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Please Recommend cheap reliable laptop for wife(and me)

x26

x26

Senior member
Hi,

Please Recommend cheap reliable laptop for wife(and me).

1) for Internet, email, web surfing--NO gaming.

2) Would prefer a Dell? or something with better support than Asus for example.

3) Don't need ultra-book/thin and light--will be for home.

4) Would like a DVD drive.

5) Would like if it was easily upgradable ssd/memory, etc.

Thanks in Advance!!
 
If that's all you want go to your local Walmart and get one of the many $300ish machines that suites your fancy and be happy. You can also check your local best buy sales ad for the same thing. Cheap and upgradable don't belong in the same sentence when speaking of laptops.
 
Those are somewhat contradictory requirements.

"Cheap" laptops these days aren't especially upgradable, nor do they tend to have DVD drives.

You might want to look at i3 laptops, rather than Atom-based Celeron / Pentium.

That's the next step up from "cheap", but you might have a better chance of having a DVD drive and an access panel for upgrading RAM and SSD.

I do have twin Asus laptops with Win8.1 on them, with DVD-RW drives, that have been pre-upgraded with 480GB MLC SSDs. There's no access panel, and a non-user-removable battery.

I also have some Dells, that do have an access panel, and a removable battery, but no DVD drive. They have been upgraded with 120GB Samsung 850 EVO SSDs.
 
If anyone finds a cheap and upgradeable laptop, please share. Even eBay is random luck of draw. I ended up with a HP Elitebook 840 G1 with an i5-4300U 500GB HDD, 4GB RAM, and 1600x900 non touch display for $162. The kicker, it still has 17 months left on the warranty. Doesn't have an optical drive, but they are cheap these days.
 
delloutlet.com wait until they have some coupon codes. which they have now, 30% and 40% off on various models. if you keep checking you can get some really nice deals, and warranty on them is as if they were new.

current sample on a 15"
Processor: AMD A6-7310 Processor (2.4Ghz/2.0Ghz, 4 Core)
• Windows 8.1 (Free Upgrade to Windows 10 Home)
• 1 TB SATA Hard Drive (5400 RPM)
• 4GB DDR3L at 1600MHz
• 15.6 Inch LED Backlit Display with Truelife and HD resolution (1366 x 768)
• 8X DVD +/- RW Drive
• Intel HD Graphics
• BLack
• Dell Outlet Inspiron 15 - 5555
price after coupon is $227.
 
YMMV
You can't get cheaper than this for a snappy machine, but this isn't for everyone. Dell eBay e6500s with SSDs for $183 each after upgrades. One screw (wow) exposes everything. These have been in use about 1 1/2 years.

I enjoy fixing computers/ laptops, so I got a few Dell E6500s from eBay (3 for $300). I got lucky and the laptops actually needed nothing. I put eBay $60ea Intel 530 SSDs and $40 of DDR2 800 in them. They are very snappy with the SSDs. Look for battery, HDD, power supply included.

If I would do it now I would start with a Dell E6520 even though they will require a little more disassembly to upgrade. They Have DDR3 (cheaper/ faster), 4 digit I5s with twice the power, and HDMI output. The battery on this model is expensive so look for it included. Here is an example that has tempted me lately at $218 each. http://www.ebay.com/itm/Dell-latitu...937610?hash=item235ff7e7ca:g:vjEAAOSwgQ9V6ToP

Jim
 
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