Looking for a laptop on a tight budget

Hi, Auntie! :D

The first thing I noticed about the HP/Compaq (after the "Compaq" *shudder*) is that they don't give an estimated run time. Don't want to say or is the battery extra? Sometimes they are. Of the other two, I think I like the Acer better. Note that Toshiba makes excellent laptops, though. Longer run time, room for more RAM, AMD processor (okay, okay, I like AMD) and most importantly, cheaper. ;) Just my two cents.
 
Aunty Em said:
I also came across this one...

http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/products/index.html?rb=6419827320&action=c2hvd19wcm9kdWN0X292ZXJ2aWV3&product_uid=84710

I plan on upgrading the ram on whatever I buy to at least 512mb.
Click to expand...

Umm... PC Chips=poor quality. Also, a Cyrix C3 1Ghz runs about as fast as a Celeron 667, in other words very slow. I've upgraded a couple of old e-machines desktops to this processor, and while it was an improvement for them I doubt you'd be satisfied with it. Plus, 512 max on the RAM? I consider 512 the bare minimum to run XP. At some point I can almost guarantee you'll want more.
 
not to mention they will only state the battery life at 1.5hrs. i've never known a manufacturer to give you the whole truth when it comes to battery life so i'm guessing if you plan on having it ever leave your desk you be in a sad state of affairs when your battery runs down in an hour. :( don't go for a celeron either, you'll be disappointed. have you checked the secondhand channels (fleabay, etc.) for decent used notebooks?
 
tommyj27 said:
have you checked the secondhand channels (fleabay, etc.) for decent used notebooks?
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I wouldn't know what a decent secondhand laptop was if it jumped up and bit me. What should I look for?

I'll be happy with anything that runs faster than 1 ghz, can take a decent amount of ram and that i can add a wireless or data card to depending whether i'm indoors or out... but they all have funny names... :/

I don't care about OS, I'll just slap 2kpro on it.
 
Aunty Em said:
I wouldn't know what a decent secondhand laptop was if it jumped up and bit me. What should I look for?

I'll be happy with anything that runs faster than 1 ghz, can take a decent amount of ram and that i can add a wireless or data card to depending whether i'm indoors or out... but they all have funny names... :/

I don't care about OS, I'll just slap 2kpro on it.
Click to expand...
did you ever find a notebook aunty? if you're still looking and you'd consider used, you may want to look at the thinkpad A or T series. I used to have an A22m (800Mhz P3) and I still haven't decided if it was a better machine than my T42 or not. I'd also try to make sure the notebook has some of the manufacturer's warranty on it. Even a year should give you ample time to make sure that something expensive isn't about to go south on you. watch prices on auctions for a while or look at used dealers to try and figure the baseline for certain models, speeds, etc.
 
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