Ive been wanting to get a laptop to use at college, and since i just spent most of my money on my desktop i was hoping to get a laptop for 500 or less. What brands are best? I've noticed a lot of compaqs go for cheap new, but do they last? Any suggestions?
Cheap Notebook
- Thread starter tatteredpotato
- Start date
They might last but the battery life will not be good. The Dell B130 can be had for $539 with 1.7ghz P-M, 512mb ram, 40GB hdd, Combo Drive, B/G wifi, and 1 year warranty. The B130 battery life isn't great but it could be much, much worse. Other wise, you can just check the ads in the sunday paper at best buy, circuit city, etc. for $400 laptops. Even better deals at the retailers can be had on black friday where people have bought toshiba lappys for $200. I hope this helps you.
damn, thats a great price for a P-M 1.7ghz laptop! makes me almost want to go out and buy one even though I have three laptops already at home. For OP, I would get the Dell andrewbabcock listed. For that price you're getting a very good machine. I might would upgrade the RAM to 1GB later on if you have the cash but all in all, it's a great deal.
Yea, that Dell's looking good, especially because the memory is 1 Dimm so its easily upgradable in the future, most other cheap laptops use 2x256 from what I see.
the only thing is i've seen the dell at a dell kiosk before...it's fugly. check it out first before you buy it...you don't wanna be stuck with something you don't like looking at. i would recommend physically seeing the laptop before purchasing it too. you don't want a laptop with a bad screen (you might get eye problems/headaches and it is what you'll be mostly looking at.) if your school starts real soon, just check on the sunday paper and see what's going on. btw, i think the dell deal ends on the 20th but i may be wrong
The dell is a cheap computer made of black plastic. What were you thinking that it would be like? A faberge egg? Its certainly not hideous looking. Its just a black computer plain and simple. Its not blindingly terrible or anything.
Dell B130......*shudder*
Get something with a Celeron M 4xx series. Equivalent/better performance than Pentium M, similar battery life, available in newer model notebooks.
$599 after $100 MIR: Intel® Celeron® M Processor 420 (1.60GHz) with Genuine Windows XP Home Edition
* 14.1" WXGA (1280x800), glossy
* 512 MB DDR2 base memory
* 80 GB Hard Drive
* CD-RW/DVD-ROM Combo
* Lenovo 11a/b/g Wi-Fi Wireless, Bluetooth
http://www.pc.ibm.com/us/notebooks/3000/n-series/nseries_byo_n100_14.html
Get something with a Celeron M 4xx series. Equivalent/better performance than Pentium M, similar battery life, available in newer model notebooks.
$599 after $100 MIR: Intel® Celeron® M Processor 420 (1.60GHz) with Genuine Windows XP Home Edition
* 14.1" WXGA (1280x800), glossy
* 512 MB DDR2 base memory
* 80 GB Hard Drive
* CD-RW/DVD-ROM Combo
* Lenovo 11a/b/g Wi-Fi Wireless, Bluetooth
http://www.pc.ibm.com/us/notebooks/3000/n-series/nseries_byo_n100_14.html
next to every other dell that was displayed there, it was pretty terrible, especially the screen (at least to me). it could be that specific model was a little off or something but the point of my post was not to judge based off specs only, but to see the physical unit as well
RossMAN
Grand Nagus
- Feb 24, 2000
- 79,015
- 431
- 136
doesn't look bad Ross but i've heard bad stories about CompUSA and rebates...don't know how true they are though
So you're advocating getting something that's less powerful, has a smaller screen, and is $70 more expensive? Hate to say it, but you're turning into a Lenovo/IBM fanboy fbrdphreak. Or is it that you like getting free stuff from your "Lenovo contacts" for laptoplogic? You're almost starting to sound like a paid spokesperson for them.
Anyways, Dell also offers a Celeron M version of the B130 for $499 that is basically the same setup as the Lenovo one above. At this price point, you probably can't tell one from another. Support will probably be better by Lenovo and you have to decide if that's worth the extra $100. Some will, some won't. For me, a $500 laptop is pretty much a situation where if it breaks, I'll go out and get a new one in a year.
- Jan 2, 2001
- 25,322
- 4,987
- 136
I've gotten every CompUSA rebate I've ever attempted (one actualy got paid 3 times.) Sure, I've had to call in on a few, but that holds true for some rebates from Circuit City, Office Depot, OfficeMax and others as well. Their new erebates, which don't require mailing anything in, have all come without problems. They haven't been real speedy, but they have all come so far.
The last ones I did, the manager even told me that if I had any probems I should bring in my paperwork and he would take care of me. I like that.
Microcenter has Celeron M410 (similar spec. as Lenovo posted above) for $399. No rebate required.
Perfect for office work/web browsing/e-mail.
Perfect for office work/web browsing/e-mail.
Compusa rebates don't really exist they just make it seem like they do. They basically say in the fine print that they don't exist. I sent in a $10 rebate one time and i never got anything back. Inless they just made a mistake these rebates rarely work...
looks like i'm getting split opinions on the CompUSA rebates 
i'll tell my friend about the deals and see if he's interested
i'll tell my friend about the deals and see if he's interestedActually case design in one of the big things that makes me stay away from some of the older used laptops u can get these days, theyre all so ugly. Anyone seen any of the compaqs? How do they look/ feel?
Less powerful than what? I didn't see any specific options recommended before mine.
The B130 may be the same price, but that doesn't mean you're getting notebooks that you "probably can't tell one from the other." The N100 uses the same chassis for the $600 model and the $1000+ models, can you say that about the Dell? Along with 1 year support that is U.S. based, ten times better than the support you get with a bottom of the barrel B130.
But Ross' deal is quite hot, he's the man for those deals.
EDIT
Just to confirm my reason for not wanting a B130, even if the quality and support wasn't enough:
So you get double the hard drive size, a/b/g WiFi, Bluetooth, 6-cell battery, and U.S. based support? Sounds like a good value to me. Whether that is worth it to the OP is up to him.
And let's not forget that the Celeron M 4xx is much better than the 3xx series. 65nm and Yonah-core are worth the extra money to me. To each his own, but I'm just presenting the OP with other options, thanks.
Buy.com has the refurbished Compaq Evo N620C for $399.99 out the door. No rebates, tax or shipping.
http://www.buy.com/retail/product.asp?s...0016026&loc=114&adid=17654&dcaid=17654
http://www.buy.com/retail/product.asp?s...0016026&loc=114&adid=17654&dcaid=17654
Pentium 4 Mobile?? :Q I wouldn't wish that on anyone...
Just kidding, it is fine for its age, but with modern technology available for $500 I wouldn't advise anyone to buy that. I'd get the Dell B130 before that
Actually, Buy.com is just being technically stunted. The N620c is a P-M as they state in the full description - the title is just wrong. Still wouldn't buy it at that price though, refurb @ $400 vs new for $500 ...
But rather than either the Lenovo or the Dell, look for a Toshiba A100 series ... the local FutureShop had the Celeron 420/512MB/60GB/15.4" model with a DVDRW and an X200 for CDN$650, no rebates. OP's name might imply Canadian citizenship.
- M4H
it may be P4 M (i didn't see that
) but if it wasn't, it would be pretty nice...for thsoe looking for a trackpoint mouse (the thing between the 'g' and 'h' keys) plus something light with dedicated video, this would be itOriginally posted by: alimoalem
it may be P4 M (i didn't see that
It's a Pentium M.
<- HP service tech
- M4H
Good catch M4H!Originally posted by: MercenaryForHire
Actually, Buy.com is just being technically stunted. The N620c is a P-M as they state in the full description - the title is just wrong. Still wouldn't buy it at that price though, refurb @ $400 vs new for $500 ...
But rather than either the Lenovo or the Dell, look for a Toshiba A100 series ... the local FutureShop had the Celeron 420/512MB/60GB/15.4" model with a DVDRW and an X200 for CDN$650, no rebates. OP's name might imply Canadian citizenship.
- M4H
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