Laptop for homework and web surfing for ~$300?

[thestrangebrew1]

SIL is looking for something for her husband to do schoolwork on and web surfing. When he's out of town, he *might* watch videos but really, he just needs something portable to do work on (will need MS Office, do they still include Office Suite or is it strictly subscription now?). Budget is skimpy, $300 at most I'd imagine. Do they exist?

 

[C1]

Dont limit yourself to new.

I bought kick ass Lenovo T420 i5 processor on Craigs list. Near new looking with no shiny keys, pads or palm rest. It has the NVIDIA 1600 x 900 pixel screen (option) with Blue tooth & really good nice 9 cell battery. Has lots more, too numerous to list. The guy who sells gets these machines from businesses in town & resells them & customizes to your needs. All are well under $300 unless you want an SSD installed.

What's really great about Lenovo is that they are made well, parts are readily available (if needed) and Lenovo's website makes all the software needed for the machine as easy free download.

The thing is absolutely kick ass (comes with 7200 rpm drive) & you can go 5+ hrs portable. Great keyboard, business black & decent LED screen too.

What more do you want ?

Here's the CL ad :

Lenovo Thinkpad T420 i5 160GB 8gb ram Nvidia win 7 pro laptop MINT - $260

260$ cash for this configuration. firm

Compare and you shall see. Dont bother with others with cracks, chips, worn edges etc. Mine are near mint. Mint means no edge wear, all decals, no shiny keys, no gross trackpad. This unit is priced at 260 WITH 8GB ram, 160gb 7.2K rpm hdd.

Lenovo Thinkpad T420, Customized and highly capable.

*intel i5 vPro 2520M 2.5ghz processor
*160Gb Hitachi 7.2K rpm HDD. ssd option available.
*8gb ram @ 260! 4-16gb available.
*1600x900 dpi native 16:9 lcd resolution, HD. Beautiful display!
*nvidia nvs4200m 1gb graphics card PLUS Intel HD Graphics.
*Fresh win 7 64 bit pro install. coa on bottom all drivers up to date
*Libre Office Suite installed, Best Free alternative to Microsoft office.
*HD 1.3MP webcam, led keyboard light, trackpoint
*original Lenovo long life battery and 90w charger. Extended Battery available as well.
*Dvd burner, esata port, display port, VGA, many usb ports etc..
*Very fast capable/customizable laptop.
*Includes new 90w lenovo charger. i just opened it for this laptop.

This laptop is in excellent physical condition with palm stickers still attached. No chips, cracks, scrathes on lcd. Outer lid looks like new still. Everything works as it should! Please be specific when calling or texting. I configure these machines properly without any junk.

 

[RossMAN]

It's possible but not that easy. I would suggest upping the budget to $349 or $399-ish.

If your SIL or someone they know is a Sam's Club member here is a possibility:
https://slickdeals.net/f/9684756-lenovo-v310-corei3-6gb-1tb-14-laptop-299-sams-club?v=1

Here are a few other laptop deals around $400:
https://slickdeals.net/forums/forumdisplay.php?&tagid=34&f=9

 

[thestrangebrew1]

Thanks for the tips. I'll have her check out some used items and see what comes back. CL and the like are slim pickings here though since we live in such a rural area. I think I've convinced her to up the budget to $400 so I think that will open the search up a bit more.

 

[VirtualLarry]

I've got some Asus 15.6" laptops with 480GB MLC SATA SSDs in them for sale in my FS thread.
Asking $350 shipped.
They're Bay Trail N2830 Atom CPUs, with 4GB, and a DVD-RW drive.
They're actually quite nice, for basic tasks. Asus makes a decent laptop. (Though Lenovo are probably better.)

I only mention this because it seems that you are only looking for a "basic" laptop.

 

[thestrangebrew1]

Thanks. I guess she went ahead and just ordered this one:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01MQOXCYY/ref=psdc_13896615011_t1_B01N0L4D8W

Seems like a good laptop, although I would've gone with an ssd. For $374, it looks ok though.

 

[VirtualLarry]

That one doesn't look bad. No SSD though. I don't know if I could live with a laptop with a slow 5400RPM HDD. Plus, laptops gets tossed around a lot, having a fragile HDD in there really concerns me. If it's easy to upgrade though (if it has an access panel), just buy a 256/512GB SSD and throw it in there.

 

[thestrangebrew1]

That one doesn't look bad. No SSD though. I don't know if I could live with a laptop with a slow 5400RPM HDD. Plus, laptops gets tossed around a lot, having a fragile HDD in there really concerns me. If it's easy to upgrade though (if it has an access panel), just buy a 256/512GB SSD and throw it in there.

My thoughts as well. Hopefully the hdd will be easy to swap out if my BIL finds it's too slow for his needs. I think for basic office apps and web surfing, he should be fine with it. Thanks!