[Resolved] Recommend a $200 laptop please...

Orange Furball · Dec 3, 2012

Got an Acer Aspire One 725! Thanks for the help!

Hello. I have $200 that I'm able to spend on a new laptop. I'm looking for something that is relatively new (with Windows 8) to use as a companion to my desktop. I just need this for Skype, word processing, and general computing. Gaming and intensive applications will be kept on my desktop.

I was looking into the Acer C7 because I'm perfectly fine using Chrome OS. I use all of Google's services (including Drive instead of Microsoft Office) but the battery life is atrocious. Then I also looked into getting an ASUS Transformer TF101 with a keyboard dock, but that's too much. Literally $200 (+tax and s/h) is my ,ax!

Requirements:

Dual core, at least 1.2GHz or higher

2gb or more ram

Hard drive doesn't matter as I'll replace it with an SSD

Windows 8 preferably

NEW! Every other laptop I bought was either refurbished or used. I'd like to get a new one for the first time ever.

So please give me your recommendations!

Edit: screen size >11.6" and a DVD drive is optional.

I have been looking for weeks but can't find what I'm looking for.

007bond · Dec 3, 2012

I think $200 is a bit low, even if your needs are low. I'd suggest trying to get a used laptop at that price. The $200 Chromebook might be your best bet for a new device, honestly.

Orange Furball · Dec 3, 2012

007bond said:
I think $200 is a bit low, even if your needs are low. I'd suggest trying to get a used laptop at that price. The $200 Chromebook might be your best bet for a new device, honestly.

The chrome book is just... The battery kills it for me. Maybe ill look used again.

007bond · Dec 3, 2012

Orange Furball said:
The chrome book is just... The battery kills it for me. Maybe ill look used again.

If you don't mind the ARM processor, you may want to save up for the Samsung Chromebook. The battery life is very good from what I've read.

paulrbeers · Dec 3, 2012

I'll be honest, you really need about $300. If $200 is all you have, then you are better off using the library (or the school's computer lab) until you can save up the extra $100. Frankly used will mean most likely a half dead battery which means in a year from now you will have to dump $50 more into it just to keep using it.

Frowns · Dec 3, 2012

Orange Furball said:
Hello. I have $200 that I'm able to spend on a new laptop. I'm looking for something that is relatively new (with Windows 8) to use as a companion to my desktop. I just need this for Skype, word processing, and general computing. Gaming and intensive applications will be kept on my desktop.

I was looking into the Acer C7 because I'm perfectly fine using Chrome OS. I use all of Google's services (including Drive instead of Microsoft Office) but the battery life is atrocious. Then I also looked into getting an ASUS Transformer TF101 with a keyboard dock, but that's too much. Literally $200 (+tax and s/h) is my ,ax!

Requirements:

Dual core, at least 1.2GHz or higher

2gb or more ram

Hard drive doesn't matter as I'll replace it with an SSD

Windows 8 preferably

NEW! Every other laptop I bought was either refurbished or used. I'd like to get a new one for the first time ever.

So please give me your recommendations!

Edit: screen size >11.6" and a DVD drive is optional.

I have been looking for weeks but can't find what I'm looking for.

I'm thinking your problem is that you are at a price which really precludes you from affording virtually ANY computer - and on top of that, you're sticking to a list of requirements?

At $200, you should be happy to get your hands on ANY computer you can find. Beggars can't be choosers.

JAT · Dec 3, 2012

What about a Nexus 7?

throAU · Dec 3, 2012

... and I'd like a Ferrari, but I have $10,000....

Your budget isn't big enough.

Sure, you might be able to find something for that, but it will be a turd.

You do, to some extent, get what you pay for. Good battery life (and more importantly, battery longevity - how many cycles it will hold a charge for) costs money.

There's unfortunately no escaping that.

Orange Furball · Dec 3, 2012

Frowns said:
I'm thinking your problem is that you are at a price which really precludes you from affording virtually ANY computer - and on top of that, you're sticking to a list of requirements?

At $200, you should be happy to get your hands on ANY computer you can find. Beggars can't be choosers.

I can easily get a computer for $200, doesn't mean it'll be good. Im just looking for advice here.

Best buy a nice one for black Friday/cyber Monday but it was only in stores and no one around me had it. There are cheap, decent computers out there.

JAT said:
What about a Nexus 7?

I have one!

throAU said:
... and I'd like a Ferrari, but I have $10,000....

Your budget isn't big enough.

Sure, you might be able to find something for that, but it will be a turd.

You do, to some extent, get what you pay for. Good battery life (and more importantly, battery longevity - how many cycles it will hold a charge for) costs money.

There's unfortunately no escaping that.

Its not like I'm trying to get a ZenBook or MBPr for $200. I was a cheap one. So "I want a reliable car for $3000" is a netter analogy.

paulrbeers said:
I'll be honest, you really need about $300. If $200 is all you have, then you are better off using the library (or the school's computer lab) until you can save up the extra $100. Frankly used will mean most likely a half dead battery which means in a year from now you will have to dump $50 more into it just to keep using it.

Used means scratches. Batteries are easy to replace and cheap.

007bond said:
If you don't mind the ARM processor, you may want to save up for the Samsung Chromebook. The battery life is very good from what I've read.

That was the goal, but its sold out everywhere. I went through the whole waiting for stock from Google thing with the Nexus 4, I'm still waiting for it and really don't want to go through that again.

marc11 · Dec 3, 2012

I think you are a perfect candidate for a tablet. A Nexus 7 and a cheap USB or BT keyboard will do everything you want and more for about $200.

Highcroft · Dec 3, 2012

I'm guessing that you're not going to find anything good for that price. You should either just pay the extra $50 for the Samsung Chromebook or live with the 4 hours of battery life on the Acer. For $200, you're only other options are netbooks with 1024x600 10.1" screens, atom processors (older versions not even the fairly decent newer ones), Windows 7 Starter (intended for developing countries), PLUS less than 4 hours of battery life. It all adds up to a horribe user experience. $350 is usually the price when Windows laptops become worth considering.

Orange Furball · Dec 3, 2012

marc11 said:
I think you are a perfect candidate for a tablet. A Nexus 7 and a cheap USB or BT keyboard will do everything you want and more for about $200.

I have a nexus 7. I'm really looking into a TF101 with the keyboard dock, I just gotta find a good deal. It acts like a laptop but runs android. Perfect for my ecosystem.

----------

Highcroft said:
I'm guessing that you're not going to find anything good for that price. You should either just pay the extra $50 for the Samsung Chromebook or live with the 4 hours of battery life on the Acer. For $200, you're only other options are netbooks with 1024x600 10.1" screens, atom processors (older versions not even the fairly decent newer ones), Windows 7 Starter (intended for developing countries), PLUS less than 4 hours of battery life. It all adds up to a horribe user experience. $350 is usually the price when Windows laptops become worth considering.

I have to say that when I had my MSi Wind u100 netbook, it was my favorite laptop. I had Snow Leopard running on that thing and had the glowing Apple mod on it... Ahhh memories...

My fingers are too big to use the keyboard comfortably, so that won't work

js81 · Dec 4, 2012

For $200, you're not going to find anything NEW that would be worth having, at least in my opinion. Go to eBay and find a deal on an off-lease Dell D630 - we have tons of these at school and they are built like TANKS. Core 2 Duo, up to 4GB RAM, SATA drives, etc. - and, if you're interested, Hackintosh-able.

For example, here's one for $115. Take your extra budget and upgrade the RAM and get an SSD.

dlimes13 · Dec 4, 2012

+1 for a Dell Latitude D630. Great machines still.

joepunk · Dec 4, 2012

If you don't mind shopping at Walmart

Walmart has (in store only I think) an Acer Aspire One 11.6" 2GB 320GBHD #A0725-0687 laptop for $198

I think it's got an AMD dual-core C70, Win 8 64-bit, HDMI out and a webcam.

mattopotamus · Dec 5, 2012

007bond said:
If you don't mind the ARM processor, you may want to save up for the Samsung Chromebook. The battery life is very good from what I've read.

this. I have one and the quoted 6 hours battery life it more like 8.5 hours. I was at 6 hours yesterday and still showing 40% battery life, and you can only do so much so the "YMMV" is not drastically different

Jessica Lares · Dec 6, 2012

You are NOT going to find a new laptop with those specs under $200. And I think you should also keep in mind that laptops, especially consumer/business targeted ones that are not Apple made, tend to be all different. I have a Dell Latitude that used a hard drive as thin as the current iPod Nano, and it had a ZIF connector. No way would you be able to stick anything else except that type of drive in there unless you modified the laptop and rewired everything. The enclosure is tiny.

Save up a little more money and don't settle for the cheapest thing out there, because you really do get what you pay for when it comes to this stuff.

Orange Furball · Dec 6, 2012

Jessica Lares said:
I think you should also keep in mind that laptops, especially consumer/business targeted ones that are not Apple made, tend to be all different.

I'm not looking for an Apple laptop, unless I was going for a PowerBook... Which seems like it would be an okay choice..

They can plan video (obviously not flash) well, right? I used to have and iBook and I can't remember too well (been through a LOT of computers...)

SDAVE · Dec 7, 2012

Keep checking slickdeals.net

I see lower end laptops on sale all the time.

I think if you can cough up another $100-150 you can get a decent windows laptop.

Have you looked into getting an iPad instead? Try to look for a refurb iPad 2.

Orange Furball · Dec 7, 2012

SDAVE said:
Keep checking slickdeals.net

I see lower end laptops on sale all the time.

I think if you can cough up another $100-150 you can get a decent windows laptop.

Have you looked into getting an iPad instead? Try to look for a refurb iPad 2.

not interested in tablets as I have a nexus 7 already.

The only use I see fur the laptop will be in hotels, maybe a 15" or 17" PowerBook G4 would be ok. We will see what kind of deals I find.

Thanks for the link!

greenchiliman · Dec 7, 2012

skip the SSD and put it toward your budget

iDutchman · Dec 8, 2012

I've bought many machines form around that price tag just for fun projects.

What's currently on it's way:

MacBook Pro 2.2Ghz 4GB RAM Nvidia 8600M GT late 2007 model.
The Mac is in great condition when it comes comes to outer damage. Also a 1 years old genuine battery included and charger.

Sold with "at boot up it shows no video. You hear the chime, hard drive spin etc." 199 dollars (+ international shipping, but that won't be for you). EBAY

I will just do a reflow as this is the famous Nvidia issue. (I Will bake). It has fixed 4 of these machines so far within 2 years. They all still work.

So, there you have it

.

I will sell it after proper testing for a week to someone in NLD for 500 eu.

brendu · Dec 8, 2012

Orange Furball said:
I have a nexus 7. I'm really looking into a TF101 with the keyboard dock, I just gotta find a good deal. It acts like a laptop but runs android. Perfect for my ecosystem.

Orange Furball said:
not interested in tablets as I have a nexus 7 already.

So you're looking into a tablet but you don't want a tablet....?

I think with your budget you would be best served with the new Samsung chrome book even if u have to wait to get it. Since you seem to be all in with google and on a tight budget that makes the most sense IMO.

Edit: by the way I love your pic, muse is excellent.

Orange Furball · Dec 8, 2012

brendu said:
So you're looking into a tablet but you don't want a tablet....? I think with your budget you would be best served with the new Samsung chrome book even if u have to wait to get it. Since you seem to be all in with google and on a tight budget that makes the most sense IMO.

Edit: by the way I love your pic, muse is excellent.

TF101 with the keyboard dock is pretty much a laptop. The reason this is different from other laptops is that it folds down and is locked into the dock, not like an iPad or something with an external keyboard.

Also, thank you for the compliment.

Orange Furball · Dec 15, 2012

Finally found one. An Acer AO725-0687 from Walmart. They're sold out on line, but my store has one so I'm good!

Pretty bright color. I hope its more subdued, but if it isn't I'm sure I can live with it.

[Resolved] Recommend a $200 laptop please...

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