# Good laptop for student?



## aaronwesley94 (May 23, 2008)

What do you guys think of this laptop?
http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=10326306
Seems to be an awesome buy, but what about Compaq? Doesn't HP own Compaq? If Compaq is as good as HP....Then this laptop should be excellent for a student. Has anyone had any experience with Compaq? Any thoughts or advice?


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## aaronwesley94 (May 23, 2008)

GEE WHIZ! Last night there was a compaq CQ50 Laptop for $298.00....now it says the product doesn't exist. Grrrrrrrr! Any suggestions where I might be able to find another nice laptop around $350 bucks? I prefer new, not refurbished.


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## backwoodsman7 (Mar 22, 2007)

aaronwesley94 said:


> GEE WHIZ! Last night there was a compaq CQ50 Laptop for $298.00....now it says the product doesn't exist. Grrrrrrrr! Any suggestions where I might be able to find another nice laptop around $350 bucks? I prefer new, not refurbished.


Whatever you get, make sure you Google for some info & reviews on it before you buy.

Many manufacturers make several different lines of laptops, some aimed at the consumer market, some at the business market. The consumer machines are junk, built as cheaply as possible and still have most of them make it through the warranty. That's why most folks these days think a computer should only last a few years before it breaks -- they buy the junk computers because the price is low.

Presario was Compaq's consumer line. It looks like they've revived the Presario name, and the CQ50 is one of those. Maybe they're better than the old Presarios, or maybe not; based on the price, I'd guess not. But I'd want to know for sure before buying one. I wouldn't touch a consumer-grade machine with a 10 foot pole, unless it was free.

$298 had to be a misprint, which would explain why it got pulled so fast. Now they have one CQ50 at $549 and another at $679. The cheaper one has only 1GB RAM, which will make it a real dog with Vista. Not that I'd ever recommend Vista for anyone, mind you, but that's what it comes with (another reason not to buy it).


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## Nevada (Sep 9, 2004)

aaronwesley94 said:


> I prefer new, not refurbished.


Why is refurbished a problem?


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## OrganicCat (Sep 23, 2008)

What is the student going to do? If it's just writing papers, and researching on the internet, you can have a laptop for under $350. Eee PC's are cheap, don't use hardly any power and run well. If you want something that's going to play DVDs or do documentaries or especially graphic art, you'll be looking at $800 very easily at the low end of what will be acceptable. (Macbook, etc.)

Give me a little more specifics and I'll try and guide your wiggle room.


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## Lawbag (May 10, 2005)

The first thing you should do when shopping for a laptop for school is to see if the college or program he/she is enrolled in has any minimum system requirements or recommendations. Also look at whether any specific software is required, which will help you determine the minimum amount of RAM and hard drive space if the college doesn't have any minimum standards.

Wireless capability is a must. Bluetooth would be optional and can always be added with a plug in usb Bluetooth adapter.


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## aaronwesley94 (May 23, 2008)

Sorry for the delay~

Why not refurbished? Who wants something that another person has used and hen just been cleaned and updated?

I already looked at the eee pc, and am by no means impressed. THe only programs needed for this computer will be office 07 and Pinnacle studio 11. I guess I'll just have to up the budget, and find something more decent. It does make sense that the cheaper you pay, the cheaper you get.


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## giffy (Jul 22, 2005)

aaronwesley94 said:


> Sorry for the delay~
> 
> Why not refurbished? Who wants something that another person has used and hen just been cleaned and updated?


Refurbs are not always a bad idea, many times you can get a great price along with a warranty close to a new one.

On the Compaq (HP).........my daughter and I both have one, hers is two years old, mine I picked up last year. No problems so far.

giffy


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## Nevada (Sep 9, 2004)

aaronwesley94 said:


> Why not refurbished? Who wants something that another person has used and hen just been cleaned and updated?


That's not what refurbished computers usually are. More often it's a new unit that was shipped with a defect, such as a bad CD drive or defective keyboard. The unit is exchanged for a new one and the defective unit is returned to the factory for repair. Once the CD drive or keyboard is replaced it's unloaded to a wholesaler as refurbished. For all practical purposes it's a new unit with 100% functionality.

Laptops don't stay contemporary long enough to be able to update older machines for resale. You can find some terrific deals on great equipment by buying refurbished.


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## aaronwesley94 (May 23, 2008)

Nevada said:


> That's not what refurbished computers usually are. More often it's a new unit that was shipped with a defect, such as a bad CD drive or defective keyboard. The unit is exchanged for a new one and the defective unit is returned to the factory for repair. Once the CD drive or keyboard is replaced it's unloaded to a wholesaler as refurbished. For all practical purposes it's a new unit with 100% functionality.
> 
> Laptops don't stay contemporary long enough to be able to update older machines for resale. You can find some terrific deals on great equipment by buying refurbished.


How can you tell if the refurb you're buying hasn't been previously used? The laptops on Geeks.com don't tell you.


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## Nevada (Sep 9, 2004)

aaronwesley94 said:


> How can you tell if the refurb you're buying hasn't been previously used? The laptops on Geeks.com don't tell you.


You aren't going to find a dual-core laptop that's used. The dual core machines are all factory returns, used for a very short period of time and exchanged due to a factory defect.

Now you will find used P-4, Celeron, and various single-core AMD laptops returned from corporate lease. Sometimes those machines will be called refurbished, but they're really just cleaned-up used laptops.

I guess the short answer is that you can tell by how contemporary the laptop is.


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## OntarioMan (Feb 11, 2007)

Some of the "Core Duo" laptops have been out since late 2005, and are now available off-lease. Systems like the Latitude D620, D630 etc. are available, as well as others which are even newer - and they're all used systems. 



Nevada said:


> You aren't going to find a dual-core laptop that's used. The dual core machines are all factory returns, used for a very short period of time and exchanged due to a factory defect.
> 
> Now you will find used P-4, Celeron, and various single-core AMD laptops returned from corporate lease. Sometimes those machines will be called refurbished, but they're really just cleaned-up used laptops.
> 
> I guess the short answer is that you can tell by how contemporary the laptop is.


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## Nevada (Sep 9, 2004)

OntarioMan said:


> Some of the "Core Duo" laptops have been out since late 2005, and are now available off-lease. Systems like the Latitude D620, D630 etc. are available, as well as others which are even newer - and they're all used systems.


I haven't seen any. Where have you been seeing them? I'd like one for myself.


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## OntarioMan (Feb 11, 2007)

Nevada said:


> I haven't seen any. Where have you been seeing them? I'd like one for myself.


I've used 3 sources of off-lease systems in the past few years : IBM.com (or IBM.ca) , warehousepoint.com and I have a source locally. All have had the core-duo laptops for some time.


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## Nevada (Sep 9, 2004)

OntarioMan said:


> I've used 3 sources of off-lease systems in the past few years : IBM.com (or IBM.ca) , warehousepoint.com and I have a source locally. All have had the core-duo laptops for some time.


Well, Warehouse Point doesn't have any dual-core laptops at all, and the least expensive dual-core used laptop IBM.com has is nearly $800.

http://www-304.ibm.com/shop/america...tegoryId=2576396&dualCurrId=73&catalogId=-840

Sheesh!


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## OntarioMan (Feb 11, 2007)

Click the "dual core units are here" section on the main page of warehousepoint - they have several models of Dell dual-core laptops, starting at about $410.



Nevada said:


> Well, Warehouse Point doesn't have any dual-core laptops at all, and the least expensive dual-core used laptop IBM.com has is nearly $800.
> 
> http://www-304.ibm.com/shop/america...tegoryId=2576396&dualCurrId=73&catalogId=-840
> 
> Sheesh!


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