[rajacat]

My brain is overloaded trying to decide on a new smallish PC laptop. Prefer a 12" > 14" screen, HDMI port, dual core processor (AMD OK) and decent graphic capabilities. It seems to be a buyer market with all time low prices and deals. A 15" model would be OK as long as it's not too bulky. Around $500 would be nice.


Has anybody come across a great deal that they'd like to share?

-Roy

[maxwalrath]

http://outlet.lenovo.com/laptops.html?cat=10&order=name&dir=asc

If you don't mind refurbs you can get great deals here...I got a 14" from Lenovo's discontinued Y-line two months ago for $550 shipped.  It has a 1 year warranty, a decent core 2 duo processor, NVIDIA graphics card, 320 GB hard drive and 4 gb ram and an HDMI output.  The SL series from Lenovo also has HDMI outs.   

[rajacat]

http://outlet.lenovo.com/laptops.html?cat=10&order=name&dir=asc

If you don't mind refurbs you can get great deals here...I got a 14" from Lenovo's discontinued Y-line two months ago for $550 shipped.  It has a 1 year warranty, a decent core 2 duo processor, NVIDIA graphics card, 320 GB hard drive and 4 gb ram and an HDMI output.  The SL series from Lenovo also has HDMI outs.

Thanks,

I wonder what eligible for Windows 7 means? It would be nice to have Win 7 installed. Hmmm....there are fast ones there for little over $500. Is it much hassle to install Win 7?

-Roy

[MaxCast]

keep an eye on www.gotapex.com  they have daily deals and coupon notices for computers.

[macrojack]

Windows 7 eligible meant that you would receive the software gratis after it became available. Since it has now become available, it will be factory installed.
I get emails from HP everyday since I bought a desktop for my son a couple of months ago. I haven't really examined their laptop offerings but the ads look like laptops are being featured. Newegg might be another good place to look and CNET has a list of recommended deals on their site.

[rajacat]

I made my decision.

MSI A5000-040US Notebook PC - Intel Celeron Dual-Core T3100 1.9GHz, 3GB DDR2, 250GB HDD, DVDRW, 15.6" Display, Windows 7 Home Premium,    NVIDIA GeForce? 8200M, HDMI port

$420 I could have saved 8% had I remembered to search for it using Bing.

This was the best bang for the buck that I could find after many hours of research. It is presently Tiger Directs second best selling notebook. The reviews were quite good. It does have a 15.6" display but it's thin and light. Integrated DVDRW is nice. With a smaller model an integrated DVDRW may not be in the cards.   You have to make compromises somewhere. I'm sure that it will leave my 8 year old desktop in the dust. 

BTW 3 year manufactures warranty.

Free shipping too!

It's amazing. You certainly get a lot of computer for $400 nowadays. The manufactures are competing tooth and nail.

-Roy


 

[TheChairGuy]

You look like you done did good, Roy (especially with a 3 year warranty)

I always buy my laptops at Best Buy...the very one I use daily (a Gateway) is great, totally loaded 15.4" and was $600 or so July 2008. But, the additional warranty coverage out to 3 years was another $179 (I think)

In the midst of the 2009 recession...Best Buy had some crazy prices.  I timed a sale in April and swooped down on a Toshiba, Intel Dual Core 15.6" laptop for my wife for something like $379 (not refurbished, either )  No one made money on that deal.

Vista is fine as an OS as long as you have 4GB on hand...but Windows 7 seems to be da' bomb 

I passed on the warranty as my wife doesn't travel with her laptop like I do (and less subject to wear and tear)

John

[rajacat]

Yeah, I think that I got a good deal but there are a lot of good deals out there. It will arrive in time for my upcoming sojourn to the Bay Area.

-Roy

[pjchappy]

Just something to consider.  My (limited) experience with cheap-ish laptops has not been a good one.  The last one I tried (a Dell for aroudn $600) would basically struggle to even play DVDs if ANY other program was running; I could hear high pitch system and/or HD noise through the headphone output; and there were a couple other problems that I can't recall right now.

It was returned, but the people said there was nothing wrong with the laptop and they wanted to charge me a $90 restocking fee.  After some headache, after speaking with the manager, I got all my money back.

I've been VERY happy with my then $800 Sony VAIO (had just come down from $1000 when I bought it. . .and that price was only in the local Best Buy, not online).  It's a bit over a year old and runs great!

[turkey]

http://outlet.lenovo.com/laptops.html?cat=10&order=name&dir=asc

If you don't mind refurbs you can get great deals here...I got a 14" from Lenovo's discontinued Y-line two months ago for $550 shipped.  It has a 1 year warranty, a decent core 2 duo processor, NVIDIA graphics card, 320 GB hard drive and 4 gb ram and an HDMI output.  The SL series from Lenovo also has HDMI outs.

Keep in mind that refurbished does not always mean "not new."

Some manufacturers wind up with too much stock of an item and need to get rid of it. If they just dump it on the market for half price, that reduces the value of any future stock of this item to half too. It may also really PO people in the retail channel, because they're already sitting on a bunch of your items that you just whacked half the value of.

So how do you blow out all this excess stuff without screwing things up? You sell it as refurbished. It has much less effect on the price of existing "new" stock of the item, and it doesn't step on anyone's toes in the channel.

Refurbs also often have a lesser warranty than "new" items, so you get to cut your costs as you cut the price; which is not something you can usually do if you just drop the overall price.

[turkey]

Some of the netbooks are really cool. However, if I were to buy a regular laptop, it would be from Apple. They've got the best products on the market in this category.

[TheChairGuy]

Refurbs in electronics are often the best choices, actually.

Generally, an electronic item either works or doesn't right out of the box.  Most often, a refurb has at least been turned on to assure it's plays properly.  That's more than a good many mass-produced electronic items get in the end

So it's been checked and you get a discount.  Assuming the item isn't dinged badly, very old or not up to date with the most recent hardware, software, or features you want....you tend to get some very fine deals in refurb electronics (laptops, TV's, stereo's, etc)

I've been in the consumer products field for a couple decades now and have sold (mass) consumer electronics. Truly - refurbs often offer the best deal of all

turkey/Stuart, is correct above...a whole lotta' times brand new is sold as refurbished to justify a special price some retailers get on merchandise, too (to not tick off the rest of the stocking retailers).  The mass electronics business is a dirty, low margin one...it's the absolute trash pit for consumer goods salespeople (but many stay in it for the 'excitement')

John

[macrojack]

I completely agree about refurbs. They've had the benefit of individual attention which the assembly line stuff doesn't get.

[jqp]

I have bought 2 Dell refurb latops

They were both brand new - they were returned or some part was DOA.

I was able to get a better laptop than the 'sweetspot' laptop of the time, for probably 20% less. My latest qualified for Windows 7 64-bit upgrade, and it went very well.

Plus they had the full waranty, including phone support.

Then again, I didn't buy 'cheap' laptops.