<p>I'm looking to be a cheap yet decent laptop to bring to college next year. A few months ago I built a pretty good desktop that I'll be bringing with me, so I don't want (or need) to spend a lot on a laptop. However, I'm not really sure where to buy one or what's a good deal. Does anyone have tips?</p>
<p>The HP Pavilions are cheap and durable, and look nice. Check out xpbargains.com, I got a $500 off coupon code from there for a custom HP laptop from hp.com. I got the price from $1400 to $900, but that was for a 17" laptop. If you got the 15.4" laptop, I'm sure you could stay below $700, probably even below $600, as the dv6700t (make sure you get one with a 't' at the end, not a 'z' - the 'z's have AMD processors, and those aren't as good as Intel processors nowadays) starts at $700 without any coupons.</p>
<p>Of course, if you want a really cheap laptop that's great, but a little small: ASUS</a> | Eee PC</p>
<p>thanks, that's a good site
I'd go for the EEE pc, but I don't want one quite that small</p>
<p>I want to go with srunni and suggest the Eee, not for the price but for its size. You said you have a desktop so anything major will be handled on it. You are probably going to use this laptop when on the go and when on the go, the smaller and lighter, the better.</p>
<p>I don't need a tremendously powerful laptop, but I'd like to have one with a decent sized screen and as good a processor/as much RAM as I can get for under $600-700
I'm just keeping an eye on xpbargains</p>
<p>I've found what seems to be a pretty good deal - Best</a> Deal - Dell Biz: Vostro 1500 Laptop T5270 15.4in 2GB 120GB DVD+-RW $564 shipped
I just have a few questions. Is there any reason to get an 802.11a/g card instead of 802.11g? Would the plain 802.11g be incompatible with 'a' networks?
And I'm leaning strongly towards just getting XP. Should I go with Vista?</p>
<p>dell inspiron 1420</p>
<p>well, I wouldn't recommend the IBM Thinkpad R60. I had to get it because my (private) school has a deal with IBM and I could only use school tech support if I got an R60, but it's a crap computer. It's slow, it's susceptible to every virus in the world, and it's ugly(not to mention that the screen has a nasty habit of falling off if you drop it once too many). yet somehow it's not particularly cheap :(</p>
<p>Lenovo has student discounts and fathers day sale (until monday I think) and e coupons that make their computers relatively cheap (I'm going to buy a T61 for $810 with 2.4GHz processor and 1GB RAM (Aftermarket RAM is cheaper, 1GB is the null) and 160GB 7200RPM Hard Drive which is pretty good and relatively cheap).</p>
<p>Dell is supposed to release their EPC for $299 in August. That probably isn't enough time for the Fall semester though.</p>
<p>dont buy anything less than 700,or you'll be replacing it in like 2 years.</p>
<p>The Vostro</a> I found seems to be a lot better than the Inspiron 1420 for the price.</p>
<p>I think if I find a good deal on something under $700 (like that ^) it will last me for 3-4 years considering that I have a much more powerful desktop that I can continuously upgrade (I may be able to upgrade the laptop, too).</p>
<p>how does this one look? - Acer</a> Extensa EX5620-6419 15.4" Widescreen Notebook Computer With Intel Core2 Duo Processor T5550 With Centrino Processor Technology at Office Depot.</p>
<p>it seems like a pretty good deal
I was thinking about this: Best</a> Deal - Dell Biz: Vostro 1500 Laptop T5270 15.4in 2GB 120GB DVD+-RW $564 shipped but the only area that Acer seems worse in is that it has integrated graphics; otherwise, it has a lot more stuff and is cheaper</p>
<p>also found this: Toshiba</a> Satellite A205-S5843 15.4" Widescreen Notebook Computer With Intel Pentium Dual-Core Processor T2370 at Office Depot.
the acer seems better though, and I found a lot of positive reviews online (no negative ones)</p>
<p>I'd go with the toshiba over the acer, acer's are notorious for poor product quality.</p>
<p>really? a lot of the reviews I read online cited the laptop's good quality</p>
<p>You're best off looking in the Sunday papers. The big chains like officedepot buy their computers in bulk so you can get a pretty good one for $500.</p>
<p>
[quote]
well, I wouldn't recommend the IBM Thinkpad R60. I had to get it because my (private) school has a deal with IBM and I could only use school tech support if I got an R60, but it's a crap computer. It's slow, it's susceptible to every virus in the world, and it's ugly(not to mention that the screen has a nasty habit of falling off if you drop it once too many). yet somehow it's not particularly cheap
[/quote]
*The speed of the computer has nothing to do with the model - it depends on the processor, which is independent of the model if you buy a customized version. Susceptibility to viruses have absolutely nothing to do with the hardware.</p>
<p>*If it's running Windows, it's susceptible to the same set of viruses, no matter what the hardware is.</p>
<p>*The Thinkpads are ugly, though if you're worried about how a computer looks, then you need to get a Mac.</p>
<p>*I'm don't know how many times you dropped it, but the Thinkpads are some of the best built laptops out there. Most other laptops will have hardware failures long before a Thinkpad will. That's why they're so prevalent among corporate laptop users. They're willing to pay a premium for a level of quality that you can find nowhere else.</p>
<p>can anyone else weigh in on acer's quality? I'm not looking for a really high-end machine, just one that can do the basics and will last a few years. It looks like this one is a very good deal unless it's an absolute piece of crap.</p>
<p>I just found this Best But laptop.</p>
<p>For $400, you get 1GB of RAM and a $120 Hard Drive. On the minus side, it comes with Vista, which I have heard is very memory hungry. You might want to stick to the eee pc's (models come with either linux or windows) or get a 2go pc from intel (also comes with either linux or windows, at a $50 difference, Amazon.com:</a> CTL E09XPH 9” 2go classmate PC Laptop (900 MHz Intel Celeron Processor, 512 MB RAM, 40 GB Hard Drive, XP Home) Bone/Grey: Electronics) . The 2go comes with a 40GB hard drive and 512 RAM. </p>
<p>PS: I also heard acer has bad quality.</p>