Best bang-for-buck $300 - $500 Notebook

[josh6079]

Friend of mine is looking to get one for college. He only wants it to do papers, communicate via facebook, take notes, etc. No games, folding, audio/video creation, or anything hardware-intensive from the sounds of it.

What would be a good catch? Thanks in advance.

 

[TheStu]

Originally posted by: josh6079
Friend of mine is looking to get one for college. He only wants it to do papers, communicate via facebook, take notes, etc. No games, folding, audio/video creation, or anything hardware-intensive from the sounds of it.

What would be a good catch? Thanks in advance.

First of all, wait until the later this month, August and September will have tons of sales for back to school things. Next, basically just go to your preferred brick and mortar and loko around. At a price like that almost all of the specs will be the same (single core, maybe a slow dual core) 2-3GB RAM, 160GB+ HDD, wireless, 15" screen (probably at 1280*800 res), plastic construction. The question will be which one is the sturdiest and how far from that $300-500 budget is he will to stray (is he willing to go to $600 if it nets him a better system?)

 

[IHateMyJob2004]

Concur with The Shu.

With processing power these days, I usually tell people to go buy the cheapest laptop they can find that has a screen size that they can live with.

 

[slugg]

I don't agree.

I got a dual core laptop with 1 gb RAM, extended 9 cell battery, and a dual layer dvd burner for $450 for my mom... TWO YEARS AGO.

Watch the Dell outlet store like a hawk! You'll get something very nice for less than $500.

 

[Muse]

Originally posted by: slugg
I don't agree.

I got a dual core laptop with 1 gb RAM, extended 9 cell battery, and a dual layer dvd burner for $450 for my mom... TWO YEARS AGO.

Watch the Dell outlet store like a hawk! You'll get something very nice for less than $500.

Don't want to hijack the thread, but my concern is pretty on topic:

the battery and burner aren't particularly concerns for me. I plan to run it usually with the AC adaptor, do my burning with my desktop. Yes, a burner might come in handy someday and on occasion I'll use the battery. But mostly I want a laptop with decent ergonomics principally - keyboard I like using, display I like. The other things are very much secondary. Subscribed, naturally. I'll be watching the ads. If I can fulfill my needs for $300 that would be neat.

 

[IlllI]

there were a couple 299 laptops on sale just recently. here was one of them http://www.bestbuy.com/site/ol...oduct&id=1218092959299
maybe still are others

 

[Muse]

Originally posted by: IlllI
there were a couple 299 laptops on sale just recently. here was one of them http://www.bestbuy.com/site/ol...oduct&id=1218092959299
maybe still are others

Thanks. That looks like a pretty good deal. I could pick it up locally (Best Buy). With tax I figure $330 or so. I wonder if Vista Home Basic is something I'd regret. I'm using XP Pro now.

 

[IlllI]

it might actually be available for a free windows 7 upgrade.
check best buy, staples, office depot sales circulars. i forget where but there was one or two others advertised recently from one of those stores i think

 

[Muse]

Originally posted by: IlllI
it might actually be available for a free windows 7 upgrade.
check best buy, staples, office depot sales circulars. i forget where but there was one or two others advertised recently from one of those stores i think

Actually I have a copy of Vista Ultimate that I'm not doing anything with right now. Presumably I could use it to upgrade that laptop. I'll keep my eyes open for economical ("cheap!") laptops with Vista Premium or free upgrades to Windows 7.

 

[Rottie]

Govwotb Dell note oom theycare too good for every college students showing off their Dell over apple MacBook pro or you can buy HP notebook they are cheap to buy notebook

 

[Muse]

Originally posted by: Muse

Originally posted by: IlllI
it might actually be available for a free windows 7 upgrade.
check best buy, staples, office depot sales circulars. i forget where but there was one or two others advertised recently from one of those stores i think

Actually I have a copy of Vista Ultimate that I'm not doing anything with right now. Presumably I could use it to upgrade that laptop. I'll keep my eyes open for economical ("cheap!") laptops with Vista Premium or free upgrades to Windows 7.

My Lenovo T60 laptop was said to be upgradable to Vista, and Lenovo will send me a copy of Vista Business for the cost of shipping. I guess I should call them tomorrow and request that upgrade. Hopefully it's still available to me, I bought the laptop almost 3 years ago. Vista was just short of shipping at that time. I don't want to squander my Vista Ultimate license on my laptop if I can avoid it!

 

[SickBeast]

I personally really like the look of the Acer Aspire Timeline laptops. 8h battery life FTW. Even with that aside (seeing as the OP doesn't care about it) you're still getting a nice 13" (or 15") laptop that's under 1" thick for under $600 (you could probably find one for under $500 during the back to school sales). I suppose a dual core would be nice; it just depends on how much you like the 13" form factor, and how much the battery life will sway you.

 

[rickon66]

I just got an Acer timeline 4810T from Staples for $549 and for my usage it appars to be nearly the perfect laptop. The size is just right and the battery life is amazing. In the past year I have went from a 15.4" intel dual core(too big and poor battery life) to an Asus 10.1" 1000HA(too small and OK battery life). The Acer weighs just a pound more than the Asus, has better battery life and the screen is amazing. The wireless card in the Acer is also way better than the Asus-at the far end of he house the Asus would get one or two bars of signal and the Acer gets 4 and sometimes 5 bars. Another bonus-No fingerprints!

 

[WhipperSnapper]

Watch the Hot Deals forum and also another hot deals forum that has the initials SD for laptop deals. People are always talking about them. I bet you can find a dual core non-Celeron laptop with at least 2 GB RAM for around $400. I purchased one for $400 before taxes and after a $30 rebate from a local Staples store back in January and it came with a dual core Turion, 2 GB of RAM, and a 230 (or is it a 250) GB hard drive. (I actually paid $357 before taxes since I got lucky and a Staples clerk accepted a 10% off coupon.)

 

[Muse]

Originally posted by: Muse

Originally posted by: IlllI
there were a couple 299 laptops on sale just recently. here was one of them http://www.bestbuy.com/site/ol...oduct&id=1218092959299
maybe still are others

Thanks. That looks like a pretty good deal. I could pick it up locally (Best Buy). With tax I figure $330 or so. I wonder if Vista Home Basic is something I'd regret. I'm using XP Pro now.

Same unit has gone up 10%, right now it's $330 + tax.

 

[IlllI]

Originally posted by: Muse

Some unit has gone up 10%, right now it's $330 + tax.

here are some others. some are b&m only however.

http://forums.slickdeals.net/s....php?sduid=0&t=1496825

http://www.fatwallet.com/forums/hot-deals/945409

http://www.fatwallet.com/forums/hot-deals/945360

http://www.fatwallet.com/forums/hot-deals/944936

 

[Muse]

Originally posted by: IlllI

Originally posted by: Muse

Some unit has gone up 10%, right now it's $330 + tax.

here are some others. some are b&m only however.

http://forums.slickdeals.net/s....php?sduid=0&t=1496825

http://www.fatwallet.com/forums/hot-deals/945409

http://www.fatwallet.com/forums/hot-deals/945360

http://www.fatwallet.com/forums/hot-deals/944936

Thanks! I'm looking at the first link right now... looks pretty hot! Seems like an iffy deal. I'm a 15 minute bike ride from BB, so I may pedal over there today and see if they have it and at that price.

 

[Pliablemoose]

Wal Mart will be selling a 17" Toshiba for $349 starting on the 18th, B&M & online.

 

[Muse]

Originally posted by: Pliablemoose
Wal Mart will be selling a 17" Toshiba for $349 starting on the 18th, B&M & online.

Any specs on that? I'm not really hot for a big screen so much. Maybe, this thing will live for the most part on my kitchen table! My other computers are upstairs.

 

[Muse]

Originally posted by: Muse

Originally posted by: IlllI

Originally posted by: Muse

Some unit has gone up 10%, right now it's $330 + tax.

here are some others. some are b&m only however.

http://forums.slickdeals.net/s....php?sduid=0&t=1496825

http://www.fatwallet.com/forums/hot-deals/945409

http://www.fatwallet.com/forums/hot-deals/945360

http://www.fatwallet.com/forums/hot-deals/944936

Thanks! I'm looking at the first link right now... looks pretty hot! Seems like an iffy deal. I'm a 15 minute bike ride from BB, so I may pedal over there today and see if they have it and at that price.

I went to Best Buy this morning and bought the Acer in the first link. I couldn't get them to accept the fact that people were buying it for $329.99 just a few days ago at Best Buys across the country. They claimed that all they could find is the current price on the SKU of $479.99. Some in threads were saying that Sunday 8/13's ad will have the $329.99 price, so I bought it anyway and will not open the box hoping that I'll get a refund on Sunday. It looks somewhat doubtful right now. BB said they have no info about next week's ad. Posters at FW and SD are now saying that leak of Sunday's ad shows that they will have a $379.96 deal that includes this laptop + a tote + a mouse + a Canon Pixma MP240 USB 2.0 All-in-One Print/Copy/Scan/Photo injet. I don't really want to mess with the printer. Maybe I could sell it on ebay or something, but I'd rather not mess with this stuff. People are actually saying that the tote isn't big enough for this laptop and that BB is just plain incompetent in offering this deal. I may just have to return this. ... and the quest will continue...

 

[IlllI]

Originally posted by: Muse

Originally posted by: Pliablemoose
Wal Mart will be selling a 17" Toshiba for $349 starting on the 18th, B&M & online.

Any specs on that? I'm not really hot for a big screen so much. Maybe, this thing will live for the most part on my kitchen table! My other computers are upstairs.

i think it might be this one http://www.laptopmag.com/revie...ba-satellite-l355.aspx

 

[preslove]

Originally posted by: Muse

Originally posted by: Muse

Originally posted by: IlllI

Originally posted by: Muse

Some unit has gone up 10%, right now it's $330 + tax.

here are some others. some are b&m only however.

http://forums.slickdeals.net/s....php?sduid=0&t=1496825

Thanks! I'm looking at the first link right now... looks pretty hot! Seems like an iffy deal. I'm a 15 minute bike ride from BB, so I may pedal over there today and see if they have it and at that price.

I went to Best Buy this morning and bought the Acer in the first link. I couldn't get them to accept the fact that people were buying it for $329.99 just a few days ago at Best Buys across the country.

Go back and continue reading the thread. It's been confirmed as a $379 bundle (crap printer, sleeve & mouse).

I was looking at that deal, but decided to spend more when I got a dell outlet 15% off coupon in my inbox this morning. If you ask nicely, someone can probably pm you a valid code ( I used mine, obviously).

Here are the specs:

Order Detail
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Item Description:

-- Studio 15 - 1555 Laptop Genuine Windows Vista Home Premium
Unit Price: $599.00
Quantity: 1

-- Studio 15 - 1555 Laptop
-- Certified Refurbished
-- 65W AC Adapter
-- Mobile Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 4500MHD ()
-- Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo Processor T6500 (2.1GHz/800Mhz FSB/2MB cache)
-- Back-lit Keyboard
-- 4 GB DDR2 SDRAM 800MHz (2 DIMMs)
-- 320 GB SATA Hard Drive (5400 RPM)
-- 8X Slot Load Super Multi (DL DVD+/-R Drive + RAM support)
-- Dell 1397 802.11B/G Wireless Mini Card
-- Genuine Windows Vista Home Premium
-- 64BIT Operating System DVD
-- 15.6 inch Full High Definition (1080p) High Brightness LED Display with TrueLife (this sealed the deal for me)
-- Integrated 1.3M Pixel Webcam
-- 6 Cell Primary Battery

-- Get 15% off any Dell Outlet Home laptop or desktop with this coupon!
- $89.85
-- STUDIO 15 (1555) : 1Yr Ltd Hardware Warranty, Mail-In Service after Remote Diagnosis, 24x7 Phone Support (Included in Price)
Unit Price: $0.00
Quantity: 1
Total Price: $0.00
Subtotal: $509.15
Shipping and Handling: $19.99
Shipping Discount: -$19.99
Sales Tax: $40.43
Total Amount: $549.58

 

[Muse]

Originally posted by: IlllI

Originally posted by: Muse

Originally posted by: Pliablemoose
Wal Mart will be selling a 17" Toshiba for $349 starting on the 18th, B&M & online.

Any specs on that? I'm not really hot for a big screen so much. Maybe, this thing will live for the most part on my kitchen table! My other computers are upstairs.

i think it might be this one http://www.laptopmag.com/revie...ba-satellite-l355.aspx

If so, the Vista Basic is a serious downside - not upgradable to Windows 7. Also no HDMI. Got my fingers crossed on the Acer.

 

[preslove]

Originally posted by: Muse


If so, the Vista Basic is a serious downside - not upgradable to Windows 7. Also no HDMI. Got my fingers crossed on the Acer.

Dude, it's deader than Michael Jackson.

 

[Muse]

Originally posted by: preslove

Originally posted by: Muse


If so, the Vista Basic is a serious downside - not upgradable to Windows 7. Also no HDMI. Got my fingers crossed on the Acer.

Dude, it's deader than Michael Jackson.

Well, the ad comes out Sunday, will see what it says. If they are going to have it for $380 bundled with that other stuff, maybe they'll sell the laptop solo cheaper or at least give me a discount with it solo. "No harm in asking."

I may just return the Acer for full refund and keep looking. Really, I'm not sure how I'd like it.