and you can usually pick up a new keyboard for it for around £10 on ebay

I agree with Dad.of.1 Cat. I've got a Dell D600 and it's over 2 years old and on it's last legs.

If it wasn't for the fact that it's a work one, I would have had a new one ages ago!

There was a thing on tv recently , cant remember what it was

But on average a laptop will last just over a year and the majority of the time the warranty has run out. Laptops are alot more expensive to fix than desktops aswell.

they were implying that compaines that make the laptops do this purpously , for obvious reasons. Everyone says how good dell are , yeah they are good for business computers and support but when it comes to home users , they are appauling.

Bloody hell. Dadof1 what your saying is very familier, my battery packed up within 6 months of having it, and they are so expensive to replace I just keep my laptop pluged into the wall all the time.

So next question, what should I get to replace it. I need it to continue my course work, I dont need anything particularly powerfull, I dont download films and stuff, I just surf the net on wireless broadband and do typing. I want something pretty cheap but reliable. (if it looks nice this is an added bonus!) Am I better of with a notebook? whats the difference?

I want to buy new buy the way. I got this brand new ut on Ebay and Iwould rather have the security of being able to return it if anything does go wrong.

Depends what your budget is

£350-400 will get you a laptop that will do everything and nice looking with a decent spec. thats the most popolar price bracket

£300 you will get one but it will be lacking things like a dvd-rw , wireless and will probably only be a 14.1 inch screen.

any less than £300 , i wouldnt bother getting a new one as it wont be a very good spec at all and will probably be slow. Best getting a used one with warranty at this price bracket

is yours the dell inspiron 6000?

No its the Inspiron 1100, It has a DDwriter, but I have a seperate wireless card in it for my broadband.

What about getting a reconditioned one? do they tend to be of a good quality?

something like this http://www.pcworld.co.uk/martprd/sto...ory_oid=-28487

reconditioned is fine


if your buying from ebay , just make sure they are a proper business

you will find that most businesses will try and sell reconditioned ones at teh same prices as brand new ones from the shop. maybe one form a private seller that still has warranty on it?

depends how badly you want it to have warranty really

how much you looking to spend?

yeah that ones fine , good laptop and a good price