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Can someone help me choose a laptop?
I’m looking for one under $500 with wireless internet capabilities. I am going to use it for mainly coursework and media not much gaming.
Thanks!
Is that $500 US or CND? It makes a huge difference.
Even then, you still won’t find much. Basic data-entry level notebooks start at around $600-$700US before taxes. They’re barely powerful enough to handle most video games released in the last year though.
Dell is as cheap as it gets for the most part without compromising quality too much. Don’t bother looking into Toshiba, HP, Vaio or IBM notebooks, because I can tell you now — they’re powerful machines, but start pricing usually at $700-$1200US (before taxes).
If the primary use is just data-entry, I really think your best bet is looking into older generation iBooks, especially on eBay (no taxes!).
Anna wrote:Is that $500 US or CND? It makes a huge difference.Even then, you still won’t find much. Basic data-entry level notebooks start at around $600-$700US before taxes. They’re barely powerful enough to handle most video games released in the last year though.
Dell is as cheap as it gets for the most part without compromising quality too much. Don’t bother looking into Toshiba, HP, Vaio or IBM notebooks, because I can tell you now — they’re powerful machines, but start pricing usually at $700-$1200US (before taxes).
If the primary use is just data-entry, I really think your best bet is looking into older generation iBooks, especially on eBay (no taxes!).
I disagree… when I ordered my sister’s laptop, for college, no games and the always open iTunes, I was torn between Dell and HP, and the only reason I picked the Dell, is they had a special free WiFi upgrade, which was barely better than standard. I got hers for roughly $1100 with tax, I know that is not what you asked, but I also made sure hers was pretty darn good with a few unneeded upgrades for what she will do with it, but I wanted it to be good for awhile, not get outdated tomorrow.ShadowdogMU wrote:I disagree… when I ordered my sister’s laptop, for college, no games and the always open iTunes, I was torn between Dell and HP, and the only reason I picked the Dell, is they had a special free WiFi upgrade, which was barely better than standard. I got hers for roughly $1100 with tax, I know that is not what you asked, but I also made sure hers was pretty darn good with a few unneeded upgrades for what she will do with it, but I wanted it to be good for awhile, not get outdated tomorrow.You disagree with what? 😉
I mean to say you’re not going to get much from Dell’s lower end data entry notebooks that I linked earlier. However if you invest a little more money into it (like you did for your sister’s), you’ll have a nice notebook to play with. Or if you’re willing to invest that extra couple hundred, then you can afford to look at other brands as well… not at a $500 budget though.
I myself have a Dell Inspiron 600M, $1500US, and I’ve got World of Warcraft, Guild Wars, X-Men Legends II, KotOR I, F.E.A.R etc. all running on it. (The real gaming notebooks start at $2000+ though)
The cheapest model Dell has (on their site) is $499US, and that’s obviously before taxes.
I’d agree in looking at ebay.
That’s $500 USA…Im not much of a gamer I will mainly use it for work like word documents, internet browsing, chat, media like music and videos. That’s pretty much it I just need to have wireless internet. Thats a must. Is it worth getting those tablet pcs?
Dont worry about the wireless capabilities built in, most laptops have slots that a wireless internet card can slide into. Those cards are only about 40 bucks new.
I’d have to disagree with the Dell option. Dell makes wonderful desktops, but i’m not particularly fond of Dell laptops, they’re not made as well, or at least in my experience.
I bought a Dell laptop off the web… refurbished… and 3 months later, I have a big red/yellow line down the right side of my screen. yes, something went wrong with the LCD and there was only a 30 day parts warranty. Oh and in the first 30 days, the hard drive was making a loud clicking noise, so Dell sent me another one as a replacement. But still… parts didnt last long. It still works fine though, I just have to ignore that big line on the side. However, performance wise, I love it.
But, if for some reason you want to go Dell, buy it brand new, so you have a warranty. Just in case.
I’d also be careful buying off of ebay… I bought my first laptop on ebay (IBM Thinkpad 600E) and I loved that thing, except for, the BATTERY was bad…. so I had to plug it in for it to work…. which defeats the purpose of a LAPTOP. hah… but yeah some people might tell you the battery is good just to sell it to you, so just be careful, with that in mind, if you buy off of ebay.
Look around on Tigerdirect, there’s some good deals. such as this one…
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=1509090&CatId=0
If you still haven’t made up your mind, try finding a Toshiba Satellite on eBay. I bought a Satellite L25 for under $600, builtin WiFi b/g, and an ATi Radeon graphics card. Here’s my laptop. It’s not the exact look, but it’s the same thing, really, the ATi card, CD-RW/DVD-ROM, 40GB HD, Pentium M 1.6, Atheros WiFi b/g, 256MB RAM. Very nice laptop, although I’d recommend adding more RAM.
If you’re worried about games, this can run UT2004, Diablo II, Total Annihilation, etc. with no real problems. Some settings have to be turned down, but it’s not too bad considering it is a budget laptop.
eBay. That’s all I have to say. eBay.
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