Laptop Recommendations

[Impious 1,476]

Looking for a decent laptop for under $650 ($500 or less would be ideal) and I'm laptop dumb.

I don't do any gaming. I don't download movies/music or do any video editing. Just needs to be used for basic uses......Microsoft Office, internet (I'm going to purchase a wireless router aswell), and eventually I want to get the software and hardware for a MLS measurement system. So processor, RAM and HDD don't need to be industry leading, but I also don't want something that will overly limit future uses. For example, I would probably take a higher quality videocard over a huge HDD. I want a minimum screen size of 15" and DVD RW (which anymore seems to be the standard).

I've been searching around Tigerdirect and DELL at their sale & refurb'd units. I would prefer to stay with Tigerdirect if possible though, as my brother-in-law is setup as a dealer thru them so I'd be able to get discounts.

Here are some of the units I'd seen that had my interest;

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/Se...;Sku=A180-15006

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/Se...&CatId=2510

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/Se...&CatId=2510

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/Se...&CatId=2510

Ideas ? Suggestions ? Recommendations ?

[Jmac 24]

Low-end Acer is a bad choice ... and a refurbished HP is even worse ...

[Impious 1,476]

LOL......well do you have an recommendations for a decently priced laptop ?

Something else that's been recommended to me is Lenovo;

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/Se...&CatId=2510

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/Se...&CatId=2510

I should also mention that I plan on removing Vista and having XP installed......which I've heard some Vista machines are a bear to downgrade on.

[Big Shot 0]

The HP dv6353us for $679.00 looks good to me and i don't think you'll find much more for your money. It's the first one from your second link.

[Jmac 24]

LOL......well do you have an recommendations for a decently priced laptop ?

Something else that's been recommended to me is Lenovo;

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/Se...&CatId=2510

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/Se...&CatId=2510

I should also mention that I plan on removing Vista and having XP installed......which I've heard some Vista machines are a bear to downgrade on.

The only thing from Lenovo I would recommend would be their Thinkpad line, which is excellent but well out of your price range ... The remainder of their line-up is mediocre at best ...

I would advise against downgrading to XP from a Vista machine. Finding drivers is a major pain in the ass in most cases. I would either purchase a laptop w/ XP pre-loaded or get a Vista unit and immediately upgrade it to 4 GB of RAM (very cheap these days ... less than $80) ... Follow the Vista tweak guide on Blackviper.com and you'll be happy w/ it ...

For recommendations, I would probably pick up a Compaq if you don't need the features. They're HP's low-end line and we haven't seen too many issues w/ them (they use the same base parts as the HP products, but w/ slower CPUs, less RAM, less features, etc.) ... The low-end Dells wouldn't be too bad of a choice as Dell has improved their customer service significantly over the past few years.

The HP dv6353us for $679.00 looks good to me and i don't think you'll find much more for your money. It's the first one from your second link.

Every time HP sends us refurbished units, we literally have a 50+% return rate within the first 2 weeks ... I have zero confidence in their refurbished products ...

[Impious 1,476]

I would advise against downgrading to XP from a Vista machine. Finding drivers is a major pain in the ass in most cases. I would either purchase a laptop w/ XP pre-loaded or get a Vista unit and immediately upgrade it to 4 GB of RAM (very cheap these days ... less than $80) ... Follow the Vista tweak guide on Blackviper.com and you'll be happy w/ it ...

Well, the main problem is I don't know of the MLS software will run well with Vista. If that software runs in Vista, I probably wouldn't change it.

For recommendations, I would probably pick up a Compaq if you don't need the features.

This $500 Compaq at BB any good ?

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?sk...9#productdetail

Seems like a decent deal to me. Downside is that from what I've read it doesn't really downgrade to XP well at all (again, assuming that is something I would desire)

Office Depot has this sale;

http://officedepot.shoplocal.com/officedep...iceDepot-080210

But it's CTO, and they charge $80 shipping, you have to pay sales tax on the full $435 plus you have to wait 3 months to receive the mail in $135 rebate aswell as wait 2-3 weeks to actually receive the unit.

I think I'd rather spend the extra hundred and take the BB laptop home same day.

[Jmac 24]

After talking to some of my friends and clients who are in real estate, I got mixed reviews on how well MLS works on Vista. Some said it works fine (mostly the more tech savvy), some said it works fine but they hate Vista, some said it works sometimes, and some said it doesn't work at all (mostly the less tech savvy). Could be different versions or different configurations, I don't know.

I guess if you're going to get Vista, get it from somewhere that has a decent return policy (Costco, Staples, Best Buy, etc.) so if it doesn't work, you can return it and get a custom-built HP or Dell or something (though I'm sure a custom unit will be more than $650) ...