looking for good cheap laptops

[tony4704]

Hey all im looking for a laptop for a friend that wants to buy two, one for each of his daughters. He wants to keep it under 800-900 each, cheaper the better of course. I havent done much research yet but I have heard good things about dell. I was looking at a dell Inspiron 1501 customized has:
AMD turion 64 mobile cpu MK-36
15.4in XGA
1GB ddr2
ATI Radeon Xpress1150 256mb
60GB
8x CD/DVD burner
wireless minicard
all for 649 shipped

anybody have any experience with these laptops or have any comments/suggestions? Thanks!

 

[LouPoir]

Dell E1501 - $684

 

[CKent]

I'm also helping a friend decide on a lappy, and their price range is the same. I've seen the deal on the e1501 and was wondering how it compares to the similarly priced b130? They had sent me a link asking about the b130 deal specifically, is why I'm asking. Thanks.

Edit: They get an additional discount with Dell through their job, and they prefer the brand.

 

[alimoalem]

what will the daughters be using the laptops for and how long do they plan on keeping it?

at this point in time, i would recommend against going with a single-core processor, especially turion. get a core duo or core 2 duo processor with whatever you get.

also, why 15.4" specifically? i would recommend 14". i'm not weak by any means but i find anything over 14.1" would be too big for a laptop. its size'll becomes an annoyance over time...at least imo.

check out the HP DV2000T laptop (14") or DV6000T (15.4") as well. also look at the dell 1405.

 

[tony4704]

those two look good alim, btw its gonna be for school and internet use only. Whats the main advantage, besides speed, of the core duo or core duo 2? is it just speed and efficiency of power or are there others? thanks!

also, since i dont no much about laptops other than alienware is one of the best for gaming, which brand is considered more reliable between HP and Dell. That asshole dude i got a dell guy pisses me off and I vowed never to purchase a computer through them because of him

 

[alimoalem]

Originally posted by: tony4704
those two look good alim, btw its gonna be for school and internet use only. Whats the main advantage, besides speed, of the core duo or core duo 2? is it just speed and efficiency of power or are there others? thanks!

also, since i dont no much about laptops other than alienware is one of the best for gaming, which brand is considered more reliable between HP and Dell. That asshole dude i got a dell guy pisses me off and I vowed never to purchase a computer through them because of him

lol didn't know he got people to not buy dells. HP is more reliable, generally. dell does have some good service, but it's EXPENSIVE. it'll cost half the value of the laptop, in this case. core duo will basically only offer a speed increase, but core 2 duo is 64-bit so if the girls'll be running the 64-bit version of Vista down the line, it'll benefit them there. core 2 duo is a little faster than core duo, too. if it's a cheap upgrade, i would certainly go with a core duo. my laptop has the slowest core duo processor in it and it feels MUCH faster than my friend's new desktop with a single-core in it.

plus, if the girls want to keep the laptops for a while, it won't be a slug a couple years down the line. my dad's company gives him a new IBM/Lenovo laptop every few years. at the end of each cycle, you can REALLY see that the laptop is not able to keep up with the demands for it. if they get a single-core now, while it's slowly becoming outdated, it may not last nearly as long