Whats a Good Inexpensive Laptop?

WPBCowboysFan

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If you really wanted to just get an inexpensive laptop that your young kids could use, and needed it to be able to stream video w/o pausing and buffering all the time what would be good?

What would the minimum requirements be, as far as processor, memory, etc.?

Thanks in advance.
 
I just bought this for my 13 year old son for school next year.

Acer Aspire A5560-7414. Don't expect to play the highest end games on it, but it will play many of todays games. It shouldn't have any issues playing streaming video or DVDs. It has Win7-64bit, 4GB of memory, 500GB HD, and a quad core processor. I believe you can upgrade the memory to 8GBs too. This is a damn good deal for $399.
 
WPBCowboysFan;4638472 said:
If you really wanted to just get an inexpensive laptop that your young kids could use, and needed it to be able to stream video w/o pausing and buffering all the time what would be good?

What would the minimum requirements be, as far as processor, memory, etc.?

Thanks in advance.
Click to expand...

buffering is more often contributed to the internet connection or youtube pushing ads down your throat moreso than the laptop itself.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834230240

something like that is cheap but should be fine for base use.
 
Just go to those big chain outlets like best buy and buy a cheap one that feels right for you ....keyboard....etc.

They dropped down in price so much now that basically you will be replacing it after 3 or so years from now.

Most users just surf the web,read mail and do some kind of word processing....watch movies...youtube....etc.

IMHO most laptops are way overpowered for normal users.

The issue I have......there is so much crap....poorly written programs....etc that tend to bog machines down.....because of cheap HD space...Ram.....and we got lazier...

Like I tell most of the teachers and staff here looking for a laptop....if you dont want a mac.....buy the cheapest PC laptop....make sure your comfortable with the keyboard and screen size. ....then bring it to me so I can disable alot of crap that runs in the background

We have mostly Toshiba's in our schools.....solid laptops.....but in the end....save your money....get the cheapest....buy another in 3-4 yrs

JMHO
 
Or wait to see a decent price for a decent system on woot, which is what I normally do :)
 
I've been buying used older Apple laptops. The pros are the OS is not nearly as likely to get messed up. Those kids go everywhere and are downloading everything. On Windows computers they often get screwed up even with cleanup and viral programs.

Also I've had no problems with missing KB letters, broken keyboards and esp broken hinges. I've also had no problems with audio in and out breaking which is common on the non apple computers at least for me.

The cons are the higher price of about $100-200, less powerful since they're so old and if too old inability to run the newer OSs. However, it hasn't been a problem as most of them are on FB, email, chat, and homework. You can download OpenOffice.org which is free and has 'Excel' and 'Word' compatibility and function. You can add an ext HD to get more storage. They all love the ext HDs for sharing with friends.

If you need more speed yada then go with Windows as you get a lot of bang for the buck there. They just don't hold up as well.
 
jobberone;4638531 said:
I've been buying used older Apple laptops. The pros are the OS is not nearly as likely to get messed up. Those kids go everywhere and are downloading everything. On Windows computers they often get screwed up even with cleanup and viral programs.

Also I've had no problems with missing KB letters, broken keyboards and esp broken hinges. I've also had no problems with audio in and out breaking which is common on the non apple computers at least for me.

The cons are the higher price of about $100-200, less powerful since they're so old and if too old inability to run the newer OSs. However, it hasn't been a problem as most of them are on FB, email, chat, and homework. You can download OpenOffice.org which is free and has 'Excel' and 'Word' compatibility and function. You can add an ext HD to get more storage. They all love the ext HDs for sharing with friends.

If you need more speed yada then go with Windows as you get a lot of bang for the buck there. They just don't hold up as well.
Click to expand...

My 11 yr old disagrees w/ this post. He wanted me to let you know that he gives PC desktop support between the hours of 4PM-8PM AKST. ;)

He also can setup and mod your MineCraft server if you so choose.
 
Dallas;4638609 said:
My 11 yr old disagrees w/ this post. He wanted me to let you know that he gives PC desktop support between the hours of 4PM-8PM AKST. ;)

He also can setup and mod your MineCraft server if you so choose.
Click to expand...

Well, alrighty then! First I had to look up MindCraft. No thank you. No games. One addiction is all I can manage.

I only use my Windows laptop when my wife needs to talk to her bank in Qingdao which won't accept their flashdrive encrypted data on a Mac.

My youngest daughter (2.5 times his age) puts EVERYTHING on my Windows laptop when she's here. Or does the same with her mother's which I then have to have cleaned by the computer store because it hiccups for a few days then no longer boots. I gave her an Apple to get her off our computers and haven't had a problem since. My grandson destroys all the Windows computers but so far hasn't hurt the Apple.

Thanks but I'll stay right where I am. It's cheaper in the long run. Get your son to develop a game then you can all retire to some island in the Caribbean. Then invite me down.
 
jobberone;4638638 said:
Well, alrighty then! First I had to look up MindCraft. No thank you. No games. One addiction is all I can manage.

I only use my Windows laptop when my wife needs to talk to her bank in Qingdao which won't accept their flashdrive encrypted data on a Mac.

My youngest daughter (2.5 times his age) puts EVERYTHING on my Windows laptop when she's here. Or does the same with her mother's which I then have to have cleaned by the computer store because it hiccups for a few days then no longer boots. I gave her an Apple to get her off our computers and haven't had a problem since. My grandson destroys all the Windows computers but so far hasn't hurt the Apple.

Thanks but I'll stay right where I am. It's cheaper in the long run. Get your son to develop a game then you can all retire to some island in the Caribbean. Then invite me down.
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We most certainly will do that. He told his older brother just yesterday he was going to a university to learn coding so he can make his own game.

I just smiled and started counting jumping $ signs as I drifted off in my lazy-boy. ;)
 
Dallas;4638913 said:
We most certainly will do that. He told his older brother just yesterday he was going to a university to learn coding so he can make his own game.

I just smiled and started counting jumping $ signs as I drifted off in my lazy-boy. ;)
Click to expand...

This is a great plan. Don't forget to put me on speed dial.
 
I like to buy outlet if possible, they usually have decent coupons, and decent specs if you are patient enough.

I like CDW outlet or Lenovo outlet items
 
VietCowboy;4639670 said:
I like to buy outlet if possible, they usually have decent coupons, and decent specs if you are patient enough.

I like CDW outlet or Lenovo outlet items
Click to expand...

My son does this and gets great bargains.
 
Mash;4638497 said:
The issue I have......there is so much crap....poorly written programs....etc that tend to bog machines down.....because of cheap HD space...Ram.....and we got lazier...
Click to expand...
...which is why the first thing I do when I get a new laptop is delete the partition and re-install the OS.
 
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