Re: Off topic: Need cheap new laptop, any suggestions?

[Bill Troop billtroop@xxxxxxxx]

I always buy Dell, mid-range, and have always been happy. But I have
always also bought a 3-4 year onsite service warranty. That is de
rigeur with any laptop, I think. Even with that, you're not out of
the woods. Never offer any explanation for a malfunction, or it will
be used against you. Deny any possible accident. Etc. etc. Unless you
play dumb, all manufacturers will try to worm out of their warranty
obligations. Just my opinion, based on years of bitter experience.
At 6/17/2009 09:23 AM, you wrote:

> Lisa Kleinholz wrote:
>
> > My daughter's Dell Inspiron laptop is dying a slow death. With no
> > money and great urgency, she is looking for a new one. Has anyone
> > on the list bought something recently that is low priced and
> > reliable (and smallish)? Mostly for word processing, web access,
> > photos, & iTunes music.
> Having gotten a new laptop in Oct. 07, I'll presume to give some advice.
> 1. You really need to see and feel the machine before buying,
> because two of the biggest issues with laptops are screen size &nd
> resolution and keyboard. With so few brick and mortar stores around
> Staples, Office Depot, MicroCenter) that gets difficult. And I think
> Lisa once told us she lives in the boonies? (N.B., once you've found
> acceptable screens and keyboards someplace physical, write down the
> make and model numbers--carefully: manufacturers have a gazillion
> models with similar numbers)--and see if you can get it cheaper from
> a reputable on-line merchant.)
> 2. Don't accept anything with less that 1 Gb of RAM. Even on XP
> Home, it crawls with less.
> 3. Other questions to consider:
> 3.1 Do you need long battery life?
> 3.2 Is weight a consideration?
> 3.3 Will it need to connect to a wired network?
> 3.4 How will it access the Internet?
> The new class of Netbooks are cheap and lightweight, and a few have
> long battery life. But their CPU (the Intel Atom) is slow and
> underpowered by today's standards. You don't want to try photo
> editing or anything else processor- and graphics-intensive on one.
> But if all she needs is e-mail, Web browsing, and word processing
> (esp. if she learned how to use lean and mean Xy), one would be
> adequate. Note that they don't have CD/DVD drives, so backup would
> have to be either to USB or some kind of a network connection,
> either through the Internet or a wired LAN. (If the latter, you want
> to check if it has an Ethernet, or CAT 5, port; if it doesn't, I
> believe there are USB to Ethernet adaptors
> The July PCWorld magazine has a rundown of the latest Netbooks
> (findpcworld.com/62994), and ComputerShopper.com (they've ceased
> paper publication) probably has lots of reviews, if one can find them.
> RadioShack sometemes has Netbooks dirt cheap if you sign up for
> Cellular Internet at the time of purchase. It's a two- or thre-year
> contract, and not cheap (c.$70/month), but a very good way to go
> online: anyplace you can get the signal, and much faster than
> dial-up, if not quite DSL. And you can turn it off and on with a
> mouse-click, so you don't have to be "always on," which I find dangerous.
> --
> Patricia M. Godfrey
> priscamg@xxxxxxxx