John Lewis

It was still early in the day when I visited this store; as such there were no other customers around. After a quick browse of the laptop range I was asked if I'd like some help.

I explained that I was looking for a really good deal, with extras thrown in, for the best price possible. The product had to offer functionality and last a reasonable time; a difficult thing these days with new products launching onto the market. The sales assistant pointed to two models – the Toshiba L300-147 (£359) and Toshiba L300-148 (£399), the only difference being that the 148 model came with 2GB RAM, whereas the 147 had 1GB.

Throwing in some more criteria, I added that my new laptop had to be 'future-proof' and able to handle some games. The assistant said that it would fulfil both of these. Some may disagree. After being shown the two cheapest laptops and being told they would fulfil my needs, I decided to ask the benefits of spending more. I was shown a couple of smaller laptops with prices of over £1,000 – maybe not, I thought.

"So, any deals?" I asked, hoping for a list of special prices. "Sadly none," I was told. There are no deals aimed at Back To School, package deals only occur at Christmas time. However, I was reminded of the Clearance Sale starting that weekend.

Score 5/10

Currys

This store seemed to be struggling in customer numbers, so my wait was short.

After telling the assistant what I was looking for, I was shown to two gondola ends. These displayed a Compaq F765 priced at £399.99 and Sony NR32L/S at £499. These were also shown to me at the Currys.digital store. She recommended the Sony laptop, adding that it had better specifications.

Before moving to other machines, she asked me a few more questions. I re-iterated that it needed to be futureproof, look good and be fast and powerful enough to be used for games.

She took me to the Dell Inspiron 1525 laptop. This was the one which she would buy herself, she enthused. It boasted better processing and 50GB more memory.

When asking about deals, I was shown a gondola end. The offer of Microsoft Office and Norton 360 savings I also saw at Currys.digital, however they also had a HP F4180 All-in-One printer, priced at £39.98, a saving of £35.

The assistant in this store had been extremely helpful; however she had not applied the uses of the specifications as well as Currys.digital or PC World. Also as soon as she found out that I wasn't going to buy that day she was off to speak to other customers, leaving behind the pen that I had borrowed to write down the deals.

Score 6/10

Currys.Digital

All of the sales staff were busy with customers; however I didn't have to wait too long before a salesman came over, eager to prize my pounds from my wallet.

After going into the details of trying to find the best deal for a student, the salesman showed me the Sony NR32L/S (£499). He thought it was "ideal for students," due to its performance and styling.

He also showed me the Acer 5920 for the same price; this boasted 3GB RAM compared to the Sony's 2GB and an extra 50GB storage. Despite this, he still recommended the Sony model, for "its slightly better processor and better styling." I guess he had student children – the styling option was reiterated twice in his conversation

He then asked if my relative would be using the Internet. Eager to make that 'add-on' sale, he recommended Norton's 360, which when bought with a PC I would get £30 off.

Staying with the student theme, he moved onto Microsoft Office, which when also bought would benefit from £20 discount. Okay, so what about complete accessory packages?

He told me that I could get an USB mouse, ten blank DVDs and a 1GB USB stick for £35 – again, only when bought with the laptop. The assistant had been very helpful and clearly knew what he was talking about. The savings were tempting.

Score 9/10

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