Looking for an inexpensive laptop

[agathodaimon]

I was browsing around the forums, ebay, google, etc...
I'm looking for something maybe around $150.
I don't need ANYTHING fancy, just something that I can use for school work. I need to connect to the internet for online classes (I can add a wifi card) and run MS Office 2003-2007.

Anyone have any ideas of what kind of laptop I can expect to find in this price range?

Also, where is a good place to look? Are there any online retailers specializing in older, yet still working machines?
I'm thinking something used or refurbished... Just SOMETHING that will allow me to do a little work while I'm away from the home...

Thanks!

 

[thecoolnessrune]

Check out the laptop section here of PC Surplus Online. Expect anything from a low Pentium III to high Pentium II. I would either stick to Open Office, try to find a copy of Office 2000, or raise your budget. You aren't going to find anything in that budget range that would run Office 2003 without making you want to pull your hair out.

 

[agathodaimon]

hehe... Ok.

I wasn't sure what the requirements for 2003 were.
Didn't figure it would take a lot of horsepower just to run Word/Access.

I'll check them out and maybe raise my budget a bit.

 

[thecoolnessrune]

This is about your best bet. It's got damage though. You can see the requirements of Office 2003 here. (The requirements are the same for all Office products of that year). Just realize that the minimum specs still mean pulling your hair out 😛

Office 2007 requirements can be found here. I call them BS though. As owner of Office 2003 Student edition and Office 2007 Ultimate editions, I've tried running them on systems of all types. I could run Office 2003 on a 1.2Ghz PIII comfortably (512MB of memory though). Office 2007 feels good on my 2.5Ghz P4 but Dual-Core just makes things run so much more smoothly.