Cheap laptop for Wireless connection to internet...

[Santilli]

Hi
My SO wants a laptop, for pretty much just basic Word processing, and internet wireless access around the house.

She currently was given a POS Dell, Inspirion, with Vista Home on it.
If that thing is returned, what would you all recommend for a laptop that might last 3 years...

Keep in mind she barely can get around XP Pro. Vista she's going to be hopeless.

 

[Handruin]

My folks just picked up an IBM ThinkPad T43 for much of the same purposes you described. My dad then upgraded the ram to the max of 2GB or Crucial RAM for some $18 via newegg. I'd recommend ThinkPad's to most, but I don't know if this particular model has everything you need or want. It also came with WinXP Pro.

 

[Mercutio]

T4x-series were the first notebooks produced after the Lenovo changeover. They have less of a stellar reputation than T20s or T60s, though I have had very few problems with them.

Anyway, the huge, huge, huge thing in purchasing a notebook is to get one that is sold and supported by a Business service unit, rather than consumer service. That means no Inspirons, no Vostros, no Ideapads, no dv-series HPs, no Satellites, no Vaios (does Sony have a business line?), no Aspires, Extensas or Ferraris, no Gateways and no Presarios.

The business systems have two key advantages. The first is that support will be vastly more helpful. The second is that spare parts will be readily available for out of warranty hardware. I'd like to say that in general business systems specified with much higher quality construction, but that's not always true outside the top-tier OEMs (Lenovo, Dell, HP).

My other bit of advice is that if you're wavering over the price of a decent business notebook, just buy a netbook and be done. Netbooks will have XP on them if they have Windows at all, and at least you KNOW you're getting a POS when you buy one.

 

[Handruin]

I don't know as much about the history of a T43 series as you, but for $300, Greg was looking for 3 years of service out of it. I would hope that it could last that long if not longer.

 

[Mercutio]

I don't know as much about the history of a T43 series as you, but for $300, Greg was looking for 3 years of service out of it. I would hope that it could last that long if not longer.

The big problems with trying to get three years out of a used notebook:

1. Battery. A used notebook's battery will be basically shot. A new battery will cost $150, or you can maybe get a knock-off for $80 or so. My feeling is that if you don't need the battery, you didn't really need a notebook in the first place.

2. Hard drive. We all know they die, but laptop drives are subject to who-knows-what abuse. Granted, most of the people who want an inexpensive notebook aren't going to be doing tons of real work on them, but there's almost always something that is a personal tragedy to lose.

3. Fans. Notebooks have fans. They tend to die and people tend not to notice, or only be glad that the noise stopped. When someone brings me a notebook and says "It used to make these terrible noises and then all of a sudden it stopped!", I know that the next part of the story is how, a week later, their notebook wouldn't come on any more.

For what it's worth, my entire collection of Thinkpads still work, in that they'll at least turn on and boot into an operating system. But not every notebook is going to be like that.

 

[Santilli]

Want to buy a Dell Inspriion, cheap? SO comes for a small additional charge...