Looking for Laptop around $600.00

Ok, it's Christmas time again! This time last year I was looking for a
new desktop and chose a Dell. This year we are after a laptop for
Christmas.

So, lets say my budget for a laptop is around $600.00 What can I get?
What do you recommend? What brand? Dell, Compaq, Toshiba, etc...?

Also, what kind of set up do you recommend (ram, processor, etc...)? I
will not be doing any heavy gaming or video editing on this laptop. I will
only be surfing the net wirelessly, loading pics, downloading music and
maybe movie videos, and take it with on vacations and do the wireless thing
while in hotels. I do not need a laptop that's as powerful as a desktop. I
already have a desktop.

So, where and what should I be looking at?

Thanks!

"Von Fourche" wrote in message
ink.net...

Ok, it's Christmas time again! This time last year I was looking for a
new desktop and chose a Dell. This year we are after a laptop for
Christmas.

So, lets say my budget for a laptop is around $600.00 What can I get?
What do you recommend? What brand? Dell, Compaq, Toshiba, etc...?

Also, what kind of set up do you recommend (ram, processor, etc...)? I
will not be doing any heavy gaming or video editing on this laptop. I
will only be surfing the net wirelessly, loading pics, downloading music
and maybe movie videos, and take it with on vacations and do the wireless
thing while in hotels. I do not need a laptop that's as powerful as a
desktop. I already have a desktop.

So, where and what should I be looking at?

Thanks!


Browse here. It's a decent start:
http://www.dealcatcher.com/dell-sb-coupons


Stew

if i were you, i'd get a core 2 at the minimum sale price offered, and
that would be in the $600's. then you can always add memory later if
you need. it doesnt pay to get anything less than that to save $50-$100.

On Sun, 26 Nov 2006 16:21:32 -0500, Jay B wrote:

if i were you, i'd get a core 2 at the minimum sale price offered, and
that would be in the $600's. then you can always add memory later if
you need. it doesnt pay to get anything less than that to save $50-$100.


Maybe, maybe not. I have two core 2 duos with 1 gig ram and an older
pentium M laptop with 512 megs ram, all running XP. I can't see much
difference in speed for tasks such as the OP suggests he will be
doing. That said, I SUPPOSE the difference will be when NOT doing
those things like video editing, gaming or running Vista ????

I might suggest the OP go for a core duo first or core 2 duo next just
in case he wants Vista later with either. BTW, I got my first core 2
duo laptop with 512 megs ram (I since increased it) and WXGA screen
under $600 in the outlet store (refurb but looks new to me). And if
it matters, 512 megs ram with XP and ordinary tasks seem to be just as
good as 1 gig ram so he needn't rush out and get more ram unless he
has something else in mind (like running Vista later).

And as for screens, I have WXGA and WXGA plus and I think MOST will
NOT like the plus. I didn't for the first day but now I like it. The
screen does reflect a lot (bad if you are near an open window during
the day or a brightly lit room) and the icons/print is SMALL. I think
the difference is when you watch a movie or look at photos, it will
look much better but for ordinary work tasks, maybe not the way to
go??? My brotherinlaw saw the WXGA plus once and I could tell he was
NOT impressed that much.

This is going to be highly subjective, but the best choice that has
frequently and often available in the US at that price (specifically at
$599) has been variants of the Toshiba M115. Every major retailer (Best
Buy, Circuit City, Office Depot, CompUSA, Staples) has offered this
within the past six weeks at $599 with, typically, an Intel Core Duo
CPU, 512MB of memory, 80 gig hard drive, DVD burner. In a few cases,
the offers have had 1GB of memory and/or larger hard drives at the same
price. In some cases, rebates were involved, but not in all cases. In
some cases, additional products were available with the purchase "free
after rebate" (typically these are printers or "all-in-one" MFP
printers, wireless routers, etc.). While the matter of who is offering
this, and exactly what they are offering, varies week-by-week, I did see
someone offering it this week. Also, it comes with XP Media Center,
which gets you a free upgrade to Vista Premium next year.

You can probably find a Dell 1405 in this price range also, and the 1505
has been just above it a few times although currently it starts at $699.
I suspect you will have a chance at a $599 E1505 before Christmas, but
the best 1505 deals involve higher end configurations at somewhat higher
prices.

There are lots of Compaq products being sold well below $600 (like $399
and up), but they usually have significantly inferior processors (Intel
Celerons or equivalent AMD processors) and other lower end configurations.


Von Fourche wrote:
Ok, it's Christmas time again! This time last year I was looking for a
new desktop and chose a Dell. This year we are after a laptop for
Christmas.

So, lets say my budget for a laptop is around $600.00 What can I get?
What do you recommend? What brand? Dell, Compaq, Toshiba, etc...?

Also, what kind of set up do you recommend (ram, processor, etc...)? I
will not be doing any heavy gaming or video editing on this laptop. I will
only be surfing the net wirelessly, loading pics, downloading music and
maybe movie videos, and take it with on vacations and do the wireless thing
while in hotels. I do not need a laptop that's as powerful as a desktop. I
already have a desktop.

So, where and what should I be looking at?

Thanks!

There is very little difference (single digit percentages) between the
Core 2 Duo and the mobile version of the Core Duo (from which Core 2 Duo
was derived). However, I've seen very few Core 2 Duo laptops being
offered below the $750, and that only this past weekend (Black Friday).
More commonly, Core 2 Duo is going to push you up to the $900 price
range, which is well above his target price.


Jay B wrote:
if i were you, i'd get a core 2 at the minimum sale price offered, and
that would be in the $600's. then you can always add memory later if
you need. it doesnt pay to get anything less than that to save $50-$100.

Could you back that up with a link supporting your position? I don't
believe it to be true.

"Barry Watzman" wrote in message
...
There is very little difference (single digit percentages) between the
Core 2 Duo and the mobile version of the Core Duo (from which Core 2 Duo
was derived). However, I've seen very few Core 2 Duo laptops being
offered below the $750, and that only this past weekend (Black Friday).
More commonly, Core 2 Duo is going to push you up to the $900 price range,
which is well above his target price.


Jay B wrote:
if i were you, i'd get a core 2 at the minimum sale price offered, and
that would be in the $600's. then you can always add memory later if you
need. it doesnt pay to get anything less than that to save $50-$100.

On Sun, 26 Nov 2006 20:01:18 -0500, Barry Watzman
wrote:

There is very little difference (single digit percentages) between the
Core 2 Duo and the mobile version of the Core Duo (from which Core 2 Duo
was derived). However, I've seen very few Core 2 Duo laptops being
offered below the $750, and that only this past weekend (Black Friday).
More commonly, Core 2 Duo is going to push you up to the $900 price
range, which is well above his target price.


Maybe but not true in my case. I got 2 of them (E1405's; one of them
is very well equipped) for a LOT less than that in the outlet store.
If it matters tho, both are refurbs tho they look new to me.

That said, if you never plan to run Vista or do unusual tasks, the
pentium M (centrino) will be fine if you can still find them. I have
a 600m I'm still VERY fond of.

On Mon, 27 Nov 2006 01:36:49 GMT, "Tom Scales"
wrote:

Could you back that up with a link supporting your position? I don't
believe it to be true.


I don't know for sure if it's right or wrong but one of the places I'd
check if I had to know is Tom's Hardware but I think you may know this
already. I may have to outa curiousity confirm what was said tho
it's a little late for me since I went with the core 2 duos.

One thing tho I may dispute with both of you is for real world useage,
benchmarks are deceiving. I wouldn't use them as my only criteria
since to be honest with "usual" everyday tasks, you won't SEE much
difference between my core 2 duo's and my 600m laptop. I will NOT
argue that the core 2 duo is faster but I don't think you can really
see it unless you "tax" it with heavy programs or multitask it a LOT.

There have been quite a few benchmarks comparing them, and that's the
source of my information, but I don't have a link.


Tom Scales wrote:
Could you back that up with a link supporting your position? I don't
believe it to be true.

"Barry Watzman" wrote in message
...
There is very little difference (single digit percentages) between the
Core 2 Duo and the mobile version of the Core Duo (from which Core 2 Duo
was derived). However, I've seen very few Core 2 Duo laptops being
offered below the $750, and that only this past weekend (Black Friday).
More commonly, Core 2 Duo is going to push you up to the $900 price range,
which is well above his target price.


Jay B wrote:
if i were you, i'd get a core 2 at the minimum sale price offered, and
that would be in the $600's. then you can always add memory later if you
need. it doesnt pay to get anything less than that to save $50-$100.