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Old 01-19-2016, 11:52 AM
 
4,231 posts, read 3,528,779 times
Reputation: 2207

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I'm not sure if you guys are buying PCs at all or mostly buying used maybe.

Recently cheap laptops are offering a lot and almost every company has them.

For example :

http://www.amazon.com/HP-11-r010nr-1...eywords=laptop

Amazon.com : Acer Chromebook, 11.6-Inch, CB3-111-C670 (Intel Celeron, 2GB, 16GB SSD, White) : Computers & Accessories

http://www.amazon.com/Lenovo-IdeaPad...o+ideapad+100s

These are about $200 and some offer full Windows 10.

You guys like these
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Old 01-19-2016, 12:43 PM
 
Location: Yakima yes, an apartment!
8,340 posts, read 6,717,890 times
Reputation: 15129
OK, these are NOT laptops...They are "Upgraded" Tablets. No HDD, limited memory....Great for a student, NOT for a business...


Intel Celeron N3050 1.6 GHz Processor
2 GB SDRAM
Windows 10 with pre-loaded Office 365 Personal subscription for one year
32 GB Solid-State Drive, No Optical Drive
11.6-Inch 1366x768 pixel LED-lit Screen

Intel Celeron 2.16 GHz Processor
2 GB DDR3L SDRAM
Can open/edit MS Office files using free embedded QuickOffice editor or Google Docs, and can download Microsoft Office Online (an online version of Microsoft Office) for free. Cannot install standard MS Office software.
16 GB Solid-State Drive (SSD); No CD or DVD drive
11.6 inch, 1366 x 768 pixels, LED-lit Screen
Chrome Operating System; Moonstone White

Intel Atom processor Z3735F
2GB DDR3L / 32GB eMMC flash memory
11.6" LED backlight / Intel HD Graphics
Built-in Webcam / WLAN 802.11n / HDMI /USB 2.0 / Headphone / Microphone
Windows 10 / Optical drive not included
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Old 01-19-2016, 12:44 PM
 
35,095 posts, read 50,961,628 times
Reputation: 62660
No, in the long term it is not frugal.
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Old 01-19-2016, 05:37 PM
 
206 posts, read 236,609 times
Reputation: 135
Got Asus $250 special to do email on trips and give presentations at job interviews. Mouse interface screws up double click and can delete a ton of files. If you are using a flash drive, you may lose all your files as there is no recycle bin on small flash drives....Used to enjoy renting a redbox on trips and watch it on laptop. Not possible to view Redbox DVD any more on laptop, too many people were trying to steal.

Is decent grown up computer for someone who needs to type but buy small mouse with retractable usb & $10 mouse pad ...
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Old 01-19-2016, 08:02 PM
 
33,016 posts, read 27,305,232 times
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I buy cheapest used laptops under $100. It has taken me to new (old?) Vistas.
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Old 01-19-2016, 08:16 PM
 
Location: Nebraska
2,234 posts, read 3,296,514 times
Reputation: 6681
The lap top I'm typing this on was $200. It has windows 10. For what I'm using it for it works great. In fact, I was thinking of buying 2 more and just leaving them in the box.

I have and use 5 different lap tops. This one is for E-mail and internet purchases.

My other lap tops were about $600 each and I use those for financial, business, and emergencies.
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Old 01-19-2016, 08:39 PM
 
Location: Beavercreek, OH
2,194 posts, read 3,826,636 times
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I paid a friend of mine $100 for his laptop when he was moving. It was fairly new at the time and ran Windows 7.

That was four years ago and the thing still runs like a champ.
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Old 01-19-2016, 10:19 PM
 
Location: Silicon Valley
18,812 posts, read 32,258,091 times
Reputation: 38559
I bought a few new inexpensive laptops and sent them all back. finally bought a used, upgraded MacBook Pro on Ebay, believe it or not, and because I had purchased it on Ebay, was able to get a SquareTrade extended warranty - they have a special deal with Ebay where they will cover used items, too.

Love love love my MacBook Pro and it has a disk drive, so I can watch DVDs. A new similar one would have cost me about $2,000. Got this used one, including the SquareTrade warranty for around $800.

And if I have an issue where I need help with Apple Care, I can pay for a one-time service for around $35. I called to ask about a problem, and turned out it was just a setting that needed to be changed, and Apple even reimbursed me the $35 fee.

Score! My first Mac, and I'll never go back to Windows.

$800 is still a lot more than I wanted to spend, but even the $800 new Windows laptops were junk, in my opinion. The $200 ones were a joke. I spend way too much time on my computer for it to be a miserable experience. Buy quality that should last a long time. Worth the money. You can still be frugal by buying used.
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Old 01-19-2016, 10:48 PM
 
777 posts, read 1,330,703 times
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Cheapest I've ever bought was $400ish, and it was for my husband when he went back to school. Almost 3 years later, it's the best working laptop in the house right now, where there's 4 of them. The one I'm typing on right now was $550, and is 2 years old, and I'm already eager to just buy a new one. The Wifi has had to be "uninstalled/reinstalled" over a dozen times to keep it working correctly. Chrome gives me a lot of issues which don't seem to be solved by an uninstall/reinstall, so I assume it's my laptop. That's just a few things. Laptops similar to what I have now are also selling for only $350ish right now. May not be the $200 cheap ones, but that's cause I stick to HP.

Regardless, I do think the more you spend on one, the longer it is definitely meant to last. A million years back in 2003, I got a $2,000 HP as a gift, and it lasted me 6 years... only cause, I accidently destroyed it by trying to fix an eternal piece on my own, and ended up ruining the thing responsible for the keyboard to work. After that, I got a $500ish Gateway, which pissed me off within a year. So ya, you just get what you pay for. Apple's are expensive for a reason; they seem to last forever. But I'm not an Apple person; I like computer freedom that Apple likes to crap all over.
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Old 01-20-2016, 05:29 AM
bUU
 
Location: Florida
12,077 posts, read 10,648,589 times
Reputation: 8793
Laptops, by their very nature, are going to cost more than a similarly capable desktop. Frugality would reserve purchase of laptops only in circumstances where one's life requires carrying computing power with you outside your home. Perhaps the need to access email may qualify, but I would also consider other alternatives if that is the only real impetus for purchasing a laptop rather than a desktop computer: If you're going to have a smartphone anyway, then that could be sufficient to address enough of the remote email access needs to make having a laptop no longer frugal.

I don't believe, though, that price tells the whole story with regard to how long a computer will last. You mentioned HP. I know you like HPs, but there was a time when HP laptops failed at a higher rate than laptops of several other brands, at the same price-point. In a stroke of bad luck for you, Gateway was another brand that typically has failed to live up to the "the more you spend, the longer it lasts" maxim you put forward; other low-cost brands fared better. That's why it is critical to research research research, and be very persnickety about the quality of the data you're offered as well: A very reputable computer magazine often ranks best and worst laptop brands, but ridiculously ignores long-term reliability!

These days, the story is a lot different than in past years: The #1 and #2 most reliable Windows-based PC brands have checkered pasts. They both have had years during which their offerings fared quite poorly in the field, but have evidently in recent years addressed their inadequacies, and now stand above the rest vis a vis Windows-based PCs: Samsung and Gateway. What's frustrating is that these two brands, the most reliable, are nowhere near the top with regard to other aspects regarding usability, power and features. So we are forced to decide what's more important: The initial quality? Or how long it lasts? Because it is clear that no one offers superior performance with regard to both.
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