I want to buy a laptop (notebook) a decent one that will
last a few years.
Please rec. one as cheap as possible..
First figure out what you want to use it for. Is it for simple internet surfing, some word/excel, and perhaps voice chat, then you can go for a cheaper one. If you plan to use it as a media center, with good sound quality, and plan to burn CD’s then you need to invest in one with DVD/CD-RW combo drive. Battery life is also important.
You can get a pretty good one for $999. Some of the good brands, with good prices are available at the following addresses
www.dell.com (Their Latitude series is good and reliable)
www.ibm.com (Their ThinkPad series are slightly expensive but very highly rated)
www.toshiba.com (Good laptops)
www.gateway.com (Same as Dell, good value)
www.sony.com (Good value)
I wont recommend hp (www.hp.com) as I find them overpriced.
Some good websites which offer good deals are www.outpost.com and Yahoo! Shopping (http://shopping.yahoo.com)
If size is important to you, then Sony has just came out with a laptop with a wide-screen but very small foot-print, its slightly larger than a normal PDA. Check their website.
If you want to go high-end, then Fujitsu offers good features. The latest rage is tablet PC, which is touch screen built into a laptop. Very small to carry around, with a detachable keyboard. But that will probably be not what you are looking for. Their street price is upwards of $2,000.
Muniya, first tell us what do you need it for?!
Office work or personal use?
How many hours will you be using it?
Doing some programming or just word processing stuff?
If you just want one to watch DVDs, internet, play with your digital Camera and do some word processing here & there, then don't go for brand name. They will only cost more.
>then don't go for brand name. They will only cost more
Excuse me.. I have seen people making their own desktops, by collecting different parts, are you now suggesting she makes her own laptop too? :)
Almost all notebook computers sold in the USA are brand-name machines. Unless ofcourse you know of any laptops which have no label? ;)
^^ I mean the high class brand names like IBM, dell or sony. There are other cheaper one's out there.
Also, you might get a cheaper one if you by a celeron or AMD chip. Though people will tell you it's slow & not good blah blah, but I believe that it's ideal for those who are not doing a lot of image processing or programming. My theory is, if you are going to use the laptop maybe an hour a day & for casual purposes; then go with the cheapest you can get!
Typically Dell is the cheapest out there, and its a terrific brandname. IBM also slashed its prices a lot, so did Sony. They just can't sell if they don't match Dell's prices.
Yeah, Athelon or Celeron are good for normal home use. One doesn't have to go for P 4 or P III just to surf the net or use simple computing tasks.
dude..you're getting a dell..
^:rotfl: Silly!!!
thanks allot everyone..
I need it for personal use.. I already have a computer with all the burner shurners and scanner..
I need this one for personal use, to take to school, should be fast with the net… most of my stuff is on the net.
and it shouldn’t stall with mutlple programs open.. finally should have the latest version of microsoft office.
thanks again :flower:
id go for dell...they are cheap and but they dont got the bells and whistles everyone wants....id stay away from gateway...i find their products to be cheapy made.
please dont forget, alot of these new slim laptops are very expensive. sometimes .5k more than a fatter and heavier laptop. so if ur willing to carry an extra pound go for the heavier laptops.
also, these new lightweight laptops require a bay for many things like...cd rom and floppy drives. but the older fatter versions have these incorporated in the design.
my conclusion: buy the heavier ones with intergrated devices caus ur gonna use this laptop for studies. if u were a traveller...id recommend u get the slimmer ones, but thats not the case for you.
[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by ~MuNiYa~: *
finally should have the latest version of microsoft office.
[/QUOTE]
latest version of microsoft office???
it will be a long search, ma'am! :)
just a buy the software yourself.
Re: Computer People Help
[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by ~MuNiYa~: *
I want to buy a laptop (notebook) a decent one that will
last a few years.
Please rec. one as cheap as possible..
[/QUOTE]
Mun - I guess u r in states somewhere. Please let us know your range, how much you are planning to spend? Laptop prices starts from $1,200 and up to 7K. Its just like jitna gurr dalo utna meetha.
Also for the software, I am sure u must have contacts in Pakistan where u can buy any kind of software for just 3 bucks.
Faster laptop will cost you more money. also how long are u planning to keep it? CAUSE THAT'S VERY VERY IMPORTANT.
Laptop is like a White Elephant meaning hard to buy and very hard to upgrade & impossible to sell. Of course you don't think about upgrade right away.
In the market there are many vendors who can sell their products for very low prices but my advise would be "not to settle yourself for less than IBM, Dell or Compaq". There are several benefits down the road which may not going to make any sense at this point of time.
I will wait for your answer...I am selling my laptop too...wanna buy?
Salman .. I want to keep it through grad school.. so about 3 years.
and I want to spend as less as possible. I already have a computer but its in my brother's room and I hate having to bother him.. so I just need something simple like I said before..
what do you guys think about buying a used one?
- faisal* you mentioned installing MS...we did that on the desktop comp. and it seemed to use up allot of memory and slow the comp down.I was trying to avoid that again, am I doing something wrong? what do you suggest?
[QUOTE]
Originally posted by ~MuNiYa~: *
**what do you guys think about buying a used one?*
[/QUOTE]
buy salman bhai's ;)
[QUOTE]
Originally posted by ~MuNiYa~: *
* faisal you mentioned installing MS...we did that on the desktop comp. and it seemed to use up allot of memory and slow the comp down.I was trying to avoid that again, am I doing something wrong? what do you suggest?
[/QUOTE]
Most computers come pre-installed with Microsoft Windows. So typically thats a non-issue.
You, however, asked for a buying a computer which already has Microsoft Office pre-installed.
Very few computers come pre-installed with MS Office software, as it is quite expensive. Only some of the high-end computers with expensive price-tags offer pre-installed Microsoft Office. Most computers are shipped with Microsoft Works, or Corel Suite.
Instead of going for a very high-end computer just to get MS Office pre-installed might not be very wise. Just get a computer you want, and buy MS Office XP from the store and install it yourself. It should not hog any more resources on your computer whether it is pre-installed or you install it yourself.
[QUOTE]
Originally posted by ~MuNiYa~: *
* faisal you mentioned installing MS...we did that on the desktop comp. and it seemed to use up allot of memory and slow the comp down.I was trying to avoid that again, am I doing something wrong? what do you suggest?
[/QUOTE]
If you are planning to keep it for three years then my advise would be to either think about getting a mid range notebook or if your budget desn't allow then don't think at all. I am saying this thing from experience.
Present laptop which I am selling right now is one of the reason that I see myself buying another one after few months.
The way technology is advancing its very hard to keep up with it. Specially if you are thinking about buying this kind of stuff.
I would recommend to look for either PII or lower level PIII like 550, if you are not planning to install 3D games or autoCAD types of programs.
Just upgrade its memory and hard drive and you'll be good for couple of years. Like Toshiba Tecra8000 series or Dell Latitude or IBM ThinkPad 600X etc.
When buyin and old laptop just make sure you get atleast 128MB RAM / 10GB hard drive or recommended 256MB with 20+GB hard drive.
As far as the applications like MS Office has concerned it will cost you somewhere from US$150-$450, depending on your selections/options. Best bet to get it from Pakistan as I mentioned earlier cause you are not running a business like myself so try to understand this point and don't spend too much money on software, which u can get for few bucks.
Here is a good deal on Amazon for Today 12/02/2002
-1.50 GHz Intel Celeron
-256 MB SDRAM
-20 GB Hard Disk
-DVD-ROM: Included;
-Windows XP Home Edition
-Microsoft Works, Intuit Quicken Basic 2001,Norton AntiVirus 2002
-14.1 inch active-matrix display
-7.0 pounds