Cheap notebooks

[cute fuzzy bunny]

Acer Aspire 7720-6307 17'' Widescreen Intel Core 2 Duo notebook T5450, 250GB hard drive, Blu-ray Disc drive,2GB of DDR2 memory,Built-in wireless 802.11abg,5-in-1 media card reader - LX.ALN0X.254 - Buy.com

Not bad if you're looking for something heavy duty for desktop media replacement purposes.

Core 2 Duo, 2GB ram, 250GB hard drive, 17" display, Blu-Ray dvd WRITER (thats expensive!), 256MB 8400M graphics, 8 cell battery, $899.

Similarly configured lappies are running around $1100-1300ish, so thats a good deal.

If you're interested in playing blu-ray disks, and making your own, and you need a big honking laptop too...

Use this link to get an extra $15 off: Coupons - Buy.com

[Want2retire]

Originally Posted by cute fuzzy bunny

The $499 Inspiron is back in stock at Best Buy

Dell - Inspiron Laptop with Intel® Pentium® Dual-Core Processor T2370 - Jet Black - I1525-100B

Cant do much better than this deal for a well equipped 15" notebook. Dual core, 2GB ram, 160GB drive, etc.

I just might get this one.

I am having trouble with my Toshiba 15.4" laptop with Vista that I bought just a few months ago. Or maybe it's trouble with mouses (mice?).

First, after working just fine for a little while there was only intermittent response to my Kensington mouse, and I figured that I had probably crunched the cord. So, I bought a Targus mouse with a retractable cord, which worked just fine for a couple of weeks but as of this week it is now doing the same thing. (Both mouses were under $20... no big deal).

Windows says the driver is up to date, and there isn't any driver on the Targus site. I am beginning to think that maybe it's the USB ports. I have the same trouble with all three of them, though. No problem using the touchpad, but I hate touchpads.

Otherwise, I'm happy with my Toshiba setup. So, I will probably buy one more Kensington mouse, and if that doesn't fix the problem, maybe I'll get the above Dell.

[cute fuzzy bunny]

They already jerked the price back up to $549. Check your local ad on the bestbuy web page, it may be listed there at $499 and you could call them to order it and ask them to honor the sale price in your circular. I think the problem is that there arent any in store anymore and they think they can get a little more for the few they have in stock to ship out.

These cheap deals tend to work for about a day, maybe two.

But another one'll be along soon.

Have you tried any other usb devices and are you seeing trouble with those? Might just be a loose connection inside to the usb connectors. Hard to get to though.

If you just got it a couple of months ago, isnt it still under warranty?

[Want2retire]

I haven't tried any other USB devices lately. Probably should, just to check. One of the USB connectors seems to be pretty wiggly, so at first I thought it was the problem but I have the same trouble with all three of them.

Good thought on the warranty. I didn't even think to look. I'll check tonight. I noticed on Saturday that my local Best Buy supposedly still had the Dell (according to the website), but by now who knows. If not, it won't kill me to use the touchpad until another deal comes along.

Basically, I don't need much of a system, but need the blankety blank mouse to work. I really hate touchpads. Thanks.

[cute fuzzy bunny]

Check with toshibas web site for the warranty. Its either 90 days or 1 year.
Toshiba Support -

These things all get slapped together so fast its not uncommon to have something a little loose. I always recommend making sure you have at least a one year warranty.

I think toshiba is all mail-in though, so you'll have to box it up and ship it to them. All but guaranteed they'll wipe your hard drive while they're at it, so make a backup.

[Want2retire]

Originally Posted by cute fuzzy bunny

Check with toshibas web site for the warranty. Its either 90 days or 1 year.
Toshiba Support -

These things all get slapped together so fast its not uncommon to have something a little loose. I always recommend making sure you have at least a one year warranty.

I think toshiba is all mail-in though, so you'll have to box it up and ship it to them. All but guaranteed they'll wipe your hard drive while they're at it, so make a backup.

Thanks. What a PITA. I think I've had mine for 90 days (will doublecheck the date on my receipt later) but I'll go check their website to see if it's a year on this model.

I just checked the local Best Buy ad and the Dell is back up to $549. That was quick!

[Notmuchlonger]

Finally decided on a Dell Vostro. CFB helped out a lot. Thanks My new baby should be here shortly..woo woo

[OAG]

W2R: If you purchased it with a VISA/MASTER card (or other card) you may have a "double" warranty. My VISA does not but many do. You will have to either call the card issuer or read the documentation that came with the card (probably easier to call).

[samclem]

Originally Posted by Want2retire

I am having trouble with my Toshiba 15.4" laptop with Vista that I bought just a few months ago. Or maybe it's trouble with mouses (mice?).

First, after working just fine for a little while there was only intermittent response to my Kensington mouse, and I figured that I had probably crunched the cord. So, I bought a Targus mouse with a retractable cord, which worked just fine for a couple of weeks but as of this week it is now doing the same thing. (Both mouses were under $20... no big deal).

When my Toshiba crumped out approx a year ago (it was 2 yrs old) I found out that it was part of a mass service action and that the repair would be free. It was done at a local Toshiba-authorized service center. Call Toshiba and they'll probably give you a reference number and a referral to a local fix-it shop.

My repair went well and it keeps chugging along just fine. Maybe it's not the best laptop out there, but it has been reliable for me, and I travel quite a bit with it.

[Want2retire]

Originally Posted by samclem

When my Toshiba crumped out approx a year ago (it was 2 yrs old) I found out that it was part of a mass service action and that the repair would be free. It was done at a local Toshiba-authorized service center. Call Toshiba and they'll probably give you a reference number and a referral to a local fix-it shop.

My repair went well and it keeps chugging along just fine. Maybe it's not the best laptop out there, but it has been reliable for me, and I travel quite a bit with it.

Thanks, RWood and samclem.

[cute fuzzy bunny]

Gabe and I were scaring employees at Best Buy earlier this afternoon and I noticed they have a Toshiba 15.4", dual core, 1GB, 120GB, vista premium laptop for $449.

Toshiba - Satellite Laptop with Intel® Pentium® Dual-Core Processor T2370 - Onyx Blue Metallic - A205-S5825

Its in-store only, so you'll have to hoof it over there. Nice keyboard and screen.

You might want to add an extra GB of ram, which might require buying 2GB if there are 2 x 512MB sticks in there already. If its got a 1GB stick in it, then you'll only need to buy 1GB. Or stick a 2GB fast SD card in it and put Speedboost on it.

[cute fuzzy bunny]

ThinkPad R61e 7650 Laptop Computer Notebook- C 540 / 1.86 GHz - RAM : 512 MB - HD : 80 GB - CD-RW / DVD - Gigabit Ethernet - WLAN : 802.11b/g - Win XP Pro - 15.4'' Widescreen TFT 1280 x 800 ( WXGA ) - TopSeller - 765084U - Buy.com

Underinspiring Thinkpad with weak features for a low price as far as thinkpads go.

Celeron 540, 512MB ram, 80GB disk, cd burner/dvd reader.

About the only good things with this are that its cheap for a thinkpad, and it has a the trackpoint instead of a touchpad. Some people love 'em. I actually like the trackpoint a good bit but I used thinkpads so much I got a little RS thing in the middle of my hand from them, so no more.

Fine for basic surfing and office apps. Built well. Everyone who sees it will think you paid a lot.

[cute fuzzy bunny]

Nice officemax coupon that somehow has escaped onto that internet thing and now everyone can have it. Drat!

$100 off any computer at officemax.

This one looks nice on sale, decent for $449 after coupon. Dual core, 2GB ram, 250GB hard drive, 15.4" screen...you'll need to go into the store with a cutout copy of the coupon to get the deal. Its possible they may stop accepting these coupons in the next few days, so go quick...

Acer Aspire AS5730-4353 15.4" Notebook PC INTEL 15.4" Widescreen 250 GB Windows Vista Home Premium Pentium Dual-Core 2048 MB at OfficeMax
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[cute fuzzy bunny]

Hmmm...15" too small, 17" too big? Something a little different. Not super cheap but pretty well loaded...

Buy the Acer Aspire AS6920-6621 16" Widescreen Laptop and other Laptop computers at circuitcity.com

Core 2 duo, 3GB ram, 320GB hard drive, 16" screen, Vista home premium. $699

A little heavy...this weighs more than my 17" which is on the light side for 17's. More memory and hard drive than I have though.

[cute fuzzy bunny]

This ones okay for $519:

The Dell Online Store: Build Your System

Intel® Core™ 2 Duo T5270 (1.4GHz/800Mhz FSB/2MB cache)
Genuine Windows® XP Home Edition
1 Year Basic Limited Warranty plus 1 Year Mail-in Service
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
Intel® Integrated Graphics Media Accelerator X3100
120GB 5400RPM Hard Drive
Dell Exclusive MediaDirect™ Instant Play Software Application
Dell Wireless 1395 802.11g Wi-Fi Internal Card
No Webcam Option

You can bump the dvd writer to a DL with Roxio for free, and you can also bump the video from the x3100 to an nvidia 8400 for free. Updating the warranty from one year mail in to one year onsite is $39 and to go to two years onsite is $79.

[Marquette]

I just spent $2000 on a new desktop. I guess I kind of screwed up on the LBYM part ;-)

[dex]

Originally Posted by Marquette

I just spent $2000 on a new desktop. I guess I kind of screwed up on the LBYM part ;-)

What did you get for that amount? And what do you do with it - maybe it was worth the price.

I spent $750 for a Lenovo desktop with with a 19" monitor. I feel that I overpaid by about $100-200 based upon what has been posted about desktops. I use it for email, surfing the web and watching TV.

[Marquette]

Originally Posted by dex

What did you get for that amount? And what do you do with it - maybe it was worth the price.

It's an Intel Core 2 Quad core with 8 GB of RAM and four 160 GB drives in a RAID 0+1 configuration.... and a 22" monitor.

I went for value, but even then... Luckily, there was more of this and less of this on the home front.