Laptop Advice

I am in the market to purchase a laptop finally. Anyone have any reccomendations.

THe specs i am looking for are:
min 4 gb ram
min 500 gb HD
I am only looking to spend around 500 for one.

I am just going to use it for browsing and posting on here. I can use my desktop for gaming and other things.

 

Dell Inspiron(1711)-have had mine for 2 years
i5 processor
EBAY-less than 400.
Or get the i7 for a little more.
Windows 7
Bought mine,still 10 more months warranty.
Not a gamer-turbo boost 2.4M
Works pretty good.
If you buy ebay,be sure to check specifics.
I found "MID DAY" ending auctions--you get the best buy.
Paid $349-most were selling $450

 

nice. all of the new ones have windows 8 on it and i have not heard good things about the OS.

 

Dell Inspiron N7010 17 3" 500 GB Intel Core 2 GHz 4 GB Laptop Notebook | eBay

FOUND THIS ONE
It has a 2.4 Ghz processor-MISPRINT!!
It is the-- INTEL i5
appears to be a good deal

 

I purchase Refurbished IBM ThinkPads (good, solid business units) from a company called IT Xchange. www.itxchange.com

I have purchased refurb desktops, laptops and servers from them. Good quality stuff for refurb units....

 

I'd stay away from Intel Core 2 duo. Go at least i3. Preferably i5 or i7.

 

Personally, I think 500 just to browse the Web and post on forums is over budget. Shoot for 300 and save your money on accessories, a significant other, etc. Honestly, if that is all you intend to do, Internet, word docs, email, maybe light picture editing occasionally, then *almost* any modern laptop will do. If that was my search criteria, I'd go Amd-a based processor, 4gb ram, and the hard drive and screen size that suit your preference, but not less than 250 gb and 14 in (I see you listed hdd size, but this fits your criteria; another note, 14" is beginning to fall into a niche category, so 15" is probably cheaper, ironically). If you can score usb 3.0 then great, if not, doesn't sound very important to you. Just might come in handy later.

 

Once you settle on your technical specifics, look at the sale ads in the Sunday newspapers and also go to the web sites from Staples, Office Depot, Office Max and Best Buy......some good deals to be had.

I also recommend the i5 or better and a 15.6" size.

We dumped our desktop and each have our own 15.6" laptops, works out great and we can take them almost anywhere we go.

 

I have windows 8 on my home system and laptop and I like it personally. I have had ZERO issues with compatibility, and it just works so easily. It takes a few days or so to get used to the different OS, but that has always been the same with the exception of Vista to Windows 7 because, well, they really are the exact same OS in the guts. Never had a lick of trouble with 8 though.

 

If you have a desktop that you will also use, and you plan on moving around with your notebook, I would suggest a smaller size notebook, in the 13 or 14 inch range. If it is going to stay put in one spot, having the larger screen is nice, but lugging a 15 or 17 around and finding a spot to put it is a pain.

Agree that you should go i5 and 4GB at a minimum, although for web browsing and light use, an i3 should be just fine. The Dell Inspiron 14R starts right at $499.

 

I agree. My laptop stays put (at home) for the most part. My step daughter has a Chrome book which is 14" I believe and so thin, I love the small and thin size for mobility, which is what she uses it for being in college.

I used to be a big HP guy but I've heard a lot of negatives about their motherboards lately and my brother had one that took a dump on him in less than a year and HP knowing they had problems with that particular model as he later learned wouldn't do anything for him. So my current is a Toshiba and it's been good. Also hear good things about a fairly unknown brand Asus. My father just bought one and seems to love it.

I'm not a big fan of Dell as my wife had one and several of the keys fell off the keyboard and my step daughter had a Gateway which didn't last about a year and was complete junk, so I'll never have another Gateway.

I have the I3 and it's great for what I do, paying bills, surfing, social networking, shopping, netflix, pics, and even steam some college football from time to time.

Just my 2 cents, good luck!

 

I am an ex-Dell employee, and prior to that I bought Compaq and then HP for personal use. I switched to Dell, and my experience with Dell has been much better. That said, each model can have its quirks. The Dell 13z I got for my daughter last xmas took a crap a few weeks ago, but they came by the house within 2 days and replaced all the guts under warranty.

Asus has always made parts for the major manufacturers, and they are a solid company.

Many of the Dell and HP laptops are made in the same factories in China and Malaysia now, and I would bet that they share some of the same parts.

 

I agree win 8 is just fine. I don't use the metro interface, have used the "classic start 8" app, I believe it's called, from the beginning and it acts for me very much like 7 did, with a few nice enhancements. I really don't understand the grief this os gets sometimes. Smooth, fast, light, social, customizable.

 

Negative on the core i3 or i5. Great laptops, but simply unnecessary. For browsing the Web and using on forums? Look at op's original criteria. Op (if you're still reading this), if you're going Intel, the celeron processors are excellent for your purposes, and will save you money. But that is why I recommended Amd; you don't need the best performance, but want the most bang for your low end buck.

 

I picked up a dell.
*core i3 processor
* 6 gb ram
* 500 gb hd

Windows 8 takes some getting used to, but i am figuring it out. I couldnt pass up the deal. $650 laptop for $350.