What’s the best way to get a cheap laptop?

AThat would depend. Are you one of GaGu’s quickly dwindling retinue of close personal friends? If so, your path would probably be to repeatedly hound Guru to pull a not-quiterotten laptop from his Dangerous Gadget Pile until he blocks your number and applies your photo to his dartboard of shame. Actually, that would not be a sensible course of action. But there are good ways.

Way number one: wait for something new to come along. If you’re happy to be a generation behind, you may find manufacturers slapping big discounts on older stock. If you’re looking at a laptop manufacturer that builds for retail channels (rather than a build-toorder maker like Dell), then old machines need to be shifted once they’ve passed their sell-by date.

Secondly, look specifically at the budget market. There are some tremendous (if underpowered) laptops with decent (if a little low resolution) screens available for very little money. Again, it all depends on prices available onany given day, but $500 may get you a competent Celeron or Pentium machine. If you already have a spare Windows license, you can save even more by picking up a laptop without Windows installed.

Thirdly, look at the refurb sector. In the past, Guru has advised you not to touch a second hand laptop with a barge-pole, but there’s an exception: refurbished laptops, usually ex-business kit, come with a warranty if you buy them from a reputable recycler. That office stuff is great, built to upgrade, built to be smashed around in an exec’s bag without causing too many calls to tech support.

Look for certifications, ‘A’ ratings on quality (whatever they’re worth) and a retailer that doesn’t look like they’re based out of someone’s basement. Use your brain, basically, and you should find a bargain.

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Paper pasta? You’d be able to literally eat your words. With sauce, perhaps