Laptops for under $600

[Chelica]

It has been a very long time since I am in search of a Windows based laptop. My max budget is $600 dollars. It is not a desktop replacement since it will be used for work, dvd player, storing photos (temp), music, and light gaming (WoW).

Does anyone have a recommendation? What to look for, where to look for, and if $600 is enough.

Any help is appreciated.

Thank you,
Alex

 

[DanNeely]

IF you're patiant you can get a C1D 1.6 with a half gig of ram for that price. For $600 you're only going to have integrated gfx though. Not sure if they'll be able to handle WoW or not.

 

[thespeakerbox]

Theres a guy on anandtech with a killer deal on a 9300.

http://forums.anandtech.com/messageview.aspx?catid=45&threadid=2002398&enterthread=y

good luck

 

[Chelica]

IF you're patiant you can get a C1D 1.6 with a half gig of ram for that price. For $600 you're only going to have integrated gfx though. Not sure if they'll be able to handle WoW or not.

Oh? Who makes the laptop?

 

[Stugots]

http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1152172

I thought this was a great deal. I love my IBM T40 and this laptop is way better/faster than mine. The only bad part is that you'd probably need an extra 512mb of ram.

 

[darktiger]

CircuitCity had this C2D gateway fully loaded for something like $500 last week...

 

[Chelica]

CircuitCity had this C2D gateway fully loaded for something like $500 last week...

I did a search and I did see the thread. I was too late tho. Hopefully they do another batch of this sale because the Gateway seems to meet the requirements.

 

[Decibel]

Have you thought about getting a refurbished system?

A quick peek at www.dell.com/outlet shows a few decent systems for less than $600. You might have to camp out for a couple of days, systems show up and disappear quickly.

There's also www.shopping.hp.com/outlet_store looks like you can grab a refurbished Compaq for $550.

Or www.gateway.com/reman/hm_notebook_matrix.shtml which starts out at $600.

 

[DanNeely]

Oh? Who makes the laptop?

Different brands. I'd keep an eye open in the HotDeals Forum. One seems to crop up every other week or so.

 

[Chelica]

Have you thought about getting a refurbished system?

A quick peek at www.dell.com/outlet shows a few decent systems for less than $600. You might have to camp out for a couple of days, systems show up and disappear quickly.

There's also www.shopping.hp.com/outlet_store looks like you can grab a refurbished Compaq for $550.

Or www.gateway.com/reman/hm_notebook_matrix.shtml which starts out at $600.

Thanks. All of those are great advice.

 

[schiesz]

Also check out a new compaq dv6000t. Online price, without upgrades you should stay under your budget. This machine gets very good reviews, I just recommended it to a friend at work.

schiesz

 

[Nomikal]

Yeah, I'm thinking about getting it...I get an employee discount and it's 457 for me...

Which system(processor) is faster and will be the most affordable in terms of pricing in the future If I wanted to upgrade...the intel based v6000t or the amd based system?

 

[DanNeely]

gateway core duo 1.6, 1gig ram, 100gb hd, dvd burner. $599 AR.

http://www.circuitcity.com/ccd/productDetail.do?oid=170404&cm_keycode=85

 

[Chelica]

Thanks all. I just purchased the Toshiba from office depot over the weekend. Came out to $550 after the rebate.

I am really thinking about installing XP until Vista is fixed or a little bit more stable. A ton of my software does not work with it. And this annoying windows activation keeps popping up even after activation. Keeps telling me that my copy of Vista is not legit AFTER I have registered and activated the thing.

And like many other reviews on notebooks with Vista, given the hardware spec, I am dissapointed with the performance. A system with Dual core, DDR2, Sata drive should be running uberly smooth not like Windows ME with 64mb of Ram.

It took me half a day to unload majority of the bloatware installed and even though it runs a bit smoother, shutting down, starting up takes ages.

Would there be any issues with me installing XP and loading up all of the needed drivers?

 

[Sgraffite]

It took me half a day to unload majority of the bloatware installed and even though it runs a bit smoother, shutting down, starting up takes ages.

Why didn't you just format it and start fresh?

 

[Chelica]

Was going to do that but at the time, I was thinking that given the hardware spec of the laptop it would be pretty fast to uninstall everything. I underestimated the amount of resources used by Vista.

 

[fuelvolts]

Why didn't you just format it and start fresh?

Well, he probably doesnt have the install disk for vista, just an image disc. Can't just format and start over. Unless you buy Vista on DVD or install XP.