In the last few weeks, + the simple past

[grammarguy]

My non-native English speaking friends and I learn English from each other. I made up an example and asked them to comment on it. They said that you have to use the present perfect when you refer to a time period with phrases like "in the last few weeks, in the last few months, in the last few years and so on".

I think my example makes more sense with the simple past. I am going to write it down below.

(ex) In the last few weeks, I looked for a cheap computer in all the nearby stores. Yesterday, I bought one for as little as $400 and then I stopped looking for it.

I think the simple past "looked for" works well because I spent a few weeks looking for a cheap computer and my action of "looking for" ended yesterday. If I were to use the present perfect, it would sound like I am still looking for a cheap computer.

I don't agree with my friends. Does you think the simple past works in my example? Please answer my question. Thank you very much.

[Alan]

AmE speakers might beg to differ, but in BrE the present perfect (simple or progressive) is standard with those time adverbials.

For your example, we would say 'Some weeks AGO, I looked...'.