Help with laptop purchase

[jhayx7]

A co-worker of mine is looking to purchase a laptop for her son that is heading off to college. They are on a very tight budget so no gaming laptop, just strictly the minimum needed to do schoolwork. I have been out of the PC loop for so long I have no idea what to recommend but I know that a lot of you will have great recommendations. Any input is greatly appreciated!

 

[Essence_of_War]

What's their budget, and do they have any restrictions on where to purchase from?

Here's a decent reference:
http://www.techbuyersguru.com/NotebookAdvice.php

The lenovo g410 referenced there for $470 is probably the lowest I'd consider going.
The lenovo flex2 for $600 should be fine too.

If they're buying soon, Here's a quad-core HP Envy with 8GB of RAM, an SSD, and hi-res display for $600

 

[Gunbuster]

In my experience no matter what you tell them they will say thanks for the advice and then get the cheapest thing Best Buy sells.

I predict a $200 HP Stream is in their future...

 

[VirtualLarry]

In my experience no matter what you tell them they will say thanks for the advice and then get the cheapest thing Best Buy sells.

Yep. Currently, that's an 11.6" Acer with 2GB of RAM and Win 8.1.

Edit: For $179.99.

 

[mfenn]

Moved to SFF, Notebooks, Pre-Built/Barebones PCs

mfenn
General Hardware Moderator