Recommend a Laptop!!!

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classicrocker978

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Jan 15, 2010
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My girlfriend needs a laptop for college and I'm not that familiar with laptops. Only with desktops... I have no desire to ever own a laptop so I guess its no surprise I have no idea what I'm looking for as far as best bang for the buck is concerned.

1. What is your budget?

Under $350 preferably

2. What is the size of the notebook that you are considering?

Would like a 15inch screen.

3. What screen resolution do you want?

Not picky

4. Do you need a portable or desktop replacement laptop?

A combination?

5. How much battery life do you need?

Couple hours... Battery life isnt a big deal.

6. Do you want to play games with your laptop? If so then please list the games that you want to with the settings that you want for these games. (Low,Medium or High)?

no games.

7. What other tasks do you want to do with your laptop? (Photo/Video editing, Etc.)

Basic computing tasks, listen to itunes, use microsoft word etc

8. How much storage (Hard Drive capacity) do you need?

I'd think 100gb would be plenty.

9. If you are considering specific sites to buy from, please post their links.

Ebay or newegg

10. How long do you want to keep your laptop?

until it dies.

11. What kind of Optical drive do you need? DVD ROM/Writer,Bluray ROM/Writer,Etc ?

dvd/cd drive

12. Please tell us about the brands that you prefer to buy from them and the brands that you don't like and explain the reasons.

no real preference, would be interested in buying a used laptop that just came off a corporate lease.

13. What country do you live in?

United States



Money is tight and the budget is small, thats why I'm strongly considering buying used. What do you guys think of buying used vs new with warranty?

I would look for a business laptop that just came off a corporate lease.. or at least something along those lines. Basically just a work laptop. 2gb of ram would be more than enough if I had to guess.

I'd really appreciate the help, thanks a lot and I look forward to reading the responses!!!
 
In case of heavier multi-tasking requirements: Acer Aspire AS5733Z $350
Pentium P6100 2GHz CPU (part of the i3/i5 Arrandale family), 3GB RAM, 320GB HDD, 15.6" 1366x768 LCD w/ Intel HD Graphics.

A recert model: ASUS K52F 15" notebook $310
Pentium P6200 2.13GHz, 3GB RAM, 500GB HDD 15.6" 1366x768 LCD w/HD Graphics.

I'd suggest a recert laptop over an off-lease business notebook model.
Although the business class models have an edge in durability that's more than offset by the results of a 2 or 3 year lease IMO.


 
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