OT:Good general purpose laptop

[hews500d]

THe wife's laptop is getting real tired and I don't think it's going to last too much longer. She's looking for a good reliable one (if there is such a thing) under $600.00 with a webcam built in. Anyone have any suggestions? I'm leaning towards an Acer since I've had bad experiences in the past with Toshiba and Dell (her current one). It seems like all of them have very good and very bad reviews which is even more confusing :help: She doesn't game or anything like that so it doesn't need to be the fastest thing on the block.

Darrell

[harleyman]

e a gateway XF and its been great..But it is a gaming rig for three times the cost... Seems I lost some of this post...LOL Its not important...

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834101174



Nice Accer

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834115537

[JimC1702]

I've got a cheapie Dell B1200 that I bought for $399.00 two years ago. It has worked flawlessly all that time. I did add additional RAM to it.

Jim

[harleyman]

This is on sale for 449.00 with free shipping

http://promotions.newegg.com/NEemail/Mar-0-2009/DaylightMar03/index-landing.html?nm_mc=EMC-IGNEFL030309&cm_mmc=EMC-IGNEFL030309-_-email-_-E0B-_-Laptop&cm_lm=dynaglide04@bellsouth.net

[rohan]

I bought a netbook two months ago - it's rather small, very light and with a very widescreen display at 1024 by 600. The battery's rather good with a life of around 4 hours with moderate use, and it runs everything from OpenOffice, Outlook, PostGRESQL to CFS2. Boot up time is very good, and the keyboard may be a bit smaller than a normal laptop but it's very useful and keeps up with my typing. A Samsung NC10 for a fraction over £300; probably a much better price in the US,
regs,
Ro
:kilroy:

[hinch]

I nearly tempted myself with a samsung NC10 because they're such nice little things but in the end I got another camera =D

I got my sister a samsung laptop last year, it's very nice. It came with 2GB of RAM and a little 128 graphics card. Best thing about it though was the keyboard - very nice.

[hews500d]

This is on sale for 449.00 with free shipping

http://promotions.newegg.com/NEemail/Mar-0-2009/DaylightMar03/index-landing.html?nm_mc=EMC-IGNEFL030309&cm_mmc=EMC-IGNEFL030309-_-email-_-E0B-_-Laptop&cm_lm=dynaglide04@bellsouth.net


Is this one something you need to type a special promo code or something? I clicked on it and it comes up at the regular $629.00 price when it brings it up. It does look like a good deal.
Darrell

[Kiwikat]

I love my ASUS EEE PC 1000H. It is really solid. You might be able to find them for 330 dollars. They are getting hard to find because they are "old". Doesn't look like BB has them anymore...

If you're willing to spend a little more the 1000HE has a faster processor and has longer battery life. It is 380 dollars IIRC. You could find one of these on Amazon.com.

Neither one would disappoint for general use. You aren't going to play any 3D games with it.

[Lionheart]

The basic Mac Notebooks are good. Not powerful, but if she only uses it for web stuff and paying the bills, they are brilliant. (The Mac Book Pros are expensive, but powerful).

Their is one Macbook (not the pro) that is all white (plastic casing) that the ladies love.

And.. you can load Windows on these.

But, if she is using it for web and bills, the software that Macs come with are brilliant, like iLife and iWork. iLife comes with it. She might end up keeping only the Mac software.. (if she went with one.. )

[SkippyBing]

I wouldn't recommend a netbook if it's the only machine she's going to use, web browsing on a 9" screen gets old real fast and I find doing a lot of typing on them gets a bit cramped. When my sister was shopping for a laptop I made her spend half an hour in the shop doing stuff with a netbook to get over the 'cute' factor and realise she was going to get a migrane if she used it for an hour or so a day, so it may be worth doing the same with your wife!
I'm trying to remember what we got her as so far it seems to be working fine after 8 months or so of use (well she hasn't called me to ask how to get it to do something so I'm guessing it's working fine!). I have a feeling it was an Advent though, which is PC World (UK)'s own brand so probably not much help to you!
To be honest if she's not a power user/gamer pretty much any laptop at the upper end of your price range should be more than adequate, although if I was you I would try and wait until you can get them with Windows 7 pre-installed rather than Vista.
Although a Mac Book might fit the bill, Steve Jobs is on record as saying Apple don't know how to make a computer under $500 that isn't a piece of crap!

[harleyman]

Is this one something you need to type a special promo code or something? I clicked on it and it comes up at the regular $629.00 price when it brings it up. It does look like a good deal.
Darrell



I do believe when you click on BUY...The discount is applied..It usually works like that on the NewEgg deals...Make sure the free shipping gets applied there too...





Or not....I just tried and it did not apply the discount....hang on a minute...

[harleyman]

It must not work anymore...Maybe sold out cause my flyer still shows it current...



Heres another one...

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834114648&nm_mc=EMC-IGNEFL031209&cm_mmc=EMC-IGNEFL031209-_-MobileHardware-_-L0B-_-34114648


Its $399.00 with code plus free shipping... No Tax too...LOL

Promo Code= EMCLPMN25

[hews500d]

I do believe when you click on BUY...The discount is applied..It usually works like that on the NewEgg deals...Make sure the free shipping gets applied there too...





Or not....I just tried and it did not apply the discount....hang on a minute...

I've went as far as putting the actual credit card info in there and it's still showing regular price. I'm afraid to go any farther :icon_lol:

Darrell

[Kiwikat]

I wouldn't recommend a netbook if it's the only machine she's going to use, web browsing on a 9" screen gets old real fast and I find doing a lot of typing on them gets a bit cramped. When my sister was shopping for a laptop I made her spend half an hour in the shop doing stuff with a netbook to get over the 'cute' factor and realise she was going to get a migrane if she used it for an hour or so a day, so it may be worth doing the same with your wife!

IDK, I can use my EEE for several hours with no problems. I guess it varies from person to person.

[hews500d]

Thanks for all the responses guys! I think we've made a decision.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834115536

plus a quick memory upgrade to 4 Gb..

Darrell

[SkippyBing]

IDK, I can use my EEE for several hours with no problems. I guess it varies from person to person.

Oh totally, you're a good decade younger than my sister so your eyes are probably able to stand the small screen for longer, and because I touch type I find the smaller keyboards annoying as hell!

[Lionheart]

Looks like an Excellent choice Darrell!


All it needs now is Windows 7. :d


(and FS of course... )

[harleyman]

Thanks for all the responses guys! I think we've made a decision.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834115536

plus a quick memory upgrade to 4 Gb..

Darrell




YUP,,,Looks like as good a choice as any...How and where do you upgrade the mem? Do you do it or have it done? never touched the insides of a laptop myself...

[hews500d]

YUP,,,Looks like as good a choice as any...How and where do you upgrade the mem? Do you do it or have it done? never touched the insides of a laptop myself...


Hmmm, I never thought about how LOL... I'm pretty sure it's done inside, Newegg has the 2 Gb DDR2 667 memory "sticks" for around $25.00. I've had the keyboard off her Dell laptop before when I had to replace it and then I also had to replace the CPU fan several months back. Just a smaller version of a desktop :jump:

Darrell

[harleyman]

I have heard that opening some laptops will viod the warrenty..Just heard it is all..No facts here.....

They are both good...

One has Home .one has home premium

One has Intel CPU the other has a AMD sempron

Both have the same memory,,HDD...One has 1 inch bigger screen...LOL


Good luck deciding.....:faint:

[JimC1702]

The memory on a laptop is in a small opening on the bottom. Piece of cake to pop new RAM in. Sometimes a wireless network card is in the same bay.

Jim

[SkippyBing]

Most laptops these days have access panels on the bottom to upgrade RAM, hard drive and wi-fi card, not sure why you'd want to upgrade that last one and I've never seen them for sale but whatever! My last one you unclipped the keyboard to get to the RAM but that was actually easier. The main exception seems to be Apple who either making it massively complicated and warranty voiding or slightly complicated and possibly warranty voiding.
Make sure you get laptop RAM though, the first time I upgraded a laptop I had to take the RAM back and ask for the right sort!

[harleyman]

Good to know JimC1702 and SkippyBing...Thanks for that info......:ernae:

[Lionheart]

Yep..

You might even take the RAM with you to make sure you get the right ones. Take one stick and drop it in a Ziplock plastic back and fold it up (roll it) and put in your shirt pocket and use that to show them. The plastic will (should) keep it insulated from static shock (which can destroy your stick of RAM).

Remember to handle it from the sides and not the contact surface.


Bill

[Kiwikat]

Yep..

You might even take the RAM with you to make sure you get the right ones. Take one stick and drop it in a Ziplock plastic back and fold it up (roll it) and put in your shirt pocket and use that to show them. The plastic will (should) keep it insulated from static shock (which can destroy your stick of RAM).

Remember to handle it from the sides and note the contact surface.


Bill

Its 200 pin 667 MHz DDR2 laptop memory. Can't really buy the wrong type anymore. (It is really standardized) :typing: