ok guys I need some help here.
I need to buy a laptop.I have no idea what to get. I see lots of them on eBay. What's the best brand? What model?
Would I be better off to buy one locally? It seems the prices on the eBay auctions are real good. I always thought a laptop was around $800, but I see lots of them for 2-400 on eBay.

I do very little on the internet. eBay and visit a few websites. I don't do much else on my computer. No record keeping per se and I don't need any special programs for business or the like. So I don't need anything too complicated.
I would like to be able to get online in my car.
A friend tells me that if you are close to a place where they get wifi? that you can get online thru their isp???? My knowledge in this area is nill.

suggestions???

[QUOTE=Mr69;1716559]
I would like to be able to get online in my car.
A friend tells me that if you are close to a place where they get wifi? that you can get online thru their isp???? QUOTE]

i bought my son a gateway for christmas this year. i paid 550 bucks for it. it has centrino which will allow you pick up an isp providing you are close enough, however, i also got him a sprint mobile broadband card so we dont have to stay in one area and works well in a travelling vehicle.

IBM/Lenovo Thinkpad. T/R/X series. Sounds as though you don't need anything too fancy for specs, which is hard to find in anything a 'mainstream' brand puts out in stores. Even an older series like a T42 or X32 would be perfect if you're down with purchasing something used. They're basically bulletproof from my experience.

Our company has been using Dell's for many years with excellent sucess and my son has a Dell Inspiron 1501 that he has been using in college without issue.

I'd get a Dell for sure.

Mike

Bought my wife a Sony Vaio a few months ago. She likes it although it does have :( Vista.
She's also the network admin at her work.

Compac presario V6000. that is a great lap top and HP and compac are one company now so you get both of both worlds.

MacBook or MacBook Pro...period.

I picked up an Acer with more memory, faster cpu than comparable Hp and Dell models, for cheaper. Doesn't come loaded with all the stuff you won't use anyway.

MacBook or MacBook Pro...period.

for him a macbook is all he needs, or even the macbook air. My parents are getting one (Macbook Air), they don't ever use the laptop for anything other then web/email/office. They last forever, we have an older "Macbook Pro" (ti book), its 7 years old and used everyday, still gets 2 hours+ battery life and is never slow for their needs.

Just bought a Dell Vostro for work. They start at $449. I bought a 1500 model with some upgrades for $599. Free shipping going on now.Also you can still get it loaded with XP or Vista if you like. Nice specs with no "bloatware"
http://www.dell.com/content/products/features.aspx/hot_offers_nb?c=us&cs=04&l=en&s=bsd

http://i.dell.com/images/global/configurator/banners/vostronb_1500.jpg

I have a dell 1505 and I like it. I use a sprint EVDO card to have access to the net while on the road or in the RV. Check out www.evdoforums.com and www.3gstore.com for EVDO info :)

MacBook or MacBook Pro...period.


Ditto! Far & away the most user friendly computer you can buy!

Ditto! Far & away the most user friendly computer you can buy!

All these recommendations are great but not in his price range.

Get it at Circuit city, watch for the deals. I got a Toishba for 599.00 after rebates, with printer, for the kids.
2 years old and doing well.

I've got a nice HP Pavilion. Works great-

The one thing I failed to consider was carrying a large, heavy laptop through airports and on trips. Believe me, if you can get away with a smaller, lighter model - do it.

Get it at Circuit city, watch for the deals. I got a Toishba for 599.00 after rebates, with printer, for the kids.
2 years old and doing well.

If you go this route, buying from Circuit, buy it on-line, its cheaper than in store and you can pick it up at the store closes to you with no shipping charge.

All these recommendations are great but not in his price range.

How about these?

http://www.techrestore.com/xcart/home.php?cat=253

All these recommendations are great but not in his price range.

You get what you pay for. Pay very little, get very little. You can get a decent Macbook for under $1000. http://store.apple.com/1-800-MY-APPLE/WebObjects/AppleStore.woa/wa/RSLID?nplm=FB061LL/B

All these recommendations are great but not in his price range.

X31 (http://cgi.ebay.com/IBM-ThinkPad-X31-P-M-1-5GHz-768MB-30GB-12-1-XGA-WiFi_W0QQitemZ300200596554QQihZ020QQcategoryZ14008 3QQcmdZViewItem)

T42p (http://cgi.ebay.com/IBM-ThinkPad-T42p-1-8GHz-80GB-1GB-15-UXGA-FlexView_W0QQitemZ290208118293QQihZ019QQcategoryZ1 40083QQcmdZViewItem)

The seller is excellent, by the way.

How about this deal in the Sunday paper from Best Buy?:

Compaq 751NR (http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=8661897&st=c751nr&lp=1&type=product&cp=1&id=1196470790599) $449

I avoid Gateway

check out Winbook, search online...they're kinda like Dell was back before they jacked up their prices like everyone else

mine is nearly 6 years old, had the power cord plug break off the motherboard last year, they fixed it for free even though my warranty was up, every time I talked to them during the process I was able to talk to the same man...who was American...and didn't just read out of the troubleshooting handbook, he trusted I knew how to plug in my computer

it was $600 cheaper than the same computer from Dell when I bought it

If you do get a cheap laptop, check out the warranty. Some only comes with 90 days and sometimes 30 days warranties. I would get a Dell laptop through their outlet store. I bought a PC a couple years ago from their website and got a great deal.

When I bought my current laptop, it was considering a Sony Viao, but bought a Toshiba Satellite. Nothing "lite" about it, plus it pretty much ticks me off on a daily basis. It's VERY vulnerable to static electricity, causing it to freeze up on a regular basis. Have had to send it back to Toshiba twice for new motherboards because of the A/C jack, both times the static thing was supposed to be taken care of. If I were to sit back on my couch right now, then lean forward and touch any part of it for the screen to freeze.The only fix, push and hold the power button until it shut itself down. Never had to pay anything, but I think that has more to do with a class action suit filed by other consumers. A battery pig, too. Without being plugged in, probably gets about 20 minutes of operation on a fully charged battery.

I have a seven month old "brand new" MacBook. My mom bought it with the impression that her travel agency programs would be compatible, they were not. She gave it to me, but I never got the hang of it. Other than one of my drivers using it to surf the internet during a couple boring jobs, it has sat unused. Some people swear by them, it makes me feel like a kindergartner. I can't even figure out how to delete a photo that said driver saved of his kid. What's with their titles. How the heck is somebody supposed to know that "safari" is for the internet. Can't tap the touchpad, no right click, after using a PC, you feel retarded.

I think my next laptop will be a Dell, simply because you can get it exactly how you want it. The retail versions of everything out there seem to be full of crap that you'll never use

I have a seven month old "brand new" MacBook. My mom bought it with the impression that her travel agency programs would be compatible, they were not. She gave it to me, but I never got the hang of it. Other than one of my drivers using it to surf the internet during a couple boring jobs, it has sat unused. Some people swear by them, it makes me feel like a kindergartner. I can't even figure out how to delete a photo that said driver saved of his kid. What's with their titles. How the heck is somebody supposed to know that "safari" is for the internet. Can't tap the touchpad, no right click, after using a PC, you feel retarded.

Don't worry, I can't figure out PCs what so ever. Too hard to find files... But then I work in printing, on Macs all day long. So I'm very comfortable with them. If your mac book it only 7 months old, you can run windows on it. I haven't done it but I know apple offers Bootcamp which will partition your drive and make it so you can install windows. And I know there are a few other programs that work better than it does.

As far as the naming Apple isn't the only one with strange names. I mean Firefox doesn't scream Internet Browser to me. iPhoto, iTunes, iMovie. those pretty much says it all in the name.

Our company has been using Dell's for many years with excellent sucess and my son has a Dell Inspiron 1501 that he has been using in college without issue.

I'd get a Dell for sure.

Mike

I have a dell also inspiron 1700
nice ...


I vote dell