Need help shopping for a laptop.

[Cerwin Vega Fan]

I'm looking to get a used laptop for college purposes. You know some place to store notes, organize stuff, you know the basic college stuff. Problem is my laptop knowledge is quite limited. IMO you are always better off building your own computer but that is impossible when it comes to a laptop I think. Due to my low budget I'm looking to get a used one, my budget maxes out around $800-$1,000. However, if I could find a used one for cheaper that would be great. Overall the laptop does not have to be super powerful, I just want something for college and internet use. I don't know how laptops are priced so I have no idea what I can get for the money. Nor do I know what brands are good. Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks

[fastTa]

Check out www.dell.com. They have a few baseline notebooks for about your pricerange.

[Formulaboy95]

Dell - all the way. Wish I could afford a new Dell Laptop, but the one I have has not given me any problems. Fairly durable too, it has taken years of abuse by me in my daily I.T. scramble from site to site. Also, there is great access to parts online for less money, in the rare event something breaks.

[Cerwin Vega Fan]

I just want to say thanks for the all the help I have gotten. Well, I know my budget was 1K but I kind of went over for this one. ops: What do you guys think? Seems to have plenty of processor and ram power. Anyone have anything to say about Toshiba laptops?

http://www.circuitcity.com/detail.js...&oid=96102&m=0

Thanks

[stingant0]

If you want a brand new one for an awesome price do what I did. The day after thanksgiving I stood out side Best Buy from 2:50am until opening at 6:00am to get a deal of a Toshiba 2.4 GHZ, 512k Ram, DVD, blah blah blah. Anyway Best Buy had this laptop for sale for 1,100 however you got so many rebates that it only costed me $499! But like I said you have to get there early and wait in line until the store opens.

[Aaron4TAMU]

I just want to say thanks for the all the help I have gotten. Well, I know my budget was 1K but I kind of went over for this one. ops: What do you guys think? Seems to have plenty of processor and ram power. Anyone have anything to say about Toshiba laptops?

http://www.circuitcity.com/detail.js...&oid=96102&m=0

Thanks

That's a pretty nice system indeed. Only thing I can say...if you plan on using the wireless features, MAKE SURE you have the best possible security available. I install a lot of internet based equipment and right now wireless systems have some security flaws.

[Injuneer]

I noticed like all but the most expensive, top-end laptops, it lacks a serial port. That has caused me a lot of grief with a Toshiba that I bought more than a year ago. Although there are Belkin and Keyspan adapters that can translate a USB connection to a serial port, it often results in Comm port conflicts in some software. I wrestled with the software for my MoTeC ECU for a year, until MoTeC finally came out with a version of there software that allowed it to communicate with Comm ports other than Comm1 and Comm2. Until then, with the adapter addressed as Comm1, it was a 1 chance in 10 that I could actually connect to my car's MoTeC ECU, without the laptop crashing. Caused a few embarassments at the track.

I don't know what the answer is, because a top-o'-the-line Dell with a serial port is going to cost twice what you are looking at. Maybe you won't run into any conflicts, but products like DataMaster and AutoTap have a limited number of tested/approved USB adapters.