New Laptop for under $500

[AJ]

My parents are in the market for a laptop as they are finally going away from Dial Up, thank god!

They are apparently being sold into a package deal that gives them a 4GB DDR3 and 320 GB HD in a DELL, and that's the only info they had, other than the $699 price.

I'm wondering what some others have seen for deals. I'm thinking about some of the specialls on microcenter with the same 4GB DDR3 ram but with 500GB HD and then just comparing some of the other features. MC costs $499, so it's a worthwhile cost savings.

 

[Picklz]

The Memory and hard drive space are good specs to have, and I would advise against getting anything with less than 3gb of ram. That said I'd be as or more concerned with which CPU is in it, screen size/type/resolution, graphics (if they plan to do anything 3d or bluray related), etc. I don't have time to do any searching around right now, sadly. Sorry.

 

[spek1098]

What all are they needing this computer to do? If surfing the net and sending E-mails is all that is planned for this machine, a Windows 7 pc with 3gb of ram and a $700 price tag is a little over the top. I could build them a Linux based Ubuntu system, same look and feel of windows without the 200lbs of OS fat and without the endless stream of security holes that come included with Windows, for less than half that. Let me know if this peaks your interest and I can work out the details.

 

[AJ]

Yeah, they are going to be using the basics for sure. General E-mail and surfing. My Dad wants to get more use out of the net for farming, so imagine some applications available on the market geared to farmers will be on the agenda, but that's all i can really see. I see minial use of movies, but who know as they get to understand they can plug it into a TV and run netflix and Amazon.

The other thing my Dad is apparently looking at is one of those "spech to text" programs, lol, not sure why, but he wants it.

I'd be interested in hearing what you have in mind spek.

 

[YSOSLO]

spech = speech and spek = speak...lol We might have to start a new thread called "AJ-isms"

 

[AJ]

Spech was to = speech, though spek was spek, note who posted above me.

 

[micahlarson]

you can find laptops for around 350.. I actually did a "loaner laptop" from best buy that I was semi happy with for every day use for that price.

 

[spek1098]

Coming back to look at this thread I feel stupid. LAPTOP... I was thinking desktop... much easier to build cheap then a laptop. A used laptop would cost a bit more overall with likely needing a new battery. I had other thoughts last night, what is there older computer? It could possibly be converted to a Ubuntu machine and see significant performance gains vs running XP. But if your dad is likely to want to run farming software, it would be safer to go the windows route; I don't know what software and what type of support would be available under Linux, and there is sure to be more software options under Windows. Most software of this sort for Linux is open source and would like need a higher level of computer skills to use.

Micah, is that a netbook or a laptop for that price?

Aj, could a netbook be an option? What do they currently have for a computer?

 

[micahlarson]

it was a compaq latop .. not a impressive brand but it was a great bang for the buck price. I almost kept it to give to my gf so she would stop using my computer.

 

[AJ]

no to netbook & their current computer is a old and outdated Gateway that goes through power supply's like they are tic tacs.

 

[micahlarson]

lol about the tic tacs, but I would look at best buy and look at the standard laptops that are 300-400

see if they are workable.

 

[AJ]

I'll never buy from Best Buy again if I can help it. But I think newegg or microcenter will give me options for sure.

 

[SLyness18]

yea, i agree best buy is a joke, its pretty bad when u get better help making decisions and customer support from online stores. only time i hit up bb is when i need something in a snap