Dell lands first £299 laptop

ARIA PC sells a Dell Precision Workstation 370MT for only £549.95. Now that's cheap even compared to Dell the website. It might come with a 3GHz Pentium processor with 64-bit extensions, but it is flogged with 2GB of DDR2 ECC memory and a 160GB SATA HDD. So it is no slouch at all. Other features include a 64MB NVS 280 PCIe videocard with dual view capabilities, a DVD combo drive and Windows XP Pro. Don't forget the three-year warranty as well.

The other product worth mentionning is that MP3 player that actually comes without memory, the MP230 takes MMC or SD cards, up to 1GB. It costs only £8.99+VAT and is as small as a tictac box so is tiny. Sound quality is apparently much better than other MP3 at that price and most importantly, it comes with a LCD screen, albeit a basic one.

Dell finally made it - they are now selling two laptops below the £299 line, albeit without VAT, with a reduced warranty period and their expensive delivery. The Inspiron 2200 comes with an Intel Celeron M 350 - a 1.3GHz model with a 1MB cache, 256MB DDR memory, Windows XP Home, a 40GB HDD, a DVD combo, a rather large 15-inch XGA monitor, a 8-cell battery with one year warranty, a modem and a 802.11b/g PCI card. That's not all, you also get a free USB optical mouse and a free 64MB USB memory key.

3G Technology appears regularly in our hardware buys. Ecost is selling a 3G GM-190B 19-inch monitor of theirs for only $225 after rebate, a bargain in any sense. You get a 1280x1024 resolution monitor with a diagonal size equivalent to a 21-inch monitor. With a contrast ratio of 600:1 and a three year manufacturer warranty, you could have gone for much worse. The frame includes two speakers and the monitor is black with a D Sub connection. Their second deal is that diskgo 32MB USB 2.0 ink pen with a flash drive. A superb bargain at only $2 after rebate. If you want to carry your information literally in your hand, this is the geeks gadget to have. It has a brished aluminium finish and an integrated extension cable.

We're trying to convince resellers in this column to offer freebies or additional discounts to our readers. If you do buy from any of the guys listed here, just tell them that you come from theinquirer's daily buy column. And, resellers or readers alike, if you have some hot and spicy deals. Send me a line. µ