Over the past 12 days we’ve recommended 12 different retailers to you for Christmas present ideas. As we are at the end of it all we thought it would be a good idea for us to do a quick review of who the 12 retailers were.
Which retailers have you used? Who is your favourite retailer?
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Our 10th recommended Christmas retailer is PC World. PC World, probably best known for their advertising slogan, specialise in Computers. Their product range is mainly based on either computer hardware, computer software, computer accessories and electronic gadgets (digital cameras, tv’s, etc). We mainly recommend Dell machines, but you can occasionally find a gem of a deal at PC World so its worth checking out their offers!
Tags: 12, 12 days of christmas, 8, Books, Christmas, Christmas Ideas, Christmas Presents, Computer, computer accessories, computer hardware, computer software, day, days, days of christmas, dell, Desktops, digital cameras, digital photo frames, electronic gadgets, Game Accessories, Game Consoles, Games, netbook, notebook, pc, PC World, Sat Nav, tv's
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The question I get asked so often is how much is the cheapest laptop? Which isn’t as black and white as people seem to think (or maybe hope!). Using our favoured supplier Dell let’s look at a some prices and see what we get!
The Cheapest…
Going on Dell laptops for Home you can buy a laptop for £269 including VAT and Delivery. Not bad. But what will the laptop be any good for? Well this is an inspiron Mini 9 running Ubuntu (not Windows) and really is designed solely for internet, emails and maybe the odd word document. But you won’t get much more out of it than that. It is small with a 8.9″ screen so isn’t designed for people who use a PC/Laptop a lot and want an everyday machine. Something portable for checking emails etc whilst on holiday or travelling then this is great! Otherwise…read on.
The Cheapest we would recommend for the average user…
For the cheapest machines you need to look at the Inspiron laptops of the Dell range and they currently start at £329 inc VAT & Delivery. I personally would upgrade the processor to an Intel Core 2 Duo from the Celeron and also increase the memory to at least 2GB rather than 1GB so therefore giving a cost of £439. Not so much because the user would need the specification straight away but most people will look at this being a long term investment and not change it as often as some businesses would. So for the extra £110 I would say it is well worth it.
Sound advice? We believe so, but contact your local independant IT Supplier and see what they have to say too.
The Short Answer
£269 but I would say spend £439 if you want the machine for more than just emails and internet.
Tags: atom, cheap, cheap laptops, Computer, dell, inspiron, intel core 2 duo, laptop, memory, notebook, processor, ubuntu, vista
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If you have read any of the blog posts over at brandstar.co.uk you will find that I often rave about the Dell XPS Notebook range, and they really are great machines. However yesterday I got my first play with the new Dell Vostro 1510. Ultimately (well in my opinion) Dell have combined the Vostro 1500 and the XPS 1530 and produced a very nice machine!
Compared to the older Vostro 1500 it is smaller, lighter and thinner. The matt finish of the laptop lid has gone and is now a glossy, almost sparkly finish. Dell have taken the multimedia button idea from the XPS and put buttons above the keyboard on the 1510.
The slot loading CD drive helps the laptop be thinner than its older brother too and the model I saw had an inbuilt web cam much like my xps 1330.
I said when I got my XPS that I would never go back to the Vostro range, but now I am not so sure that is true! What’s more the Vostro is cheaper than the XPS! Well worth a look if you want a portable laptop and a good price 
They’re my first thoughts on the Vostro 1510.
Tags: 1510, dell, laptop, multimedia, notebook, thin laptop, vostro, XPS
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