Can anyone suggest a good supplier for Laptopseither in the North East or on the Net. I'm looking for good quality at a reasonable price (isn't everyone).

-- Anonymous, March 21, 2002

Answers

Just to clarify, were talking laptop computers ;)

-- Anonymous, March 21, 2002

I actually got mine at Bainbridges Andy. There isn't a lot of choice round here - it's either mail/internet order for the best prices, or local purchase for peace of mind.

I tried all the usual suspects - Currys, Dixons, etc. and found Bainbridges offering the best prices plus a three year warranty included.

As another possibility, you will find Dell offering good prices for mail order.

-- Anonymous, March 21, 2002

PC world has the widest selection Andy, although a number of makes are only sold mail-order. The computer magazines are very good for comparing prices. I remember Pico (mailorder and internet) offering the most bangs per buck a while back but they have a not too good reputation (I hear) for flimsy construction so if it's going to be carried around a lot you might want something tougher. Dell, I think is quality and from my investigations a while back I don't think there is much of a price premium on them.

Other places to try locally are Tiny, Time, and Staples usually has very keen prices but the nearest Staples is in the land of Mordor Sunderland where the shadows lie.

Probably best to draw up a rough spec of what you want, trawl the net and/or "Computer Shopper" for best prices, and then check if the make (s) you fancy are in at PC world so you can determine if you're happy with the screen and the feel of the keyboard and whether it will match the curtains or not.

-- Anonymous, March 21, 2002

Don't know what they are like for laptops but I've bought a monitor and a printer from Insight (www.insight.com/uk) and they were excellent on both occasions. Good prices, immediate delivery.

A mate at work bought a laptop from Jungle.com and is very please with it but I've heard other folk say they can be a bit dodgy.

-- Anonymous, March 21, 2002

Andy, if you could wait until the end of April to get it I could recommend "infinity-micro.com" but you would have to ship it to me and my parents would hand carry it back home after they come out to see me. I bought my Sony laptop from them and they were by far the cheapest I found after about 3months of searching. Its up to you but it may be worth having a look.

-- Anonymous, March 21, 2002

No comment - my employment conditions prevent me from saying anything :-(

-- Anonymous, March 21, 2002

Tell me what your after mate ill try and get one for you as cheap as poss...

-- Anonymous, March 22, 2002

http://www.novatech.co.uk

http://www.getech.co.uk

-- Anonymous, March 22, 2002

Don't buy it from Dell mate....their support is thick and shit. Fine if you don't have any problems with the machine but a nightmare if you do....

You'd probably be better of buying it somewhere local so you can physically take it back when you have problems...otherwise it's the old waiting in for a day cos they won't give you a pick up time scenario....

-- Anonymous, March 22, 2002

Gav, you would know more about computers than me, I still have trouble getting the tipex off the screen after I make mistokes, oops wait til it dries, but could you not buy a brand that has a service centre near to wherever you were living?

-- Anonymous, March 22, 2002

I got mine from PC world business direct. When I buggered it on day three they sent a replacement. You can't go past a Tosh Tecra IMO, 18 months on and it still doesn't feel dated.

-- Anonymous, March 22, 2002

Keep off Time and Tiny as well. Haven't heard a good word on either.

-- Anonymous, March 22, 2002

I used Gateway and was happy enough, although I had a faulty VDU, and it took me some grief to convince the help desk that it was the hardware, not a software issue that could be resolved by tweaking. (The thermostat was faulty and kept switching the screen off). When they finally admitted it was the VDU, the replcament came very quick.

-- Anonymous, March 22, 2002

You can't go wrong with an IBM or HP laptop. But it all depends on what you are going to use it for. If you are going to be travelling a lot with it, then obviously you will want it to be as small and as light as possible. If you are going to use it for more powerful apps then I would keep away from the Tosh's. We use them here alongside IBM laptops and the IBM ones come out on top every time. Although some may say I'm being biased.

-- Anonymous, March 22, 2002

I've had pc's from both Tiny and Time and both have been OK. In fact my current machine is from Time. The only real problem I had with Tiny was their technical support and even supplied documentation at that time was virtually non-existent. I had the machine about 4 yrs and handed it on to my father-in-law who has used it for another 2 years without problem.

I looked all over when buying my lap-top recently, and found Bainbridge very competitive with all the lcoal stores, including PC World. As Gav suggests, the nice thing is the warranty is with them and you can just take it back to the store if there is a problem.

-- Anonymous, March 22, 2002

Hey Mick G, how's your conditions of employment going? Your not in Mr Fats' pay are you?

-- Anonymous, March 22, 2002

Hey Mick G, how's your conditions of employment going? Your not in Mr Fats' pay are you? ;-)

-- Anonymous, March 22, 2002

I would say Dell are amongst the best for customer support. Sure they're not perfect, but they come at the top of the PC Magazine consumer surveys every year which must surely mean something?

The one I'm using now was built by me, but it probably not worth the hassle unless you want to have your system exactly how you want it. (and re-use other parts which are fine)

PC World I would stay away from like the plague for computers. There is an awful warranty loophole where your guarantee is void if you get it upgraded by anyone else but them. Say you wanted some more memory but didn't want to pay 4x the market price at PC World so you take it elsewhere - warranty void.

-- Anonymous, March 22, 2002

Just realised it was laptops you were asking about, which I haven't got a clue how to build :)

Again, Dell do great laptops, and Sony's look nice, but are quite pricey.

Toshiba is another decent make, but they all have the touchstick rather than a trackpad, but it depends what you prefer.

-- Anonymous, March 22, 2002

I'm with Clarky, get the best price from the net & pop into Bainbridges and Barter. The last time I paid ticket price in there was for a shoe polish set - with special suede brush but you don't barter on £3.99

-- Anonymous, March 23, 2002

Any of you techies know a way to get my CD-Rom drive door / flap (in my desktop) to open as it won't open via the conventional method (e.g. a DOS command, anything)?

There's no way I want to be humping my CPU tower to the rip off repair shop in this humidity!

-- Anonymous, March 23, 2002

Bainbridges don't match mail order any more.

They used to, but they now say that their warranty is different and use all the known loopholes they can find.

We got a telly from there with £500 off thanks to a mail order price match, but a friend just tried it with a similar telly and got told that they don't match mail order any more. He still bought it though, mainly because of the 5 year warranty.

-- Anonymous, March 23, 2002

Bud, I'm assuming you're using a recent version of Windows here?

Anyway, just go into My Computer / Windows Explorer and right click the CD drive. A pop up menu will appear. Click on eject.

That should do the trick.

If that doesn't work and you need the disc out, there's a small hole in the fascia of the drive. When the machine is turned off, put a straightened out paper clip into the hole and the drive will open.

-- Anonymous, March 23, 2002

Thanks Paul, unfortunately neither of your tips are helping :-(

I even put the paper clip in about 2", is it expected to grip onto something, or to touch something, to cause the da*n thing to eject?

-- Anonymous, March 23, 2002

Bud - I'd have gone along with Paul's 2nd suggestion about the paper clip. AFAIK, there's a little "G spot" in there which when you find it, causes the drive to eject. (I'm beginning to wish I hadn't started this answer right now). If it's not working for you, why don't you jiggle it about a bit? If that doesn't work, you may need surgical removal.

Mind, you didn't say why you needed to get it open. Is there soething we should know?

-- Anonymous, March 23, 2002

Sure Screacher, I want it open so as I can insert a CD into it, I assume that's what it's meant for?

I used to put my coffee cup there, maybe that's why it's become stuck - I mean 4 tablespoons of sugar can cause a lot of goo when spilt.

;7)

-- Anonymous, March 23, 2002

Just needed clarification Bud. Sometimes things get stuck inside the CD drive (like CDs). If that's not the case and its already empty, try pressing the button on the outside to open it. That usually works ;-)

-- Anonymous, March 24, 2002

It won't work marra, tried all sorts of ways - I even managed to get a paper clip in, up to 3 inches (mmmmmmmmmmm), is that far enough for that "G-spot" (lubrication required, perhaps?)?

-- Anonymous, March 24, 2002

I had a similar problem with a CD player once Bud. The reason it was jammed was that the CD had managed to slip out of position so the drive could not eject with the CD jammed in there. It took a lot of faffing about, turning the machine upside down to utilise gravity on the CD itself and inserting a knife through the door of the drive but it came free without damage to CD or drive, only to my temper. Not a recommended method then, but one to be used with care.

Just to continue the tone of this thread, it wasn't a sheath knife and I used no protection but withdrawal took longer than I anticipated. I'm now expecting some new CDs quite soon.

-- Anonymous, March 24, 2002

Who needs techies, when we've got jonno...one small kitchen knive and hallelujah - cheers marra ;-)

-- Anonymous, March 24, 2002

...or even a kitchen kniFe!

;7)

-- Anonymous, March 24, 2002

Andy, just bought a Sony from auction site Ubid.com - I don't know their policy for europe but they have refurbished and new Sony VAIOs. The 15 inch models are terrific. There is only 90 day support for the refurbed ones so I would stay away from them. Otherwise, you can't go wrong with IBM. I just have to laugh at their marketing however, here in the US they have high prices of course and make a big deal of a 5% discount!!! 5 percent is not alot, Screach if you are reading this please send an urgent message to the new head honcho, DO NOT USE the DIGIT 5 BY ITSELF!!!

-- Anonymous, March 24, 2002

Pete - I'm "over there" right now. I'll see what I can do. I think its really funny that the "Big Cheese" is called Palmisano. I think it stinks :-)

-- Anonymous, March 24, 2002

Thank's everyone, I think I found the best option from PC World. It's an Advent same as my PC. 1.2Ghz 512Mb Ram 8xDVD for £999. She only really wants it to do a couple of projects on and watch DVD/go on the net. Should be spot on. I've never had a problem with em service wise either. Replaced my DVD/CDR drive next day when it bust.

-- Anonymous, March 24, 2002

They were selling on the Quayside market for £49-95 this morning Andy. Never mind ...

-- Anonymous, March 24, 2002

A white beaten up ford escort which looked like it had remnants of glass strewn over it perhaps?

-- Anonymous, March 24, 2002

Oh - you've seen my car down there then?

-- Anonymous, March 24, 2002

Screacher, what the heck are you doing in Minn. in winter! This is either a mistake or a big promotion from the big cheese. Is he, you know, like, a made-man? Got to admit, he runs a legitimate business though.

-- Anonymous, March 24, 2002

Duty calls PeteT. Ne'er met the man himself so I dunno whether he's a maid-man or not. Probably not if he stayed in wor hotel :-(

-- Anonymous, March 24, 2002