Good Deals On Laptops.

[IAMX 3,055]

What exactly do you want to use this laptop for?

[Teacher Mark 53]

What exactly do you want to use this laptop for?

I posted the info a minute ago. If it were mine the answer would be VJ and porn.

Edited November 20, 2008 by Joe Six-Pack

[IAMX 3,055]

Ok so basically the most of basic things. Reason I ask is if they plan on doing anything video intense (video games, movie editing, HD, etc.), they fork over the extra buck for a dedicated video card, as guaranteed pretty much every single cheap laptop (< $500) will use IGP/integrated graphics, which ultimately tasks the board and CPU more (as a simplified explanation).

I have a Vostro, myself, and they are quite decent. I'd recommend them to anyone, of course, the biggest reason is their dedicated video cards being very decent, as well as their laptops being a decent price. (I almost never recommend Dell for anything, especially desktops)

If you are going the route of IGP, I'd get a minimum 2GB of RAM (Vista will hog enough, plus if you go Celeron or Dual Core even more emphasis on this) to compensate, just to avoid as much as possible a clunky mess that lags with every day tasks.

Edited November 20, 2008 by SRVT

[Teacher Mark 53]

Ok so basically the most of basic things. Reason I ask is if they plan on doing anything video intense (video games, movie editing, HD, etc.), they fork over the extra buck for a dedicated video card, as guaranteed pretty much every single cheap laptop (< $500) will use IGP/integrated graphics, which ultimately tasks the board and CPU more (as a simplified explanation).

I have a Vostro, myself, and they are quite decent. I'd recommend them to anyone, of course, the biggest reason is their dedicated video cards being very decent, as well as their laptops being a decent price. (I almost never recommend Dell for anything, especially desktops)

If you are going the route of IGP, I'd get a minimum 2GB of RAM (Vista will hog enough, plus if you go Celeron or Dual Core even more emphasis on this) to compensate, just to avoid as much as possible a clunky mess that lags with every day tasks.

Yep. The RAM on the Dell is what concerns me. She's as green as they get though, so if the fever catches her they can get another one. It'll be a while before she's up to speed.

Edited November 20, 2008 by Joe Six-Pack

[britty 1]

The Dell Inspiron is generally a good all-rounder. I think Dell were offering the 1525 model at $300 off which probably takes it to around $550. More than you wanted to pay but probably good sense in the long run if she does enjoy the pc and wants more functionality.

[IAMX 3,055]

Yeah I'd just find a very basic laptop like the lowest 2 or 3 tier Vostros and customize it with 1GB more RAM, then.

Personally, I think it would be crazy even running Vista with IGP and a dinky Celeron/Dual Core CPU with only 1GB of RAM. On top of having likely a 5400RPM HD (let's hope not less), that thing will crawl, and your resolution will be heavily limited to "ridiculous". Also, if going Vista with very basic hardware specs, always have under consideration disabling the "Aero" effect.

[EstebanTrabajos 7]

I'm researching for a friend. She's a beginner and there's no way her Husband is going to fork out Mac money! I'll be buying one the next time though.

Nice! you won't regret it

[Niels Bohr 72]

Hmm...MicroCenter has loads of good machines for sale.

I'd recommend something like a dual or quad, preferrably QUAD. They'll last for a long time. When I was in College I had a Celeron machine. It was the slowest machine ever, but, it lasted almost 7 years.

My latest notebook is from Best Buy. It's a Dual Core Ahtlon 64 x2 TK-57, 2 GB of DDR2, Vista Premium, 14.1" Screen, 160 GB HD for approximately $400. There are similar offers on eBay.com. It's an Acer Extensa laptop. Do a simple search for it.

For your needs, you don't need a behemoth machine. A simple dual-core (not celeron) will run movies, MP3s perfectly fine. The behemoth machines are for gaming, video encoding, and heavy tasks. If you're not doing any of these tasks mentioned, then you will save yourself a ridiculous amount of money.

[SpiritAlight 1]

If you will be using your computer or laptop to do anything on the web (as if anyone does not anymore, hahaha), then allow me to make a suggestion:

Forgo the PC

and live a life of bliss with a Mac.

No pop ups, no viruses (virii??).

All the bells and whistles and more than you can imagine come stock.

User friendly, so much so it shocks a long time PC user.

The design is sheer sexy (meow, hee hee), and they take abuse like you can't imagine.

Trust me I have tested mine.

Myself and many of my PC friends made the switch and have never looked back.

:star:

Go to your nearest Apple store when you have a few hours to play and have at it.

Enjoy!

[Nessa 23]

go hunt for a good one on black friday

[Ban Hammer 13,651]

If you will be using your computer or laptop to do anything on the web (as if anyone does not anymore, hahaha), then allow me to make a suggestion:

Forgo the PC

and live a life of bliss with a Mac.

No pop ups, no viruses (virii??).

All the bells and whistles and more than you can imagine come stock.

User friendly, so much so it shocks a long time PC user.

The design is sheer sexy (meow, hee hee), and they take abuse like you can't imagine.

Trust me I have tested mine.

Myself and many of my PC friends made the switch and have never looked back.

:star:

Go to your nearest Apple store when you have a few hours to play and have at it.

Enjoy!

bolded - incorrect!

[PlatyPius 5]

If you will be using your computer or laptop to do anything on the web (as if anyone does not anymore, hahaha), then allow me to make a suggestion:

Forgo the PC

and live a life of bliss with a Mac.

No pop ups, no viruses (virii??).

All the bells and whistles and more than you can imagine come stock.

User friendly, so much so it shocks a long time PC user.

The design is sheer sexy (meow, hee hee), and they take abuse like you can't imagine.

Trust me I have tested mine.

Myself and many of my PC friends made the switch and have never looked back.

Go to your nearest Apple store when you have a few hours to play and have at it.

Enjoy!

bolded - incorrect!

Agreed.

Mac is slowly catching up with Windows as far as viruses and such. Apple/Macs downfall was switching to the Intel (PC!) platform. People spend all of this money for Macs now, and they are NOTHING other than PCs running a modified version of Unix.

Buy a cheap PC and install OS10.x if you want - save yourself $1000 for "hype".

(And yes...I own and use a Mac)

[HAL 9000 96]

Look out for deals next Friday (Black Friday)....not just the Walmart crazy deals that people literally fought over (lol), but Dell too.....

I'm looking out maybe for a new Dell too...but will they even sell em with XP anymore? I have Vista and meh...I really wish I hadn't gotten it with Vista

I was talking to a guy this morning that said Microsoft had released XP again. I did a quick search and determined he was ill informed.

Black Friday may have came early this year. I have heard various reports stating the deals are there already.

HAL 9000 recommends you avoid the Black Friday crowds if really only thinking about a non-blowout laptop. And those tend to be cheapish machines anyway. The price you'll pay for a decent machine that day will be the same you'll pay the Wednesday before.

[IAMX 3,055]

Bleh, if you're going to ditch Windows, go Linux.

Macs are horribly overpriced.

[Nessa 23]

Look out for deals next Friday (Black Friday)....not just the Walmart crazy deals that people literally fought over (lol), but Dell too.....

I'm looking out maybe for a new Dell too...but will they even sell em with XP anymore? I have Vista and meh...I really wish I hadn't gotten it with Vista

I was talking to a guy this morning that said Microsoft had released XP again. I did a quick search and determined he was ill informed.

Black Friday may have came early this year. I have heard various reports stating the deals are there already.

HAL 9000 recommends you avoid the Black Friday crowds if really only thinking about a non-blowout laptop. And those tend to be cheapish machines anyway. The price you'll pay for a decent machine that day will be the same you'll pay the Wednesday before.

HAL9000 is wrong.