Need a laptop at a good price.

Posted: Tue, Jul 07 2009, 3:03 pm Post subject: Need a laptop at a good price.

Where can I get a laptop for under $500.

It's for basic home use. It needs to have cd/dvd drive & wireless internet.

I'm clueless what to look out for & don't have the energy to research & spend hours reading reviews..

Diamond Member Joined: Nov 20 2005 Posts: 4364

I prefer Dell as they have good customer service. You take a basic notebook if that's all you need. Check out www.Dell.com

Posted: Wed, Jul 08 2009, 2:31 am Post subject:

Try a netbook. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Netbook

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?id=pcmcat163300050051&type=category
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I too was looking for a laptop, and found dell to be pretty reasonable. Do not get the one with the celeron processor, get one that you can upgrade if needed.

I ended up getting mine at Best Buy.

Diamond Member Joined: Oct 29 2006 Posts: 4383

Do not get anything that you cannot run Vista on easily. It will become more and more necessary unless you plan to skip any new releases of programs you use.

Many cheap machines will run it but then the OS will take up all of the machines resources and be very slow.
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There was a time when every brief saying one heard was regarded as a "Torah" (teaching, guidance), and everything one saw was perceived as an instruction in his avoda and conduct. - HaYom Yom

Silver Member Joined: Mar 07 2006 Posts: 787

Yeshasettler- a netbook is only for internet & dvd use? Because I would also like to upload my pictures on it & the truth is I need word & excel too.

flutterfly - what is celeron processor? which laptop did you end up buying at bestbuy? & are you happy w/ it?

Imaonwheels- what programs are you refering too? that makes it hard to run w/o Vista?

Posted: Thu, Jul 09 2009, 9:52 am Post subject:

If you click on the links, it will probably be able to tell you if what you need is in it. Especially the second link.

http://imamother.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=1128134#1128134

ask the shopping agent to find you something good for a good price.

Posted: Thu, Jul 09 2009, 10:13 am Post subject:

thanks Yael- I did that. Let's see what they come up with.

Diamond Member Joined: Oct 29 2006 Posts: 4383

Diamond Member Joined: Oct 29 2006 Posts: 4383

I don't know about discounts but the list prices I saw say that $500 will get you a bottom level. DH just bought a rather low end Lenovo and paid nearly $1000 (3500sh) for it. But he bought in a heimishe place.

The places I saw were talking around $700 im the US.

Diamond Member Joined: Oct 29 2006 Posts: 4383

I looked at dell and their prices seem to be excellent.

Senior Member Joined: Feb 15 2009 Posts: 202

I forked out $850 on a dell laptop and it broke down FOUR time in the first three months. I had an HP laptop for two years and it is still working fantastically - I fought with dell for hours and hours to get their one replaced (which in the end - only a credit card dispute got them to replace it).

best place to look for laptop deals is www.edealsinfo.com

Diamond Member Joined: Oct 29 2006 Posts: 4383

I also have an HP and love it. My service (Israel) is excellent. No repairs just tech questions. I have it for a year.

I paid much more but I bought top of the line and in Israel.

Just goes to show you can't trust sites, ads or sales people. I am happy that people on forums warned about the overheating problems of Toshiba because I nearly bought one. I was surprised at Dell's relatively low prices.

DH just bought a Lenovo low end and I was disappointed. I nearly spent $3000 on their top of the line and am now glad that I have my HP.

Senior Member Joined: Jan 09 2009 Posts: 163

I'd take an HP over a Dell - I've had too many Dells die after a relatively short time, while my HPs are still going strong several years later. Look for a laptop with at least 3 GB of RAM if you can - they'll run Vista nicely with plenty of RAM to spare. (I don't know if you can even get one without Vista anymore - if you still want XP, you'll need to pay more). Stay away from the 64-bit Vista though - stick with 32-bit for now - a lot of software isn't compatible with 64-bit yet.

Diamond Member Joined: Oct 29 2006 Posts: 4383

DO NOT buy 3GB of RAM or any odd number. Put out a little more and get 4. The ram is duo channel normally so you get the usage only if both side are full. This means having 3 is like having 2. For slightly more get 4. I also would not suggest going down to 2.

Senior Member Joined: Jan 09 2009 Posts: 163

This is what I got from the shoppersaggent.com. btw The aggent was really nice & efficient.

Here is the result of you Shopping Agent request.
Lenovo G550 - 29582BU
* Core 2 duo processor T4200
* Windows Vista Home Premium
* Intel integrated graphics X450
* 4 GB PC3-8500 DDR3 SDRAM 1066 MHz
* 15.6" WXGA LED backlight TFT screen 1366x768
* 320GB hard drive
* DVD Recordable (dual layer)
* 6 cell Lithium-ion battery
* Broadcom 11b/g Wi-Fi wireless
* One year warranty
Total:
Subtotal: $699.00
Discount via coupon -$200.00
Shipping and handling: $0.00
tax: $41.79
total: $540.79
YOUR ORDER HAS BEEN PLACED AND YOU SHOULD RECEIVE AN EMAIL CONFORMATION FROM IBM-LENOVO WITH THE DETAILS.
If you have any additional questions you can either give us a call at 718-989-1483 or reply to this email.
Thank you and enjoy your new laptop,

The Shopping Agent