ISO Good Deal on Laptop Computer

[RKelly]

Hello,
A family member tells me the other day she wants to buy a new laptop computer. I tell her of course she is a bit late on this as she missed out on all the holiday sales, but none the less I am determined to find her a good deal. She does not need a top of the line computer, she will mainly use it for checking email, uploading music to her iPod, word processing etc. She does not wish to spend more than $500.00, if possible. After doing a cursory look, I have not found very many good deals. I found one Acer AMD Sempron with so-so specs for $499.99, but other than that have not found much. Anybody heard/seen good deals out there? Thanks.

[INFRATOM]

Dell and HP have always something on special, look for cheap business models you will regret if you go with cheap brands.

[redwudz]

You might also look to a refurbished laptop from Dell or one of the major companies. They get trade-ins by the truck load from corporations when they upgrade. If they have a decent warranty period, you may find a bargain.

[RKelly]

Thanks for the advice. Infratom, are you impying Acer is not a reliable computer brand? I haven't exactly heard rave reviews for them, but in your opinion is it a waste of money?

[MJA]

Acer is a good brand and cheap too.check buy.com

http://www.buy.com/prod/Acer_Aspire_AS3050_1594_Notebook_1_8GHz_Sempron_3400_512MB_DDR...tml?adid=17662

$499.99

Screen Size: 14.1
Installed Memory: 512 DDR2
Operating System: Microsoft Windows XP Media Center Edition
Processor Type: AMD Sempron 3400
Included Drives: DVD+-RW/CD-RW Combo,


for some reason .all of their hardrives are FAT32 ,but that be fixed by formating

[Capmaster]

I've got an HP Pavilion 5490 laptop I'll let go real cheap 1 GHz P3, 512MB RAM, CD-RW/DVD-ROM, 15" LCD, new Li-Ion battery, wireless 802.11b card included.

PM me if you're interested.

[ahhaa]

RK- in less than a month Vista-equipped laptops should be on the market, creating a bunch of sales & knocking a lot of XP machines loose.

fyi, one thing a lot of people forget when buying a used machine is to check out the battery condition. (They can cost $150-$200 to replace.)

Be sure to check out if any warranty is transferrable too...

[oldandinthe way]

Look at Lenovo (formerly IBM). There are good deals because they are increasing their retail distribution.

Good hardware standard on systems, IBM support software developed for the Thinkpad is superb.

There will be a Celeron based unit with 15" screen on sale at staples starting Sunday at $499.

Weakest aspect of the system is the pointing device. HP and Toshiba use the same one. Buy a 10 buck USB mouse.

[RKelly]

thanks for all the input, and that's good point about the vista machines becoming more readily available in the next few weeks. Hopefully that will knock the price down on the "older" xp machines. That would be all she needs anyways. I remember several years ago I bought a refurbed laptop and the battery was terrible, which is why I am cautious about buying one of those units.

[Super Warrior]

Hello,
A family member tells me the other day she wants to buy a new laptop computer. I tell her of course she is a bit late on this as she missed out on all the holiday sales, but none the less I am determined to find her a good deal. She does not need a top of the line computer, she will mainly use it for checking email, uploading music to her iPod, word processing etc. She does not wish to spend more than $500.00, if possible. After doing a cursory look, I have not found very many good deals. I found one Acer AMD Sempron with so-so specs for $499.99, but other than that have not found much. Anybody heard/seen good deals out there? Thanks.

I'd recommend Dell. My current/Only Comp is a Dell Inspiron B120. Got it for $450 total(free ship) from Dell. Was dell's cheapest, entry-level laptop at the time, but this thing rocks.

And Dell laptops are the easiest to upgrade/fix. As most(like mine) seem to use standardized stuff thats easy to find, and not proprietary crap.