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College Laptop.

G

GoCobbers1

Member
Howdy.. Currently have high powered Desktop for all computing/gaming needs but am interested in buying a laptop for misc. college tasks.

I apologize up front for the vagueness of the post but I don't know where to begin my search. Refurbished systems seem interesting..

Would like to keep it under $600
512mb to 1024mb Ram
wouldn't need larger then 80gb hard drive
Processor? I'm clueless.
What sites should i look at?
All help is greatly appreciated.

thanks
 
You can look in the For Sale/Trade forums for used laptops, you'll might be able to find a good laptop for cheap 🙂
 
I'd reccomend buying a used X41 off eBay. I bought mine for $650 about four months ago with a 1-yr Lenovo warranty, and added for another $30 512mb of DDR, for 768mb total. It's a marvellous laptop.

De-comissioned Thinkpads are common on eBay, and many feature a residual Lenovo warranty of around a year. They often go for a very reasonable price, and the quality is excellent.
 
Generally you can get a brand new Compaq laptop for under $600 that has everything you listed. It'd be a Sempron processor usually though, and without a battery upgrade you might get like an hour and half of battery life out of it, at the most.

Try compusa - from time to time they have $500 or $400 Compaq laptops on sale.
 
Im clueless on what processor is good and what is bad. (first laptop) Help me out.. Pentium M? Core solo? all the wacky AMD's? What do i need? what should I stay away from? Will 512 Ram be sufficient for my tasks?

thanks
 
Originally posted by: Cheesehead
Originally posted by: Brainonska511
You may want to check out the Dell Outlet.
Click to expand...

Especially if you're a masochist. I've opened up Dell laptops - they're usually a nightmare.
Click to expand...

if you want to spend the least amount of money, a Dell is a great choice. I still have a Latitude CSx 500 I bought from the Dell Outlet back in 2001 that still works great. It's a bit underpowered, but for daily email checking, surfing and paper writing, it's not bad.
 
Originally posted by: AmigaMan
Originally posted by: Cheesehead
Originally posted by: Brainonska511
You may want to check out the Dell Outlet.
Click to expand...

Especially if you're a masochist. I've opened up Dell laptops - they're usually a nightmare.
Click to expand...

if you want to spend the least amount of money, a Dell is a great choice. I still have a Latitude CSx 500 I bought from the Dell Outlet back in 2001 that still works great. It's a bit underpowered, but for daily email checking, surfing and paper writing, it's not bad.
Click to expand...

Especially seeing as how at the Dell outlet, you can get an Inspiron 1501 with the following for $490, and for another $20, you get it with a Turion 64 - 2000, Windows MCE, and an upgraded wireless card:
Sempron Mobile 1800
XP Home
512MB RAM
60GB 5400RPM SATA HDD
Integrated ATI Graphics
Dell 1390 Wireless Card
15.4" WXGA

Note: All figures and specs based on current selection at Dell Outlet.
 
Originally posted by: Cheesehead
Especially if you're a masochist. I've opened up Dell laptops - they're usually a nightmare.
Click to expand...

Great advice. Thats the same thing I tell everyone who is buying a Porsche 911. It is a nightmare to take the engine in and out. [/sarcasm]

Seriously the Dell Outlet has prety good deals from time to time.
 
Originally posted by: Mojonba1
Originally posted by: Cheesehead
Especially if you're a masochist. I've opened up Dell laptops - they're usually a nightmare.
Click to expand...

Great advice. Thats the same thing I tell everyone who is buying a Porsche 911. It is a nightmare to take the engine in and out. [/sarcasm]

Seriously the Dell Outlet has prety good deals from time to time.
Click to expand...

Dells are a mixed bag. I've had nothing but horrible experiences with their tech support - corporate-level support, I've heard, is better. Often, the laptops employ shoddy construction - this is only a serious problem if you're schlepping your laptop with you everywhere, but then again, that's why students buy laptops.

As a side note, I can assure you that you'll be hating yourself later for buying a heavy laptop. The 1501 is about seven pounds, and the charger is anything like the other dell chargers I've seen, it should add another pound or two.

Having physically opened up and re-assembled Dell laptops before (a D600, my 9100, and one other I've forgotten the model number of) I can tell you that build quality is often lacking, and corners are cut. They're cheap, and you get what you pay for.

Originally posted by: Parasitic
Generally you can get a brand new Compaq laptop for under $600 that has everything you listed. It'd be a Sempron processor usually though, and without a battery upgrade you might get like an hour and half of battery life out of it, at the most.

Try compusa - from time to time they have $500 or $400 Compaq laptops on sale.
Click to expand...

Good stuff. However, for $500 you can score a used Thinkpad T40 or T41 with a ~1yr Lenovo warranty. They're usually de-comissioned fleet laptops - and you sometimes will get in-house tech support for free.
 
I second the IBM/Lenovo Suggestion. IBMs seldom seem to actually die from what I've seen... of course, you may want to get used to using the little eraser thingy which is what I have seen most thinkpads ship with instead of it PLUS a trackpad.
 
Originally posted by: GoCobbers1
Best place to find these T40s T41s on ebay?
Click to expand...


Search "Thinkpad" + "Warranty", with "search within item descriptions" set on. Set most expensive items first, and enter your maximum price in the "only items betweent prices A and B" boxes on the side.
 
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