# Thinking About Getting a Laptop



## Cindy in NY (May 10, 2002)

We have a 12 year old HP pc that runs Windows XP. We're thinking that it's probably time to upgrade! 

I sell on ebay so I do a lot of photos. We don't play any games but would like to be able to watch DVD's and Amazon Prime shows. We would need to load Windows Office. 

What should we be looking for in a laptop? We're thinking about getting another HP as we can order it with exactly what we want, we just don't know what we should want!


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## Nevada (Sep 9, 2004)

Cindy in NY said:


> We have a 12 year old HP pc that runs Windows XP. We're thinking that it's probably time to upgrade!
> 
> I sell on ebay so I do a lot of photos. We don't play any games but would like to be able to watch DVD's and Amazon Prime shows. We would need to load Windows Office.
> 
> What should we be looking for in a laptop? We're thinking about getting another HP as we can order it with exactly what we want, we just don't know what we should want!


As I keep saying, laptop brand doesn't matter except for customer service. They all use the same parts inside.

the best value in laptops is to get off-lease dual-core processor laptops from eBay. You can find good Windows 7 machines in the $150-$200 range. Look for a dual-core processor, 2 GB memory (4 GB is better), a generous hard drive, and a 15" monitor. Try looking with this search criteria.

http://www.ebay.com/sch/PC-Laptops-Netbooks-/177/i.html?Processor%2520Type=Intel%2520Core%25202|Intel%2520Core%25202%2520Duo|Intel%2520Core%25202%2520Extreme|Intel%2520Core%25202%2520Quad|Intel%2520Core%2520Duo|Intel%2520Core%2520i3%25201st%2520Gen%252E|Intel%2520Core%2520i3%25202nd%2520Gen%252E|Intel%2520Core%2520i3%25203rd%2520Gen%252E|Intel%2520Core%2520i3%25204th%2520Gen%252E|Intel%2520Core%2520i5%25201st%2520Gen%252E|Intel%2520Core%2520i5%25202nd%2520Gen%252E|Intel%2520Core%2520i5%25203rd%2520Gen%252E|Intel%2520Core%2520i5%25204th%2520Gen%252E|Intel%2520Core%2520i7%25201st%2520Gen%252E|Intel%2520Core%2520i7%25202nd%2520Gen%252E|Intel%2520Core%2520i7%25203rd%2520Gen%252E|Intel%2520Core%2520i7%25204th%2520Gen%252E&Screen%2520Size=15%252D15%252E9%2520inches&Memory=2%2520GB%2520or%2520more&LH_ItemCondition=1000|1500|2000|2500|3000&_udlo=150&_udhi=200&LH_BIN=1&_sop=15&Operating%2520System=Windows%25207&_dcat=177&Hard%2520Drive%2520Capacity=120%2520GB%2520or%2520more

I like this Lenovo machine for $175 & free shipping.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Lenovo-G550...82179603?pt=Laptops_Nov05&hash=item2c83588d13


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## Belfrybat (Feb 21, 2003)

Nevada has given you some good advice. I would add that I won't purchase any computer these days without at least 4 GB RAM. If you want to buy used or reconditioned, make sure the seller is an authorized dealer so you'll get an authentic copy of the operating system. I got burned a few years ago when a used laptop I had went belly up and I couldn't restore it due to not having the OS license. 

If you want to buy new, I think Toshiba and HP both offer Win 7 as an alternative. I have a Win 8, but I much prefer the ease of Win 7.

A friend purchased this one and has been very happy with it. http://www.toshiba.com/us/computers/laptops/satellite/C50/C50-ABT3N12


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## mnn2501 (Apr 2, 2008)

Cindy in NY said:


> We're thinking about getting another HP as we can order it with exactly what we want


You can do that with any of the name brands.

If you can still get a Windows 7 I would. You want to play DVD's so you'll need a DVD player. I would suggest an HDMI slot so you can hook it up to a (modern) TV (HDMI slot/cable is the easiest but not the only way to hook it up to a TV).

Bare minimum for Win 7 or Win8 that I would run is 4GB of RAM, I'd prefer 8 GB RAM or more though. 2GB will run Win 7 but it'll be slow as a turtle, especially if you're uploading lots of pictures or trying to play videos (Amazon Prime, Netflix, etc).


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## Harry Chickpea (Dec 19, 2008)

When buying from ebay be sure that the seller has a good rep. It took three tries on a recent laptop to get one that worked. I bought another for DW last week (different seller) and am sending it back after fiddling with it for the weekend and not getting keyboard drivers to work properly. We'll see how the replacement goes.

Used computers are a game of dice, even if the seller claims to have verified that it works. The savings are enough to make them worthwhile though.


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## backwoodsman7 (Mar 22, 2007)

Harry Chickpea said:


> When buying from ebay be sure that the seller has a good rep.


That's really good advice. I've learned (more times than I'd like to admit) to never, ever buy anything that's not cheap & unimportant from a seller with less than a 99% feedback rating. My limit used to be 98%, but even just that 1% drastically increases the chances that I'll regret it.

Some sellers are really great and will bend over backwards to fix any problems that come up. Others, not so much. I bought a computer a month ago, and what I got is lacking in several significant points from what was advertised. The seller won't respond, and it looks like Ebay and PayPal aren't going to help me, in spite of all their prominently advertised guarantees. His feedback rating was 98.7%; I really wish I'd have gone for the other machine I was considering, from a seller with feedback of 99.5%.

The only exception would be if a seller has less than 100 feedbacks, and one negative that looks like it's undeserved. Buyers can be dishonest jerks too, and almost every seller will get those occasionally, no matter how good they are.


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## mrs whodunit (Feb 3, 2012)

I bought a Toshiba Satellite last fall. Love it! It was on sale at Staples but I don't remember how much.

Love the large screen. Its even got decent sound.

Took me a month to get use to Windows 8. Was quite hard on my brain LOL


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## Nevada (Sep 9, 2004)

mnn2501 said:


> Bare minimum for Win 7 or Win8 that I would run is 4GB of RAM, I'd prefer 8 GB RAM or more though. 2GB will run Win 7 but it'll be slow as a turtle, especially if you're uploading lots of pictures or trying to play videos (Amazon Prime, Netflix, etc).


For the time being, 2 GB can be fine for people who don't do a lot of heavy applications and run Win7 32-bit. I have 4 GB in my laptop but I seldom exceed 2 GB usage. The thing is that memory is easy to add to a laptop, so I wouldn't let 2 GB of memory keep me from a good deal.

Remember also that Win7 32-bit uses a lot less memory than 64-bit. In fact the maximum memory is 4GB with 32-bit, but you'll probably only see 3 GB even if you have 4 GB. That's not an operating system problem, it's a mainboard architecture problem.

You can add a lot more memory to Win7 64-bit. The amount depends on the edition you have.

Starter: 8GB
Home Basic: 8GB
Home Premium: 16GB
Professional: 192GB
Enterprise: 192GB
Ultimate: 192GB

The point is that Win7 32-bit users can get by with a lot less memory that 64-bit users can.

But again, memory is easy to add to a laptop. Don't let memory keep you from a good deal. You can always add more memory later.


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## arabian knight (Dec 19, 2005)

Memory was so easy to add to this iMac I jumped from 2 gig to the Max of 8 Gig
And Cheap, like 45 bucks including shipping. Yeah. memory is really inexpensive these days. 
Man take one screw out on the bottom, and there they are the memory sticks. Took less then a minute to put in the two new ones. LOL


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## Nevada (Sep 9, 2004)

arabian knight said:


> Memory was so easy to add to this iMac I jumped from 2 gig to the Max of 8 Gig
> And Cheap, like 45 bucks including shipping. Yeah. memory is really inexpensive these days.
> Man take one screw out on the bottom, and there they are the memory sticks. Took less then a minute to put in the two new ones. LOL


I went from 2 GB to 4 GB on my Lenovo laptop for more like $15.


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## arabian knight (Dec 19, 2005)

Nevada said:


> I went from 2 GB to 4 GB on my Lenovo laptop for more like $15.


Cool.
This iMac is a lot cheaper to buy memory for then my Dell, which I was one of the unlucky ones that bought one of their computers that for two years they used a proprietary memory in~! Could only get it from Dell no ifs ands or buts about it ant who did they mark it up 75 bucks to go from 256 to 512 to WAY over $125 to jump it to 1gig. LOL
And I think my HD was going out so instead of putting of that money in a Old Dell Machine that was bought in 2001 I got this iMac in early 2009.
And what a nice machine it is. LOL


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## Harry Chickpea (Dec 19, 2008)

backwoodsman7 said:


> That's really good advice. I've learned (more times than I'd like to admit) to never, ever buy anything that's not cheap & unimportant from a seller with less than a 99% feedback rating. My limit used to be 98%, but even just that 1% drastically increases the chances that I'll regret it.
> 
> Some sellers are really great and will bend over backwards to fix any problems that come up. Others, not so much. I bought a computer a month ago, and what I got is lacking in several significant points from what was advertised. The seller won't respond, and it looks like Ebay and PayPal aren't going to help me, in spite of all their prominently advertised guarantees. His feedback rating was 98.7%; I really wish I'd have gone for the other machine I was considering, from a seller with feedback of 99.5%.
> 
> The only exception would be if a seller has less than 100 feedbacks, and one negative that looks like it's undeserved. Buyers can be dishonest jerks too, and almost every seller will get those occasionally, no matter how good they are.


One thing with ebay sellers that frosts me is when the item was never checked properly before shipping, so I get stuck with the return postage cost. It was a $28 cost to send back this latest laptop and there was no way on this green earth that it EVER functioned prior to shipping. At least with the more reputable brick-n-mortar places there is the possibility of getting those charges reversed.


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## Cindy in NY (May 10, 2002)

Thanks everyone for the suggestions!


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## Darren (May 10, 2002)

I'm doing the same thing. I'll buy another Lenovo Thinkpad with Win 7 off eBay. I've had great luck with the previous three, two of which are still running. All ran with no problems when received. If you don't get in a hurry you can usually get the features you want. I like the T61.


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