Need Advice on Basic Notebook for Wireless and Word, Excel...

[msi1337]

Whats the minimum recommendations for a laptop I can use for wireless internet (I have 2mbps ADSL and a microsoft wireless router ((model MN-500)) ) I also want to be able to use Word and Excel. I will not be doing any games above the call of solitaire. This will be my strictly college work and internet surfing laptop...

any suggestions?

Thanks!
Jason

p.s. suggestions on which wireless card to choose would be great too!

 

[InlineFive]

I run all those apps on a 750Mhz, 512MB SDR, 20GB 4200RPM laptop just fine. Granted it loads a bit slow compared to most desktops but I've tweaked it and it runs decently fast.

 

[msi1337]

I should add... I will have very limited funding for this (think sub $300) without wireless card

 

[vegetation]

Look for a slower P3 model. The speed isn't crucial for your application but memory is. Make sure it has at least 256mb, preferably more. Be certain you know if the battery holds a charge or not, as battery replacement can be very expensive.

 

[xcrunner51]

sub 300 will be a huge challenge

 

[vegetation]

Originally posted by: xcrunner51
sub 300 will be a huge challenge

It can be done, though you need to spend time researching on ebay. Sometimes you have independent sellers who want to sell off their system quickly, so they set a buy-now price at something very low. Gets snatched up quickly though, so you snooze, you lose. Also look for auctions that have typos in their title listings, so that they don't come up on the search queue easily, those tend to close at ridicuolously low prices.

 

[Junaid0]

Originally posted by: msi1337
I should add... I will have very limited funding for this (think sub $300) without wireless card

i have an old dell latitude, battery holds charge for no more than 30 minutes....

it's a p3 500 mhz, 256 ram, i think 20 gig HDD, win 2k preloaded.... no wireless card, no floppy, no modem... it has a cd drive, the computer overall works perfectley for those tasks....

however, if left on for long periods of time >3 hrs the fan wil get LOUD... loud enough that u won't be able to sleep with it, but not loud enough to disturb class.... i don't know if u're lookin for such a weak machine, but what's everyone else's input on this notebook... btw i will be willing to part w/ it for 300 shipped

my sister has been using it for the last 3 years to surf the web and chat on aim.... it's in good shape, a couple scuffs and scratches, but the screen is flawless, and the trackpad/keyboard work well....

however, i really don't know how much longer it will last, because it is over 5 years old... i bought if off ebay 2 years ago, and it hasn't left my house.... so think about it and pm me back if interested... but still look for a bit more powerfull notebook