Laptop newbie!

[Gord]

Okay, basically, I'll be starting college fairly soon and possibly be spending a lot of time on my family's land, which is out in the desert and lacks power except for a generator. Since I can't live without internet access, and since I'll need it for school anyways, I'm looking towards buying a laptop.

We're lower-middle-class (read: not rich) so the main selling point I'm looking for is that it's as cheap as humanly possible. Ideally, I'd like to get something around or below $600.

The second point is that, being that I'll be dropping a significant (to me) amount of money on said laptop, I need it to have longevity, since I most definitely will be using it for quite a few years before the possibility of buying another one comes up. So, I need a lappy that won't break down or blow the LCD or something.

As it will mostly be used for the usual college crap like taking notes and/or downloading pornography during lectures, I don't need a gaming rig with a 3.2 hyperthreaded P4 and a gig of PC400 RAM, but for the purpose of longevity, as I mentioned above, I'd like the fastest CPU I can get.

I'm okay with upgrades too, as long as it isn't anything major like HD replacement. I can justify shelling out for an extra 256MB of RAM, but I'd rather not have to spend $200 to replace the stock 20GB hard drive.

The only brand I've heard consistently good things about is IBM, every other make 'sucks' according to someone or other. I'd appreciate reccomendations (on brands in general or specific models) and references to any good deals you know of. Thanks in advance, and sorry for the huge post.

 

[DaWhim]

searaching is your friend. put it something like cheap or college and see how many posts it will come up.

if $600 is your budget, get a used on in fs/ft forum. you do not need the fastest cpu to do taking note and download porns. you can get something with 1ghz and you will be fine.

you may able to get a ibm t30 with $600 or little bit more. well, all I can say is get a used one.

 

[seti920]

Hit Ebay. Look for Toshiba Satellites. They were hot, high end about 18 months ago. Now they run upper six hundred to low eights.

 

[Gord]

Originally posted by: DaWhim
searaching is your friend. put it something like cheap or college and see how many posts it will come up.

if $600 is your budget, get a used on in fs/ft forum. you do not need the fastest cpu to do taking note and download porns. you can get something with 1ghz and you will be fine.

I searched for a couple keywords before posting and couldn't find anything relevant, and like I said, I'll be using it for a couple years (even to game occasionally) so I'm looking for new(ish) lappies with decent CPU speed.

Seti: are the Sattelites durable? I just missed the last $600 model at my local Best Buy on Saturday, but a couple people on other forums say they have a lot of problems with the LCDs blowing out.

 

[rqle]

around $800, i would go with the averatec brand. Small, thin, and light. Battery life is so-so though. Mine seems to only do 1.5-2 hours max.

 

[dc5]

i suggest a used if $600 is what your looking for. i really like fujitsu laptops. especially the S series.
here

edit: here is an ebay fujitsu

 

[coolVariable]

We just got a new IBM T40 ($2400) laptop at the office.
And it sucks BIG TIME compared to my Dell x300 ($2000) laptop.

Don't buy into the IBM hype! Expensive and not worth it!
(And the little pointer for a mouse ... give me a break!!)

 

[Gord]

I'll look into the Fujitsus. I don't want to bother with eBay if it can be helped at all, so I realize that I'll probably end up buying a clearance/refurb/overstock/return/open-box/whatever direct from manufacturer.

Also I'm only in the market for a fairly modern notebook (unless someone on eBay decides to put up an IBM for really cheap, then I'll consider buying off there) so I'm not that interested in the PIIIs. Basically I need this to be future-proof to the extent that it'll still be able to handle basic apps ~3 years from now with occasional gaming. I'm your classic nerd so even though I'll mostly be using it for menial college crap I'll still be using it pretty often, occasional gaming (nothing like UT2004, but still) and basically just using it as a workhorse.

eBay actually has some really nice lappies around ~$700, seems prices have been dropping quite a bit. I'd just feel better buying from a manufacturer/retail store, even if it's refurb or something. For those of you who work at BB/CC/etc, are there any tips I can utilize to knock a couple hundred bucks off the price tags (in addition to the normal sales)? Hidden rebates, asking if they have any open-box stuff, threatening to release the videotape of the manager banging the 16-year-old display clerk?

 

[Abhi]

Originally posted by: coolVariable
We just got a new IBM T40 ($2400) laptop at the office.
And it sucks BIG TIME compared to my Dell x300 ($2000) laptop.

Don't buy into the IBM hype! Expensive and not worth it!
(And the little pointer for a mouse ... give me a break!!)

Dells are good.... until they break down....

 

[Munkies123]

I DONT like dells they are slow and overpriced sorry but thats what i think, I'd go with a toshiba my friend has one and it rocks

 

[jdiddy]

Originally posted by: Munkies123
I DONT like dells they are slow and overpriced sorry but thats what i think, I'd go with a toshiba my friend has one and it rocks

Theres actually a deal on the Toshiba A65-S126 at Best Buy right now. Its $699 after rebates and purchase of 256mbs of ram a Lexmark printer and a laptop case, all of which you could probably use and is included in the $699 price. Only thing is you have to pony up $1300 up front. Check your local BB for the details.

 

[Gord]

Yeah, planning to go take a look at that ASAP. Can anyone else give feedback on the Toshibas?

Seems like for every brand out there (except IBM) there are fifteen people saying 'Oh yeah, those suck' or 'I'm a tech, we get a lot of those in here. They're really crappy' or something along those lines. It's gotten me all paranoid that unless I shell out $2000 for an IBM I'm gonna end up getting an $800 paperweight.

 

[Wuzup101]

Toshibas are fine machines. I have a few friends with them and none of them has ever had any component fail on them. Remember, viruses run rampant at universities. Make sure to get a good antivirus suite and keep it updated daily. Software malfunction is just as anoying as hardware.

I would recomend either buying that toshiba, an avertec, or a used G3 800mhz iBook off of Ebay if you are that price limited.

 

[Albis]

pretty much any laptop you get in your price range will be hard to get that is future proof. laptops get outdated so fast. when you say you will be in the desert without a power supply, you should look to buy a laptop with good battery life. perhaps you can save up to get a laptop with centrino processor that has good battery life.

 

[poslushnik]

Go to ubid.com and look for yourself. Its refurbished, but it still is likely to be as good as new, for 600$ you can find good deals.

Also, for 600$ you might get a really good desktop, are you sure laptop is what you want? Its my 5th year at academia, and I bought laptop only now - cant say I needed it desperately before.

 

[Munkies123]

Originally posted by: poslushnik
Go to ubid.com and look for yourself. Its refurbished, but it still is likely to be as good as new, for 600$ you can find good deals.

Also, for 600$ you might get a really good desktop, are you sure laptop is what you want? Its my 5th year at academia, and I bought laptop only now - cant say I needed it desperately before.

yea i prefer desktops as well (especially if you like gaming) b/c you can build cheap. look at my rig in my sig i like it and it only cost me about 850 or so and i didnt even get many good deals, cept for the actual case cpu and mobo.

 

[Belteshazzar]

I believe it is better to buy a used notebook. Why? Lets make an analogy. Go back say 8 to 10 years and look at the prices of those BMW's. Well crafted, and German made. Today if you buy them you won't spend a pretty penny even though they cost one years ago. It goes with notebooks too. Don't buy the new cheap notebooks for they are poorly made with cheap parts. Buy a used luxury notebook. The "former" Rolls Royce of notebooks. And what happens to be the "former" Rolls Royce of notebooks?
Well IBM happens to be a higher end notebook, Fujitsu is good as well. I personally have owned and liked in respective order, T40, 600x, Acer Travel mate 800LCI, Vprmatrix 180B5, Hp Ze4101, and a Dell 600m.

 

[TrentSteel]

Originally posted by: Abhi
<blockquote>quote:
<hr><i>Originally posted by: <b>coolVariable</b></i><BR>We just got a new IBM T40 ($2400) laptop at the office.<BR>And it sucks BIG TIME compared to my Dell x300 ($2000) laptop.<BR><BR>Don't buy into the IBM hype! Expensive and not worth it!<BR>(And the little pointer for a mouse ... give me a break!!)<hr></blockquote><BR><BR>Dells are good.... until they break down....

Exactly!

Everyone who has never had a problem loves Dell. As soon as you need to contact them for any reason, especially for warranty-related issues, the hell begins. But if you like to gamble, by all means choose Dell.

Have you found a machine yet?

EDIT: wtf happened with the quote above?

 

[Justin216]

New IBMs are definitely better built than any other laptop out there...especially Dells...Dell uses that cheap plastic on the outside and inside on their cases....Sony's high end notebooks are made very well, IBMs T-series are made exceptionally well, and all Apple laptops are very nicely built

 

[Abhi]

Originally posted by: TrentSteel
<blockquote>quote:
<hr><i>Originally posted by: <b>Abhi</b></i>
<blockquote>quote:
<hr><i>Originally posted by: <b>coolVariable</b></i><BR>We just got a new IBM T40 ($2400) laptop at the office.<BR>And it sucks BIG TIME compared to my Dell x300 ($2000) laptop.<BR><BR>Don't buy into the IBM hype! Expensive and not worth it!<BR>(And the little pointer for a mouse ... give me a break!!)<hr></blockquote><BR><BR>Dells are good.... until they break down....<hr></blockquote>

Exactly!

Everyone who has never had a problem loves Dell. As soon as you need to contact them for any reason, especially for warranty-related issues, the hell begins. But if you like to gamble, by all means choose Dell.

Have you found a machine yet?

EDIT: wtf happened with the quote above?

Yeah.... what DID you do to my quote

 

[fbrdphreak]

If you're still looking: Best Buy should have the HP ze4805 for $900 w/ only a $50 MIR. That has an AXP-M 2800+, 256MB, 15" XGA, 60GB, b/g wireless. Awesome machine for the money, and NEW

 

[Gord]

Thanks for the replies, all. I've decided to hold off on buying a lappy for a while, since prices are falling. There are quite a few options in the $600-800 price range at the moment.

 

[HondaF1]

IBM, Compaq, Toshiba, Sony, Fujitsu, Acer, and more... these are nice brands of laptops. I bought a Dell. It is a plastic piece of junk. It has broken down 4 times and had to be shipped back and forth. Or maybe it was just this one specific Dell that was a piece of junk. Do not be fooled by Dell's silly commercials. You can get better laptops. Most Dell's feel like junk, they feel fragile, lack a lot of oother nice things, like a quality build, and physical solidity. One annoyance for example is the screen latch, it is kind of wobbly and teh design is poor compared to other laptops.

 

[HondaF1]

Originally posted by: coolVariable
We just got a new IBM T40 ($2400) laptop at the office.<BR>And it sucks BIG TIME compared to my Dell x300 ($2000) laptop.<BR><BR>Don't buy into the IBM hype! Expensive and not worth it!<BR>(And the little pointer for a mouse ... give me a break!!)

Actually, I think that the little poinetr for a mouse is superb. My IBM laptop has one and it is far better than the touchpad.