Inexpensive laptop options

[Pilgrim]

I am looking to get an inexpensive laptop soon and am looking for some pointers on what manufacturers to look at, what memory capacity and disk space I need, etc. (Anything will be a huge upgrade from my ancient desktop.) I need something that will perform basic tasks, not heavily into gaming, multimedia, etc. My understanding is that I should get Vista Home Premium, not Basic.

 

[Herald]

Chris - look at this thread:

http://www.puritanboard.com/showthread.php?t=23780

 

[ZackF]

I am looking to get an inexpensive laptop soon and am looking for some pointers on what manufacturers to look at, what memory capacity and disk space I need, etc. (Anything will be a huge upgrade from my ancient desktop.) I need something that will perform basic tasks, not heavily into gaming, multimedia, etc. My understanding is that I should get Vista Home Premium, not Basic.

It didn't have Vista on it of course but I settled for a used laptop I won on EBAY. PIII 1.0 GHZ 30 gid HD. It gets the job done and it's paid for. Something to consider.

 

[jbergsing]

It all depends on what you mean by "inexpensive". I highly recommend Vista Home Premium over Basic, but make sure you get no less than 2GB of RAM to run it.

 

[Gryphonette]

I've got Vista Home Basic. What am I missing out on?

OTOH, I don't have much memory, so it's probably just as well. My son has a laptop with 1GB of memory and Vista Home Premium, and he can't do the webcam thing with us because the latter takes up so much memory. His father told him he needs another GB of memory.

As to what type of computer, I've got an Acer Aspire and like it very much. One thing I like about it - compared to the Compaq my mother has - is it isn't loaded with lots of extraneous programs, and doesn't pop up windows every five minutes urging me to buy their extended warranty. Mom's so sick and tired of that she's ready to send it back to Compaq.

 

[Ivan]

Mom's so sick and tired of that she's ready to send it back to Compaq.

I'm sure there is some way to get into its little guts and rip that out. Rich?

 

[fredtgreco]

I don't like Compaqs either. HPs are better. It's likely that there is no restore disk (and she probably has stuff on it already). You may want to run a utility that removes trial/adware. But back up the documents, etc. FIRST. Warning - don't do anything without a backup (preferably a complete Ghost image, if not a Vista backup).

Here is a link:

http://www.pcdecrapifier.com/home

 

[Pilgrim]

The thing about Vista Basic vs Premium was something I heard on the Kim Komando radio show (a show about computers, technology, etc.) I can't remember the specifics, but remember generally that Premium was considered a better value.

 

[dalecosby]

I just needed to by an inexpensive laptop so I got a Gateway on eBay. Came in yesterday and I am happy with it so far.
Paid $230 total with shipping/
It is as follows:

1.5 Pentium M (faster than P4 from what I hear)
512 MB
40 GB
DVD/CD-RW
Integrated B/G wireless
Firewire
USB 2.0
S-Video out
Optical audio out.
XP Pro

It is certanly no Mac like I wanted (and will probably get soon) but it will get me by for a few months.

 

[Pilgrim]

I just needed to by an inexpensive laptop so I got a Gateway on eBay. Came in yesterday and I am happy with it so far.
Paid $230 total with shipping/
It is as follows:

1.5 Pentium M (faster than P4 from what I hear)
512 MB
40 GB
DVD/CD-RW
Integrated B/G wireless
Firewire
USB 2.0
S-Video out
Optical audio out.
XP Pro

It is certanly no Mac like I wanted (and will probably get soon) but it will get me by for a few months.

Was it new?