Recomend me a cheap laptop solution

ciproxr

Senior member
Mar 26, 2005
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im looking for a laptop, used or new, but im am leaning towards new cause i would like some kind of warranty on it. i dont want to try ebay cause i hate dealing with people who are selling stuff i'd rather deal with a big company like new egg or dell or one of those sites who have a good return policy.....

i only need it for surfing the net , so it dosent matter if it only has 256 mb ram or not the fasters processor.

im looking to spend no more than 599$ and that has to include taxes and shipping.....

should i try get a refurbished one or does anyone know a place that has dell coupons or maybe keep tracks of weekly special and rebates ?
 

Doh!

Platinum Member
Jan 21, 2000
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MicroCenter has a new Acer 3680 (Celeron M 410 - 65nm CPU, 512MB RAM, 60GB HD, DVD/CDRW, wireless, 14.1 widescreen. Windows XP Home).
All for $399. I also have a $2000 C2D notebook at work. They perform about the same when running a browser, email, and other daily chores.
 

plagiarist

Senior member
Oct 31, 2004
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How cheap can you go? I want a laptop that comes with a wifi card (or can have one added) that will run XP or ME and cost less than $400. Preferably in the $200-300 range.. yes it could be a clunker as long as it runs.
 

cheesehead

Lifer
Aug 11, 2000
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I'd go for a refurbished IBM, or maybe an Evo-class (buisness-model) Hp/Compaq. I've owned a new Dell, and I can tell you the tech support was awful; on the other hand, after calling in to get something repaired on my NC4010, I was so impressed that I actually sent a letter to the tech support guy's supervisor complementing their service.

I've heard that Lenovo's tech support is excellent from an IT guy I know...but I've yet to need it! Thinkpads are often a bit more expensive than other laptops, but they're often availible refurbished, and my refurb X40 ($650 a few months ago) is the best laptop I've ever owned. (And I owned a Dell Inspiron 9100 - essentially an XPS without the logo. It was Dell's top of the line laptop...and boy, was it junk!)

EDIT:

Here's an X40 identical to mine, from the same seller - it's $700 instead of $650, but has 768mb of RAM (what I upgraded to), 802.11a/b/g card (vs. 802.11b for mine) a 40gb hard drive (vs. my 20gb), and a four year Lenovo warranty.

http://cgi.ebay.com/IBM-ThinkPad-X40-P-...2QQcategoryZ140083QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Add a PC-card DVD-ROM drive ($20 at Geeks.com), and you have a truly fine laptop. I have this very same laptop (with a smaller hard drive and lower-end wifi card), and I get over three hours of battery life with wifi turned on and the stock battery.

It's a wonderful laptop - light as a feather, built like a tank, and with a warranty of four years to boot!

The seller also has some T-series laptops, if you'd prefer something a little larger.
 

cheesehead

Lifer
Aug 11, 2000
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Originally posted by: mike77
Acer

The low-end Acer laptops are a bit shoddy - they're not bad, but won't stand up to repeated abuse. (I.E; being carried between classes, thrown in a backpack, et cetera).

The high-end Acer laptops are all out of your price range.
 

regnez

Golden Member
Aug 11, 2006
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Originally posted by: Cheesehead
I'd go for a refurbished IBM, or maybe an Evo-class (buisness-model) Hp/Compaq.

That is what I did when I was in the market for an affordable laptop and have not regretted it one bit.

 

cheesehead

Lifer
Aug 11, 2000
10,079
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Originally posted by: regnez
Originally posted by: Cheesehead
I'd go for a refurbished IBM, or maybe an Evo-class (buisness-model) Hp/Compaq.

That is what I did when I was in the market for an affordable laptop and have not regretted it one bit.

Thinkpad or HP?

They're both good, of course.