Looking for a cheap laptop...

[dcpsoguy]

I'm looking for a cheap laptop that follow these requirements:

1) Decent enough to be considered not an old laptop, like I dont want a 1 GHZ laptop with 128MB RAM(don't know much about laptops but I consider thats pretty old considering i've seen many that are like 3 GHZ with 512MB.)

2) Not looking for a video card right now, but having the choice later on to add a video card to the laptop.

3) The ability to run the internet and ms word and all that kind of stuff college kids need. 😀

4) Also, the ability to pay monthly.

Hopefully, this can be under $850.

 

[gujuguy007]

does size and weight matter to you?

if not, compaq and hp have decent computers that you can buy for under $850. i purchased a compaq r3000z this summer for $750 with free shipping and free laptop backpack.

the laptop is configurable but these were my specs:

AMD Athlon(TM) XP-M 3000+ (1.60 GHz/256K L2 cache)
15.4" WVA WSXGA+ (1680x1050)
32MB NVIDIA(R) GeForce(TM) 4 420 Go
512MB DDR SDRAM (2x256MB)
DVD/CD-RW Combo Drive
FREE Upgrade to 54g(TM) Broadcom 802.11b/g WLAN !!
8 Cell Lithium Ion Battery (3 hour life)
Microsoft(R) Windows(R) XP Home Edition with SP2

R3000z Link

The computer does weigh almost 8lbs, but is really powerful and does everything i need it to do from word processing to developing graphics. also its widescreen if you're into dvd's and such.

Compaq has great tech. support from my experience. I needed a new hard drive since I had a faulty one, so they just sent one over in 3 days. installation was easy.

There are other models you can choose so it's up to you and your needs. Don't ever buy celeron as they heat up pretty fast from my experience. That's why you see some 2.4ghz computers for $800. It's not worth it in the long run. Choose a Pentium M or Athlon XP M. They have been fine for me in the past and provide efficient use of the battery.

As for upgrading your card, there aren't many laptops out there that would allow you to do that unless if you purchase a barebone. I have no expertise in this area, but I don't think its worth it to upgrade graphics...most today are capable of handling any graphic needs that an average person has.

i would suggest that you also look at dells..sometimes they have coupons and deals that may make it worth your money. usually found on Ableshoppers or the hot deals thread.

avoid averatec as much as possible even though they are incredibly cheap. my friend bought one last year and his broke down twice: 1 - hard drive failure, 2 - usb ports died out. plus the construction is sloppy in that the body easily dents and scratches. they seem like a fairly new company so i'm not sure about their tech support and they might have improved their products since then.