Budget Laptop Advice

[Akathisia]

Hey Gear-Fi,

I'm getting ready to head off to USAF ATC school and I need a basic laptop to browse the internet and listen to music. My budget is $400 max (self-imposed because I am saving for a wedding and I want to toss whats left over into athe savings account).

I'm not interested in going used, and I really don't need a gaming machine at all.

My desktop is an AMD Athlon 64 1.8ghz (single core) with 2gig of RAM and a 7800gtx and I would be perfectly fine with the same overall power without the gaming abilities.

Help!

[hockeyb213]

hmm I think compaq has some stuff that is right at where your budget is maybe a tad over go look at their stuff

[Wired_Gargoyle]

HP has managed to put out some decent laptops, some of which are roughly around your price range, look for the Pavilion line. You could also try looking at the Dell website, specifically going to their Small Business section and browsing the Vostro line.

Have you considered an Asus EEE Pc? The 900 or 901's are excellent for just doing email and browsing if you can deal with the 8.9in screen.

Email, Web browsing and playing CDs or MP3's aren't processor intensive if that's ALL you plan on doing with it. Hell, almost all of that could be done with an ITouch or a PDA.

The next wave of tech is coming in the next week or so, lots of laptops are going to be priced to move. Check local big box stores for what they want to clear out. Anything with a Intel Dual Core, Core 2 Duo or AMD Turion is a good bet, make sure it's got a DVD player (Burner if it's something you want) cuz I've seen some budget laptops without even a CD Burner just a player. If it's sporting Vista, 1Gb of RAM if it's in 1 slot (Should leave a slot open for another Gb later) otherwise 2Gb. Nothing in your price range will have anything but Integrated Sound. Try and get at least WiFi a/b/g with 'n' being the best bet. It's late, that's all I can think of.

[cyberspyder]

Get a factory second thinkpad from IBM.

[Akathisia]

I just got a really really good deal on a Sony Vaio, so problem solved!