Small, affordable laptop? What to get?

[tekisui]

My wife is looking to get a small laptop for school. We need it to get on the internet and type papers, and maybe power point. We will have to get something affordable. No Macs.

I would appreciate any advice on what would be good, and especially if there is something we should avoid. TIA!:hi:

[Danger Mouse]

1. i just recently got a gateway nv52 for 500 bucks. good laptop for its price.

[Orrex]

2. There's a petite woman who works quite affordably at a club on the north side of Pittsburgh.

on edit:Oh, wait a minute.


You asked about a small, affordable laptop. My mistake.

[pokerfan]

3. I know someone who bought a Dell Inspiron 15n

Loves it.

Last week, all the headlines were about the advancements in the Linux netbook at the Computex trade show, and in all the hub-bub, we all missed that Dell also introduced a great, full-sized notebook at an amazing price: the Dell Inspiron 15n.

Or, at least, I missed it. Fortunately, I was given a call over the weekend and told to give it a look. While I haven't had a chance to get my hands on one, it sounds wonderful.

The Dell Inspiron 15n comes with Ubuntu 8.10 pre-installed. Lots of computers do that these days. What's different is that the 15n is a full-sized notebook with a netbook price-tag of $299.

The latest Dell Linux notebook comes with a 15.6" display with a maximum resolution of 1,355 x 768. It is backed up by an Intel GMA (Graphics Media Accelerator) X4500MD chip set. For a processor, the 15n uses the relatively slow 2.16GHz Intel Celeron 585. It's backed up though by a healthy sized dose of 2GBs of DDR2 (Double Data Rate) RAM.

Based on this, it's fair to say that this laptop won't be the fastest notebook you'll find on the market, but it will be more than fast enough for just about anything you'd want to do on a computer. With a 160GB hard drive and an 8x DVD-RW drive for storage, it also has the room to do serious work.

What I really like about this package though is the price. You're just can't get this much computer at $299 in ordinary circumstances. For this alone, the Inspiron demands your attention.

http://blogs.computerworld.com/dells_new_inexpensive_linux_notebook">Dell's new inexpensive Linux notebook

[travelingtypist]

7. I got my Inspirin e1505 at the Dell scratch-and-dent web site

two years ago for about 600 bucks.

It's still ticking along. It even had XP -- this was right after Vista came out.

[HopeHoops]

4. Go to HP.com and configure one.

It takes about a week for it to be built and shipped and two days to arrive. Only get the options you want. You'll get more for the money than a pre-configured one in a store. Shipping should be free (FedEx with tracking). HP's tech support is awesome (although I've heard that isn't true for printers).

Avoid Dell unless you REALLY love shitty tech support.

[tekisui]

6. Thanks, I'll check that out.

[hobbit709]

5. What do you want in one?

Netbooks will do all that but only have a small screen and no optical drive.
If you look around you can a laptop for under $500 easy, sometimes under $400.
Here's one for $400 and free shipping from newegg
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834115572

A refurbed offlease IBM from tigerdirect for $320. This one has XP on it instead of Vista.
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=4898171&CatId=3444

[pinstikfartherin]

8. I have an Asus Eee PC. It works great for school.

I use it to type papers and get on the internet. The only problem I had was when I had to take a graphic design class. I did have a mac though, so it wasn't a problem to just change for that class and then change back.

I got it for less than $350. You can get it with windows or linux.

I do not recommend it if you have big fingers though! I have tiny hands so a tiny keyboard is ok for me, but it is hard for my boyfriend to use unless he "chicken pecks" at the keys.

[Initech]

9. I'm personally looking at this beast:

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=4893989&Sku=H24-17026

[Deja Q]

10. Read this link, I'd recommend Acer if you don't care for macs - it's $347 and a GREAT deal:

http://talkback.zdnet.com/5208-17924-0.html?forumID=1&threadID=68971&messageID=1318290

[CreekDog]

11. Netbooks can be had for $300-$400, but keep in mind the battery life

Samsung, Asus and Toshiba netbooks sport 8+hour battery life. That is not an exaggeration.

The HP, Dell and many other netbooks have woefully short battery life in comparison.

So, go to CNET.COM and read the netbook reviews and pay particular attention to the battery life.

another thing to keep in mind is that Windows XP is better than Vista on a netbook, because to save battery life, you need a slower processor (and XP doesn't need as much memory). if you wait, netbooks will have Windows 7 and that should be okay. just don't buy a netbook with Vista.

The highest rated netbooks are from Asus, Samsung and Toshiba. Samsung has a very small touchpad, Toshiba is high rated but the battery sticks out somewhat and some don't like that, Asus is a terrific laptop and they pioneered the design. All these three have superior battery life.

good luck.

[pokerfan]

12. Good point about battery life

I think netbooks are great but where people go wrong is purchasing them thinking that they are little notebooks. I don't think that a netbook should be anyone's primary computer. They're just not powerful enough to support all of one's computing needs. But they're terrific when used as a secondary computer (taking notes in class, reviewing notes between classes, checking email) because they are small and light. But to serve these functions they need to sport decent battery life.

If a student can only afford a single computer then it should probably be a more full featured laptop. But also consider that a desktop can typically be had for half the price of a laptop and the savings could be directed towards a netbook. You can find desktops starting at $200 (emachine.com) and netbooks between $200 and $300. So for the price of a single laptop, one can get the best of both worlds.

[pokerfan]

14. speaking of cheap desktops

September 11, 2009 5:29 AM PDT
Get a quad-core Gateway desktop for $290
by Rick Broida


Get a stylish, smartly equipped quad-core tower for under $300.
(Credit: Woot)

I try not to go to the Woot well very often--it's a competing deal-of-the-day site, after all--but this is too good to pass up: a refurbished Gateway quad-core desktop system for $289.99. Shipping runs a mere $5.

Because it's Woot, the offer expires at the end of the day, and stands a good chance of selling out before then.

http://news.cnet.com/8301-13845_3-10350604-58.html?part=rss&tag=feed&subj=TheCheapskate

[W_HAMILTON]

13. I would second this (re: battery life)

I was looking to purchase a laptop for school, and two of my main requirements were (1) it have a long battery life -- I didn't want to have to recharge it during school, and (2) it be small and portable.

I decided on one of the netbooks. I think one of the Acer brands; they sell them at WalMart, but I purchased my at Amazon because it had double the battery life.

It was a good decision. I don't have to recharge at all in school. I don't have to lug around my book bag + a big laptop carrying case; in fact, I bought a small carrying case and I just stuck it INSIDE my bookbag, so it was all easy to keep up with.

If you are looking for a laptop just for school activities, I would recommend one of the netbooks. If you are looking at a laptop to be your main computer, I would probably look for a different option.

[MajorChode]

15. My next laptop will be a netbook

I despite laptops anyway. The only time I need or want one is when I go out of town, and then it's usually just for simple tasks that are too intensive for a smart phone, but not complex enough for a full sized laptop.

[blogslut]

16. Thinkpad, Thinkpad, Thinkpad

Maybe not small but tough as nails, a keyboard fit for kings and the much revered Trackpoint eraser mouse. Thinkpads have a classic design, based on the Japanese bento box. They are no-nonsense machines that will outlast any competitors.

I have a Thinkpad 560x (1997) that still works like a dream. My current laptop is a Thinkpad A21e (2000) and it is my little workhorse, the only problem being that I can't upgrade the RAM past 256GB. When I can afford to buy a fresh Thinkpad, I'll probably get A USED T22 or T23 from EBAY. If I had the money, I would buy one of these new:

http://shop.lenovo.com/SEUILibrary/controller/e/web/LenovoPortal/en_US/catalog.workflow:category.details?current-catalog-id=12F0696583E04D86B9B79B0FEC01C087¤t-category-id=52A252555D554F338EB4B3178B3B6554">Thinkpad R Series

[Lex]

17. My HP Mini is awesome!

Around $300.00. And it has XP not Vista.



http://www.geeky-gadgets.com/hp-mini-2140/

[busybl]

18. Acer and get the 6 hour battery

[DainBramaged]

19. Netbooks are great, AND you can plug them into a monitor AND

they run Open office JUST FINE. I just bought an Acer at Target, $299. Intel Atom CPU, gig of ram 160 GB had, WIN XP HOME (can be upgraded to Pro and probably 7)



http://www.target.com/Acer-Aspire-UltraThin-Netbook-Computer/dp/B0026P37MK/ref=sc_qi_detailbutton?ie=UTF8&pf_rd_r=1E02HH2PDDVBPA3JREJZ&pf_rd_p=465357931&pf_rd_i=B0026P37MK&pf_rd_s=bottom-6&pf_rd_m=A1VC38T7YXB528&pf_rd_t=5101


Computer Features: Standard Keyboard
Processor Brand: Intel
Processor Type: Intel Atom N270
Processor Speed: Up to 1.6 Ghz
Hard Drive Capacity: 160GB Hard Drive Capacity
Hard Drive Speed: 5400 RPM
Hard Drive Interface: SATA
System Bus Speed: 533 Mhz
System RAM: 1 GB
Memory RAM Type: DDR2
RAM Configuration: 1x1GB
RAM Maximum Expandable To: 2 GB
Cache Memory Installed Capacity: 512KB L2 Cache
Operating System: Windows XP Home
Electronic Display Features: WSVGA, Crystal Brite
Maximum Resolution: 1024 x 600
Input Type: Headphone Jack, Microphone
DVI-D Inputs: 0
DVI-D with HDCP Inputs: 0
IEEE 1394 (Firewire) Ports: 0
USB 2.0 Ports: 3
VGA Inputs: 1
Built-In Card Reader Type: 5-in-1 Card Reader
Built-In Webcam Features: Built-In Webcam
Wired Standard: 10/100 Ethernet LAN
Wireless Technology: Wi-Fi Enabled
Wireless Standard: 802.11b/g
Audio Features: Built-In Speakers
Software Included: Windows Live Essentials, Microsoft .NET Framework 2.0, Acer Video Conference Manager 4.0, Acer Recovery Management, Microsoft Works 8.5, McAfee Internet Security Suite (60 Day Trial)
Dimensions: Length: 7.24 "; Width: 10.17 "; Depth: 1.0 "