Girlfriend's Laptop Died. Want To Spend $400 Or Less. Can I do it?
My girlfriend's laptop died and I don't think it's worth even paying for an estimate. (My guess is the internal power supply, but what do I know?)
It seems like her timing is perfect with Black Friday and Cyber Monday about to arrive.
This computer will be for personal, not business use. It should be able to run Outlook, Word, FireFox and Internet Explorer as well as have Wifi.
Additional specs:
Windows, not Mac. (I respect all of you who love Apple computers, but I can't change this.)
Preferably a version of Windows under 8. (Don't want to have to learn a new OS this week.)
Screen 11--17 inches.
Processor, would like i3 or better, but negotiable. (If you suggest an AMD processor, please let me know the Intel equivalent.)
HDD: 256 or better.
Memory: negotiable.
Condition: new only.
Warranty: one year minimum.
Manufacturer: A company I have heard of. If you are suggesting something I haven't heard of, please let me know why.
Yes, I too can use Google but some TT Forum members may have advance knowledge of sales that are not yet on the web.
Please, no BestBuy "doorbusters" or anything that requires waiting in line overnight. I do indeed love her, but as they say in French, "il y a des limites."
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Was going to suggest the exact same one as Scott but for 299 at best buy. Coworker bought it last week and loves it. Bad thing is the Windows 8. Starting to get hard to find windows 7 machines new at the store.
Downside? Windows 8, but quite frankly, you might as well get used to it, the learning curve is very short.
Thanks, Scott. Unfortunately Fry's says in-store pickup only and regrettably there is no Fry's anywhere near here. I have a friend in Texas who lives near a Fry's. What is an Intel Pentium PDB980?
Quote:
Originally Posted by ibecowtippin
Was going to suggest the exact same one as Scott but for 299 at best buy. Coworker bought it last week and loves it. Bad thing is the Windows 8. Starting to get hard to find windows 7 machines new at the store.
Thanks!
The one at BestBuy, if I read correctly says about the processor:
IntelŪ PentiumŪ processor B960
Features a 2MB L3 cache and 2.2GHz processor speed.
In the grand scheme of processors, where is this in relation to an i3?
Does anyone happen to have a list of processors in ascending order by speed?
If an 11-inch screen is acceptable, I have had a very favorable experience with the HP Pavilion dm1: http://www.shopping.hp.com/en_US/hom...SearchTerm=dm1. AMD processors only, 4 GB memory, and a 320 GB hard drive. A bit over $400 but with free shipping. HP runs the occasional sale that brings the price down to $379, which is what I paid and got a no-cost upgrade to a 500GB hard drive. I loaded all of the programs you mentioned plus Nuance's NaturallySpeaking Premium 12, a fairly resource-intensive program. Everything runs very smoothly.
When I was looking this past spring at the HP, I also considered the Dell Inspiron 11z; however, a quick search of Dell's site indicates that they've gotten out of the 11-inch market. The specs were similar and the 11z was available with an i3 processor. Buy.com has some refurbished models, but it does not appear that Dell is in any way involved with the refurbishing. Although I occasionally buy refurbished, I prefer having the manufacturer stand behind the work.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by nerd
I love the Trackpoint, but does it only come on the Thinkpad line?
I think so....
Among other manufacturers, I know that awhile back Toshiba used to have it, and many of the HP "business" models did. Not aware currently if any besides Lenovo's ThinkPads have it.
I had a dm1 until an unfortunate smashing of the screen (my fault, not HPs). While I was fairly happy with it, I did find it a bit on the slow side. But to its credit, I was asking it to run Visual Studio (software developer application), which can be a fairly memory and processor intensive. After I was faced with getting a new computer, I decided I was better off with a more powerful laptop. Additionally, I was really excited about the idea of having a 11" screen for coach flights, but I found that the screen was still too large to be able to comfortably use the laptop - unless you were in emergency exit.
There are some under $400 sprinkled into these search results:
I had a dm1 until an unfortunate smashing of the screen (my fault, not HPs). While I was fairly happy with it, I did find it a bit on the slow side. But to its credit, I was asking it to run Visual Studio (software developer application), which can be a fairly memory and processor intensive. After I was faced with getting a new computer, I decided I was better off with a more powerful laptop. Additionally, I was really excited about the idea of having a 11" screen for coach flights, but I found that the screen was still too large to be able to comfortably use the laptop - unless you were in emergency exit.
There are some under $400 sprinkled into these search results:
Totally agree. An 11 works in coach but takes up all of the space so no drinks or food on the tray. And anything beyond one program that hogs resources (and I think Visual Studio requires more power than NaturallySpeaking) makes a netbook plus (which the dm1 and Inspiron 11z are--they're certainly not ultrabooks) nothing more than a toy.
It's what has made recommendations of this sort so difficult. I love the portability of a netbook or tablet. I've used voice recognition since the late 90s so I'm looking for reasonable processing power--and neither netbooks more than 12 months old or tablets allow me to use VR. These most recent models now allow one resource hog to work. The form factor is great, but the more processing power you REALLY need (and I still believe many people overestimate the power they really need), the more likely an ultrabook or 15-inch laptop will meet your needs.
As always, you get what you pay for. $400-500 will buy most folks what they need, and it looks as if your girlfriend and I are in that class, but a realistic view of computing needs may make the jump to $1000 worthwhile.
While the OP didn't mention any specific software requirements, I have a business related software product that requires Windows XP Professional or Windows 7 Professional (not Home). Has anyone happened to find a cheap laptop with Professional on it, or know of a possible workaround?
