Laptop on a budget.

[HolliePoppins]

I am looking for a laptop that is fast enough for gaming and watching videos and DVD's mostly. It has to be under $500. Am I just dreaming? Any help would be appreciated. FYI I do not know a lot about pc's. TIA

 

[joxer1014]

Where do you live?

I live in Philadelphia and we have a store called micro center and they have a laptop right up your alley. It's the one I have now. It is an e machines with windows 7, an amd processor 2g memory a 250g hard drive dvd burner 15.6" screen among other things. The only thing is that it is in store pick up only. You can't order it. If you don't live in PA you can go to microcenter.com and see where the closest store is to you. Good luck!

PS I just checke and they have 48 in stock at my store. Happy hunting!

 

[HolliePoppins]

I am in MA.

 

[shelly3girls]

Sign up for the email specials through HP and Dell. I was able to get an HP for about $400 that included many free upgrades. The sale price was actually below that but I did pay to upgrade a couple of things.

 

[2DisPrincesses]

Not sure if you are a QVC fan, but they have laptops online and if they have one you like, they may offer it on Easy Pay. I've had good luck with them in the past. Easy Pay is nice (no interest and shipping is split up too) and their return policy is great.

 

[torinsmom]

Best Buy has this one for $299 this week....

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Toshiba+-+Satellite+Laptop+with+Intel%26%23174%3B+Celeron%26%23174%3B+Processor+-+Silver/9548983.p?id=1218122295102&skuId=9548983

Just FYI, this site will tell you about electronics on sale in your area....

http://www.salescircular.com

Marsha

 

[shelly3girls]

One piece of advice I received about laptops is to make sure it has a dual-core processor. I will try to find the article, but the Wall Street Journal published something a couple of weeks ago that mentioned the minimum options one should choose for a basic laptop. The article specifically mentioned the Celeron processor as poor. I mention this b/c the laptop linked above has this processor. Many of the really inexpensive laptops do not have the dual core. I was told that these processors are fine for netbooks but not really good enough for a laptop.

 

[holz99]

I just got a new one from Dell. I think it was about $700 but I have a Dell Preferred Account that allows me to make payments on it. They also have 6 months no interest on laptops. I can make the payments on it and it actually allowed me to get a better laptop than I would have been able to get had I just paid out of pocket. If you don't want a credit account like that, you might still be able to find some good deals on Dell. You would just have to check it out. HTH

 

[joxer1014]

Regarding the OP you told me that you are in MA. Did you check microcenter.com? The have a store in Boston. You didnt say if you were near Boston but if you are you might want to pay them a visit. I would go there before I would go to a place like Best Buy. Their staff is much more knowledgeable about almost anything computer. I have never been disappointed in their customer service.

 

[digitaldevice]

When you know you Newegg.

Newegg.com is where we buy all our laptops and computer parts from my IT department.

Check them out.

 

[shelly3girls]

Be careful with Dell. They are very behind in filling orders. I placed an order for a laptop on 11/20 and just received a message that it has been delayed for the second time and will not be delivered until 12/21. I also ordered a netbook for work and we have been waiting a couple of weeks with no estimated delivery date.

 

[travelin' tigger]

Best Buy has this one for $299 this week....

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Toshiba+-+Satellite+Laptop+with+Intel%26%23174%3B+Celeron%26%23174%3B+Processor+-+Silver/9548983.p?id=1218122295102&skuId=9548983

I bought this a few weeks ago and I love it!! And I paid $329 for it so this is a great deal...

 

[HolliePoppins]

Thank you everyone for all the great suggestions.

 

[Swimnoid]

I almost bought one at Best Buy yesterday for $479. It is a Gateway NV series. One of my coworkers has it and loves it!

 

[kaseyC]

I am looking for a laptop that is fast enough for gaming and watching videos and DVD's mostly. It has to be under $500. Am I just dreaming? Any help would be appreciated. FYI I do not know a lot about pc's. TIA

I noticed that you mentioned gaming. I'm not sure what type of games you play but besides a decent dual core processor, at least 1.5-2 gigs of RAM, a good dedicated graphics card is a must. Most of the basic integrated graphic cards with shared memory in the cheaper lap tops will not handle most of the more popular games out like Sims2, Sims 3,Crysis, WoW and Doom 3 at the optimum settings.

The following link is an excellent resource for checking if a certain graphic card can handle certain games. http://www.notebookcheck.net/Computer-Games-on-Laptop-Graphic-Cards.13849.0.html

We have had great success in finding lap tops for our DDs with decent specs for gaming at newegg. http://www.newegg.com/

 

[LilyWDW]

The one posted from Best Buy will NOT work for a gaming laptop at all.

Stay away from Dell, E-machines (which is Dell), and Gateways. These machines will generally not hold up for a serious gamer.

I second (third? lol) the use of Newegg to seach for a new machine. They are currently running a few sales including discounts and free shipping on select items. Newegg is also wonderful because it's spec pages are very detailed!

Personally I would get an Asus or maybe a Vaio. Asus is considered one of the best companies out there amongst those who work with computers. It's been around forever and also makes computer hardware.

You need a duel core processor at least... not sure if laptops are up to quad yet. 2GB of ram at the minimum. A dedicated video card would also be needed for gaming... integrated would not have the dedicated power and memory to play the VAST majority of games.

To be 100% honest... I am not sure you will find anything under $500 that would be considered a gaming laptop. Most likely you would be at $700+. You may get lucky and find a deal this time of year though, so don't give up.

Note: This advice is my own as a gamer. I play/have played EQ, WoW, Dawn of War, Guild Wars, Sim City 4, and the Civilization games (plus more).

 

[poohbear158]

Acer owns Gateway and Gateway owns eMachines.. Dell does not own eMachines

The one posted from Best Buy will NOT work for a gaming laptop at all.

Stay away from Dell, E-machines (which is Dell), and Gateways. These machines will generally not hold up for a serious gamer.

I second (third? lol) the use of Newegg to seach for a new machine. They are currently running a few sales including discounts and free shipping on select items. Newegg is also wonderful because it's spec pages are very detailed!

Personally I would get an Asus or maybe a Vaio. Asus is considered one of the best companies out there amongst those who work with computers. It's been around forever and also makes computer hardware.

You need a duel core processor at least... not sure if laptops are up to quad yet. 2GB of ram at the minimum. A dedicated video card would also be needed for gaming... integrated would not have the dedicated power and memory to play the VAST majority of games.

To be 100% honest... I am not sure you will find anything under $500 that would be considered a gaming laptop. Most likely you would be at $700+. You may get lucky and find a deal this time of year though, so don't give up.

Note: This advice is my own as a gamer. I play/have played EQ, WoW, Dawn of War, Guild Wars, Sim City 4, and the Civilization games (plus more).

 

[LilyWDW]

Acer owns Gateway and Gateway owns eMachines.. Dell does not own eMachines

My bad... but I still would never buy one.

 

[KKB]

We have been VERY happy w/ the one we bought a year ago.
Just bought an HP at BB for 429 a few weeks ago...4GB, 512MB.
I did NOT pay them the $75 to "set it up"--I said what is that? Oh, to charge the battery, dump some unnecessary programs, install the free Web root--seriously? I am not that computer literate, but I can do all that for free!
NEEDLESS TO SAY it was VERY fussy initially...internet would freeze when you would use it (all other computers would be fine...)
Had BIL who is computer geek look at it...after some web searching, apparently Windows7 has an incompatibilty w/ Internet Explorer--brilliant! SO download Firefox if you have Windows 7! (I SO prefer Mac...but for double the price you get half the memory! At least my school laptop is Mac)

 

[scootch]

Last year we got an Acer from Newegg.com for under $500. It has been a great computer, not sure what size screen, but very large. Has more memory than my more expensive desktop.