benos Posted October 4, 2007 Share Posted October 4, 2007 Some crazy synchronicity got me to start this thread... I've been shopping for a new, cheap, PC Laptop, for my mom. The only thing she'll ever do on it is play games, like solitaire, etc. No internet, nothing else. George gave me some advice... Don't by used or refurb unless you've had personal experience with the website... So the best new deal I could find was: http://www.shopping.hp.com/series/category...rowse1/home_SDP I'm trying to buy it online... after about 100 clicks it looks like I'm finally getting into the cart... then Safari crashes. So then I figure I'll come here, and ask if anyone has a favorite site to buy a new, cheap, PC Laptop. Then I see Butch's "Buyer Beware/HP Compac" thread! So I'm pretty happy HP crashed Safari. Any ideas will be appreciated. be Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HoMiE Posted October 4, 2007 Share Posted October 4, 2007 Try taking a look at http://www.gotapex.com they usually have deals/coupons that take you to other major manufacturers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ima45dv8 Posted October 4, 2007 Share Posted October 4, 2007 I was remembering your story about the VW van, and the value it provided to you after that other disappointing vehicle had let you down. And it made me think you should just go to Dell and buy the cheapest new one you can find. Plus, if there does turn out to be a problem with it down the road, she'll be calling someone in Ind-ya at 4:00AM instead of you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nik Habicht Posted October 4, 2007 Share Posted October 4, 2007 My last two laptops have been refurb's from Dell's outlet site. Nary a problem with either one --- but they were both high-end XPS laptops.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reneet Posted October 4, 2007 Share Posted October 4, 2007 Deal News / Computers I've never been disappointed in any of the vendors on this web site. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jhgtyre Posted October 4, 2007 Share Posted October 4, 2007 I just picked up a Gateway laptop at Bestbuy for $329. After killing a bunch of the preloaded junk in Vista and spending $89 on 2gb's of ram it runs great. -ld Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SLM Posted October 4, 2007 Share Posted October 4, 2007 If you are going with a lower end machine, DO NOT get Vista. I've been playing with a neighbor's the last few days, trying to get it to run. I didn't know it was possible to make a 1.8 gig computer run so SLOW! When it comes to buying computer parts online, I use NewEgg.com and ZipZoomFly.com almost exclusively. I did buy a LCD monitor from Dell and had to get into a big knockdown, drag out fight with a supervisor to get them to take it back after I exchanged it once and the second one was junk also. YMMV. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vettman1 Posted October 4, 2007 Share Posted October 4, 2007 Check out http://www.slickdeals.net. They will have some great deals on laptops (as well as other things) every once and a while. The last two computers I got I learned about on this site. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bgary Posted October 4, 2007 Share Posted October 4, 2007 www.costco.com good brands, good prices (including some factory refurbished machines with warranty if you really want low=price) and no-questions-asked return policy for 90 days... Bruce Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
benos Posted October 4, 2007 Author Share Posted October 4, 2007 Thanks everyone! That's great stuff... I'll let you know where I end up. be Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
benos Posted October 4, 2007 Author Share Posted October 4, 2007 I just ordered one of these guys, I found dealnew.com: http://dealnews.com/deals/Dell-Vostro-1000...ped/190469.html ... and when I got to dell's site: http://www.dell.com/content/products/categ...s=04&~ck=bt ... it was actually about 80 bucks cheaper! It should be perfect. Overall it was about $500 including tax, free shipping, and a usb mouse (she needs one to play games). I've been clicking for quite a long time and never found a deal anywhere near that. Matter of fact, if it all goes well, I may by one for myself, just to have it around to test web pages, etc. Thanks a lot for that link Renee! be Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
traxman Posted October 5, 2007 Share Posted October 5, 2007 I was remembering your story about the VW van, and the value it provided to you after that other disappointing vehicle had let you down. And it made me think you should just go to Dell and buy the cheapest new one you can find. Plus, if there does turn out to be a problem with it down the road, she'll be calling someone in Ind-ya at 4:00AM instead of you. +100 on this advice. I used to get the best deal on PCs for my friends and family regardless of price. But after a few years of support calls and visits, I recommend Dell. If you don't mind helping her out and want a good deal from a great company, I recommend www.newegg.com. The ones mentioned above are good as well though. traxman Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
benos Posted October 6, 2007 Author Share Posted October 6, 2007 Thanks traxman. In the past, I've bought quite a bit of stuff from newegg, especially if what I wanted was a little out of date - good products and service. But they don't seem to handle Dell however. be Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
benos Posted October 12, 2007 Author Share Posted October 12, 2007 Got it yesterday... got it up and running, installed iTunes - for 450 bucks it's downright impressive. And it's real learning curve for me... seeing how the "other world" lives. Man... Maybe I'll get lucky here (meaning I won't have to start a new thread) ... I have a super-cheap mp3 player that I'm experimenting with, as a low-cost, mass-purchase, giveaway item - it's a "Truly MP310" (25 bucks). It hardly even works at all... now I see why the reset button is so accessible. So before throwing it in the trash, I thought I'd see if there were any firmware upgrades. So I got to www.picnroll.com, and find a firmware upgrade for it. I download it, unzip it, and I have to files in a folder on the desktop (of my new Dell): "user_FW.rom", and "user_RS". On a Mac, you'd probably just have one file, you'd double click it and whatever needed to happen would happen. But on this thing, I don't know what to do with these two files to get the firmware upgraded? (They won't "open" and I couldn't find any info on their site.) Thanks in advance for any info. be Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
benos Posted October 13, 2007 Author Share Posted October 13, 2007 Well... I had to go do about 10 minutes of manual labor... and during that time the answer came to me floating on the breeze of insight... ahhhh, you right click it. I did and got the "send to" thing - so I sent them both right on in there. I hope it helps my 25 dollar wonder toy. be Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
el pres Posted October 15, 2007 Share Posted October 15, 2007 Plasmas,lap tops,desktops,whatever geeks.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glockster35 Posted November 17, 2007 Share Posted November 17, 2007 Looks like I will be replacing my laptop soon, kids broke the hinges on my older one. I do have a few questions before I begin seriously looking though. My current Laptop is an older Toshiba (Vintage 2003 or earlier), A25-S207 and it has a 2.66 Ghz processor. This laptop has served my family very well over the years, and I have only had to replace the harddrive one time. It is dated now, and the video card is not capable of displaying video over the internet without being choppy. I notice on most of todays middle end laptops, most of them seem to have around 1.6-2.0 Ghz dual core processors. Can I expect better performance from these new processors over the one I have currently? I suspect my purchase will be something with less than a 2.0 Ghz processor, either AMD or Intel and have 2 gigs memory, Vista (not preferred) and a 6600 or better Nvidia video card. My use will be basic home use, and some gaming. I am looking to spend in the neighborhood of $800 tops for this purchase. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EricW Posted November 17, 2007 Share Posted November 17, 2007 I have a brand-new 1.8Ghz HP laptop for work. It sucks donkey dookey. Even has 1 GB and XP and it's just hideously slow. Buy one if you must, but don't plan on doing anything in a hurry. What would I recommend? Well, it's not a PC, I can tell you that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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