Novatech

This independent store had a spacious, customer friendly layout. This provided a relaxed atmosphere to browse, as did the sales assistant's approach.

After a quick chat, he showed me the Novatech X60r (£562.83), which boasted a 17-inch screen with a T5550 processor, 2GB RAM, 120GB hard drive and Nvidia 8400M graphics card.

I was also shown the Novatech X40r (£586.33), with the Pro Model priced (£621.58). Offering me a choice, he showed me the T7250 laptop, more portable with a 14-inch screen with 2GB RAM, an Intel GMA X3100 graphics card and 160GB of memory.

Remembering that I was looking for something which was as future proof as possible, he pointed out the processors in the models shown were the latest, whereas many cheaper laptops used Celeron chipsets, which "were soon to be end of line." Not forgetting that I was shopping for a student, he added that the X60r would be the better model for gaming due to its dedicated graphics.

Okay – this was good so far, but what about deals, I asked. The assistant told me there were no set deals, however, something could always be worked out.

My experience in this store had been good. At times, I thought there was too much detail in terms of specifications, but this would have been appreciated by the store's typical market, due to its specialist appeal.

Score 8/10

Comet

This was a ghost town of a store. Where were the customers? For this reason I didn't have to wait long before being approached. The assistant showed me a few laptops including a Sony, Toshiba and HP.

There wasn't much selling dedicated to the Sony or Toshiba brands, other than telling me they had Intel processors – which, he added, were the best in his opinion. However, despite, this recommendation, I quickly found myself standing by a gondola end in front of the HP DV6820 laptop, priced at £499.99.

HP laptops used an AMD Turion 64 processor and had a dedicated Nvidia GF8400 graphics card – so would be ideal for games, the sales assistant enthused.

Then came the question on deals; the sales assistant showed me a similar package to the one shown in Currys.digital. It included a laptop bag, Norton 360, a 1GB USB stick and a wireless mouse for an extra £59.99, which beats Currys.digital, as long as you want Norton 360.

This visit felt like the shortest of all today. Despite the sales assistant being quite knowledgable and very helpful, I left the store feeling he could have told me more. Particularly about the Sony and Toshiba laptops, considering that there's alot more features to them than just an Intel processor.

Score 7/10

PC World

Whilst browsing the laptops I couldn't help but notice this store was extremely short staffed. At one time I could only see one sales assistant.

After what seemed like an eternity, I asked the floor manager for some assistance, who sent a member of staff my way. After explaining my shopping task for a student relative, the assistant showed me two Dell 1525 machines.

One was the Inspiron 1525 Blue (£449.99) with the other priced (£699.99). Both had 15.4 inch screens, Intel Core 2 T5550 processors, a 250GB Hard Drive and integrated graphics. The more expensive model had 3GB RAM rather than 2GB and also came with a Blu-ray drive.

When asking her to explain extra savings and packages, the assistant, smelling a sale, listed two PC World deals – Microsoft Office, Norton 360 and the store's TechFriend support service – £189.99 or Microsoft Office and Norton 360 – £100.

Having been given printer and laptop bag deals in other stores, I thought I would try my luck. There were no deals on Dell computers, she told me, but it was worth checking back in a week or so.

The assistant was helpful and described the benefits of each specification, although she missed the Blu-ray selling point for the majority of the conversation – a feature that may well have been a big selling point.

Score 7.5/10

You can read the first part of this Mystery Shopper by clicking here.