Cheap notebooks

The Dell Online Store: Build Your System

Not bad but not stellar either. Nice dual core 14" machine, 160gb hard drive, dvd, 2gb ram, big 9 cell battery, $549. You can get the 2 year in home parts and labor warranty with 24x7 tech support for an extra $79 with a $25 dell gift card rebate. $600 for a well equipped long battery life machine with a 2 year warranty isnt bad. This is a fixed configuration, so no tweaking. Looks like Dell is getting rid of the old 65nm processor line to make room for the new 45's.
 
In the near future we plan on being on the road for extended periods of time. We will need internet access for local areas we are exploring for future retirement. Will a sub 800 $ system allow us to surf and check email while on the road without any issues? You all seem to be up to speed on laptops so any opinions welcome.
 
FWIW, I was just at my local new Wal-Mart and picked up a card on their Dell Inspiron 1501 nortbook computer. Here's the specs:
AMD Sempron 3600 processor
1 GB memory & 80 GB hard drive
8x DVD+/-RW Dual Layer Drive
15.4" screen
6 cell battery & Dell Internal Wireless Mini Card
Windows Vista Home Premium
1 yr. Lilmited Warranty & 24/7 Technical Support

Price: $498
 
Divot in that machine is the Sempron. Its pretty power hungry, runs pretty hot, is single core and not a very good performer. For about the same price you can get a Vostro 1000 with a dual core AMD processor thats a lot cooler running and better on the battery usage, plus it'll have a lot more horsepower. For a few bucks more than that, you can get a core2duo machine thats a good bit faster and better on the battery than the amd dual core.

Presuming you wont use the machine until it drops, a core 2 duo will have some decent resale. The AMD X2 less so. Good luck selling a 3-4 year old sempron machine.

Well cared for, most of these notebooks I've listed recently could be sold in 2-3 years for at least $300-350. Pretty nice to get a pretty good machine, use it for 3 years and then get most of your money back from it, turn around and buy another new one with better features and brand new hard drives and dvd drives rather than ones on their last legs.

Notmuchlonger...any of these laptops above are perfectly adequate for what you want to do. Except the Sony, which sold out almost immediately.

You'll need access to a free or rented wifi connection, a phone line, or to buy a wireless adapter and service from one of the cell phone providers for network access.

If using some internet cafe, coffee shop or other 'retail open wifi' connection, I would not perform any sensitive transactions such as financial institution access and I would be very careful to make sure that any file sharing options are turned off on your machine.
 
Thank you for the insight. Now Ill need to figure out what kind of internet access we want to buy for it.
 
The Dell Online Store: Build Your System

Not too bad. Core 2 duo with 2gb ram, a 250gb hard drive and a 9 cell extended run battery for $579.

Make sure you opt for the free dual layer burner with roxio. You can also extend the warranty to two years of onsite service for $79.

If you're experiencing some problems with distance on your wireless connectivity (WAP upstairs, computer downstairs), you might want to chip in the $29 for the intel 3945 version for a bit better weak signal pickup.
 
Last edited:
cute fuzzy bunny said:
If using some internet cafe, coffee shop or other 'retail open wifi' connection, I would not perform any sensitive transactions such as financial institution access and I would be very careful to make sure that any file sharing options are turned off on your machine.
Click to expand...

Does using Linix and Firefox reduce the risk?
 
I know the Vostro is a popular choice here. I bought a 1000. Is anyone else having a problem with the built-in "mouse" taking a single click as a double click? If so, I've found a fix. I thought I'd pass it along because the problem was very annoying to me. I'm not sure if the problem is on all Vostros or just the 1000, but here's what I've done to fix mine.

Reboot and hit F12 during startup to go into Diagnostics mode. On the menu scroll down to select Diagnostics. It'll run for about 5 minutes.

When it finishes, it'll ask if you want to run advanced Diags. Select No.

Then you have a menu of choices. Select Custom Diagnostics, then Mouse. (or maybe it's touchpad--I can't remember exactly but there was one obvious choice)

It'll run another few minutes, and ask you to click each button at some point.

When finished, exit the diagnostics menu, and it'll reboot. The double click problem should be gone.

Sorry if I don't have the steps exactly correct, but it was pretty easy to follow.

I know there are also options on the control panel for the mouse and touchpad, but none of those had fixed this problem.

However, I've heard the problem may come back. If it does for me, I'm going to report it to Dell and hope for a driver fix, and also re-run diagnostics, and hope it's not a daily or weekly thing.
 
dex said:
Does using Linix and Firefox reduce the risk?
Click to expand...

A little bit, but I still wouldnt do it. I like to know who owns the access point i'm using and what peers have access to my machine.

Being behind your own access point with no unknown peers makes exploiting your machine a great deal harder.

Every operating system and browser has exploitable faults, including linux and firefox.

I'd really feel like a tin hat moron if people werent making dedicated handheld units that buyers can take into open wireless networks that attempt to exploit all peers and capture information from them...and selling them by the truckload. And most corporations using VPN's with hardware keys and additional password...theres a reason for that...

In all likelihood, you could enjoy years of public access to your personal accounts and information without ever having anything bad happen to you. You could also run across the road a few hundred times with a bag over your head and probably never get hit by a car.

If you were using a read only thumbdrive (or protected EEE!) OS/browser combo that used a strong encryption scheme 100% of the time and the sites you access provide advanced security helpers like a user selected photo or phrase, then you'd probably be good.
 
cute fuzzy bunny said:
That'll teach you for buying one of those AMD based POS... ;)

You're just lucky it hasnt bitten you or caught fire.
Click to expand...

You mean like my Inspiron 8600 with Intel processor used to heat up? :p
 
That was a special design that helped keep the user warm, and at the same time reduced home heating demands.

No danger of catching fire, and all teeth were removed at the factory.
 
Seems there was a very good deal on some Dell laptops a few weeks ago, and everyone who bought something else from them returned what they bought and got the better deal.

Now there seems to be a brazillion Inspiron 1525 notebooks "refurbished" in the dell outlet, and theres a 15% off coupon good only until tomorrow.

Never had a problem with a dell refurb, all looked like new. These were probably sent out and sent back in under a month. The 1525 hasnt been out that long.

At a quick glance, I saw all colors, dual processors of varying speed, 2-3GB of ram, 160GB hard disks, dvd burners and vista home premium. Most were in the $550-580 range, which would come down to 470-500 range after the coupon. Nice deal.

Coupon code is XCJ8H2H2SC5CBK applied at checkout.

Go here...
Dell Factory Outlet

If you go through the fatwallet site referral link and use a cash rewards card, knock another 4-5 percent off.

Since these are already made, they also will ship in a day or two.
Dell Outlet Home coupons and cash back

This coupon expires after 750 uses, so dont dawdle...
 
I'd read some reviews on that cloudbook before I bought one...

The macbook is great if you want a machine with minimal memory, minimal hard disk, and a 13" screen for almost twice as much...
 
cute fuzzy bunny said:
I'd read some reviews on that cloudbook before I bought one...

The macbook is great if you want a machine with minimal memory, minimal hard disk, and a 13" screen for almost twice as much...
Click to expand...

It depends on what you want. If you must interact with a corporate network or if you want the latest greatest gaming experience, definitely grab a Dell refurb or discount box. If you just want to surf the 'net a generic linux box would work just fine. If you want to manage lots of photos and video and audio right out of the box, it's tough to beat a Mac, but there are no 'generic' or super-cheap Macs. It depends on what you want or need usage-wise.

BTW, my MacBook is running 2GB of RAM on a 2.0Ghz Intel Core Duo.
 
I agree a linux notebook can be fine.

Just not the cloudbook. GOS is not well received as a product, the hard drive is very slow, it runs very hot, and the wifi performance and battery life are weak. I'd buy an EEE and get a little external hard drive for when you needed it, or a large SDHC card.

I'm sure your mac configuration is very nice. Its not that far removed spec-wise from the dell machine noted above. What did you pay for yours?

The refurb you pointed to is only $100 cheaper than a new machine, it has an 80gb drive vs 160, has 1GB ram vs 2-3GB, and a 13" screen vs a 15" screen. For $450 more.

So I agree wholeheartedly with you that its not necessary to buy too much hardware, or a good idea to pay twice as much for half as much. Of course, there could be some moral value I'm not savvy on...spending as much as you can for a computer yet not taking up unnecessary computing resources that you dont need?
 
cute fuzzy bunny said:
I'm sure your mac configuration is very nice. Its not that far removed spec-wise from the dell machine noted above. What did you pay for yours?
Click to expand...

BTW, the Dell link above shows sold out online - It was a 2-day sale at Best Buy.

I think I paid about $800 at CompUSA for my MacBook.

FYI, my previous laptop was a Dell, paid maybe $375 at a computer outlet type place. At work I help maintain my employer's 1600+ Dells. I've been using PC's since before Windows 3.1. But I've used my Mac more than any PC I've ever owned, and I'll never go back. Not trying to preach, just sayin'.....O0
 
Cool, let us know how you like it. I havent tried out a 1525 before.

Killer set of features for the money. One of the reviews I saw said it came with the media center remote control, and vista premium has the MCE feature built in. Get a USB tv tuner and hook it up to your cable tv and you've got a DVR!

I've been tinkering with a free product called tversity. Run it on your computer and it'll transcode or convert any video/photo/music format on the fly and serve it over your home network to most of the current game consoles or some directv receivers. I've got Gabes youtube firetruck videos, all of our video, photos and music tied into my xbox 360 and both of our directv boxes so we can call them up on the tv.

Pretty amazing having a computer pulling down internet video, scrunching it up and spitting it back out to a tv set downstairs...

Microsoft is beta testing a directv tuner box for MCE that'll have all the same features.
 
cute fuzzy bunny said:
Cool, let us know how you like it. I havent tried out a 1525 before.

Killer set of features for the money. One of the reviews I saw said it came with the media center remote control, and vista premium has the MCE feature built in. Get a USB tv tuner and hook it up to your cable tv and you've got a DVR!

I've been tinkering with a free product called tversity. Run it on your computer and it'll transcode or convert any video/photo/music format on the fly and serve it over your home network to most of the current game consoles or some directv receivers. I've got Gabes youtube firetruck videos, all of our video, photos and music tied into my xbox 360 and both of our directv boxes so we can call them up on the tv.

Pretty amazing having a computer pulling down internet video, scrunching it up and spitting it back out to a tv set downstairs...

Microsoft is beta testing a directv tuner box for MCE that'll have all the same features.
Click to expand...

Yippee!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Picked it up today and typing on it as we speak. It is sweeeeet!

Haven't digested all the new features yet...that'll take me a while. So happy to have a new laptop. My old one (bless her heart) was 8 years old and runnin' so sloooooow. Now I can truly appreciate my hi-speed internet connection.
 
Another Dell 15" for $499...

The Dell Online Store: Build Your System

Intel® Core™ 2 Duo T5270 (1.4GHz/800Mhz FSB/2MB cache)
Genuine Windows® XP Home Edition
15.4 inch Wide Screen XGA LCD Anti-Glare Display
2GB Shared Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 667MHz, 2 DIMM
8X CD/DVD+RW Read and Burn CD and DVD
128MB NVIDIA® GeForce™ 8400M GS
80GB 5400RPM Hard Drive
56 WHr 6-cell Lithium Ion Primary Battery

Skimpy hard drive, but good video and ram. Bump to 120gb drive for cheap, but most of the other upgrades are expensive.
 
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