from Amazon Warehouse Deals?

[motn]

I wondered if a Amazon.co.uk Warehouse Deal would be a good idea. Can anyone mosey over to their site and pick one out for me? Can anyone find me one for less than £200?

I'm going to be in UK next week and I want it sent there.

This is the criteria....
I need a laptop
with wireless,
maybe not Vista(?),
webcam would be useful but not vital,
no idea how much memory I need but want to use internet for banking/travel/shopping and lots of emailing, a few word docs and photos.
Would love a notebook for its convenient size but not sure about the small screen and tiny keyboard.
Can be any colour except pink


Would really love a geek's help - I've been on Amazon site and found things but just don't know what's good. TIA

[Naoko]

I had a look at Amazon warehouse but unless I'm not looking at the right thing, there's only about five laptops under 200 quid on there, and they're all netbooks (ie, very small light laptop with small keyboard and screen.)

If you're ok with no more than a 10 inch screen and a small keyboard, I can help you pick one of those, but if you're not sure, I really wouldn't recommend buying one online without going and looking at one in a shop. Put your hands on the keyboard and try and get a feel for if you can cope with the size, or if it's going to drive you mad. I have a netbook that I use when away because it's so compact, but I'd hate for it to be my only computer, it's not as comfortable. Also, keep in mind that the reason netbooks are so small and light is that they compromise on speed, power and multitasking. A netbook will do all the things you want, but it won't do them as fast as a decent full-size laptop.

Is the £200 an absolute limit, or would you be able to go a little bit higher? A netbook is doable on that budget, but a full size laptop would be harder, although you might strike lucky and get a very good deal on a reconditioned one or a display model.

I love laptop shopping for other people, happy to have a look for you :o

[motn]

Oh right,

nao thanks for your input...you're probably right they're all notebooks for that price.

Yes could go a few quid higher, and I'm really not that keen to have a notebook, (except for the ease of travelling with it).

Would love you to do some shopping for me and tell me what looks a good deal. thanks.

I like the Amazon idea as they're really quick and their customer serv is usually pretty good. It has to be delivered to me in the UK in the middle of next week.

Got to go out now but will check back.

[motn]

bumping this for the evening crowd.

What does everyone think of this?

Can go a little above £200, need something desperately and need to order it rapido so it's there when I arrive.

Thanks all.

[Naoko]

Hey motn, sorry I didn't get back to you last night - life got in the way! The one you've linked would certainly do what you want, but it is a low end machine - which, to be fair, is to be expected for the price. I'm a bit hesitant though, the amount of RAM is low, the harddrive is small and the cpu especially lets it down, that is a very low end one.

What do you think of this instead? It's the same sort of pricerange as the one you linked and can be delivered, and also a refurbished unit, but the specification is a lot higher. The cpu is much better, and it has more memory and a bigger harddrive.

I'd normally be a bit hesitant to suggest people buy from PC World owing to bad support, the fact that they're usually overpriced and the general cluelessness of many employees, but if you're taking it abroad I assume you're not really going to be relying on their tech support after purchase anyway, and it is really rather cheap. They also have a Dell laptop of similar spec and price, but that's pink so I assume that one's out :o

[motn]

no prob nao, thanks for trying.

I've ordered a "Warehouse deal" Acer Aspire one 751 from Amazon so let's see what happens. It's a netbook but has a 11.6 screen and full size (?) keyboard. £185 or something. 2gb and 250 ram. Only trouble it's got Vista.

In a hurry but I'll let you know how I get on with it.