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My brother in law is in the military, and he's being deployed again later this year. He wants to take a very small laptop- or netbook- with him so he can communicate with everyone and use it for several other purposes. It needs to cost under $300. I've been looking at netbooks, but one of the pre-req's is that it have a CD/DVD player and netbooks don't seem to have them. Most laptops are too expensive. Any other solutions? Are there netbooks that have CD/DVD players?
I just bought my daughter a cheap Acer Aspire 4339-2618 laptop for $279.00 @ Best Buy in Idaho Falls.
Totally fit the bill for a cheap semi-disposable laptop. It is very light. I quit buying expensive laptops years ago. They seem to last me about two years. I carry them everythere.
I need a new laptop myself. I urged my 15 y/o Eden to not get a netbook. I think the screens are too small. I had "minibook" in the Roaring Nineties when laptops were pretty new. While company later folded, it was a great computer, but I didn't like the small screen.
/Insert: Biannual "I may buy the cheapest Apple laptop argument..." Apple=$1K + $$$oftware vs $275 + Freeware = No brainer.
I'm going to buy a cheap MS system- again.
steve, you might pm rug wheelie. he is going to sell a couple cheap older mac books that work perfectly.
I used a buddies netbook for a month at the olympics, the screen was pretty small but it was OK for just internet surfing ... its what you give up for small size
yeah I been looking at the acers because they are cheap and a pretty good product according to my ski buddy who owns the radio shack
but I think any netbook is going to require that you plug-in an external cd/dvd player
Here are some general rules. I'm sure there are exceptions. Back to school is happening you may find some deals. Do a search on slickdeals.net and techbargains.com
netbooks:
They won't have DVD drives.
You can buy an external DVD drive(USB powered) for less than $50. They are pretty small.
laptops (sub 14")
A sub 14" laptop with a DVD will probably be expensive.
laptops (14")
You may be able to find an inexpensive 14" laptop with a DVD drive.
laptops (15"+)
Your best bet for low priced laptop with DVD drive will probably be in the 15" area.
Asus Eee PC E1004DN was one of the few that had a DVD included. It is probably discontinued now though.
Next jump up is the small thin road warrior type of 12 inch screen units with DVD drive. But pricing on those will be probably well outside your budget. $300 is an entry level back to school disposable laptop budget range. 15.6 inch screen and probably much shorter battery life than the netbooks out there- which typically run 5 hours or higher on a single charge.
just FWIW, i, personally, and my brother (IT at vail valley med center) have found the eeepc's to run hot and they toast the motherboards. i had to toss mine after 9 months of regular use. pretty disappointed.Quote:
Originally Posted by RShea
if its just a Skype and email thing, great, if its regular use like 6 hrs a day kind of thing... i dunno about it, man.
I have not done much with Asus netbooks, but in general Asus has some good stuff n full laptops and motherboards etc. I wonder why you would toss a probably still under warranty (1 year typically) device and not at least get it looked at to see if in fact there was an issue- that is what a warranty is for.Quote:
Originally Posted by marshalolson