laptop under $500?

[pontifex]

Dad's friend wants a laptop. He wants one under $500. He will just be using it for web browsing and email, etc - very basic use.


He wants a quality laptop. I don't know what to tell him. I figure Lenovo is probably the best for quality since they are made as business laptops.

I don't know what processor to say to get. THere's so many damn CPUs out there, even looking at some sites every single model has a different CPU.

I don't keep up with this crap.

any recommendations?

 

[Torn Mind]

Do not get an Atom or an AMD E-series such as the E-1200 or E-350.

Under 300 dollars, try to get a Pentium. Between 300-500, you'd want an i5, i3, or AMD A8. Ultra low voltage chips are denoted with a nonzero far right number, such as xxx7M or xxx5M.

Core 2 Duo might be okay if they're under 240 dollars.

 

[LOL_Wut_Axel]

At that budget I'd buy an HP ProBook strictly. There's the 4540s and the 4440s, and both can be found just under $500.

The 4540s is $480 on TigerDirect and the 4440s is $482 on Provantage. The 4540s has a slightly faster and lower power-consuming CPU, a much faster IGP (Intel HD 4000), a bigger Hard Drive, and a numerical keypad. The 4440s weighs less (5 pounds vs 5.5 pounds), is smaller and should have slightly better battery life.

For the price I'd get the 4540s and I wouldn't look at any other laptop apart from the 4440s or perhaps a Dell Vostro because the build quality doesn't even begin to compare. The ProBook is made of aluminum and has a matte screen, while laptops in its price range are made of cheap plastic and have annoying glossy screens.

 

[Remobz]

I bought this at best buy for a little over $400.00 after taxes.

HP Pavilion G4

http://www.amazon.com/HP-Pavilion-G4.../dp/B00ADUHJP6

 

[LOL_Wut_Axel]

I bought this at best buy for a little over $400.00 after taxes.

HP Pavilion G4

http://www.amazon.com/HP-Pavilion-G4.../dp/B00ADUHJP6

Not to disrespect, but those laptops have absolutely terrible build quality. Plus, even a Core i3 is significantly faster than an AMD A6.

 

[MD90]

I'd say either a Dell Latitude E5430 or a Lenovo Thinkpad Edge E430. Both are quality machines.

 

[jidery]

http://www.officedepot.com/a/product...rabook-Laptop/

$529, if you can go $29 over budget, this is by far the best one.

 

[crab0]

^seconded

 

[lakedude]

That Tosh at OD has a glossy screen while the Pro-Book has a nice matte screen. I'm sure the Tosh is better in some respects but the glossy screen would be a deal breaker for me...

 

[Leymenaide]

499.00


http://www.staples.com/All-Laptop-Co...89#filterList=[27983]&viewDetails='listView'

HP Pavilion g7-2240us 17.3" Laptop

Customer Rating
HP Pavilion g7-2240us 17.3" Laptop4.0stars( 64 reviews)

• 2nd generation Intel® Core™ i3-2370M 2.4GHz 3MB L3 Cache Processor
• 6GB DDR3 SDRAM Memory
• 750GB 5400RPM Hard Drive with HP ProtectSmart Hard Drive

 

[max347]

Not just any Lenovo, make sure its a thinkpad (not ideapad)

 

[frozentundra123456]

Dad's friend wants a laptop. He wants one under $500. He will just be using it for web browsing and email, etc - very basic use.


He wants a quality laptop. I don't know what to tell him. I figure Lenovo is probably the best for quality since they are made as business laptops.

I don't know what processor to say to get. THere's so many damn CPUs out there, even looking at some sites every single model has a different CPU.

I don't keep up with this crap.

any recommendations?

I think he needs to give you more information, especially about the portability. Will he be carrying the laptop around a lot, or will it be basically sitting at home.

I recently upgraded my work laptop from a 14" to 15.6". The new one is very nice and much faster, but it is amazing how much bigger and heavier it feels than the 14" one. So if he wants portability, I would suggest a 14". If he isnt concerned about that, a 15.6 or 17" model would be fine. I would also agree with the earlier poster to avoid any E series processor and get at least a pentium.

 

[The_Dude8]

Not just any Lenovo, make sure its a thinkpad (not ideapad)

isn't most thinkpad starting price like $600 to $1000?

 

[VirtualLarry]

http://www.officedepot.com/a/product...rabook-Laptop/

$529, if you can go $29 over budget, this is by far the best one.

Nice. I wonder if it would be possible to shoehorn Windows 7 on there, and still use the SSD cache feature? It might be problematic to be able to install it though, since that laptop only has USB3.0 ports (if I'm reading the description properly), and by default, Win7 will not install from a USB3.0 port (no built-in drivers for USB3.0).

 

[lakedude]

Nice. I wonder if it would be possible to shoehorn Windows 7 on there, and still use the SSD cache feature? It might be problematic to be able to install it though, since that laptop only has USB3.0 ports (if I'm reading the description properly), and by default, Win7 will not install from a USB3.0 port (no built-in drivers for USB3.0).

The USB ports are backward compatible, are they not?

 

[VirtualLarry]

The USB ports are backward compatible, are they not?

Not unless they have drivers loaded, as far as I understand it. It's backwards-compatible for DEVICES, but not DRIVERS.

Edit: I could be wrong, and honestly, in this case, I hope I am, but from what I've read, it seems the way I've described it.

 

[lakedude]

Looks like a USB 3.0 port is a USB 2 port with extra contacts. Not sure but I bet the USB 2 part works with the old drivers...


http://static.techspot.com/articles-info/235/images/USB-standard-A-pair.jpg

 

[lakedude]

Intel® USB 3.0 eXtensible Host Controller Driver
Can I install USB 3.0 controller driver in Windows* XP or Windows* Vista?

The Intel® USB 3.0 eXtensible Host Controller Driver is not supported in Windows* XP or Windows* Vista. For these operating systems, make sure your BIOS settings have the xHCI Mode set to Auto or Smart Auto. This step reconfigures the USB 3.0 ports to function as USB 2.0 ports using the native Windows* EHCI driver.

Not a W7 specific answer but kinda what I expected...

 

[nature1ders]

I'd buy a laptop with an APU, you'll have great graphics and it shouldn't be to expensive