Suggestions for Inexpensive / Entry Level Laptop .... NO bells or whistles ???

squirrellsgnwild · May 30, 2008

A good laptop is anything with win xp! If i had a job i would upgrade my vista with xp!

Maximum Signal · May 30, 2008

Check out the Sunday newspaper ads for Best Buy or Circuit City . Both Usually have entry level Compaq's or Toshiba's for anywhere from $399-$499 on sale with instant rebates. Usually really good quality machines

junipersage · May 30, 2008

junipersage said: ↑

Hi,

Looking for information / suggestions regarding an inexpensive laptop. About all that I would care about "at this time" is internet access with a good aircard. How low can I go for something that still works ??

Please share your recent shopping experience with me ... and others.

Thank you.
Click to expand...

======================================================

First, thanks for all of the responses above.

I wanted to expand on my original post with a question about Vista vs XP. I have had at least "a couple" of sales people suggest that Vista works fine if it was the original installation. Per one, who seemed like he might know what he was talking about, ... "those Vista problems mostly happen when the user has upgraded from XP to Vista" .

Even before this weekend's adds break, I have found some good prices on Toshiba, Compaq & Acer ... but all with Vista.

Or, should I look until I find a laptop with XP ??

Thanks for taking the time to respond !!!!!

Pur48Ted · May 30, 2008

junipersage said: ↑

======================================================

First, thanks for all of the responses above.

I wanted to expand on my original post with a question about Vista vs XP. I have had at least "a couple" of sales people suggest that Vista works fine if it was the original installation. Per one, who seemed like he might know what he was talking about, ... "those Vista problems mostly happen when the user has upgraded from XP to Vista" .

Even before this weekend's adds break, I have found some good prices on Toshiba, Compaq & Acer ... but all with Vista.

Or, should I look until I find a laptop with XP ??

Thanks for taking the time to respond !!!!!
Click to expand...

You can still order a DELL Laptop with XP starting about $600, if you resist all the "bling".

panhandlepat · May 30, 2008

my dad and brother work side jobs at a 'puter repair shop.and "frankenstein" old parts together to build new ones. he says acer is a good puter built by a name brand co under that name. my daughter bought one online for 400 that worked great till she dropped it with power cord plugged in!

B-rad · May 30, 2008

I spoke with the owner of Diesel Boss an internet trucker products site and he said for an inexpensive computer he likes the Acer that is priced at less than $600.

wsyrob · May 31, 2008

Only bad thing I have heard about Acer is that on some of the less expensive models you can't go back to XP from a Vista install. It has something to do with the firmware built into the motherboard. That said I have a $345 Acer purchased at Walmart. I have been running it pretty much 24/7 when out on the road. I don't have an air card but do have a high def TV tuner and map programs. Its a Vista basic OS with only 1 gig of ram. I have had no problem whatsoever and at that price I could replace it every year with a faster machine.

Truckerjo · Jun 1, 2008

junipersage said: ↑

======================================================

First, thanks for all of the responses above.

I wanted to expand on my original post with a question about Vista vs XP. I have had at least "a couple" of sales people suggest that Vista works fine if it was the original installation. Per one, who seemed like he might know what he was talking about, ... "those Vista problems mostly happen when the user has upgraded from XP to Vista" .

Even before this weekend's adds break, I have found some good prices on Toshiba, Compaq & Acer ... but all with Vista.

Or, should I look until I find a laptop with XP ??

Thanks for taking the time to respond !!!!!
Click to expand...

I am personally going to tell you there is really nothing wrong with Vista. The biggest issue with people (most will not admit it) is simply they don't like change.

Yes it is different and it takes time to learn a few things about it.. Something most don't enjoy doing and just complain and say its awful...

Vista is still even today a little ahead of its time. (even today)..
I am just going to copy paste a post made a while back. to lazy to type it all again..

Okay something people don't understand is Vista is hardware dependent...
Let me explain a little
I am going to use the graphic side but also can be translated to other functions as well...
okay lets say you have a animated picture of a nice lake with the waves moving across it... Under XP it has a limit of how many waves it could have across the lake then you would just see a repeat of that wave... another example would be trees you would just see a repeat of trees and their movement.... this is a program or software limit.....

Now under Vista there is no "program" barrier far as a "number" that could be shown but rather a CPU limit... Another words it is how fast the CPU can run will determine the number of waves or trees and there movement before you will see a repeat...
This is a hardware limit....

Now in order to run as such Vista really needs multiple cores (CPU, core 2, X2) so it can assign a single core to certain function..

Now Vista also needs at least 2G of ram to run well.. it will run okay with 1G but I would say that should be the min but really needs 2G...
If you have bought a computer with Vista that has 512 you got riped off and probably will have issues...

Why? well other then L1 and L2 (basically ram right on the cpu itself) Vista puts allot of its data into ram so it can be accessed quickly....

Vista is still a little ahead of its time and was made for "upcoming hardware"

as faster hardware is releases Vista will get faster where XP will still have program limits where Vista will be able to take full advantage of the hardware new speed....

There is Ram in the works right now made by IBM that is 10X faster then any current ram and uses 1/2 the power as well... when products are released like this XP will definitely lose to Vista in performance...

Vista is a resource hog because it is hardware dependent.. 2G ram, dual core you will be happy.... Now keep in mind it is a new OS and does have different operations..... That would involve "change" something we humans don't enjoy...

http://www.gamespot.com/video/0/6146095/
Click to expand...

Don't be fulled by laptops that say core duo..... stay away
Need core 2 duo...
Amd has a different label but you still want a dual core CPU

I am a AMD fan always have been but Intel kicks AMD's butt right now..

panhandlepat · Jun 2, 2008

as much as i hate it i went to rent-a-center and got a sony viao today. went to att and got wireless card soo. i will be online on the road now! wooohooo! lookout last post LOL!

KillerB · Jun 2, 2008

Check out Newegg.com for sweet deals. Lots of good refurbised laptops if you are looking to get a killer rig for minimum coin. i have bought tons of computer hardware from them and have NEVER had a problem. lots of customer reviews on all their products as well. SAFE site with good cust. support.

Best Buy and CC are for people who don't know about Newegg.

Or Tiger Direct

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