cheap laptops...

[Inspector Jihad]

I see that you can get decent laptops for about $500 after rebates. Is this the cheapest they come for the most part? I'm sure they get cheaper but if I want one within a month or so, should I go ahead and assume 500 is the lowest it'll go?

 

[mercanucaribe]

http://www.notebookreview.com/deals/

 

[Kelemvor]

Dell FTW. $500 is good for a starter laptop if you want it new.

 

[mercanucaribe]

Originally posted by: FrankyJunior
Dell FTW. $500 is good for a starter laptop if you want it new.

Hell, you'd be hard pressed to find something better for $500 used. I emailed a bunch of assholes on Craigslist trying to sell old 1ghz P3s for $500 and told them how much they sucked.

 

[Sentinel]

I found a few in fs/ft forums, they were PIIs but was able to get em for good prices.

 

[allisolm]

Every so often there are deals for $399 after rebate, but these are few and far between. The last ones I remember were for President's Day sales. Aside from these few, around $450-$500 is about as good as it gets.

 

[HeroOfPellinor]

You almost never find a notebook for under $500. At $500 you should expect to get 256MB memory, no DVD-RW, and a celeron or sempron processor. Dell usually has one that price about every day. If you can find one with a Pentium-M grab it.

 

[radioouman]

A starter laptop in this price range is OK as long as you don't need high performance or small size.

These inexpensive machines always have shared memory(system and video), many have 256 meg of RAM (not enough) or 512 meg in 2 DIMMs so you can't upgrade without removing what is there. You will likely end up with a standard 14" display. Not widescreen.

Not bad, but if you are looking for something fairly specific (widescreen display, higher video performance, small size) you won't find it iin a budget laptop.

 

[MisterJackson]

Originally posted by: mercanucaribe

Originally posted by: FrankyJunior
Dell FTW. $500 is good for a starter laptop if you want it new.

Hell, you'd be hard pressed to find something better for $500 used. I emailed a bunch of assholes on Craigslist trying to sell old 1ghz P3s for $500 and told them how much they sucked.

If people are willing to pay that for those spec notebooks (and they are) then who are you to say they are as$holes? Maybe you're the one being a d1ck.

 

[Inspector Jihad]

cool...so 500 looks like a good deal. there is one at compusa that looks promising.

as far as its specs, this will be used as a secondary to my desktop...just to take to the library, labs etc. I just wanna use it for internet, word processing, watching dvds. thats pretty much it.

 

[PlatinumGold]

http://www.compusa.com/products/product_info.asp?product_code=337634&pfp=BROWSE

here is one to consider.

i wouldn't go bottom of barrel if you can afford it. it's worth the extra $300.00 to get DVD writer, 15.4" screen, WinXP Pro, 512 ram, Pentium M Processor.

 

[Inspector Jihad]

Originally posted by: PlatinumGold
http://www.compusa.com/products/product_info.asp?product_code=337634&pfp=BROWSE

here is one to consider.

i wouldn't go bottom of barrel if you can afford it. it's worth the extra $300.00 to get DVD writer, 15.4" screen, WinXP Pro, 512 ram, Pentium M Processor.

i dont need a dvd writer, i would like to keep it smaller that 15'' so its easier to carry around, and would xp pro and pentium m really make a difference when I'm just typing up papers of neffing on atot? I guess 512 memory is needed tho...

 

[HeroOfPellinor]

Originally posted by: Inspector Jihad
cool...so 500 looks like a good deal. there is one at compusa that looks promising.

as far as its specs, this will be used as a secondary to my desktop...just to take to the library, labs etc. I just wanna use it for internet, word processing, watching dvds. thats pretty much it.

$500 is not a good deal...it's just not a bad deal.

Personally, I'd go check a deal site and see what coupons dell is throwing around right now. You may end up slightly lower than $500 or with a much nicer laptop for less than $100 more. Plus, they usually contact you within a month and offer a nice discount on a warranty upgrade.

 

[PlatinumGold]

Originally posted by: Inspector Jihad

Originally posted by: PlatinumGold
http://www.compusa.com/products/product_info.asp?product_code=337634&pfp=BROWSE

here is one to consider.

i wouldn't go bottom of barrel if you can afford it. it's worth the extra $300.00 to get DVD writer, 15.4" screen, WinXP Pro, 512 ram, Pentium M Processor.

i dont need a dvd writer, i would like to keep it smaller that 15'' so its easier to carry around, and would xp pro and pentium m really make a difference when I'm just typing up papers of neffing on atot? I guess 512 memory is needed tho...

pentium M might mean longer battery life.

who knows, you might find you like the laptop so much you will use it for more than just word processing at the library.

that's what happened to me, i have 5 pcs/laptops. i spend 80 to 90% of my computing time in front of my T42 laptop.

that wasn't my intention but it turned out that way.

 

[Inspector Jihad]

Originally posted by: PlatinumGold

Originally posted by: Inspector Jihad

Originally posted by: PlatinumGold
http://www.compusa.com/products/product_info.asp?product_code=337634&pfp=BROWSE

here is one to consider.

i wouldn't go bottom of barrel if you can afford it. it's worth the extra $300.00 to get DVD writer, 15.4" screen, WinXP Pro, 512 ram, Pentium M Processor.

i dont need a dvd writer, i would like to keep it smaller that 15'' so its easier to carry around, and would xp pro and pentium m really make a difference when I'm just typing up papers of neffing on atot? I guess 512 memory is needed tho...

pentium M might mean longer battery life.

who knows, you might find you like the laptop so much you will use it for more than just word processing at the library.

that's what happened to me, i have 5 pcs/laptops. i spend 80 to 90% of my computing time in front of my T42 laptop.

that wasn't my intention but it turned out that way.

true...i'm looking around a bit now...especially for some dell coupons

 

[wasssup]

Good thread, i'm actually having the same dilemma in choosing a notebook...

 

[techs]

As a computer shop owner of 8 years here's my take on this.
The large majority of people want a laptop for occasional transportation.
Sometimes from one room to another or for vacations, etc. They don't intend to lug it around every day and long battery life is not the over riding criteria. Plus they don't expect to have to use the entire charge on the battery every day. Most times they are near a plug.
With Windows XP being out so long the cpu's and hard drives, even the bottom of the line, are quite sufficient for normal use. Internet, email and a word processor.
If you add the relatively powerful entry level hardware with some cheap additional ram, the low price laptop is the preferred choice for many, many people.
In fact you are probably better off buying a cheapo laptop, say for 500, and selling it after three years for a new cheapo laptop.
Instead of one expensive laptop for a 1,000 or more you get to replace your cheapo with another cheapo, that will probably be as good or better than the expensive laptop you bought after three years.
If you factor in your selling price on your old one, you save money over keeping a 1,000 laptop for 6 years (if it lasts that long)

 

[Inspector Jihad]

Originally posted by: wasssup
Good thread, i'm actually having the same dilemma in choosing a notebook...

i dunno, i dont see anything from dell that works for me...i'm seriously considering this tho

Text

 

[Inspector Jihad]

Originally posted by: techs
As a computer shop owner of 8 years here's my take on this.
The large majority of people want a laptop for occasional transportation.
Sometimes from one room to another or for vacations, etc. They don't intend to lug it around every day and long battery life is not the over riding criteria. Plus they don't expect to have to use the entire charge on the battery every day. Most times they are near a plug.
With Windows XP being out so long the cpu's and hard drives, even the bottom of the line, are quite sufficient for normal use. Internet, email and a word processor.
If you add the relatively powerful entry level hardware with some cheap additional ram, the low price laptop is the preferred choice for many, many people.
In fact you are probably better off buying a cheapo laptop, say for 500, and selling it after three years for a new cheapo laptop.
Instead of one expensive laptop for a 1,000 or more you get to replace your cheapo with another cheapo, that will probably be as good or better than the expensive laptop you bought after three years.
If you factor in your selling price on your old one, you save money over keeping a 1,000 laptop for 6 years (if it lasts that long)

:thumbsup:

 

[allisolm]

Youv'e posted in the thread in Hot Deals so you know about the Dell (with 512MB RAM, wireless and 1yr warranty) for $449 AR and maybe for $35 less if you can get a coupon from ebay. That's probably the lowest priced one currently. At least I don't know of any lower.

 

[PlatinumGold]

Originally posted by: Inspector Jihad

Originally posted by: wasssup
Good thread, i'm actually having the same dilemma in choosing a notebook...

i dunno, i dont see anything from dell that works for me...i'm seriously considering this tho

Text

that's a decent machine

my brother in law 2 weeks ago bought this http://www.shopping.hp.com/webapp/shopp...&catLevel=5&product_code=EP378UA%23ABA from Compusa for $750.00 it was a bargain. same basic form factor and case as the one you are looking at.

personally, i think the 14" widescreen is the sweet spot in laptops. big enough for most uses and small enough not to be bulky.

 

[Inspector Jihad]

Originally posted by: allisolm
Youv'e posted in the thread in Hot Deals so you know about the Dell (with 512MB RAM, wireless and 1yr warranty) for $449 AR and maybe for $35 less if you can get a coupon from ebay. That's probably the lowest priced one currently. At least I don't know of any lower.

yeah, but i just wanted a general idea of the current laptop situation

 

[RossMAN]

Originally posted by: Inspector Jihad

Originally posted by: allisolm
Youv'e posted in the thread in Hot Deals so you know about the Dell (with 512MB RAM, wireless and 1yr warranty) for $449 AR and maybe for $35 less if you can get a coupon from ebay. That's probably the lowest priced one currently. At least I don't know of any lower.

yeah, but i just wanted a general idea of the current laptop situation

Listen to allisolm she knows her stuff especially when it comes to Hot Deals.

Most cheap laptops are around $499 AR and offer at least:

Celeron / 256MB / 40GB / combo drive / 56k / Ethernet / WiFi

If you can increase your budget to $699 you can get a nice Dell XPS M140 or Inspiron E1505. Yesterday Dell had an XPS M140 with:

Pentium-M, 512MB, 60GB 5400RPM, DVD Burner, 14" WXGA, 9 cell battery (5 hours battery life), Windows MCE 2005, 1 year warranty for around $683. Even less if you had a $25 off $150 coupon.

 

[HeroOfPellinor]

My only contention to techs' post is that Core Duo is the best processor Intel makes and you can't even get it on a desktop. E1505's have been around $700 and that's a LOT of notebook for the money and could easily replace all but a high end video gaming desktop.

 

[allisolm]

Thanks Rossman.

I will say that I have purchased several low end laptops for personal use (mine, husband, daughter (2)).Toshiba, Compaq, Dell. All have performed fine for what we needed. None died or have had any other performance problems. My husband uses his for business.It has developed cracks at both hinges and we will probably replace it soon. It is 4 or 5 years old and was $499.99. All of them surf, play snood, do email, compose documents, handle digital pictures, work with TiVo and anything else we do. None have integrated wireless, but I've never paid more than $5 for a notebook card. None of the notebooks have become so outdated over the years that they won't perform necessary tasks. All do have 512 RAM. Maybe it's just me, but I don't see the necessity for spending several hundred dollars more to get options if they won't be of any additional value to you. Example: I have a DVD burner on my desktop and not on my laptop, but I've never needed to burn a DVD while somewhere else. So it works for me.

Good luck on your search!