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I need a notebook....

missmanners

grrrrrrrr...
it only needs to last a year or so, I'll be running a mapping program and an audit program, need to get online with it and I dont want to spend much.

Suggestions?

;)
mm
 
You know what I'm going to say - get the $1,100 MacBook. OS X and Windows, bunch of fun features including a remote for watching vids in bed with your pool boy of the week, etc.

Either that, or snap up a $600 used book off of eBay and consult you techy friends for ways to spif it up.
 
Oh yes, I need Windows, and my mapping program is MS streets and trips. This will be something I haul around in my car and I'd like to try to stay in the $700 range for new. I went the used route last year with very poor results and I have 3 laptops in my closet now. (One has a fried battery and has Windows ME, one is sooooo slooooow and has no video card and the one I'm limping along with now has a design flaw where the plug connects to the board inside the computer... I had it repaired once and the guy told me he would charge around $400 to do it again)

I have seen this around...

http://www.toshibadirect.com/td/b2c/rdet.jsp?poid=358547&seg=HHO

in the $700 range. But the specs may as well be a foreign language. When I have told sales people that my current one is just too slow at times , half of them tell me I need a better processor, the other half tell me I need more RAM.

Does this look anything like what I need?

;)
mm
 
Your price range would probably -- probably -- allow for the following specs:

2.0Ghz processor (or thereabouts)
1Gb RAM
256Mb video card.

Now assuming you're not going to attempt any gaming a'tall on it (and it doesn't sound like you are) those specs should more than do ya, and will probably fall in the $700 window you're wanting.
 
If I can get it back from my friend you can have mine, you'll just need to repair the power cord outlet and get a new battery. It was top-o-the-line back in the day and will do everything you've mentioned.
 
My Neighbors just bought a brand new one. If you want, I can break in and mail it to you. They owe me money anyways ;)
 
Laker_Girl said:
If I can get it back from my friend you can have mine, you'll just need to repair the power cord outlet and get a new battery. It was top-o-the-line back in the day and will do everything you've mentioned.

gawd, I'm slipping.... I nearly replied to that.

;)
mm
 
My Dell Inspiron just shit the bed last night. I need a new notebook also.

Well, not so much notebook as completely pimped desktop-in-a-laptop.

Just priced an Inspiron 6400 Dual Core with the works for $1400.

Anybody have $1400?
 
If you want a desktop-in-a-laptop, man, you know what you need:

xpsnb_m2010_front_131x145.jpg


XPS M2010. ;)
 
That's for when I win Mega Millions.

For now, I'm not a gamer and don't require a big screen, I just need to be able to work on business graphics, HTML and simple video/audio editing with speed and semi-decent power.
 
I bought this Digital Balance laptop from WalMart online a couple of years ago. It is under $700 and a pretty nice machine. I upgraded the memory easily enough for a little bit of money. It needs a graphics accelerator to play games like WoW but it runs other lower graphics intensive games like Ultima Online very well. It has WiFi as well as modem/cable connections and works well for everything else I need - mostly databases, word processing, music and movies. I don't care much for the laptop keyboard or mouse so I have a wireless keyboard and mouse on it that work very well. The drawbacks to wireless is needing batteries and a heavy mouse. Love all the USB ports and the USB extension with 4 additional ports. I'm a big music fan with a huge collection that I'm continually adding to. I use the laptop to burn music CDs to keep in the car and load up flash drives to use at work.

Not to give WalMart free advertising, but they do have several laptops under $700 you might like. My first desktop was an Acer. Absolutely wonderful company on service - came to my house and fixed the machine the first 2 years of warranty, then via phone talked me through repairs and replacements the next 3 years. I would buy Acer again for a quality machine with exceptional service. I see they have a laptop for under $700 now.
 
^ here's my Wal Mart story. I was actually all set to buy one of their laptops, an Acer in fact. I had been looking around online to see who had good deals and what was out there. The Acer at WalMart was actually about $500. But I didn't see any specs listed anywhere. Since I had to do some work right next to a Wal Mart, I stopped in one day to talk to their "highly trained technical crew" and no one could tell me what size RAM the ACER had. No one, not the sales people, not the manager. So I went back to the web site and noticed they had some deal going if you bought a "big ticket" item by Jan 22, and put it on a Wal Mart Credit card, you could pay it off in 24 months interest free. GREAT! I ordered something around $1000 (thinking if I could pay it off interest free over 2 years, I could go with something a little better) and applied for a Wal Mart credit card. I wont go into my screwy credit situation, but I got an email later that day that I would have to reorder AFTER my credit was approved, blah blah blah... the NEXT day I got a call from someone barely speaking English who asked me some questions to verify my identity and told me I had been approved and would get my card in 5 days. I asked if I could order the item at that time, he didn't know. I asked if he had a number I could call to order that item, no he didn't. How could I prove I had been accepted for credit, he didn't know. ....oy....

So 5 days passed and no card. I looked in that section of the website for a customer service number for the credit card. They didn't have one. Have you ever heard of a credit card company with NO customer service number? So I was starting to think maybe this wasnt such a good idea.

I combed through all of the fine print on the credit ap page looking for a hint of who to call about the card and noticed something else that worried me. Even though in big HUGE letters it had advertised interest free for 24 months, and later it had promised no yearly fee, in the fine print it said something like *fin chg apls if not pd in 6 mo*..... hmmmmmm. Interest and finance charges are not the same thing? No of course they arent. But I found this to be VERY deceptive. How many people probably charged big ticket items like computers and big screens and so on thinking they could pay it off in 24 equal payments and not pay any other fees? And in 6 months, they will have to start paying finance charges every month on their unpaid balance.

So I went back to Wal Mart and asked for a credit application to see what it said and if there were any customer service numbers listed. I got to speak to the highly trained in store customer service people this time. Wal Mart does not have "hard copy" credit applications, it is all done electronically. There is an instore kiosk to enter information and be approved. There is no way for a consumer to get a copy of what they are applying for and to read the terms, etc. How many Wal Mart customers do you think carefully study something they are doing instore? At a Kiosk? Probably with others waiting?

So I asked at the store for the credit card customer service number and guess what? They didn't have it.

There was something just wrong with all of that, so I decided WalMart was probably NOT the place I want to get credit and/or buy a laptop. Unless I know in advance what I want and they are the cheapest and I just pay cash for it.

;)
mm

Oh! The card finally came in the mail... the day AFTER the special no interest ended. I called the activation number and kept pushing 0 until I finally got to talk to a human. I told the barely English speaking person to close the account. Hopefully they did....
 
How are Dell notebooks these days? You could probably customize one of those for your needs and remain well below your price threshold, but I don't know if they're shit or not. It'd certainly last a year, I'd guess.

Actually, scratch that...they seem to be pushing Vista capable machines now (which will generally require more hardware than you need), and the base price is $689. Hrm.
 
Remind me to tell you my horror story about Best Buy. It will make you hate them as much as me.

I'm in the market for some new equipment myself. I'll let you know what I find.
 
http://www.toshibadirect.com/td/b2c/rdet.jsp?poid=358547&seg=HHO

^

I ended up buying that, I'm glad I researched so I knew what I needed and how much it should cost. They were clearing out last years models to make room for all the new stuff with Vista.

I bought the Laptop and some mapping software I needed and I'm thrilled with it so far. It's fast, does all kinds of stuff....

I guess I'm gonna have to break down and get a new PC next....sigh....

;)
mm
 
^ Oh I never run on battery more than a couple of minutes if that. I have an AC power converter for the car and a splitter and use it for everything but a coffee maker. And I'm considering that....

;)
mm
 
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