Laptop Requirements

[CKDragon]

Hey all,

I'm going back to school in a month (on co-op) and I'm looking at getting a laptop. I have will have my power desktop in the dorm for games and such, but I'd just like a cheap little thing to take to classes and keep notes on. I have been considering buying a used laptop either from the FS/FT forum here or on ebay... what requirements should I look for?

All I need it to do are:

-Type Notes
-Have the ability to connect a wireless ethernet adapter to it (My campus is wireless and therefore it would be a bit of a convenience to be able to fire up an IE window during class
-I would prefer it be able to run Windows 2000, but that may be too ambitious

I am thinking around a PII 300, maybe 400? I read once that you shouldn't run Win2K with less than 256 MB RAM, is this true?

Thank you for your time,

CK

 

[AmigaMan]

I have a Dell Latitude I bought refurbished. It's a P3 550 with 256MB of RAM. It runs Windows 2000 flawlessly and I've even played Baldurs Gate II on it with no problems. I mainly use mine for programming at home and for the occasional design spec.
I'd say for what you want to do with a laptop, you should be fine. Just get that 256MB of RAM. The 300Mhz proc may be a little underpowered, get 400Mhz or more.

 

[CKDragon]

Amigaman, thanks for the response... can I ask where you bought your laptop refurbished? Any other good places to buy refurb laptops? That sounds like it would be just what I'm looking for. I was trying to keep the total cost under $500... poor college kid, you know.

Thanks for your time,

CK

 

[Daovonnaex]

You should look into refurbished systems based upon the Transmeta Crusoe.

 

[CKDragon]

Daovonnaex - Thanks for your response, Any particular place recommended that I look? A processor like that would probably suit me just fine, but after a few searches I'm not sure where to look...

Thank you for your time,

CK

 

[Ryan]

What's your price range?

 

[CKDragon]

I was hoping to keep the total cost under $500, obviously the lower the better.

CK