10 Jun, 2009, Banner wrote in the 1st comment:
Votes: 0
I'm in the market for a laptop so I figured I'd get some opinions.

Well, I want a laptop as a secondary system. I already have a powerful gaming workstation, so I don't need a laptop that has more than 2gb of RAM or more than a dual core. It'd be mostly for streaming video/music from my other computer as well as websurfing/email/programming, and a pre-installed OS is not necessary as I would most likely install Ubuntu. I don't want to pay out the wazoo(>$500) for something so simple, and I don't want to grab one off of Ebay either, so if any of you have recommendations for a refurbished or cheap laptop from some mainstream manufacturer, please inform me. So far the best deal I've found is a refurbished Inspiron 1545 model from Dell for $379, 2gb of RAM and 160gb hdd and a pentium dualcore processor. I'm thinking this is perhaps the best deal I'll find but I'd like to get input first so as to not make a poor decision.

Thanks much in advance.
10 Jun, 2009, David Haley wrote in the 2nd comment:
Votes: 0
It sounds like you're not so much asking for the "best laptop manufacturer", as the "best, cheapest laptop deal that will suffice for your purposes" – is that a fair rephrasing?

I haven't purchased a laptop in a while so my knowledge of prices is a little out of date, but that system for that price seems like a pretty good deal. I imagine there's a fair bit of leeway in terms of specs if you're willing to go to $500.

What kind of programming are you talking about? If you'll be compiling a fair bit, you might want a more powerful system than one just for email etc., because it gets pretty old pretty quickly to wait around for compilations to finish.
10 Jun, 2009, Banner wrote in the 3rd comment:
Votes: 0
David Haley said:
It sounds like you're not so much asking for the "best laptop manufacturer", as the "best, cheapest laptop deal that will suffice for your purposes" – is that a fair rephrasing?

I haven't purchased a laptop in a while so my knowledge of prices is a little out of date, but that system for that price seems like a pretty good deal. I imagine there's a fair bit of leeway in terms of specs if you're willing to go to $500.

What kind of programming are you talking about? If you'll be compiling a fair bit, you might want a more powerful system than one just for email etc., because it gets pretty old pretty quickly to wait around for compilations to finish.

Yeah, that rephrasing will sufffice. :)

I'm not talking about programming on the laptop itself, I meant remotely, as in connecting to my VPS with it.
10 Jun, 2009, David Haley wrote in the 4th comment:
Votes: 0
Oh. Well, you might even want to look into netbooks: they're even cheaper, but you'll get worse specs. You might want to double-check that they can play the kind of video you'll be streaming. But generally, the netbook will be cheap, small, and adequate for things like email and web browsing.
Disclaimer: I don't actually own one, but I've played with friends' netbooks.
10 Jun, 2009, Banner wrote in the 5th comment:
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Yeah, but I'd also like a somewhat large screen with the specs I've quoted, so I've already ruled out netbooks.
10 Jun, 2009, David Haley wrote in the 6th comment:
Votes: 0
Most manufacturers (including Dell) have primary-system laptops, and then laptops meant for auxiliary use like you described. I think Dell calls the primary systems "desktop replacements" or something like that. I can only really offer general advice, which is that generally I've been content with Dells and Thinkpads, although I would not really want a laptop for a primary system again. The laptop I have now could more or less function as a primary system, but I got it from work and didn't have any choice in the matter. The last laptop I purchased (in 2003) had to be a primary system because it wasn't practical to have a desktop for various reasons.

If you've ruled out things like eBay, but you're ok with refurbished systems, I would compare the refurbished systems with customizations of the cheapest possible new ones at the major manufacturer sites, and see if you can tweak up the specs to be what you want.
10 Jun, 2009, Idealiad wrote in the 7th comment:
Votes: 0
I admit I'm biased, but I wouldn't buy a Dell over a Thinkpad, even an older TP. Some people think TP's are clunky though ;p. I guess you might get slightly more with the Dell but things like ram aren't too hard to pick up for not much money. Check out the Thinkpad forums marketplace sub-forum. Good reputable dealers there.

http://forum.thinkpads.com/
10 Jun, 2009, David Haley wrote in the 8th comment:
Votes: 0
Well, it's true that if you're willing to buy parts after the fact and put them in, you can get more bang for your buck. You could for example buy a computer with almost no RAM or HD space and just stick in more yourself. Of course this brings up all kinds of issues like warranty voiding, etc.
10 Jun, 2009, Zenn wrote in the 9th comment:
Votes: 0
Do not ever buy an older dell laptop. You'll end up replacing the power cord fifty times over the life of the laptop, which will be two years if you're lucky. I did that twice, and never will again. The first one I actually bought was a Dell Inspiron 2200. I loved it, since it was my first laptop and I didn't know any better, but it had so many hardware problems it wasn't funny.

I personally prefer HP/Compaq when it comes to laptops. They're not the cheapest, but they've never screwed me over. You get what you pay for, definitely.

Don't buy dell. :sad:
10 Jun, 2009, Banner wrote in the 10th comment:
Votes: 0
Zenn said:
Do not ever buy an older dell laptop. You'll end up replacing the power cord fifty times over the life of the laptop, which will be two years if you're lucky. I did that twice, and never will again. The first one I actually bought was a Dell Inspiron 2200. I loved it, since it was my first laptop and I didn't know any better, but it had so many hardware problems it wasn't funny.

I personally prefer HP/Compaq when it comes to laptops. They're not the cheapest, but they've never screwed me over. You get what you pay for, definitely.

Don't buy dell. :sad:

That's one thing I was afraid of, but I'm not a fan of HP and have heard bad things about Compaq. But then again, I've personally known people with problems with Dell laptops, including my brother. :(
10 Jun, 2009, David Haley wrote in the 11th comment:
Votes: 0
I've had as many problems with Dells as I've seen other people have with other brands. Generally, the more of a "desktop replacement" the laptop is meant to be, the more hardware problems you get. (I suspect this is due to poor heat dissipation, which over time can cause damage or other trouble.) It's fairly easy to find people who've had problems with a given laptop brand, so don't be quick to put too much stock into anecdotal evidence.

Having to replace the power cord is usually due to, well, being a little abusive with it, like wrapping it too tightly around the brick to move it, etc.

I've owned several Dell laptops and except for one particular model, things went quite well. I now have a Latitude D630 from work, going on just about a year, and it's never given me any trouble whatsoever.
10 Jun, 2009, Runter wrote in the 12th comment:
Votes: 0
I've owned a few different HP Pavilions over the years and aside from one hardware problem after years they've all been great. I've got an Asus G50T currently and I've been very happy with it so far.

Also had a Toshiba satellite A105s was cheap and ran surprisingly well for almost 5 years
10 Jun, 2009, tphegley wrote in the 13th comment:
Votes: 0
That dual core Dell is probably going to be the best you'll find for that price. There is a compaq on newegg.com for 379 with 250gb HD and 2gb ram. Not a dual core though.
10 Jun, 2009, Ssolvarain wrote in the 14th comment:
Votes: 0
Yar. Compaq is alright. My old computer ran forever until it had dust bunnies coming out its ports and the mobo died. This one… is decidedly more easy to clean.
10 Jun, 2009, Scandum wrote in the 15th comment:
Votes: 0
Getting one of those laptop coolers might be a way to extend the lifespan, though I'm clueless which ones have a good price/performance ratio.
10 Jun, 2009, elanthis wrote in the 16th comment:
Votes: 0
Go into a retailer and look for sales. That's the best way to get a deal. Don't get the extended warranty.

The laptop I'm on right now would normally have been $800, was on sale for $700, and the Best Buy I bought it from had a sale that week for a free 1GB RAM upgrade for any laptop over $500. Double win. :)
10 Jun, 2009, Runter wrote in the 17th comment:
Votes: 0
Also, even though you're looking for a cheap buy you might considering finding a cheap buy at a higher price range. When I last went into the market expecting to make a purchase at 500 dollars and ended up waiting a few months and grabbing much more value for 650. And I was much happier with that purchase than I think I would have been otherwise.
10 Jun, 2009, Kline wrote in the 18th comment:
Votes: 0
My HP Pavilion is running strong two years later after multiple drops, stays in humid/dusty environments (fields, living in tents), and otherwise poor treatment. It's a dv5000z IIRC.
13 Jun, 2009, Zenn wrote in the 19th comment:
Votes: 0
What I actually have at the moment is a Compaq CQ50. AMD Turion Dual-Core processor and an Nvidia GEForce 8200M G.

I do most of my gaming on this. Actually, practically all of it. It runs games like Project Reality with no problem on higher graphics settings.

Picked it up for 600-or-so dollars about a year ago. Forget exactly how much.
13 Jun, 2009, Fizban wrote in the 20th comment:
Votes: 0
Banner said:
I'm in the market for a laptop so I figured I'd get some opinions.

Well, I want a laptop as a secondary system. I already have a powerful gaming workstation, so I don't need a laptop that has more than 2gb of RAM or more than a dual core. It'd be mostly for streaming video/music from my other computer as well as websurfing/email/programming, and a pre-installed OS is not necessary as I would most likely install Ubuntu. I don't want to pay out the wazoo(>$500) for something so simple, and I don't want to grab one off of Ebay either, so if any of you have recommendations for a refurbished or cheap laptop from some mainstream manufacturer, please inform me. So far the best deal I've found is a refurbished Inspiron 1545 model from Dell for $379, 2gb of RAM and 160gb hdd and a pentium dualcore processor. I'm thinking this is perhaps the best deal I'll find but I'd like to get input first so as to not make a poor decision.

Thanks much in advance.



This looks like a slightly better deal: http://www.dell.com/us/en/home/notebooks...

Uncustomized:

$299
2.16 GHz Celeron
2 GB RAM @ 800 mhz
160 GB SATA HD

Modified to the top of your price ceiling:

$489
Intel Core 2 Duo T6400 @ 2.0 GHz
4 GB RAM @ 800 mhz
250 GB SATA HD
0.0/23