I need a laptop for school...

[My Name Is Dave]

Or so they tell me. I made it through my undergrad program with just the computers in the labs or my desktop at home. I never needed one in the actual classroom, and actually made fun of the nerds that thought they did. Well, the program head says I should really get one. So here I am...

I have a fully-functional PC at home that I built last year. It has every program and piece of hardware I could possibly need, so I don't need a loaded laptop. I need wireless and wired internet, Office Suite, and I suppose it wouldn't kill to be able to play DVDs on it. I have a copy of Office, so no need to pay for it. And any computer from the past 5 years will have the internet capabilities and DVD drive I need. So...

What do you guys think I should do? My mom got one a year ago from Dell by using her discount for being an educator, which cost her about 800 dollars. I looked on craigslist and found some that looked just fine to me for half that. She's really not into that, because she's afraid it is stolen and/or broken. So do you have any thoughts? I'd like to be cheap, but I also realize there's a positive correlation between price and quality. Anyone on this forum selling a newer one at a good price? Possibly a student that just did or is about to graduate? You have a better place in mind to buy a new one? Any other suggestions?

Thanks so much, guys. I need all the help I can get.

Dave

Oh, by the way- I applied for the Dean's Scholarship on Wednesday and this weekend got a letter saying I got it. $2K that I don't have to pay back. Yay!

[My Name Is Dave]

Just as a side note, I'm also being forced to decide between PC and Mac. They say you can choose either, but also mention that 30%-50% of the school districts you will be placed in use Macs. But on the other hand, I think PCs and Macs are pretty compatible in terms of taking files from one to another.

So, yeah, I need to decide between the 2. Honestly, I'd prefer PC because it's cheaper and I've always used PC. Unless someone has a good reason why to go the other way.

And just looking at CL for 3 seconds gives me two that are around $600 and newer:

http://portland.craigslist.org/sys/156494867.html

http://portland.craigslist.org/sys/156490460.html


Thanks all.

Dave 

[Onlypastrana199]

  I'll sell you my compaq if you wanna replace the mobo...I have a Dell 1150 that some girl spilled coffee on and it needs a mobo and a keyboard..i hate when people stick me with their junk


Since you already mentioned the dells (I just work for them I dont buy them) Dell has a E1505 on sale for 800 until June 5th The really crappy thing Dell is trying to do right now is pin everyone with Windows Media Edition. I hate Windows Media Edition...its sucky. So then you have to pay to upgrade and thats   but it does come with an 80gig, 1 gig of ram, dvd burner, and a duo 1.66ghz processor.  

Honestly I think dell is a little over rated, they charge way too much for their upgrades and try to pin you with their cheapest options. IBM has got some deals going on now, the same configuration as the Dell above with a faster processor and XP Pro and a 3 year warranty was 1200. Clearly way more than you need/want. Buying used off craigslist you never know what youre getting into. Technically my compaq works and charges and if i was a duck i could sell it as a working computer. It depends on how much of a risk your looking to take   One thing to make sure of is that they have the OEM disks that came with the comps to begin with or that you can make them. First thing I would do if I got a used comp would be to do a clean install.

On the Mac issue, people like to say that they don't get spyware or virii or any of the such, but with them getting more popular I think we are going to be seeing alot more of them. If youre way more comfortable with a PC, I say go that way, its easier for you to troubleshoot and take care of. A lil mac training on the side wouldnt hurt though if you arent comfortable with them.

[My Name Is Dave]

I'd be comfortable buying one from you and working on it, but like my motorcycle, I need a worker now, not a project. But thanks.

Ok, to be honest, I have a copy on XP, but it's...um...yeah, I should probably pay for the upgrade. Yeah...

I'd prefer not to have Media Center. This is for school, not for entertainment. And I used Media Center once and it made watching a movie freaking impossible. I'm computer literate, so I don't need them to try and simplify an already simple issue for me.

Well, I'm still up in the air. I'd opt to get nothing if my only option was to spend $1200. Closer to $500 would be rad, and for that price to have it ready to go and need nothing would be fantastic. But I'm just not sure if that's realistic.


Dave

[NiceGuysFinishLast]

And I used Media Center once and it made watching a movie freaking impossible.

That sentence had me rolling on the ground.

I'd personally recommend staying away from compaq, I hate their crap, and all their parts are compaq specific, meaning mucho money to repair/upgrade. I've also had bad experiences with compaq customer support. Just my $.02. I'm typing this right now on my 2.0GHz Compaq Presario 2598US laptop that requires me to reformat/reinstall about once every 3 months, if I want to keep it running relatively quick. I think I have a section of bad RAM too, as I'm getting an intermittent memory error now.

[JetSwing]

Dell Home has Inspiron E1505 laptop for $1234 - auto $535 off - $35 coupon = $664. Pay with DPA account to get it for $651. You can buy the $35 off coupon on ebay.

Specs:

    * Intel Core Duo processor T2300 (2MB Cache/1.66GHz/667MHz FSB)
    * Genuine Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005
    * 15.4 inch Wide Screen XGA Display
    * 1GB Shared Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 533MHz, 2 Dimm
    * Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 950
    * 80GB 5400rpm SATA Hard Drive
    * Integrated 10/100 Network Card and Modem
    * 8X CD/DVD Burner (DVD+/-RW) with double-layer DVD+R write capability
    * Integrated Audio
    * Dell Wireless 1390 802.11b/g Mini Card (54Mbps)
    * 53 WHr 6-cell Lithium Ion Primary Battery
    * 1Yr Ltd Warranty, 1Yr Mail-In Service, and 1Yr HW Warranty Support

To get the extra 2% DPA discount:

   1. Select "Pay with one credit/debit card online" at checkout
   2. Locate "Save 2% using Dell Preferred Account" offer, and click the link
   3. If you have an account already, find "Already have a Dell Preferred Account?" box, and click the link if you don't have one - sign up for it.
   4. Checkout

[Onlypastrana199]

lol Jetswing im pretty sure we just said about the same thing except I didnt subtract all the same discounts as you....again it comes with the same ghey media center crapola.

sometimes you can get good deals with the closeouts. Does  your school have a discount program? I know Yale had a discount page they could go through with Dell and IBM and Mac. It made my ipod (2gig nano) about $115. Maybe you can see what their discounts are.

[My Name Is Dave]

lol Jetswing im pretty sure we just said about the same thing except I didnt subtract all the same discounts as you....again it comes with the same ghey media center crapola.

sometimes you can get good deals with the closeouts. Does  your school have a discount program? I know Yale had a discount page they could go through with Dell and IBM and Mac. It made my ipod (2gig nano) about $115. Maybe you can see what their discounts are.

Harvard? I'm going to Pacific. Lets not go wild with the comparisons.

But yes, they have that. I need to find the link. I looked last night and they first place it took me to showed me a laptop for $1300, so I took a little poop in my underpants and gave up for the night.

And there's the Dell refurbished site also. My mom has purchased from there before and loves it. The problem is I'd go there and just stare at everything, with my mouth agape and a thin line of drool coming out. From confusion, I mean.

Not that I'm asking anyone to take a look and see if there are any good deals there *cough*please*cough*

Dave

[Onlypastrana199]

Inspiron B120 for $538 clearly not top of the line, but you could upgrade the RAM


  *Intel® Celeron® M 360 (1.40 GHz/1MB Cache/400MHz FSB)   
  *Genuine Windows® XP Home Edition   
  *14.1 inch WXGA LCD Panel     
  *256MB Shared, 1 DIMM   256MB   
  *40GB 5400rpm Hard Drive   40GB   
  *24X CD Burner/DVD Combo Drive   24COMBO   
  *Dell Wireless 1390 802.11 b/g Express Card   
  *Integrated Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 900   
  *4-Cell Lithium Ion Primary Battery (29WHr)     
  *Integrated Network Card 
  *Internal 56K Modem 
  *1Yr Ltd Warranty, 1Yr At-Home Service, and 1Yr Technical Support

[My Name Is Dave]

Cool thanks! I'm showing these all to my mom tonight as we discuss it. I feel like a bastard son because she's helping me out a lot with this, even going so far as letting me move home. Well, she actually is making me, but whatever.

Yeah, so I'm accepting all suggestions. Thanks guys (and gals)!

Dave

[Unnamed]

I've gotten more and more unhappy with Dell recently. I had to buy a laptop last summer (My primary is a 4 year old XPS for games) and it came with so much bloatware that I had to format the damn thing and start over. They recently responded to complaints that their XPS systems couldn't run games properly because of the bloatware and have started selling some without the preinstalled software but I don't think they offer it on the cheaper systems yet. If you're computer savvy and have a win XP disc it would make sense to just format the drive and start over. Of course you will lose lots of crucial drivers, but those can be downloaded off dell's website.

Basically, I'm not sure that you can buy decent quality laptops anymore. You can't really build them either. I'm pretty pessimistic.

[My Name Is Dave]

I've gotten more and more unhappy with Dell recently. I had to buy a laptop last summer (My primary is a 4 year old XPS for games) and it came with so much bloatware that I had to format the damn thing and start over. They recently responded to complaints that their XPS systems couldn't run games properly because of the bloatware and have started selling some without the preinstalled software but I don't think they offer it on the cheaper systems yet. If you're computer savvy and have a win XP disc it would make sense to just format the drive and start over. Of course you will lose lots of crucial drivers, but those can be downloaded off dell's website.

Basically, I'm not sure that you can buy decent quality laptops anymore. You can't really build them either. I'm pretty pessimistic.

I know what you mean. I used my mom's laptop the day after she got it and there were already dozens of programs on there, none that she installed. I'm thinking that between what I and the people here know, I could reinstall WinXP and start fresh.

[poormanracing]

i bought the b120 laptop with the 512 ram...works great for my application (surf and type papers)....the battery though is only 1 hour 45 min max....just upgrade later....check out notebookreview.com.....very helpful forum

[RVertigo]

Get one of these:



They're real cheap now. 

Or maybe upgrade to one of these:

[My Name Is Dave]

RVertigo, everybody! Thank you.

Seriously though, I'm getting one of those. Save me some cash AND look cool, you know? Wink.

Dave

[12thmonkey]

Buy an iBook. You can get a used one very reasonably priced, and they are great computers. As far as viruses and spyware go, there are all of two viruses for osx. Will it increase with the intel crap? Yes. But with the headstart that win-doze has, there is no way they'll ever catch up. i've always had an easier time connecting to school networks on my powerbook than my friends with their PCs (i just finished grad school myself in the fall).

And let's be honest...everyone knows macs look cooler.  

[RVertigo]

I've seen a few sites where people with rip out the guts and put a real lappy in there...

Can you imagine someone walking into a C# class with one of those?     I'd love to see that. 

[Phaedrus]

If you are going to purchase new, I'd look into what Jetswing posted. He knows his stuff and I'd trust his suggestions. If you are looking at cheap and used, I've pointed other students to:

http://www.aplaptops.com

...and they have reported good results. You get what you pay for, but if you have a fixed budget and really can not afford new, those systems they have are not bad and are reasonably priced. Just make sure you don't get some Windows 2000 crap - you want Windows XP.

As for macs? You said you wanted a computer, not a toy, right? 

[My Name Is Dave]

Get one of these:



They're real cheap now. 

Or maybe upgrade to one of these:

I made this a couple years ago. It's a functional headset for my cell phone. I took this handset off my mom's old Mickey Mouse phone and wired it for new cell phones.

Nothing close to what you're talking about, but a similar concept of taking something that works like new but looks like old.

[My Name Is Dave]

Dell Home has Inspiron E1505 laptop for $1234 - auto $535 off - $35 coupon = $664. Pay with DPA account to get it for $651. You can buy the $35 off coupon on ebay.

Specs:

    * Intel Core Duo processor T2300 (2MB Cache/1.66GHz/667MHz FSB)
    * Genuine Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005
    * 15.4 inch Wide Screen XGA Display
    * 1GB Shared Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 533MHz, 2 Dimm
    * Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 950
    * 80GB 5400rpm SATA Hard Drive
    * Integrated 10/100 Network Card and Modem
    * 8X CD/DVD Burner (DVD+/-RW) with double-layer DVD+R write capability
    * Integrated Audio
    * Dell Wireless 1390 802.11b/g Mini Card (54Mbps)
    * 53 WHr 6-cell Lithium Ion Primary Battery
    * 1Yr Ltd Warranty, 1Yr Mail-In Service, and 1Yr HW Warranty Support

To get the extra 2% DPA discount:

   1. Select "Pay with one credit/debit card online" at checkout
   2. Locate "Save 2% using Dell Preferred Account" offer, and click the link
   3. If you have an account already, find "Already have a Dell Preferred Account?" box, and click the link if you don't have one - sign up for it.
   4. Checkout

Funny, my mom mentioned this to me when I just called her. Her deal shows it at $699. I searched the coupon on eBay, and there are some here:

http://search.ebay.com/search/search.dll?sofocus=bs&sbrftog=1&maxrecordsreturned=300&frpp=50&from=R10&satitle=dell+35&sacat=-1%26catref%3DC6&bs=Search&fsop=1%26fsoo%3D1&coaction=compare&copagenum=1&coentrypage=search&fgtp=&a6=-24&a64v1=&a64v2=&a59=-24&a5=-24&a4=-24&gcs=3&pfid=3&reqtype=1&pfmode=1&alist=a6%2Ca64v1%2Ca64v2%2Ca59%2Ca5%2Ca4%2Ca3801&pf_query=dell+35&sargn=-1%26saslc%3D2&sadis=200&fpos=97202&ftrt=1&ftrv=1&saprclo=&saprchi=

So I just bid on this and it works? It seems like a ploy, but I trust you that it's legit.

Dave