New Latop for Parents - $400 Upper Limit

[TY-1]

Hi Everybody,

My parents old Laptop, a Dell Latitude 110L, is on its last legs. I have nursed it along as far as I can, but it is on its very last legs and will probably not see the end of the summer. I am looking for a new laptop for them, as a tablet won't fill the need, but the kicker is that they only want to spend at most $400 and are hoping I find something for less. They also want it to have an optical drive, as they want to watch some of their DVDs when they travel with it, and Windows (I have extra copies of windows software for them so no need to factor that into cost). I already know that anything I get them will most likely have Windows 8 on it, so I will just download software to return the Start Button and configure it for them.

They are mostly going to be using it for email, Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel, pictures, videos (internet videos, DVDs, digital videos, etc.), and Skype. They are also looking to get it soon, as I said their old laptop is failing fast, and so they don't really want to wait to have something shipped to them; forcing me to look at BestBuy, though I might prevail upon them to use Newegg if I can find a better deal there.

So far I have found two HP Laptops that I think might fit their need and have touchpads and keyboards that I found to be pretty good. I am hoping to get some community feedback. Which one is the better deal mainly? If you know of something better for the price point then let me know.

Thanks for any help you can offer.

HP 2000-2c25dx

Intel i3-3110m 2.4GHz
Intel HD Graphics 3000 w/ 1696MB video memory
4GB DDR3 RAM with expandability to 8GB
DVD+-RW/CD-RW
Windows 8
15.6" Screen

$379.99


HP Pavilion g6-2342dx

AMD A8-4500m 1.9GHz
AMD Radeon HD 7640G w/ 2029mb video memory
4GB DDR3 RAM with expandability to 8GB
DVD+-RW/CD-RW
Windows 8
15.6" Screen

$379.99

 

[crashtestdummy]

Go for the i3. It'll last them a little longer, and the graphics 300 is enough for games.

The only other thing to think about is that at $100 more they can get a laptop with a touch screen. They may not use it now, but there are going to be a lot more touch-based windows programs over the next few years.

 

[TY-1]

Go for the i3. It'll last them a little longer, and the graphics 300 is enough for games.

The only other thing to think about is that at $100 more they can get a laptop with a touch screen. They may not use it now, but there are going to be a lot more touch-based windows programs over the next few years.

They don't game, at all, but they watch video (online & offline) a lot. I thought about a touchscreen but my mom is really, really against fingerprints on the screen and I honestly believe that they wouldn't use the touchscreen (my dad barely uses the keyboard as is since he just uses their current laptop to watch streaming sports events or movies). Also, they don't want more than $400 spent on it. I tried to convince them that $500-$600 was more reasonable but they are pretty firm on the price.

 

[crashtestdummy]

They don't game, at all, but they watch video (online & offline) a lot. I thought about a touchscreen but my mom is really, really against fingerprints on the screen and I honestly believe that they wouldn't use the touchscreen (my dad barely uses the keyboard as is since he just uses their current laptop to watch streaming sports events or movies). Also, they don't want more than $400 spent on it. I tried to convince them that $500-$600 was more reasonable but they are pretty firm on the price.

Ooops. Meant that the graphics 300 is enough for video, but not games.

 

[Dizway]

This laptop has got some good reviews on amazon and slickdealers. There's an additional 10% off if you're a student. No optical drive, maybe you can get an external one.

http://www.microsoftstore.com/store/msusa/en_US/pdp/productID.257476600

 

[mfenn]

Of those two, I would definitely pick up the Intel for (much) better single threaded performance and better battery life.

 

[raildogg]

Check out the Dell outlet as well. The customer service I've gotten from Dell so far has been excellent.

http://www.dell.com/us/dfh/p/laptops.aspx?c=us&cs=22&l=en&s=dfh&~ck=mn&dgc=IR&cid=259428&lid=4668291

You can find an Inspiron 17 with a 900p resolution for under $400. Larger screen, higher resolution and possibly better screen than the laptops mentioned above. Though since this is a 17" laptop, it won't be much more difficult to carry around when travelling.

 

[AustinInDallas]

http://slickdeals.net/permadeal/988...3-750gb-hdd-15.6-1366x768-led-6cell-windows-8
expired, but example of a decent laptop for a good price

 

[TY-1]

Thanks for the advice everybody. I'm trying to track down a few more options for them, so I will post when/if those become available. If anyone has any other suggestions that fit into the price range then I would be open to hearing them.

 

[sm625]

Dell outlet has 25% off coupons

25% off Any Dell Outlet Ultrabook
use coupon code GM79TW5MM6WRFD

20% off Any Dell Outlet Inspiron R Series
use coupon code 561RJTQ0787GF4

There is a decent one that is normally $549 which would be $412 after the coupon. I cant post the link because dell outlet is retarded.

 

[TY-1]

Well things didn't work out as I had initially hoped. About two days after I made my reply on 7/17/13 my parents had both their dryer and refrigerator crap out on them. Since they had to spend a good deal of money getting replacements, as both were too old to be worth fixing (30+ years on the refrigerator and 28 years on the dryer), finding a new laptop has been put on hold.

I'd like to thank everyone who offered advice and checked out the two replacement options I had initially found. Right now my brother and I are still looking into getting our parents a replacement laptop and calling it an early Christmas gift, but are trying to decide on a price point (we're currently thinking to bump the budget up to $500-$600) and check out what is available.

If anyone has any good laptop options for the $500-$600 range please let me know.