soulJAHmon Posted November 28, 2012 Share Posted November 28, 2012 What about something like this: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834310733 I'm trying to find a decent cheap laptop for my daughter. She's a 12 year old, who's doing "running start" at the local community college. She will be doing papers, etc., surfing, watching u-tube, emailing , and not alot more. My budget is only 200-250 dollars. This deal (above) looks like the most bang I can find for my buck. Anybody got any better ideas? or advice? or maybe reviews on which models/brands/etc are more solid in old laptops. Noone in my family has ever had one yet, so I'm new to laptops entirely. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jefke Posted November 28, 2012 Share Posted November 28, 2012 Well, I don't expect too many problems with that laptop. ALTHOUGH I don't like refurbished stuff to start with, the thinkpads are know to be strong laptops. Things you can do to improve him: - adding larger hdd or even a ssd (probably cheapo ssd sata 3 inferface will do the trick) - Changing the ram from 2gb to 4gb (you need ddr2 sodimm ram stick for that => looked up the manual ) - Put windows 7/8 on it (should run it fine normally) Now I'm thinking of it, I think we have a T61 here . That one is slow as hell though (more due to bullshit business rules of my stepdad work => work laptop of him) => let me check if it's the same (in a couple of hours, now in bed XD) Can't think of an alternative though for that price, somebody else might Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rolf Posted November 28, 2012 Share Posted November 28, 2012 For 250$ you can't buy a new laptop, or at least none she'd like to spend hours on it if necessary. Try to find a good second-hand, or refurbished in that case. If she's taking the laptop to other places (e.g. college), try to find a Dell Latitude, IBM Thinkpad or HP Probook/elitebook. Those are second-hand generally quite nice, but even if abused still a lot better than any other laptop. Don't try to find the most bang for the buck in specs, for that budget you won't find anything interesting but --- luckily --- she won't need it. If it has less than 2GB, upgrade it to (at least) 4GB. HDD upgrade is not necessary (although if second-hand, those get broken over time...). And don't use Windows XP anymore Also, most people don't use docking stations, plugging in the cables isn't that much work Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TulsaGeoff Posted November 28, 2012 Share Posted November 28, 2012 $300 Intel i3 Laptops pop up on slickdeals.net from time to time. Less for the celeron ones. Should be a good PC if from Dell, Lenovo, Toshiba. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LA_Kings_Fan Posted November 28, 2012 Share Posted November 28, 2012 Black Friday was a good day to be looking for this SOUL ... now I'd wait until just after New Years if you can, as they change out stock to the New Year Models and discount last years models by A LOT ! Keep looking ... NewEgg, TigerDirect, Amazon, BestBuy, FRY's, NCIX you should find something ... best of luck Buddy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soulJAHmon Posted November 28, 2012 Author Share Posted November 28, 2012 Thank you guys for the great advise. I appreciate the feedback cuz I have no familiarity with laptops. For instance I had no idea it was possible to upgrade components on laptops. I assume its trickier than on a desktop. When I finally get one for her, I'll be back to ask advise on how to go about upgrading to 4GB. Also, a couple of you suggested moving up to Win7 or win8. Can you explain why? I'm only used to XP and before that (98). I've always been behind the curve, but I've also been told in the past from geeky friends that it's better to wait out a new OS until they work out the bugs from a new roll-out. Any concerns about Win 8 having issues? I heard Vista was a piece o poo. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jefke Posted November 28, 2012 Share Posted November 28, 2012 Thank you guys for the great advise. I appreciate the feedback cuz I have no familiarity with laptops. For instance I had no idea it was possible to upgrade components on laptops. I assume its trickier than on a desktop. When I finally get one for her, I'll be back to ask advise on how to go about upgrading to 4GB. Also, a couple of you suggested moving up to Win7 or win8. Can you explain why? I'm only used to XP and before that (98). I've always been behind the curve, but I've also been told in the past from geeky friends that it's better to wait out a new OS until they work out the bugs from a new roll-out. Any concerns about Win 8 having issues? I heard Vista was a piece o poo. win8 runs really smooth to be honest. The metro interface sucks balls, but that you can solve I'm running it atm on my laptop and apart from some wanabe bluescreens (they changed to look of a bluescreen, now they are wanabes ) which got fixed. It runs really, really smooth. Win7 is a mature OS, far from new (released end of 2009 if I remember correct). I prefer win7 above win xp, because a whole lot of stuff got easier/smoother. Driver support for example (win8 seems to improve that even more, but that can be just my laptop XD) Win7 should run smooth on that laptop (might want to disable aero => which I would anyway, those dam shiny stuff ) About changing parts in laptop: there are 2 things really easy to replace/change and that's memory and hdd (most of the time just need to unscrew 1/2 screw to get access to the hdd and/or memory) So if you want to upgrade the memory (whay I would recommend) , it should be a 5-10min job. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slenderman Posted November 28, 2012 Share Posted November 28, 2012 Sorry this is extremely off topic but I plan on doing running start next year since I have to be a junior in high school at minimum to start, what state do you live in if you don't mind me asking? On topic: Win 8 has had mixed reviews and Win 7 also has support compared to XP which has no mainstream support anymore. You can always go for windows 7 IMO since it's still reliable. Plus if you want to upgrade to Win 8 you can always do that later (I suggest waiting it out until its cheaper/final reviews are made) http://www.technologyreview.com/view/508011/windows-8-is-dead-no-its-thriving/ <----Article on Win 8, I'm typing this on Regarding laptop parts, memory should be fine; it's easy to do and safe Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jefke Posted November 28, 2012 Share Posted November 28, 2012 Sorry this is extremely off topic but I plan on doing running start next year since I have to be a junior in high school at minimum to start, what state do you live in if you don't mind me asking? On topic: Win 8 has had mixed reviews and Win 7 also has support compared to XP which has no mainstream support anymore. You can always go for windows 7 IMO since it's still reliable. Plus if you want to upgrade to Win 8 you can always do that later (I suggest waiting it out until its cheaper/final reviews are made) http://www.technolog...���<----Article on Win 8, I'm typing this on Regarding laptop parts, memory should be fine; it's easy to do and safe Euuuhhmmm... Just fyi: you only need essential bugfixes and security updates which are FREE in extended support (personal problem do cost money indeed => you are correct about that part). Extended support for windows xp ends somewhere in 2014, so nothing to worry about. and win8: largest problem is that fullscreen menu (metro interface) which can be easily fixed with start8 (4-5 dollar program) or classic shell (free) Other problems can be the appstore and the fact you 'need' a live/microsoft/hotmail/whatever it's called these days account => both you can perfectly avoid if you want (like I do) That's all the problems I have with it after more than a months use (apart from little gui problems I get annoyed by). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UAdave Posted November 29, 2012 Share Posted November 29, 2012 We have Lenovos at work and the T61 was still around a bit when I joined in 2010. I think its a 2008 or 2009 model computer but they were good, no problems or complaints here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LA_Kings_Fan Posted November 29, 2012 Share Posted November 29, 2012 Get Windows 7 Pro ... Vista wasn't poo, I actually liked it at the time go figure, but now that I'm more used to using WIN 7 yeah it's WAY BETTER, easier, more stable, and actually was built-off and has more in common with Win XP than Vista did, so you should like that ... and just say NO to Win 8 ... maybe for a Tablet or Smart phone, which looks like the enviroment it was designed for, but NOT on a Desktop or Notebook. I kind of agree with the others, with where you're at budget wise, getting a USED, Refurbished, or Older out of production Model will stretch your buying dollar the farthest ... and stick with DELL, Gateway, Toshiba, HP, IBM (Lenovo). Best Buy - Toshiba Satellite 15.6", 2GB Mem, 320GB HD = $270 Another thing ... have you thought about a TABLET or iPAD device ? might be enough for what she needs ? I don't know much about them, other than they're cheaper, smaller / lighter / more portable than Full-size Laptops / Notebooks. Might be worth looking into ? Best Buy - Lenovo IdeaPad A2109 Tablet w/ 16GB Mem = $260 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Krayzie Posted November 29, 2012 Share Posted November 29, 2012 Ill sell you a laptop for 150 + shipping CompaqCQ 60 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jefke Posted November 29, 2012 Share Posted November 29, 2012 (edited) Get Windows 7 Pro ... Vista wasn't poo, I actually liked it at the time go figure, but now that I'm more used to using WIN 7 yeah it's WAY BETTER, easier, more stable, and actually was built-off and has more in common with Win XP than Vista did, so you should like that ... and just say NO to Win 8 ... maybe for a Tablet or Smart phone, which looks like the enviroment it was designed for, but NOT on a Desktop or Notebook. Agree with everything, but how can you like windows vista . Oh, I remember to hours wasted getting stuff to work or simply getting no bluescreen => I might had no luck and got the worse of the worse. Should come with arguments why: uac, drivers and general stability. Solution was: put windows xp (and now win7) on all pcs (most being laptops) that came with windows vista and again win8 > win 7 If you are willing to 'fix' some stuff (like the retarded fullscreen menu) yourself with third party apps, but I agree it seems to be made for tablets and phones. Last time I'm going of topic and rant about windows About tablets, don't think that is a solution considering she probably will have to type quite a lot. The keyboards they add to tablets really aren't made for that (this is own experience with 3 different ones from the asus transformers ones to a keyboard from a local supermarket=> cheap 10 dollar ones). Edited November 29, 2012 by DrJoske Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Krayzie Posted November 29, 2012 Share Posted November 29, 2012 Agree with everything, but how can you like windows vista . Oh, I remember to hours wasted getting stuff to work or simply getting no bluescreen => I might had no luck and got the worse of the worse. Should come with arguments why: uac, drivers and general stability. Solution was: put windows xp (and now win7) on all pcs (most being laptops) that came with windows vista and again win8 > win 7 If you are willing to 'fix' some stuff (like the retarded fullscreen menu) yourself with third party apps, but I agree it seems to be made for tablets and phones. Last time I'm going of topic and rant about windows About tablets, don't think that is a solution considering she probably will have to type quite a lot. The keyboards they add to tablets really aren't made for that (this is own experience with 3 different ones from the asus transformers ones => cheap 10 dollar ones). Cheap 10 dollar keyboards?! My Asus Transformers keyboard was 105 dollars! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jefke Posted November 29, 2012 Share Posted November 29, 2012 Cheap 10 dollar keyboards?! My Asus Transformers keyboard was 105 dollars! mine too, lost some text Meant to say ranging from asus tranformer keyboard to a keyboard from a local supermarket => cheap 10 dollar keyboard 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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