http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=9368169&type=product&id=1218092959299

any qualms with this?

it's going to be an "internet box" / office 07 use / store pics type of computer-


I'm going to do some more looking, if anyone comes across a nice $300 or less laptop a post in me thread would be nice

[Edited on August 25, 2009 at 9:27 AM. Reason : no netbooks]

8/25/2009 9:26:55 AM

it's pretty basic...celeron procs suck donkey balls, and i would suggest upgrading to 4gb of RAM now (buy it online somewhere, don't get it in store) because even if you don't use the 4gb by running a 64-bit OS, DDR2 is on its way out and prices are only going to be going up

160gb hard drive is tiny if you want/need the storage, but you can get a 320-500gb for $50-70 (depending on the deal, check slickdeals or ben's bargains)

the battery sucks (the 2 hours, 40 minutes will likely be less than 2 hours), and it's heavy (5.5lbs)

but, really, for what it is, $300 is a pretty good deal...it's big and heavy and slow for my tastes, but if you don't mind lugging it around with you, it will be more than adequate as an internet/office laptop

of course i'll throw in the obligatory "if that's all you're going do, have you considered a netbook" response, but that's a pretty good price, IMO

[Edited on August 25, 2009 at 10:12 AM. Reason : the graphics are typical low-end, but they'll run HD content well enough, which is nice]

8/25/2009 10:09:34 AM

thanks for the input-

- In all my years of computing, I've amassed <100GB of content (most of which will remain on my dinosaur desktop )

- the main purpose, which i forgot to add, will be toting it around the house and twwing mostly, so weight and battery life are of minimal concern.

- dont want a netbook b/c of sidescrolling

- im guessing swapping the ram is a simple plug-and-play action?

8/25/2009 10:31:36 AM

stay away from celeron processors

/thread

8/25/2009 10:40:47 AM

ha, wish i knew computers like i know cars


mayhaps recommend a similarly priced model-

8/25/2009 10:45:57 AM

given what you want to do with it, this would probably be great for you, especially considering the price

i'll bet that 2gb of RAM is actually 2x1gb, though i could be wrong...if that's the case, you have two options: buy a 2gb stick, pull out a 1gb and throw in the 2gb and hope that it doesn't cause any problems (it used to be that mismatching RAM was asking for trouble, but i, personally, haven't experienced that in years) OR you can buy a 4gb (2x2gb) kit and pull out both sticks

it comes with vista 32-bit, so you won't be able to use more than 3-3.25gb of that 4, but that will be plenty (really, the 2gb is probably enough for you, but i would encourage anyone to max out their RAM considering how little it costs at the moment and the fact that it will become much more expensive over the next couple of years)

a quick check at slickdeals and ben's shows 4gb SODIMM kits for about $40 after rebate, so plan on that...the actual replacement of the RAM is easy, but getting to the slots MIGHT be hard...toshiba used to be notorious for putting one slot under the keyboard and one accessible from the bottom...the last two units i worked on, though, had both slots together, accessible from the bottom (which this one PROBABLY is, but i don't make any promises)...if you can get to the slots easily, it'll take all of 10 seconds to take out the old RAM and put in the new

Quote :

"stay away from celeron processors /thread"

as a general rule, i agree...i, personally, never want a single-core processor again and a celeron is about as slow as you can go without getting an atom in a netbook...but they're not BAD processors...they run cool and they'll be lively enough for most normal functions

[Edited on August 25, 2009 at 10:49 AM. Reason : .]

8/25/2009 10:48:14 AM

for another $100 i can probably find something that's worth a damn

8/25/2009 10:48:34 AM

$400 for twwing, saving pics, and making spreadsheets?

8/25/2009 10:50:39 AM

for $435 after taxes, $20 cashback from paypal, and 15% bing cashback, you can get this, which is leaps and bounds better:

http://www.circuitcity.com/applications/searchtools/item-Details.asp?sku=G180-15430

really, your original machine is going to be $321 after taxes and roughly another $40 for 4gb of memory...this one will only be $74 more, but you're going to pay $535 up front (including taxes), which is $214 more than you'd pay up front for the original machine

8/25/2009 10:54:48 AM

nice deal there..

8/25/2009 10:56:07 AM

I'm looking into it

where does the 15% Bing discount come in?

[Edited on August 25, 2009 at 11:05 AM. Reason : noob]

8/25/2009 11:00:31 AM

^ sign up for a bing cashback account (http://www.bing.com/cashback)...once you sign up, go to that same address, find the store on the list, click the link "go to store" or something like that and it will direct you there with the bing cashback box overlaid telling you it's signing you in...using that same window, order it like you normally would

after you complete your purchase, you should get an email within an hour saying that you've received bing cashback...you can click on the link to make sure, but it should be there...after a certain amount of time, the cashback can be claimed (mine's transferred into my paypal account)

8/25/2009 12:22:57 PM

honestly for 300 you dont really need it to be rated. cause only reason you buy a budget pc like that is the $. if you are the average typical computer user, it will work fine. if you are one of the pretentious dickheads on tww, it may not work well for you.

8/25/2009 12:24:58 PM

shut the fuck up

8/25/2009 12:32:25 PM

Get the fuck out troll.

8/25/2009 12:34:57 PM

this is worse than you trying to be in the garage and almost as bad as you trying to make comments in the soap box

8/25/2009 12:36:35 PM

You are trolling right now fwiw.

8/25/2009 12:37:59 PM

ScHpEnXeL is right man -- stay in chitchat.

That said, this thread is relevant to my interests. I will need to purchase a laptop for my grandparents in the next two weeks.

[Edited on August 25, 2009 at 1:47 PM. Reason : ]

8/25/2009 1:45:32 PM

Office '07 will probably run pretty slowly on it.

Other than that it's a fine disposable computer to use for what you described. The other one someone posted will obviously be better.

[Edited on August 25, 2009 at 3:20 PM. Reason : ]

8/25/2009 3:18:25 PM

just bought the gateway quag posted above, but there is no bing deal for Circuit City - ended up getting 10% from tigerdirect (same computer/price).

8/25/2009 9:12:59 PM

first poast from my new gateway!!!!!


THANKS TWW


YOU ARE EVERYTHING TO ME

8/28/2009 6:24:11 PM

That one was way better than the celeron! Congrats!

8/31/2009 3:44:35 PM

yeah dude; the only thing i dislike is the 1.25gb idle memory usage...but I know i cant compare it to my dell dimension 4600 with XP that idles ~250mb ahaha


also signed up for the 7 upgrade

8/31/2009 4:09:30 PM

you know...while i agree that vista is a poor excuse for an OS in a lot of respects, Noen had a good point (saying this leaves a bitter taste in my mouth) way back in the day when vista was new: what's the point of having memory if you're not going to use it? vista is inefficient at idle, but it does just fine when you're actually DOING something with it...yes, win7 fixes all of this, but vista's memory footprint isn't that bad when you put it into context

9/1/2009 7:56:17 AM

Quote :

"it's going to be an "internet box" / office 07 use / store pics type of computer"

sounds like a netbook to me. you can get a new netbook for under 300 with more power and way better battery life if you can cope with the screen size

9/1/2009 10:37:12 AM

^-1 POINT FOR NOT READING THE ENTIRE THREAD

^^nice statement. I cant say I've put it through any test yet, but I look forward to it's potential.

[Edited on September 1, 2009 at 10:50 AM. Reason : 8]

9/1/2009 10:49:13 AM

what resolution do you need? the screen on that laptop is 1280x800. there are netbooks with 1360x768

[Edited on September 1, 2009 at 11:29 AM. Reason : asus 1008 and 1101, each feature 10+ hour battery life]

[Edited on September 1, 2009 at 11:34 AM. Reason : I know you got one and all, but you can always return it ]

9/1/2009 11:29:07 AM

that 1101 looks pretty cool

9/1/2009 11:41:39 AM

I am satisfied

9/1/2009 8:01:21 PM

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=9370441&type=product&id=1218093004316

what say you guys about this Gateway NV5214u for $499? It's for my grandparents so price really isn't an issue, but I don't want to take advantage of that and end up having them just waste another 500 if it's not necessary. Weight was the primary concern, but they would be using it mainly on a table between two locations so up to 7lbs shouldn't be too bad. I have newegg open and was set on ordering online, but then I saw this gateway at best buy and I can pick it up today while I'm in Fayetteville rather than coming back when it's delivered.

Anything 500-1000 is what i'm thinking, good solid resolution/screen size (which DPI might need to be increased on) media reader, decent warranty (The Asus I was looking at has 1yr of accidental coverage which is baller)

Quote :

"# NV5214u Warranty Terms - Parts 1 year limited # Warranty Terms - Labor 1 year limited # Product Height 1.5" # Product Width 14.6" # Product Weight 6.8 lbs. # Product Depth 9.8" # Processor Brand AMD # Processor AMD Athlon™ X2 # Processor Speed 2.1GHz # Display Type WXGA high-definition LED-backlit display with Ultrabright technology (1366 x 768) # Screen Size 15.6" # System Bus 667MHz # Cache Memory 1MB on die Level 2 # System Memory (RAM) 4GB # Type of Memory (RAM) DDR2 SDRAM # Hard Drive Type SATA # Hard Drive Size 320GB # Optical Drive Double-layer DVD±RW/CD-RW # Optical Drive Speeds 4x DD+R DL; 4x DVD-R DL; 8x8x8 DVD+RW; 8x6x8 DVD-RW; 5x DVD-RAM; 24x16x24 CD-RW # Direct-Disc Labeling No # Digital Media Reader or Slots Yes, digital media card reader # Graphics ATI Radeon HD 3200 # Video Memory Up to 1919MB total available with HyperMemory # Personal Video Recorder (PVR) No # TV Tuner No # MPEG Yes # Built-in Webcam Yes # Modem 56 Kbps* *Capable of receiving 56 Kbps downloads. However, current regulations limit download speed to 53 Kbps. # Networking Gigabit Ethernet (RJ-45 connector) # Wireless Networking Wireless-B+G+N # Bluetooth-Enabled No # S-Video Outputs None # Additional Audio/Video Connectors HDMI # Audio High-definition support # Speakers Built-in stereo # PCMCIA Slots None # USB 2.0 Ports 4 # IEEE 1394 FireWire Ports None # Parallel Ports None # Serial Ports None # Game Ports None # Laptop Weight Standard (more than 5.5 lbs.) # Battery Type 6-cell lithium-ion # Battery Life Up to 3 hours # Battery Life Range Less than 3.5 hours # Pointing Device Touchpad # Operating System Platform Windows # Operating System Windows Vista Home Premium 64-bit with SP1 # Included Software Adobe Reader, Cyberlink DVD Solution and more # ENERGY STAR Qualified Yes # HDMI Output Yes # Blu-ray Player No"

9/5/2009 10:41:38 AM

I learned my lesson buying grandparents electronics when I got both sides a GPS unit one christmas. one side stuck to using f'ing ON STAR in a car with no screen that just has a voice guiding you.

the other used the damn thing until it quit working (off brand was a bad idea) then gave me shit that it didn't last long enough and wanted another, lol

9/5/2009 11:21:26 AM

i would not get one with a higher res. old people like text big and lcds look like shit outside their native resolution

9/5/2009 2:14:58 PM

finally decided on this. If it only came with a 64bit version of vista so that I could have the Win7 upgrade path I would have been completely satisfied with the purchase. You wouldn't believe how many laptops I looked at today with 4GB ram on a 32bit OS install.

ASUS F80Q-X2AM 14.1-Inch Laptop
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0022NHQAU/ref=ox_ya_os_product

Quote :

"# Operating System: Genuine Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium 32-bit # Display: 14.1-inch WXGA 1280x800 LCD Display (Color-Shine/Glossy Screen Technology) # Intel Platform: Intel Core2 Duo T6400 Processor (2.0GHz) # Graphics: Intel GL40 Express Chipset (onboard graphics) # Wireless: 802.11 B/G/N Wireless LAN + Built-in Bluetooth V2.1+EDR # LAN: 10/100 Mbps Ethernet # Fax/Modem: Integrated V.92 MDC Fax/Modem # Memory: 4GB DDR2-8002 # Storage: 250GB HDD (5400rpm drive) # Optical Drive: DVD Super Multi Double Layer # Camera: 1.3M Pixels with Auto-Focus # Audio: Built-in Speaker, Built-in Azalia compliant audio chip, with 3D effect & full duplex (SoundBlaster Pro compatible) # Microphone Built-in microphone # Card Reader: 8 in 1 card reader, SD,MMC,MS,MS-Pro,xD,mini SD w/ adapter,MS-Duo,MS-Pro Duo via adapter # Input/Output: 1 x Express Card slot, 1 x Line-in jack, 1 x Microphone-in jack, 1 x Headphone-out jack, 3 x USB 2.0 ports, 1 x RJ45 LAN jack for LAN # Video Output: 1 x VGA port/Mini D-sub 15-pin for external monitor # Battery Pack: 6 cells (4400mAh) # Power Supply: Output: 16 V DC, 4.7 A, 90W / Input: 100~240 V AC, 50/60 Hz universal # Dimensions: 9.64 (W) x 13.60 (L) x 1.38 (H) inches # Weight: 5.27 pounds (with 6 cell battery pack)"

And restrictions aside this is just amazing...

Quote :

"Warranty ASUS 360* (2 Years Global Warranty) + ASUS ADW* (1 Year Accidental Damage Warranty**) + Flawless Display Guaranty ASUS Notebooks come with ASUS 360 (2 years global warranty), ADW (1 Year Accidental Damage Warranty*) and Flawless Display Guarantee. If the purchaser discovers one defective bright dot within 30 days of purchase, ASUS will replace the panel without cost to the purchase"

[Edited on September 6, 2009 at 10:31 PM. Reason : ]

9/6/2009 10:30:14 PM

kind of a weak battery for a laptop of that size. no 9cell available?

9/7/2009 12:41:35 AM

2.5-3 hour battery life is more than adequate for their situation. I looked at a couple of models and was going to be excited to get them 7-8 hour, but on those particular models I would find a deal breaker such as extremely limited warranty, no optical drive, or a 10lb combined weight with the 12cell.

Primarily used in two locations, both have multiple outlets. 99% of the time it will be used on a kitchen table. My grandfather might take it hunting in the future, but he has solar panels to give it a charge if needed.

9/7/2009 9:07:16 AM