Good laptop cheap

johnniet

johnniet

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Jul 12, 1999
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I need to do a lot of work over the next few months. I'm sick of being bound to a desktop and have decided to get a slightly used or refurbished laptop.

I've mostly used Apples for the last few years, but this will be a PC. So I don't know all the specs and numbers to shoot for. What I do need:

Should be fairly light (mini is ideal if it's not too slow)
Can run MATLAB, Excel and Word all at once without slowing down
Under $1000
I am not a true computer hacker, and I tend to put off making important adjustments to the system etc. I want to get something to cause as little frustration as possible and just get some damn work done.

Any thoughts? Let me know if I am expecting too much. :)
 
I've seen deals from Dell featured on www.slickdeals.net where you can get a pretty well equipped machine for around $699.00. Pentium 4m (mobile) around 2.2ghz with a 40 gig hard drive and a 14" screen. Generally for smaller/lighter you'll pay quite a bit more.

John
 
DellSmallBusiness - When sending in rebates, put your name as the company name as well as the contact. This way rebate checks are made out to you.


Inspiron 1000 Laptop with 2.2Ghz Celeron, 14.1" TFT, 256MB DDR SDRAM, CD-RW/DVD Combo, and 30GB HD for $699 after Rebate with FREE Shipping, plus FREE A920 All-In-One Printer!
Pick up a basic but well equipped Dell laptop for cheap! This one comes with a 2.2Ghz Celeron processor, 14.1" TFT, 256MB of DDR SDRAM in 1 SODIMM (making upgrades cheap and convenient), a CD-RW/DVD combo drive, a bigger 30GB hard drive, 10/100 NIC, 56k modem, and Windows XP Home. They`re also throwing in a Dell A920 All-In-One printer for free, an $89 value!

Start here through this link to Dell Small Business Notebooks. DELL SMALL BUSINESS INSPIRON NOTEBOOKS

Now click on Customize It under NEW Inspiron 1000 $699 there along the left

Click on Customize It under Inspiron 1000 $699

All of the options for the lowest possible price should already be selected along with your rebate and free A920 printer (though double check to make sure). Here`s an inexpensive upgrade you may want to choose:
1 Year Limited Warranty plus 1 Year Mail-In Service [add $19 or $1/month] Dell Recommended

Scroll to the bottom and click on Continue

Scroll to the bottom and click on Continue

Scroll to the bottom and click on Add to cart

Finish checking out and shipping is free. Send in the $100 rebate (expires 6/23/04).
 
I thought the Celeron was the chip with the reduced math processor. Is that correct?
I'll need to do some computational work, so something like that doesn't make sense here.
Thanks for the suggestion though.
 
Today, computer processing power have well overcome application needs. What do I mean by that? For the most part, software applications have changed little in the last 2 years. Yes, we have had some changes, but nothing drastic. Hardware on the other hand has advanced dramatically.

In the "Old days" of computers, celerons used to be crippled to the point of uselessness. They never lacked "Math coprocessors" but L2 Cache. This L2 cache made them process information faster. This is an issue for anyone who is running advanced games. 3d rendering is hard on a CPU. There is a bit of opinion in this. Todays celerons with 2+Ghz processing speeds, I think, make it a good match for the average computer user.

" The Celeron is a toned down P4 for the discount market. They don't run as fast and also have less L2 cache. L2 cache is very important for processors. Unlike its daddy, the P4, Celeron processors will not handle 3D rendering, heavy duty gaming, and photo editing as well as the P4"

Read this for more information:

New Computer Questions

Even then, at the 2+ ghz level you should have no problem with any application you want to run.

Is the P4 better than the celeron? Of course it is. But it comes at a price.

I have speced many computers for my office, friends, and family. I've used celeron in about 80% of them with no problems.
 
Celeron is the economy version, and they run pretty hot. I would steer away from Celeron; maybe an Athlon?
 
you might talk to people going to different schools. lots of schools offer very heavy discounts. i know ibm does that for at least a couple schools. thinkpads are the bomb.

Pete
 
My son had an interesting experience. It seems that although the prices on the net are standaard, if you call the 800 number you may get a lower price. It seems that those people are aware of deals that you may not be able to get on the net. He also told me that the sales people are competing for comissions so they will give different price breaks.
 
Unless you're going to treat your laptop with kid gloves, durability is extremely important. Its tempting to buy on price alone, but bear in mind that if your laptop dies, you will more than likely lose all the data on it. Not to mention the time and effort that it will take to replace it.

Also, bear in mind that you'll be looking at the screen on whatever you chose for a long time, as if you're plugging a monitor into it you wouldn't be using a laptop. Screens are expensive and fragile, but if you lose your eyesight squinting at a 10" screen, who cares how much money you save? I don't think they make passive matrix screens anymore, so you should be OK there, but check the resolution. Alot of used vendors don't list the resolution a screen is capable of, or list it wrong. Check this! the higher the number the better the screen (mine is 1400x1050 and I love it. Its like having 600 acres in Texas to work with). Many laptops have only 1024x768 which may be fine for you.

I've had excellent experience with IBM ThinkPads. I'm typing this on a ~3 year old T22 and its survived me. That's saying something. I've got a cracked case and I'm on my second harddrive, but the machine works. You can pick up this exact machine for ~$700 on Overstock.com. If you have to skimp on something, I'd skimp on the processor speed. Any difference after 900Mhz is splitting hairs, spend the money on RAM.

What I would do is buy that Thinkpad, then spend $300 to max out the ram in it. You can never have enough ram.

If possible, go to a store and take a look at the model you'd like to buy, or at least the newest model in the series, it will give you a good idea of the build quality, the size, weight, screen, etc.

Also, Beware the "budget" line of all manufacturers. My mother bought a budget ThinkPad, and it is awful. Go for what was top-of-the-line a few years ago, it'll serve you well.

Whew, that was longer than I intended. Good luck!
 
Maybe longer than you intended, but it's good advice skorgu.

OTOH I am now seriously thinking of getting a Mac, in which case I would probably get a new one with financing.
Any comments on durability of Macs?
 
Depends whta 'cheap is' get a refurbished apple www.apple.com from their store (wednesdays) far far supiriour to PC. I currently have a PC and after using apple and seeing it 100X better can wait till end of summer so i get my new apple ibook.
 
I disagree with skorgu. I think buying three year old computer gear is a waste of time & money. Buying the most machine you can will help ensure software compatability for a bit longer into the future. I use mine to rune Filemaker pro, Adobe Photoshop (occasionally) Adobe GoLive, DelOrme Street Atlas, Virtual PC, a browser and an email client. If you want to see how well a three year old processor works out, try redrawing maps quickly or playing a little in Photoshop. I do agree with adding in plenty of memory though, but that's true of any computer although more than a gig is wasted unless you're working with really big Photoshop files.

Regarding Apple powerbooks, I've had several as my boss believes in paying the extra for the Apple cool factor. I will say that my current G4 Titanium is pretty capable for most of what I use it for (although it sucks for gaming) but in my experience, if you're going to buy a Powerbook, the Applecare extended warranty is probably money well spent. There's three of us in our small company that use laptops frequently and the Applecare extended warrantys, while not cheap, have always paid for themselves. We've had screens replaced, optical drives replaced and motherboard/cpus replaced. In each case it was a $500.00- $600.00 repair paid for with a $300.00 Applecare policy.

John
 
jmxcpter, I think you missed on the original post:

"run MATLAB, Excel and Word all at once without slowing down"

johnniet's needs are not the same as yours and his case, a 1-3 year old laptop will serve him fine while being plenty inexpensive to boot. While it may never be a Photoshop or Renderman powerhouse (why are you using a laptop for those anyways?!), it should be good for couch-reclining websurfing for at least another 2-5 years and still remain a competent business machine. I've got a Thinkpad 600E which still sees use under those situations while costing, now, as much as an Applecare policy.

Slightly dated, but definitely inexpensive machines also lend themselves more to casual and harder use... whereas a brand new and expensive machine will cause you to baby it, possibly negating the portability advantage.
 
The only reason I still photoshop on my laptop is beause it's only occasionally, and it's for work and that's my only work computer. I'm sure the 3ghz P4c at home would do a better job, but I'm not buying a full version of Photoshop for my home machine.

I wasn't recommending he buy an expensive machine. If you look earlier in the thread, I'd recommended a $699.00 Dell P4 machine. It would do everything asked for, still outlive a three year old machine and have a warranty. What's wrong with that suggestion? It's in the specified price range and I still think a 2.4ghz P4 would be better than an old PIII 900mhz, even with tons of ram. Especially if he'd like Win XP and a useable battery without having to spend a bunch more after the original purchase. By the time a laptop makes the three year mark, the batteries are usually shot. To me a three year old laptop is heading for boat anchor status. If it makes you happy, cool.

The only reason I mentioned the Apple solution is because someone else mentioned it and I was pointing out how overpriced and underbuilt they seem to be in my experience.

John
 
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