I'm looking to buy a cheap laptop for school use (writing papers, taking notes/goofing off during class, etc.), and I think I've got a good deal, but I'd like to know what some of the more laptop-savvy folks here have to say. I'm thinking of getting the PC here:
I've upgraded the base config with 1GB of RAM, the 120GB hdd, and of course the free dvd upgrade. Final price is $510, not counting the $50 cashback I get if I use paypal.
I've been interested in the Asus Eee.
Maybe check that out?
The Eees are decent, but they're really too small to get good results with video and such (plus there's the whole lack of optical drives, etc.). It's cheaper, but the extra monetary savings doesn't make up for the lack of features for me.
$999 is cheap if he wants "features". It's the best thing you can get for school use. Unless all he wants is a toy, in which case the Asus Eee was a fair suggestion.
$999 is cheap if he wants "features". It's the best thing you can get for school use. Unless all he wants is a toy.
Features? like what? A macbook has a faster processor, which you won't notice in most applications, unless he plans on encoding video all day at school, and a built in webcam. For 400$ more, your right its obvious that those two things are worth the extra money
I actually looked all over for benchmarks on the proc, and couldn't find any, but then again I was searching for a comparison between the 530 and 440 (some acer I was considering had the 440). I can even get XP instead of Vista on the Dell. Delicious.
This is exactly why I came here, thanks talios
Regarding the Mac, that's a fair suggestion, but the price is a bit high for what I need. I should've been more specific about what I'm looking for. I've already got a reasonably beastly desktop, I just need something for word processing, web surfing, in-class note-taking, and possibly movie watching when I'm away from home. I do see a lot of macbooks being used at my university, though, so it definitely looks like it fits for a lot of people.
I actually looked all over for benchmarks on the proc, and couldn't find any, but then again I was searching for a comparison between the 530 and 440 (some acer I was considering had the 440). I can even get XP instead of Vista on the Dell. Delicious.
This is exactly why I came here, thanks talios
Regarding the Mac, that's a fair suggestion, but the price is a bit high for what I need. I should've been more specific about what I'm looking for. I've already got a reasonably beastly desktop, I just need something for word processing, web surfing, in-class note-taking, and possibly movie watching when I'm away from home. I do see a lot of macbooks being used at my university, though, so it definitely looks like it fits for a lot of people.
if you do decide on the dell i very much suggest you shell out the xtra 50$ for the sempron to X2 upgrade, which is what brings it up to 499. And yeah, I didn't mean to imply macbooks were horrible in my earlier posts, hell I have a Pro, they just aren't budget laptops
if you do decide on the dell i very much suggest you shell out the xtra 50$ for the sempron to X2 upgrade, which is what brings it up to 499. And yeah, I didn't mean to imply macbooks were horrible in my earlier posts, hell I have a Pro, they just aren't budget laptops
Yeah, definitely getting that upgrade. Haha, Dell's even going "green" by letting you donate to "Plant-a-Tree" reforestation, I think I'll do that too.
I think i'm going to go back to PC for my next laptop. I want something that can be all things to all men, so it has to be a good gaming machine (since I don't want to cart a desktop about for a year or two). While I don't deny the macs can be powerful I don't really think their graphics cards are up to much, at least not at the 1000 pound or less price range.
$999 is cheap if he wants "features". It's the best thing you can get for school use. Unless all he wants is a toy.
Features? like what? A macbook has a faster processor, which you won't notice in most applications, unless he plans on encoding video all day at school, and a built in webcam. For 400$ more, your right its obvious that those two things are worth the extra money
I'm looking to buy a cheap laptop for school use (writing papers, taking notes/goofing off during class, etc.), and I think I've got a good deal, but I'd like to know what some of the more laptop-savvy folks here have to say. I'm thinking of getting the PC here:
I've upgraded the base config with 1GB of RAM, the 120GB hdd, and of course the free dvd upgrade. Final price is $510, not counting the $50 cashback I get if I use paypal.
Is this a good deal?
If you don't mind going down to 14.1" (and a size decrease on a school laptop is, IMO, an upgrade) check out the Acer laptop currently offered by BB. It's on sale (until tomorrow night, I think) for $549. 2 GB RAM, 3100 GFX accelerator, double layer DVD burner, built-in webcam. The downside is the processor (T2310 with 533MHz frontside bus, 1MB L2 cache and 1.46GHz processor speed). However, I still think it's a damned good deal.
At Best Buy they generally have decent deals on $399 laptops with dual-core processors and a gig of ram at times. They only pop up every few weeks but I'd imagine there's going to be another in the next month.
Posts
Maybe check that out?
The Eees are decent, but they're really too small to get good results with video and such (plus there's the whole lack of optical drives, etc.). It's cheaper, but the extra monetary savings doesn't make up for the lack of features for me.
Don't forget your educational discount.
look at this one, i suggest the middle model, you can get it with an a64 x2 proc for 499 http://www.dell.com/content/products/productdetails.aspx/vostronb_1000?c=us&cs=04&l=en&s=bsd&~tab=bundlestab
edit:comparing it to the compaw you linked it has everything it has, only a much better processor, for 10$ cheaper
Features? like what? A macbook has a faster processor, which you won't notice in most applications, unless he plans on encoding video all day at school, and a built in webcam. For 400$ more, your right its obvious that those two things are worth the extra money
I actually looked all over for benchmarks on the proc, and couldn't find any, but then again I was searching for a comparison between the 530 and 440 (some acer I was considering had the 440). I can even get XP instead of Vista on the Dell. Delicious.
This is exactly why I came here, thanks talios
Regarding the Mac, that's a fair suggestion, but the price is a bit high for what I need. I should've been more specific about what I'm looking for. I've already got a reasonably beastly desktop, I just need something for word processing, web surfing, in-class note-taking, and possibly movie watching when I'm away from home. I do see a lot of macbooks being used at my university, though, so it definitely looks like it fits for a lot of people.
if you do decide on the dell i very much suggest you shell out the xtra 50$ for the sempron to X2 upgrade, which is what brings it up to 499. And yeah, I didn't mean to imply macbooks were horrible in my earlier posts, hell I have a Pro, they just aren't budget laptops
Yeah, definitely getting that upgrade. Haha, Dell's even going "green" by letting you donate to "Plant-a-Tree" reforestation, I think I'll do that too.
Sorry, Mac smugness requires me to chip in on the Apple side. Go about your business.
Pretense is a feature.
If you don't mind going down to 14.1" (and a size decrease on a school laptop is, IMO, an upgrade) check out the Acer laptop currently offered by BB. It's on sale (until tomorrow night, I think) for $549. 2 GB RAM, 3100 GFX accelerator, double layer DVD burner, built-in webcam. The downside is the processor (T2310 with 533MHz frontside bus, 1MB L2 cache and 1.46GHz processor speed). However, I still think it's a damned good deal.
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=8534035&type=product&id=1186008220061
It's sold out online but apparently many box stores still have them.