Best cheap laptop.

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aquariuscsm

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Gf wants to get a new laptop just mostly for net surfing. She just wants a good cheap one,nothing crazy fancy. I haven't shopped for one of these things in years.

Good recommendations?

Thanks in advance!!
 
Originally Posted by kschachn
I'd get a Chromebook, we have a couple and that's exactly what they are made for. You can get a decent one for $250.

+1,Agree.
 
Also recommend a Chromebook if she really wants to mostly surf and maybe set up email.
They were highly recommended at my daughter's HS and she still uses hers for something super light to carry around campus...she compiles her programs on her gaming laptop, though.
 
Do Chromebooks have cd/dvd drives? Reason I ask,I'd mentioned maybe to just get a tablet,but she says those don't have cd/dvd drives and that's her only requirement as far as I know,and something about tablets having to have WiFi?
 
Originally Posted by aquariuscsm
Do Chromebooks have cd/dvd drives? Reason I ask,I'd mentioned maybe to just get a tablet,but she says those don't have cd/dvd drives and that's her only requirement as far as I know,and something about tablets having to have WiFi?

No, but you can attach thumb drives, such as Sandisk. to them. Chromebooks also have tremendous battery life. Of course Chomebooks have the ability to connect to Wifi. very easily.
 
Just get an older model with an SSD. Dell outlet usually has them cheap. SSD removes the biggest bottle neck out of the equation.
 
Most laptops come without DVD drives these days, Windows, Mac, or Chrome OS. Chromebooks with at least 4gb RAM will be more than sufficient, have great battery life, and are inexpensive. I got my kids each an Acer 2 in 1 for Christmas...they were $200 each on sale and have access to the Google Play app store. Battery lasts all day.
 
Originally Posted by TTK
Originally Posted by aquariuscsm
Do Chromebooks have cd/dvd drives? Reason I ask,I'd mentioned maybe to just get a tablet,but she says those don't have cd/dvd drives and that's her only requirement as far as I know,and something about tablets having to have WiFi?

No, but you can attach thumb drives, such as Sandisk. to them. Chromebooks also have tremendous battery life. Of course Chomebooks have the ability to connect to Wifi. very easily.


I bought this for $34.99 at Office Depot when the CD drive in my laptop broke. Works great and if I ever buy another laptop I will not have to worry if it has no CD drive.

https://www.officedepot.com/a/products/460958/Verbatim-External-Slimline-CD-And-DVD/
 
Looks like you are in Dallas, TX?

Check Craigslist for some older decomissioned Dell Latitude with DVD drive.
There are plenty available locally with very economical price and have a lot of life still.
 
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If you're going to get a laptop old enough to have a cd-dvd drive I'd wipe Windows and put a low end Linux on it. It's been a decade since computers had these devices. If they have one it's going to run out of steam to run Windows pretty soon if not now. If you have a lot of cd media that needs running ad ons are cheap. If not think solid state media that will hang on a Chromebook.
 
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The challenge is quality is so low at that price point they only last two - three years tops. My daughters were both careful with Chromebooks and both went back to Best Buy recycle,

If I just needed to surf I'd get an iPad as they last quite a while.
 
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you can get decent 15.4" HP lappys at similar pricing, i have 2, works great but if your hearing lacks they can be hard to hear. i am on my new 17" HP that was on sale recently @ Staples for $380, great sound + loving windows 7 i find the windows 10 more to my liking to versions in between, of course E-bay is your friend as always, using PayPal makes purchases there safer
 
Chromebooks are the way to go. They have very little on-board storage; they are cloud based.
All your data is stored in the Google Cloud; Azure, etc.

I don't like the ultra cheapies, but dollar for dollar they are far ahead of Macs or Windows machines.
FYI, there are probably 50 laptops in our house, mostly really high end stuff.
 
Originally Posted by aquariuscsm
Do Chromebooks have cd/dvd drives? Reason I ask,I'd mentioned maybe to just get a tablet,but she says those don't have cd/dvd drives and that's her only requirement as far as I know,and something about tablets having to have WiFi?


Most new work laptop doesn't have one anymore.
 
Originally Posted by csandste
If you're going to get a laptop old enough to have a cd-dvd drive I'd wipe Windows and put a low end Linux on it. It's been a decade since computers had these devices. If they have one it's going to run out of steam to run Windows pretty soon if not now. If you have a lot of cd media that needs running ad ons are cheap. If not think solid state media that will hang on a Chromebook.



I literally - hours ago - put Windows 10 on an old HP DV-7 laptop, with some underpowered i3 in it, and it lists *7* GB of RAM, with a first-gen Intel X25 SSD in it (that was one of the very first SSD's available).

It's *way* faster booting and in use than the refreshed Windows 7 Pro it started out with.

Just an FYI to combat old wive's tales...
 
BTW I'm still banging on an old Samsung Chromebook, one of the first out. What's that seven or eight years. Dead battery requires plugging in, plus one of the directional key caps fell off. Other then that nothing but flawless.
 
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Originally Posted by bobdoo
Originally Posted by csandste
If you're going to get a laptop old enough to have a cd-dvd drive I'd wipe Windows and put a low end Linux on it. It's been a decade since computers had these devices. If they have one it's going to run out of steam to run Windows pretty soon if not now. If you have a lot of cd media that needs running ad ons are cheap. If not think solid state media that will hang on a Chromebook.



I literally - hours ago - put Windows 10 on an old HP DV-7 laptop, with some underpowered i3 in it, and it lists *7* GB of RAM, with a first-gen Intel X25 SSD in it (that was one of the very first SSD's available).

It's *way* faster booting and in use than the refreshed Windows 7 Pro it started out with.

Just an FYI to combat old wive's tales...


W10 is a pretty light OS. I've run it and Linux Mint Mate on older hardware and couldn't really tell a difference in performance. I did notice W10 is much better for battery life.
 
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