Buying niece a notebook in 2 weeks... best for <$475?

[bupkus]

She'll be a freshman this coming fall and we don't think Llano will be in our budget. We've seen a few Sandy Bridge lately as low as $450.

Any suggestions? I don't think she games.

 

[doron1]

I own the hp dm1z notebook which currently sells for 400$ at the hp website

Great little notebook, solid construction, quality keyboard, touchpad and speakers, ~4-6 hours of battery life.

As for performance - not nearly as good as the sandy bridge but I suspect that a 450$ sandy bridge notebook will cut corners on other stuff such as build quality, cooling etc.

However, performance is higher than atom, and as a desktop user this notebook does anything i want from it and does it fast.

 

[Pardus]

AMD E-350 1.6GHz Dual Core get's a passmark score of 730
Intel Atom N570 @ 1.66GHz Dual Core get's a passmark score of 649

While i'm not a big supporter of AMD, the scores don't like and the HP Pavilion dm1z looks promising considering it has Altec Lansing speakers, hdmi output, up to 8 gig of ddr3 and bluetooth. Lot cheaper than a Macbook Air.

And for $369 with coupon code LHD30, the price is better then any intel atom netbooks that supports only 2gb of ram.

 

[Zap]

If it doesn't need to be an ultraportable and doesn't need to be for gaming, then just troll deal sites. For instance right now there's a coupon code for a Dell Inspiron 15R notebook for $399 with free shipping.

Core i3 380M
3GB RAM
320GB HDD
15.6" 1366x768 LCD
4 hour battery (standard battery disclaimers apply)
Win 7 Home Premium 64-bit
~6 pounds

 

[csubusa]

This is all bad advice!

The e-350 and Core i3 380M are old news!!!

Get a LLano from Toshiba when they are released.
The 14" L745 series starts at $449.99
http://www.anandtech.com/show/4449/annual-toshiba-refresh-brings-llanoand-some-style

 

[gsaldivar]

I suspect that a 450$ sandy bridge notebook will cut corners on other stuff such as build quality, cooling etc.

Any $450 laptop will be cutting corners somewhere.

Unless she is a very computer-savvy freshman with specific performance needs, I'd consider the laptop a "disposable" purchase and just get an entry-level model to tide her over for a few years. She can worry about getting a nice one as she approaches her junior/senior years.

I would avoid:

- iPad, or any other tablet. A flat tablet is great for browsing Facebook and Youtube (not to mention a nice status symbol), but ultimately not very useful for long-term papers and research...

- Atom and "Dual-Pentium" processors. Underpowered/outdated.

- Anything larger than 15.4". 14" would be ideal.

- Anything with less than 3GB of RAM. 4GB is ideal, preferably with 64-bit Windows.

I would start by checking Staples, Office Depot, Officemax for their weekly specials. Good luck!

 

[gsaldivar]

This one is kind of nice, but I'd upgrade to 3-4GB of RAM

http://www.techbargains.com/news_displayItem.cfm/260429

Dell Vostro 3450 $499
- Intel Core i3-2310M 2.1GHz (Sandy Bridge)
- Windows 7 Home Premium (64-bit), Aluminum housing
- 5.06lbs; 14.0"; 1366x768 LED Screen
- 2GB RAM, 250GB HDD
- DVD burner, 802.11n + bluetooth
- Webcam; Fingerprint; 6-cell battery;
- 1yr warranty; 15mo Trend Micro Business Security

 

[Bryf50]

Get one with the new sandy bridge pentiums.
Here's a Toshiba for 379.
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Toshiba+-+Satellite+Laptop+/+Intel%26%23174%3B+Pentium%26%23174%3B+Processor+/+15.6%22+Display+/+4GB+Memory+/+320GB+Hard+Drive+-+Matrix+Silver/2833778.p?id=1218354838379&skuId=2833778

 

[M0RPH]

Dell Inspiron 14R/15R with SB can be had for $400-450 at Outlet (after $50 coupon).

There's a Lenovo Z560 with SB for $480 at OD. I've seen quite a few entry-level SB laptops for around $450 lately.

 

[csubusa]

looks like the llano prices were underestimated, and just out of your range!! oh well!!!

a4 530$
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Toshiba+...l745&amp;cp=1&amp;lp=2

a6 600$
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16834214401

a8 649$
http://www.officedepot.com/a/product...uter-With-156/

 

[Schadenfreude]

All ganked from Logicbuy.com

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Another good place would be to check out the Hot Deals section of the forums, and assuming you're okay with refrb'd/used goods, there's a world of options out there.

 

[VirtualLarry]

a8 649$
http://www.officedepot.com/a/product...uter-With-156/

Interestingly, Gateway's own site claims the MSRP is $630.
http://www.gateway.com/systems/product/529668847.php

OD doing a little price-gouging on new products? Say it ain't so!

 

[Brainonska511]

An E-350 netbook would be a good option. It can do everything and they tend to be a little on the smaller side. Cheap notebooks tend to be 15.4" and/or heavy. Based on my own experiences with what I saw other female students carrying around, go with the smaller, but still capable, device.

 

[gsaldivar]

IMHO a 14" would be the sweet spot for weight & performance. The most common cheap notebooks are 15" and not particularly lightweight. Fully capable, lightweight 14" notebooks are typically a bit higher priced than the 15" ones because they approach the business/road-warrior market with deeper pockets...

 

[Schadenfreude]

I suppose I should make an actual recommendation instead of just throwing up options . . .

From the laptops listed, I'd recommend either the HP or Samsung laptops.

I haven't had the greatest luck with the build quality of HP laptops but you do get a slightly bigger hard drive (but slightly slower processor - really negligible difference for your niece's purposes) and a red cover for the same amount of money.

Why mention the red cover? It'll make her laptop stand out as opposed to the rest of the black/grey rectangles out there.

Personally I'd go with the HP if I had to choose only for the size (14.1" vs 15.6"); but factor in the build quality, generally speaking, should be better on the Samsung than on the HP, and external hard drives are getting cheaper as well.

HP has been improving their QA, so I'd say both are fairly solid choices. If you're not really sure, I'dsay jot down the make/model numbers and go play with them a bit at your local Best Buy/Fry's and make up your mind there.

If you have a little bit more time, I'd suggest waiting for the back-to-school deals, it should be starting very soon as well.

EDIT: A new challenger appears. Granted it costs a little more than the other recommendations, but that's a lot of machine for the price. And with talks of internet apps applying GPU power in the near future I'd say that could potentially last longer for your niece's needs (assuming she's a casual user)

 

[wirednuts]

well if Llano cant come close to matching i3 laptop prices then what the hell? whats the point? wouldnt they want to come out the gate with dealbuster deals, make a great marketing campaign and hopefully create a new 'fad'? if these prices are the best they can do, that means Llano costs a lot more to make so whats the point?

 

[gsaldivar]

well if Llano cant come close to matching i3 laptop prices then what the hell? whats the point? wouldnt they want to come out the gate with dealbuster deals, make a great marketing campaign and hopefully create a new 'fad'? if these prices are the best they can do, that means Llano costs a lot more to make so whats the point?

I'm sure they can, they're just milking the early adopters first...

 

[Pardus]

When are these Llano's coming out ?

 

[Schadenfreude]

well if Llano cant come close to matching i3 laptop prices then what the hell? whats the point? wouldnt they want to come out the gate with dealbuster deals, make a great marketing campaign and hopefully create a new 'fad'? if these prices are the best they can do, that means Llano costs a lot more to make so whats the point?

As gsaldivar said, they're the hot new thing so prices will be inflated for a bit; but once the dust settles/back-to-school sales go underway, I think prices will "normalize" in AMD's favor vs. comparable Core iX+dGPU setups. Of course - to play my own devil's advocate - the Llano platform has been heavily hyped/anticipated amongst the enthusiast crowds so the sellers may be artificially adjusting the pricing depending on how well they sell.

But $479 retail for a Llano laptop ain't bad neither.

When are these Llano's coming out ?

Right now

 

[guachi]

I'm down with the E-350 laptop from HP. It's light at 3.5 lbs, something that is probably important for a girl just starting college.

The base model is $400 and you can upgrade the RAM from 3 to 4 GB for $30 and the hard drive from 250 GB to 320 GB for $20. And that seems like a good, solid, small notebook for $450 - just within your budget.

 

[doron1]

You don't buy something just because it's newer.

Your daughter doesn't need Llano unless she games. And, uh, sandy bridge notebook that costs ~400$? I'd call it a jokebook considering the cpu alone costs ~200$ for the OEM..

As a guy with a relatively strong desktop and 23" 1080p display at his house, a e-350 based notebook such as the hp dm1z which I own and have personal experience with is the perfect combination of performance - which is more than good enough across the board (fast hard drive, 3gb+ ram, cpu / gpu capable of playing-back blu-ray 3d and handle day to day computer activity with ease), portability, solid construction, and battery life.

Llano came out? Sandy bridge notebooks get cheaper? Great, wait for a price-cut on this notebook instead of buying those cheap-ass alternatives.

 

[Schadenfreude]

You don't buy something just because it's newer.

Your daughter doesn't need Llano unless she games. And, uh, sandy bridge notebook that costs ~400$? I'd call it a jokebook considering the cpu alone costs ~200$ for the OEM..

As a guy with a relatively strong desktop and 23" 1080p display at his house, a e-350 based notebook such as the hp dm1z which I own and have personal experience with is the perfect combination of performance . . ..

Agreed with the first part, but have fun trying to use a 11.6" laptop - more specifically typing term papers - as your main system. You mentioning that you have a nice desktop weakens your argument since you don't have to use the small size for typing away multi-page essays/surfing the web on a regular basis.

Llano you many not need right away granted, but there are more and more apps that utilize GPU power for online apps. Nothing wrong with cheaper laptops housing a SB core either (if it's built well enough) in fact that'd be a hot deal; but outside of the "cute" factor, it's really not practical to have a 11.6" E350 APU laptop as your main system IMO, esp. if you can get a full-powered one for around the same price.

I'm down with the E-350 laptop from HP. It's light at 3.5 lbs, something that is probably important for a girl just starting college.

The base model is $400 and you can upgrade the RAM from 3 to 4 GB for $30 and the hard drive from 250 GB to 320 GB for $20. And that seems like a good, solid, small notebook for $450 - just within your budget.

So with the upgrades you recommended it costs $450; which means you're recommending a low-cpu system over laptops that cost the same with an Core-i3 CPU, the same amount of RAM and potentially bigger HDD space?

 

[doron1]

Agreed with the first part, but have fun trying to use a 11.6" laptop - more specifically typing term papers - as your main system. You mentioning that you have a nice desktop weakens your argument since you don't have to use the small size for typing away multi-page essays/surfing the web on a regular basis.

Llano you many not need right away granted, but there are more and more apps that utilize GPU power for online apps. Nothing wrong with cheaper laptops housing a SB core either (if it's built well enough) in fact that'd be a hot deal; but outside of the "cute" factor, it's really not practical to have a 11.6" E350 APU laptop as your main system IMO, esp. if you can get a full-powered one for around the same price.



So with the upgrades you recommended it costs $450; which means you're recommending a low-cpu system over laptops that cost the same with an Core-i3 CPU, the same amount of RAM and potentially bigger HDD space?

Good arguments.

In my experience, though, a 14" + notebook is not comfortable to be carried around, especially for a woman. So basically what I'm suggesting is to get a strong-enough ultraportable that is within budget and has solid construction and battery life, and maybe get a cheap 20"+ monitor (such as this one) to plug the notebook and work at home, if the screen is too small.

Also, the cheap notebooks (at least those I looked at) which have a more powerful hardware skimp on really important stuff - Not only on build quality but on cooling and input devices (crappy keyboard..) whereas the dm1z has a great envy-style keyboard and IMO a big enough monitor to type on (but too cramped for 2 docs side-by-side, admittedly).

While I agree that having a jack-of-all-trades notebook is ideal, you always have to sacrifice something especially on a budget. As a guy who takes his notebook with him almost every day, my take on this is to sacrifice some mostly unneeded hardware performance in favor of overall quality, portability and battery performance. My back says thanks.

 

[Schadenfreude]

Good arguments.

In my experience, though, a 14" + notebook is not comfortable to be carried around, especially for a woman. So basically what I'm suggesting is to get a strong-enough ultraportable that is within budget and has solid construction and battery life, and maybe get a cheap 20"+ monitor (such as this one) to plug the notebook and work at home, if the screen is too small.

Also, the cheap notebooks (at least those I looked at) which have a more powerful hardware skimp on really important stuff - Not only on build quality but on cooling and input devices (crappy keyboard..) whereas the dm1z has a great envy-style keyboard and IMO a big enough monitor to type on (but too cramped for 2 docs side-by-side, admittedly).

While I agree that having a jack-of-all-trades notebook is ideal, you always have to sacrifice something especially on a budget. As a guy who takes his notebook with him almost every day, my take on this is to sacrifice some mostly unneeded hardware performance in favor of overall quality, portability and battery performance. My back says thanks.

Agreed; but to be honest I don't really see the need for regular college students to carry their laptops around on a daily basis - I've been out of uni for several years now admittedly, but in general, I could see the laptop being toted around 1x~2x/wk tops and while 15" laptops may be a bit much to carry around on a regular basis, having a large enough display space (and keyboard space) to type comfortably is an important factor for regular use, I'd say moreso than ultra-portability.

To that end I'd suggest something that's 14" or even going for a used 13.3" model like the UL30VT but if the OP's thinking about giving this as a present I'd hesitate buying used as an option and with a limited budget it does narrow the available options.

Speaking of limited budget, if the OP(or another relative) ends up getting an external monitor, that would obviously put them over budget int he first place; if that's an option, I'd say pool their money together just to get a better system.

After all of my hemming and hawing, seeing that the OP posted only once and that was on 07/01/11 I'm thinking that he already made his choice, so all this discussion may be a moot point.