Good sites for buying cheap gear online?

[solidgoldbrass]

I have decided to buy myself a netbook of some description when naughty-recalcitrant-client who has suddenly transformed into eager-cooperative-client actually coughs up the long-owed money. But I don't want to spend too much. It just needs to have a reasonable keyboard and be able to connect to the internet. Which are the best bargain sites that aren't dodgy?

www.dabs.com and www.ebuyer.com are both reliable and often do good deals. Are you sure you want a netbook, though? A decent netbook is often only about 30 to 50 quid cheaper than a very cheap laptop, and the increased screen size makes the latter far more comfortable to type on (not being stalky I promise but I think I saw a thread from you the other day that mentioned you're a writer? I'm an academic so I spend a lot of time writing and it's far, far more comfortable on a fullsize laptop or desktop than on my netbook, which I use only in the library because it's so light and easy to carry).

Either way, those sites would be a decent starting point.

With a thread title like that I thought you were looking for dodgy sites!

Naoko: Fair point but it is a netbook I want, as I plan to do the main writing on my existing laptop but want something little and light that I can just cart about with me so I can get on with Chapter Whatever while sitting on a train/doing my market stall. Thing is, my handwriting is now so appalling that trying to do a draft or part draft in longhand would just be a waste of time.

Thanks for tips though.

That makes perfect sense, I wasn't trying to put you off, I love my netbook and I'd hate to be without it :) I just thought I'd mention it because sometimes people see that they are cheaper than fullsize laptops and think they're getting the same usability for less money; these people usually end up disappointed. If all you want is a small, portable typewriter for when you're not near your main PC netbooks are fantastic. They just don't make for very good main PCs.

Yup, that's exactly what I want, a portable typewriter . I used to have real portable typewriters. I was a typewriterholic in the same way that some women are buggyholics; I had about 4 and was always on the lookout for the Perfect Model...