I am looking to buy a laptop for a child but I don't know much about 
them. I am currently looking at this one, could someone who knows give 
me their views / suggest an alternative I don't want to spend more than 
this.

Lenovo 3000 G550 £390

http://www.laptopsdirect.co.uk/Lenovo_3000_G550_Laptop_NTDE6UK/version.asp?PID=1372

Thanks.

Raggy wrote:
> I am looking to buy a laptop for a child but I don't know much about 
> them. I am currently looking at this one, could someone who knows give 
> me their views / suggest an alternative I don't want to spend more than 
> this.
> 
> Lenovo 3000 G550 £390
> 
> http://www.laptopsdirect.co.uk/Lenovo_3000_G550_Laptop_NTDE6UK/version.asp?PID=1372 

Thats your average 15.6" notebook good make though, the latest notebooks 
are built with ULV processors (ultra low voltage) and come with 6 or 8 
cell batteries giving 5 - 8 hour battery life at the expense of some cpu 
performance. This sounds like what netbooks have been doing this last 
year or so but these ULV machines are not netbooks they are vastly more 
powerfull esp the dual core variants.

A child might not need 5 hour battery life so a normal non-ulv machine 
will probably suffice and you will struggle to find a dual core ULV 
machine for £ 400 inc VAT, the Acer Aspire Timeline 1810tz I ordered 
last week is £ 449.99 at Amazon slightly over your budget.

So it really depends what you need, do you want to follow current trends 
and go ULV or stick to a tradional laptop.

Nick Le Lievre wrote:
>
> Thats your average 15.6" notebook good make though, the latest notebooks 
> are built with ULV processors (ultra low voltage) and come with 6 or 8 
> cell batteries giving 5 - 8 hour battery life at the expense of some cpu 
> performance. This sounds like what netbooks have been doing this last 
> year or so but these ULV machines are not netbooks they are vastly more 
> powerfull esp the dual core variants.
> 
> A child might not need 5 hour battery life so a normal non-ulv machine 
> will probably suffice and you will struggle to find a dual core ULV 
> machine for £ 400 inc VAT, the Acer Aspire Timeline 1810tz I ordered 
> last week is £ 449.99 at Amazon slightly over your budget.
> 
> So it really depends what you need, do you want to follow current trends 
> and go ULV or stick to a tradional laptop.

Oh and by the way most ULV machines do not have DVD Drives, this is in 
order to reduce weight and make the machine as slim as possible and it 
also conserves battery life. The exception to this rule is Dells range 
of ULV laptops in particular the 13 and 15" Inspiron z models.

The 11.6" Timeline 1810tz I am awaiting delivery of does not have a DVD 
drive, which for me is not a great loss as I never watch DVDs on my 
laptop and I do have an external drive to connect for those rare times 
when I need to install something from DVD.

On Mon, 02 Nov 2009 12:13:35 +0000, Raggy  wrote:

>I am looking to buy a laptop for a child but I don't know much about 
>them. I am currently looking at this one, could someone who knows give 
>me their views / suggest an alternative I don't want to spend more than 
>this.
>
>Lenovo 3000 G550 £390
>
>http://www.laptopsdirect.co.uk/Lenovo_3000_G550_Laptop_NTDE6UK/version.asp?PID=1372
>
>Thanks.

Probably you're spending too much if it is a child and not a teenager on the web
/at college.

We are in the process of sorting out a couple of IBM Thinkpads for our grand-
daughters. At least we'll know without spending too much if they are going to
get any use out of them, and can always upgrade later.

Peter
--
Peter A Forbes
Prepair Ltd, Rushden, UK
peterforbes@prepair.co.uk
http://www.prepair.co.uk
http://www.prepair.eu

In article , Peter A Forbes 
says...

> We are in the process of sorting out a couple of IBM Thinkpads for our grand-
> daughters. At least we'll know without spending too much if they are going to
> get any use out of them, and can always upgrade later.
> 
I've had a few enquiries for Thinkpad T42s for people wanting cheap 
rugged ones for their kids.



-- 
Conor
www.notebooks-r-us.co.uk

I'm not prejudiced. I hate everybody equally.

On Mon, 2 Nov 2009 14:32:24 -0000, Conor  wrote:

>In article , Peter A Forbes 
>says...
>
>> We are in the process of sorting out a couple of IBM Thinkpads for our grand-
>> daughters. At least we'll know without spending too much if they are going to
>> get any use out of them, and can always upgrade later.
>> 
>I've had a few enquiries for Thinkpad T42s for people wanting cheap 
>rugged ones for their kids.

They are very good machines IMO.


Peter
--
Peter A Forbes
Prepair Ltd, Rushden, UK
peterforbes@prepair.co.uk
http://www.prepair.co.uk
http://www.prepair.eu

"Conor"  wrote in message 
news:MPG.2558fdd6b330cbd39898cf@news.eternal-september.org...
> In article , Peter A Forbes
> says...
>
>> We are in the process of sorting out a couple of IBM Thinkpads for our 
>> grand-
>> daughters. At least we'll know without spending too much if they are 
>> going to
>> get any use out of them, and can always upgrade later.
>>
> I've had a few enquiries for Thinkpad T42s for people wanting cheap
> rugged ones for their kids.
>
>
>
> -- 

I got 2 T43's left on E bay out of 20+ I had.
Item : 380166404762
& Item: 380172066509

Conor wrote:
> In article , Peter A Forbes 
> says...
> 
>> We are in the process of sorting out a couple of IBM Thinkpads for our grand-
>> daughters. At least we'll know without spending too much if they are going to
>> get any use out of them, and can always upgrade later.
>>
> I've had a few enquiries for Thinkpad T42s for people wanting cheap 
> rugged ones for their kids.

I suppose it depends on whether the OP would consider 2nd hand or not as 
these machines that you mention are a good couple of years old and out 
of date in specification that may be a factor for a teenager who wants 
the latest/greatest also depends how much money OP has to spend and he 
seems to have about £ 390 which will buy a decent brand new machine with 
Windows 7. If its a child of 5 years of age I do not suppose it matters.

When I sold my Toshiba A200GE-26P earlier in the year for £ 300 the 
buyer wanted something that was in immaculate as new condition it was a 
present for his daughter, it was only a year old so the specification 
was up to date and I restored it to as new condition with the recovery 
DVD, it was boxed and everything it looked new I paid £ 432 for it a 
year earlier and got £ 50 cashback from Toshiba.

Peter A Forbes wrote:
> On Mon, 2 Nov 2009 14:32:24 -0000, Conor  wrote:
> 
>> In article , Peter A Forbes 
>> says...
>>
>>> We are in the process of sorting out a couple of IBM Thinkpads for our grand-
>>> daughters. At least we'll know without spending too much if they are going to
>>> get any use out of them, and can always upgrade later.
>>>
>> I've had a few enquiries for Thinkpad T42s for people wanting cheap 
>> rugged ones for their kids.
> 
> They are very good machines IMO.

Good machines but old and obselete spec not something I would want to 
give my 14 year old as a present to show how much I loved him.

Nick Le Lievre wrote:
> Conor wrote:
>> In article , Peter A 
>> Forbes says...
>>
>>> We are in the process of sorting out a couple of IBM Thinkpads for 
>>> our grand-
>>> daughters. At least we'll know without spending too much if they are 
>>> going to
>>> get any use out of them, and can always upgrade later.
>>>
>> I've had a few enquiries for Thinkpad T42s for people wanting cheap 
>> rugged ones for their kids.
> 
> I suppose it depends on whether the OP would consider 2nd hand or not as 
> these machines that you mention are a good couple of years old and out 
> of date in specification that may be a factor for a teenager who wants 
> the latest/greatest also depends how much money OP has to spend and he 
> seems to have about £ 390 which will buy a decent brand new machine with 
> Windows 7. If its a child of 5 years of age I do not suppose it matters.
> 
> When I sold my Toshiba A200GE-26P earlier in the year for £ 300 the 
> buyer wanted something that was in immaculate as new condition it was a 
> present for his daughter, it was only a year old so the specification 
> was up to date and I restored it to as new condition with the recovery 
> DVD, it was boxed and everything it looked new I paid £ 432 for it a 
> year earlier and got £ 50 cashback from Toshiba.

Needs to be new she's 12 so it matters big time, what about Acer?

http://direct.tesco.com/q/R.206-7486.aspx

Raggy wrote:

> 
> Needs to be new she's 12 so it matters big time, what about Acer?
> 

Disposable?


-- 
Adrian C

Raggy wrote:
> 
> Needs to be new she's 12 so it matters big time, what about Acer?
> 
> http://direct.tesco.com/q/R.206-7486.aspx

You cannot really beat that on price, in my opinion Acer are fine I had 
one and had no problems with it, I do not really buy based on make as I 
will buy anything if its the right spec/price although I avoided Dell 
this time round and they were not really any cheaper in fact I got 1GB 
more RAM for £ 5 extra with the Acer.

Adrian C wrote:
> Raggy wrote:
> 
>>
>> Needs to be new she's 12 so it matters big time, what about Acer?
>>
> 
> Disposable?
> 

Should really quality that - how long do you think she'll be using this 
machine. How is/was she with attitude to care of things expensive. Has 
she grasped the value of money? Is this laptop going to have studeous 
use or just facebook plaything. Is a decent keyboard more important than 
a webcam?

Acer models are good for a few things, it's just the bargain basement 
models will be a bit of a longevity risk. And if you are paying for a 
high spec CPU or graphics chipset (something for a gamer like Nick), 
something else has to give. There are some horrible keyboards out there.

I'd go with Dell, HP, Lenovo (my choice) or Toshiba. I'd also get on top 
of all the educational discounts out there for machine and software.

-- 
Adrian C

Adrian C wrote:
> 
> Acer models are good for a few things, it's just the bargain basement 
> models will be a bit of a longevity risk. And if you are paying for a 
> high spec CPU or graphics chipset (something for a gamer like Nick), 
> something else has to give. There are some horrible keyboards out there.
> 

Yeah the Acer I owned 2 years ago was not cheap it was over £ 500 and 
had a low performance discrete graphics card and a Core 2 Duo CPU back 
when Core 2 Duos in notebooks were expensive.

I am not really a gamer when it comes to notebooks as you often have to 
pay a fortune to get something reasonable and nowadays I much more 
concerned about battery life, the A200GE-26P I had earlier this year had 
a Radeon Mobility 2600HD which was fairly decent but I never played 
games on it so a bit of a waste for time for me.

The Acer Timeline 1810tz I am getting is also not a bargain basement 
model so should be fairly good quality wise, I did not choose Dell 
because they crank out machines at a rate of knots and they are rather 
bland.

Toshiba have always been good although the A200GE-26P was a business 
model so it did not have multimedia keys and was rather bland in 
appearance but it did not bother me.

"Nick Le Lievre" <nicklelievre@jerseymail.co.uk.invalid> wrote in message 
news:hcmv2d$qto$1@aioe.org...
> The Acer Timeline 1810tz I am getting is also not a bargain basement model 
> so should be fairly good quality wise, I did not choose Dell because they 
> crank out machines at a rate of knots and they are rather bland.


I'd never recommend a Dell for this reason. Dell build quality in general 
has gone right down the pan since they started competing on a budget, how 
many Dell models have NOT suffered some sort of design fault (on quite a few 
models, multiple design faults) that shows up after a couple of years. Like 
anything you get what you pay for and Dell obviously opted for volume and 
have been trading on the back of their previous good rep for build quality 
for some time now (far too long). I am just wondering when the bubble is 
going to burst for them.

Niel J Humphreys wrote:
> 
> I'd never recommend a Dell for this reason. Dell build quality in general 
> has gone right down the pan since they started competing on a budget, how 
> many Dell models have NOT suffered some sort of design fault (on quite a few 
> models, multiple design faults) that shows up after a couple of years. Like 
> anything you get what you pay for and Dell obviously opted for volume and 
> have been trading on the back of their previous good rep for build quality 
> for some time now (far too long). I am just wondering when the bubble is 
> going to burst for them.

It already has for me. Its just a shame so many others are still buying 
from them based on past reputation.

Niel J Humphreys wrote:
> I'd never recommend a Dell for this reason. Dell build quality in general 
> has gone right down the pan since they started competing on a budget, 

So avoid their budget models?

Those would be fancy things alway below the spec and build of the Lenovo 
model that started this thread. Dell's offered playmates for lowend junk 
elsewhere. A real laptop with OS for £300 can't really be done with good 
components, so it's all junk down there. Almost* Guaranteed.

But equally for your valid reasons run a mile away from the Dell Vostro 
series on the desktop. Totally Horrid. :-(

*Then again (I'm a banana) take a look at reviews for Samsung's R519 
featured recently on the Gadget Show (yes, I know.... that program is as 
impartial as ...)

Argos has it for £349 at the moment. Hear good things about that one 
even though it's got a basic spec compared with others.

-- 
Adrian C

"Adrian C" <email@here.invalid> wrote in message 
news:7l8lscF3d15leU1@mid.individual.net...
> Niel J Humphreys wrote:
>> I'd never recommend a Dell for this reason. Dell build quality in general 
>> has gone right down the pan since they started competing on a budget,
>
> So avoid their budget models?

It's not their budget models though (didn't say it was), their corporate 
machines are riddled with design faults, hate to think about the standard of 
their 'retail' models.

On Mon, 02 Nov 2009 19:04:35 -0000, Niel J Humphreys  
 wrote:

> "Adrian C" <email@here.invalid> wrote in message
> news:7l8lscF3d15leU1@mid.individual.net...
>> Niel J Humphreys wrote:
>>> I'd never recommend a Dell for this reason. Dell build quality in  
>>> general
>>> has gone right down the pan since they started competing on a budget,
>>
>> So avoid their budget models?
>
> It's not their budget models though (didn't say it was), their corporate
> machines are riddled with design faults, hate to think about the  
> standard of
> their 'retail' models.
>
>

I'm not so sure HP models are much better.

I've seen several in for repair with one or the other of these two common  
faults:

1) No boot - just a beep sequence
Usually where the Northbridge has excessively overheated and has partially  
desoldered itself from the mainboard.
New mainboard needed.

2)On board wireless adapted vanishes
(A re-install of the driver doesn't find it either.)
New mainboard or fit PC Card express Wlan card.

These faults are frequently seen on HP models having AMD cpu's

What's worse is the "over the pond" HP branch recognizes this as a problem  
and has websites instructing customers how to invoke and use a warranty  
extension to get these issues fixed. (Fear of a Class action lawsuit no  
doubt)

In the UK if you get the fault after 1 year's up you're stuffed.
They will repair but at a cost which IMO not worthwhile.
After all if it's design fault and no fix is in place, then a repair will  
most likely fail in the same way.

Nick Le Lievre wrote:
> Peter A Forbes wrote:
>> On Mon, 2 Nov 2009 14:32:24 -0000, Conor  wrote:
>>
>>> In article , Peter A 
>>> Forbes says...
>>>
>>>> We are in the process of sorting out a couple of IBM Thinkpads for 
>>>> our grand-
>>>> daughters. At least we'll know without spending too much if they are 
>>>> going to
>>>> get any use out of them, and can always upgrade later.
>>>>
>>> I've had a few enquiries for Thinkpad T42s for people wanting cheap 
>>> rugged ones for their kids.
>>
>> They are very good machines IMO.
> 
> Good machines but old and obselete spec not something I would want to 
> give my 14 year old as a present to show how much I loved him.

If they're just using it for web and email access then what difference 
does it make?  If the only requirements are cheap and rugged then the 
fact that it's not cutting edge hardware is completely irrelevant.

-- 
[ste]

On Mon, 02 Nov 2009 15:12:49 +0000, Nick Le Lievre
<nicklelievre@jerseymail.co.uk.invalid> wrote:

>Good machines but old and obselete spec not something I would want to 
>give my 14 year old as a present to show how much I loved him.

Unless your 14year old is a techie whizz-kid, and used to having expensive
pressies, then it is pretty much irrelevent as long as it works and does the
job.

It's up to our grand daughter's parents to spend that kind of money if they want
to, and I know they wouldn't for the same reasons that we wouldn't. Kids have a
very short attention span, and this years presents are January's ebay sales. 

Christmas is about giving, not how much you are spending.

Peter
--
Peter & Rita Forbes
Email: diesel@easynet.co.uk
http://www.oldengine.org/members/diesel
http://www.stationary-engine.co.uk
http://www.oldengine.co.uk

Peter A Forbes  wrote
>On Mon, 02 Nov 2009 15:12:49 +0000, Nick Le Lievre
><nicklelievre@jerseymail.co.uk.invalid> wrote:
>
>>Good machines but old and obselete spec not something I would want to 
>>give my 14 year old as a present to show how much I loved him.
>
>Unless your 14year old is a techie whizz-kid, and used to having expensive
>pressies, then it is pretty much irrelevent as long as it works and does the
>job.
>
>It's up to our grand daughter's parents to spend that kind of money if they want
>to, and I know they wouldn't for the same reasons that we wouldn't. Kids have a
>very short attention span, and this years presents are January's ebay sales. 
>
>Christmas is about giving, not how much you are spending.
>
... and a laptop is for life, not just Christmas, you can tell 'em.  ;-)
-- 
Roger Hunt

In article , Adrian C
<email@here.invalid> writes

>Those would be fancy things alway below the spec and build of the Lenovo 
>model that started this thread. Dell's offered playmates for lowend junk 
>elsewhere. A real laptop with OS for £300 can't really be done with good 
>components, so it's all junk down there. Almost* Guaranteed.

What no-one realises is that with the exception of Lenovo and Toshiba,
who are trading by the skin of their teeth on their previous history of
building decent machines, is that all laptops come from the exact same
factory in Taiwan, regardless of whether they're Dells or Acers.  So
quibbling about build quality is pointless.

To the OP: basic, cheap, disposable = Acer and other cheap brands, if
you want something that lasts buy a used Stinkpad or a Tosh.

-- 
(\__/)   
(='.'=)  Bunny says Windows 7 is Vi$ta reloaded.
(")_(")  http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/windows_7.png

In article <KZuhyoE+L+7KFwLb@jasper.org.uk>, Mike Tomlinson says...

> What no-one realises is that with the exception of Lenovo and Toshiba,
> who are trading by the skin of their teeth on their previous history of
> building decent machines, is that all laptops come from the exact same
> factory in Taiwan, regardless of whether they're Dells or Acers.  So
> quibbling about build quality is pointless.

Lenovo's corporate range are still built to the level they used to be. 
Newest one I've sold is 3 months old.

But yes, many are rebadged Gericom et al. DSG's E-systems range are 
rebadged Asus.

-- 
Conor
www.notebooks-r-us.co.uk

I'm not prejudiced. I hate everybody equally.

Mike Tomlinson wrote:

> In article , Adrian C
> <email@here.invalid> writes
> 
>>Those would be fancy things alway below the spec and build of the Lenovo
>>model that started this thread. Dell's offered playmates for lowend junk
>>elsewhere. A real laptop with OS for £300 can't really be done with good
>>components, so it's all junk down there. Almost* Guaranteed.
> 
> What no-one realises is that with the exception of Lenovo and Toshiba,
> who are trading by the skin of their teeth on their previous history of
> building decent machines, is that all laptops come from the exact same
> factory in Taiwan, regardless of whether they're Dells or Acers.  So
> quibbling about build quality is pointless.

3 Factories in Taiwan to be exact - Quanta, Compal and Clevo. Usually the
better kit is Quanta and the cheapest Clevo but there are some from both
ends of the range from all 3 companies (Dell use both Quanta and Compal).

Mike Tomlinson wrote:

> In article , Adrian C
> <email@here.invalid> writes
> 
>>Those would be fancy things alway below the spec and build of the Lenovo
>>model that started this thread. Dell's offered playmates for lowend junk
>>elsewhere. A real laptop with OS for £300 can't really be done with good
>>components, so it's all junk down there. Almost* Guaranteed.
> 
> What no-one realises is that with the exception of Lenovo and Toshiba,
> who are trading by the skin of their teeth on their previous history of
> building decent machines, is that all laptops come from the exact same
> factory in Taiwan, regardless of whether they're Dells or Acers.  So
> quibbling about build quality is pointless.

Interesting article on who makes what laptops - curiously it appears that
Lenovo use the same maker as Dell and Acer.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/blog/2008/jun/27/didquantaorcompalmakeyour

Nick Le Lievre wrote:

> Peter A Forbes wrote:
>> On Mon, 2 Nov 2009 14:32:24 -0000, Conor  wrote:
>> 
>>> In article , Peter A Forbes
>>> says...
>>>
>>>> We are in the process of sorting out a couple of IBM Thinkpads for our
>>>> grand- daughters. At least we'll know without spending too much if they
>>>> are going to get any use out of them, and can always upgrade later.
>>>>
>>> I've had a few enquiries for Thinkpad T42s for people wanting cheap
>>> rugged ones for their kids.
>> 
>> They are very good machines IMO.
> 
> Good machines but old and obselete spec not something I would want to
> give my 14 year old as a present to show how much I loved him.

Especially where the kid is likely to take the thing to school - would you
want the kid to get bullied for having last year's kit (or this year's
budget kit - any excuse to start trouble for some kids).

In article , Nigel 
Feltham says...

> Especially where the kid is likely to take the thing to school - would you
> want the kid to get bullied for having last year's kit (or this year's
> budget kit - any excuse to start trouble for some kids).


-- 
Conor
www.notebooks-r-us.co.uk

I'm not prejudiced. I hate everybody equally.

Peter A Forbes wrote:

> Christmas is about giving, not how much you are spending.

Yawn...

On Tue, 03 Nov 2009 07:39:54 +0000
Peter A Forbes  wrote:

> Christmas is about giving, not how much you are spending.

No it's not, it's about the ickle baby jeebus.

On Tue, 03 Nov 2009 18:20:26 +0000, Nigel Feltham wrote:

> Mike Tomlinson wrote:
> 
>> In article , Adrian C
>> <email@here.invalid> writes
>> 
>>>Those would be fancy things alway below the spec and build of the Lenovo
>>>model that started this thread. Dell's offered playmates for lowend junk
>>>elsewhere. A real laptop with OS for £300 can't really be done with good
>>>components, so it's all junk down there. Almost* Guaranteed.
>> 
>> What no-one realises is that with the exception of Lenovo and Toshiba,
>> who are trading by the skin of their teeth on their previous history of
>> building decent machines, is that all laptops come from the exact same
>> factory in Taiwan, regardless of whether they're Dells or Acers.  So
>> quibbling about build quality is pointless.
> 
> Interesting article on who makes what laptops - curiously it appears that
> Lenovo use the same maker as Dell and Acer.
> 
> http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/blog/2008/jun/27/didquantaorcompalmakeyour

Which demonstrates that it's engineering and materials choices that
determine end quality. Assembly, subject to appropriate levels of control,
is just a formality, and junk is a successful outcome if that's what was
intended.

"Nigel Feltham"  wrote in message >>
>> What no-one realises is that with the exception of Lenovo and Toshiba,
>> who are trading by the skin of their teeth on their previous history of
>> building decent machines, is that all laptops come from the exact same
>> factory in Taiwan, regardless of whether they're Dells or Acers.  So
>> quibbling about build quality is pointless.
>
> Interesting article on who makes what laptops - curiously it appears that
> Lenovo use the same maker as Dell and Acer.
>
> http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/blog/2008/jun/27/didquantaorcompalmakeyour

I recieved my new Acer Timeline 1810tz today and I am very impressed at the 
battery life, just had it on since 14:25 its now 15:45 and its only gone 
down to 80% which by my calculations means this baby can last 6.66 hours its 
in power saver mode but still has enough grunt to playback Youtube SD videos 
smoothly, have not tried HD in power save mode yet.

By comparison my old slow netbook the EEE PC 901 could last 4.5 hours in 
power save mode and did not have enough grunt for even Youtube SD, this is a 
fantastic machine only cost £ 391.30 ex VAT inc delivery from Amazon. By the 
way I have tried Windows Live Mail for newsgroups and its improved a lot 
since the version I tried under Vista, its basically the same as the old 
Windows Mail.

"Nick Le Lievre" <nicklelievre@jerseymail.co.uk.invalid> wrote in message 
news:hcs7st$crt$1@news.albasani.net...
> I recieved my new Acer Timeline 1810tz today and I am very impressed at 
> the battery life, just had it on since 14:25 its now 15:45 and its only 
> gone down to 80% which by my calculations means this baby can last 6.66 
> hours its in power saver mode but still has enough grunt to playback 
> Youtube SD videos smoothly, have not tried HD in power save mode yet.
>
> By comparison my old slow netbook the EEE PC 901 could last 4.5 hours in 
> power save mode and did not have enough grunt for even Youtube SD, this is 
> a fantastic machine only cost £ 391.30 ex VAT inc delivery from Amazon. By 
> the way I have tried Windows Live Mail for newsgroups and its improved a 
> lot since the version I tried under Vista, its basically the same as the 
> old Windows Mail.

Here is a size comparison to a 15.4" Acer notebook of March 2008 vintage

http://yfrog.com/2mpict0501bj

Yes its not quite as small as an EEE PC 901 but its not a lot bigger either 
and you have 6.5 hours battery life decent dual core CPU & corresponding 
performance 3GB RAM 250GB HDD Windows 7, looking at the machine its amazing 
how they have managed to fit a 2.5" drive in there its so thin. Its the best 
notebook I have ever owned.

"Mike Tomlinson"  wrote in message 
news:KZuhyoE+L+7KFwLb@jasper.org.uk...
> In article , Adrian C
> <email@here.invalid> writes
>
>>Those would be fancy things alway below the spec and build of the Lenovo
>>model that started this thread. Dell's offered playmates for lowend junk
>>elsewhere. A real laptop with OS for £300 can't really be done with good
>>components, so it's all junk down there. Almost* Guaranteed.
>
> What no-one realises is that with the exception of Lenovo and Toshiba,
> who are trading by the skin of their teeth on their previous history of
> building decent machines, is that all laptops come from the exact same
> factory in Taiwan, regardless of whether they're Dells or Acers.  So
> quibbling about build quality is pointless.

Do Hps also come from this factory?


-- 
Vista: the hd dvd player that thinks it's an operating system ©JC 2009
Windows 7: a faster dvd player
All men are islands

"Nigel Feltham"  wrote in message 
news:qtKdnVlSuPv06G3XnZ2dnUVZ8gxi4p2d@brightview.co.uk...
> Nick Le Lievre wrote:
>
>> Peter A Forbes wrote:
>>> On Mon, 2 Nov 2009 14:32:24 -0000, Conor  wrote:
>>>
>>>> In article , Peter A Forbes
>>>> says...
>>>>
>>>>> We are in the process of sorting out a couple of IBM Thinkpads for our
>>>>> grand- daughters. At least we'll know without spending too much if 
>>>>> they
>>>>> are going to get any use out of them, and can always upgrade later.
>>>>>
>>>> I've had a few enquiries for Thinkpad T42s for people wanting cheap
>>>> rugged ones for their kids.
>>>
>>> They are very good machines IMO.
>>
>> Good machines but old and obselete spec not something I would want to
>> give my 14 year old as a present to show how much I loved him.
>
> Especially where the kid is likely to take the thing to school - would you
> want the kid to get bullied for having last year's kit (or this year's
> budget kit - any excuse to start trouble for some kids).

I hope the above is sarcasm? I've seen parents totally ruin* their kids by 
always giving them the latest kit: phones, game machines etc.
*One is 17, tagged and about to be sentenced for RWV, the other is 15, can't 
be stopped xboxing day and night.