Special UK bargains from stalls selling kit

Exclusive to Dabs is a special version of the Acer T120 desktop computer, more beefier than the usual ones. If you hadn't noticed it, it is probably one of the most popular base units available in the UK right now. And the price is right as well. New units retail at £298+VAT while used one costs £273+VAT. Not bad at all. What you get for the price? An aluminium finished mini tower about the height of two SFF computers.

Inside you get an Athlon XP2800+ bolted on an integrated motherboard. The latter is powered by a KM400a chipset, has three PCI ports and one AGP one. It has two USB ports in front as well as six at the back. You also get a floppy disk, a 40GB hard disk, a DVD drive as well as a dual format DVD writer, leaving no free bays. On the memory front, you get 256Mb of PC2700 DDR memory expandable to 2GB. Other interesting features include a 6-in-1 memory card reader plus the rapidly disappearring floppy disk drive. Sound is integrated onboard as is Ethernet LAN and the graphic module courtesy of S3.

Surprisingly, you get a Firewire port with this machine as well as other goodies like Windows XP home software, Norton Antivirus, NTI CD Maker and Cyberlink Power DVD. Peripherals included are a PS2 mouse and keyboard and matching speakers. There is a new BIOS on Acer's website that will reduce the fan's noise amongst other thing. Other minor niggles include a USB lead trailing out of the PC's back, a 200W PSU and a short keyboard lead.

If you want to get a more powerful computer, then go for the next higher version, the T130 which includes an AMD Athlon 64 3200+ for only £453+VAT. Basically you get the same thing as the T120 but with some notable differences. Firstly, you get 512MB memory instead of 256. Then the computer uses a SIS760 chipset which is a notch above its socket A counterpart. You don't get the DVD reader but the writer still remains as is the Card reader. Interestingly there is a video card in this one, a Geforce FX5500 with 128MB, DVI, DSub, SVideo and TVout. Better than the FX5200 but lagging well behind the 5600. Also included is a modem but personally, except if you send faxes often, broadband has almost removed its necessity.

You won't find it on their website but Tiny.com has the cheapest new laptop in the UK, by far. At only £399, the Mediabook E2400LX - ecode 01231 - costs only £339.57+VAT - see the latest PCW magazine. If you can live with a Linux OS - Linspire in this case - then you've got yourself a hell of a bargain. In comparison, PCworld sells the same with Windows XP but a smaller 20GB hard disk for £424+VAT. The E2400 LX comes with Via's C3 Nehemiah CPU clocked at 1GHz on a 133MHz FSB. What to expect from it? Basically nothing to shout about. It won't run hot but it will be probably just a little bit faster than a Pentium III 600MHz.

It comes with 256Mb memory, a large 40Gb 4200rpm hard disk and a DVD-ROM Drive/CDRW combo. The display used is a 14in XGA TFT screen powered by a 64Mb integrated graphic chip - probably an S3 Unichrome. Other highlights include a modem, 10/100 Ethernet port, inbuilt microphone and twin speakers, advanced keyboard, four USB ports and a keyboard with full cursor keys. At only 2.4Kg, it can be considered to be light and its four-cell li-ion battery will probably keep you running for more than a couple of hours especially due to the low power C3. You can almost catch it for £300 here on Ebay.

Novatech is also proposing a whole range of very cunningly priced laptops under the Maverick brand. They are all build in the same mould with some variations. They have a 15in XGA TFT screen, an Ethernet port, no floppy disk drive, a modem and six USB ports. They also feature a large palm rest with a glidepad with two buttons. The XP2200+ model has a CDRW/DVD combo drive, a 30Gb hard disk and 256Mb memory. At £425+VAT, it is a steal. Just add £104 though and you will bag yourself a real bargain. At £529+VAT, te XP2800 Pro features not only an XP 2800+ Mobile processor but also a dual format DVD writer, a much larger 40Gb hard disk drive and more importantly perhaps 512Mb of memory. Bear in mind though that the laptops are delivered naked, without any OS - you can therefore install yours, including Linux - and without any carry case. The laptops are powered as you might guess by a KN400 chipset with integrated everything. The Maverick range comes with one year warranty.