Posted on 02/19/2009 2:48:39 PM PST by Coachm
The family is tieing up the main PC in the house so I want to get a laptop with limited usage: wireless access to network, Outlook (express) and Word, Excel, PPT. A dvd RW drive would be ok too. Primarily, it's main use is for email.
Can anyone recommend a manufacture for this? Been looking at Dell's but they are OVER loaded for my needs. I shouldn't need to spend $ 1k for something like this!
Dell is coming out with the Mini 10. <$500. The Mini 9 and 12 are also excellent small, low use computers.
I would check tigerdirect.com and stay away from HP (Compac) but as usual YMMV.
Geeks.com has great prices on refurb laptops. I just saw an add for a $299 IBM w/ 30GB HD and 512K RAM. Spend another $100 for a 1MB RAM chip and you’ll have something most folks would be happy with.
Just hit Craigslist.com.
Lots of laptops being sold right now to raise cash.
Go down to walmart and pick up a Dell 1501 for $449. No reason to spend $1000 for a notebook.
Just remember to yank Vista and upgrade to XP.
Buy a netbook from staples - probably spend 350 and it will do just what you need, but no more.
Netbooks are awesome and dirt cheap
I have a Dell Inspiron that I bought a couple years ago for about $600. Pentium M processor, decent (but not huge) amounts of RAM and hard drive space, so far no complaints. I haven’t browsed their site lately, but they probably have something even better these days for that kind of money.
BTW, I know you don’t want to go this high, but if anyone is looking at a Mac, the Apple Store online has refurb Macbook Airs going for $999
You said — “Can anyone recommend a manufacture for this? Been looking at Dell’s but they are OVER loaded for my needs. I shouldn’t need to spend $ 1k for something like this!”
Heck! A year ago, before last Thanksgiving, I got a laptop for a relative at Circuit City (when they were still in business here...) on a sale for $450. And then, right after that, for Christmas, another relative asked me to help them get a laptop for a good price and I had no problem picking one up from Office Depot, on sale, for about $500. They were both good ones, too, with Vista on them.
BUT, in good conscience... I have to say that I would rather get a Mac Laptop, like the MacBook or MacBook Pro... :-)
Get one from Staples and avoid the markup.
Get one from Staples Newegg and avoid the markup.
Oops. I wasn't paying attention there. My mistake.
.
SAnta brought me a Dell Mini9 and I love it! I needed a small laptop for business travel to access email or be able to surd web. I did not want the small smart phones but a more ergonomic friendly size.
The Mini 9 was perfect in size & weight and a nice solid keyborard, too. I added the Nluetooth option + Bluetooth mouse - highly recommeneded to avoid the mousepad.
One of the new netbooks would be a good choice. Acer Aspire one, Asus EEEpc 1000 or Dell Mini with the 10 inch screen. They generally come with Windows XP, a 100+GB hard drive and wireless networking.
You should be able to get one like this for under $350.
The downsides are a slightly smaller than normal keyboard, no CD or DVD drive and a small screen.
Otherwise, just find a low end notebook or a used notebook.
Asus Eee PC901 or PC1000, depending on your needs. Should get for around $350 or less.
My wife has a 901 that fits in her purse.
Go to the store and look at netbooks. I prefer the Asus Eee, but that’s me.
get a micro netbook Eee for example
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