In your opinion... Best laptop for $599 or less..?

[sanitarium16]

Originally Posted By: JohnBrowning
Go to Dell under laptops samll business, then go to vostro 1000 then start with their smart deal and alter to suite your needs.

I got mine with 2GB of Ram,two medium capacity batteries, N type wirless instead og just A/B/G it is backward compatable so no issues their,XP and all the rest of the normal stuff for $585 with shipping and tax's! Look at their Vostro 1500 line too as they sometimes ahve deals their too.

Oh mine is AMD Dual core wich is what I wanted you can get intell too if you like.You can also get it with Vista if you want.Mine is quite fast and runs for a long time and always finds any network in the area and it has never droped a wireless connection ever! I can not say enough about how much I like my Dell. It is the only Dell I have owned so I am not some Dell person!

Best part is that since the Vostro line is intended for Business owners their is no trail or bloat ware other then 60-90 trial of Microsoft Office!!! SO nothing to remove or recofigure!



AGREED!! The Dell Vostro 1000 is a great machine for the price. Recommended them to friends and customers and they love them.

 

[Bill in Utah]

Correction.

My laptop is a Vostro 1400. My daughters is a 1000. Both excellent machines.

Plus the Vostro does not come with all the nagware that Dells normal systems come with like John noted.

Bill

 

[stogiedude]

I'd have to vote for the Inspiron 1520 or 1525. Second would be Toshiba or Sony. I have a Toshiba with an Athlon 64 that runs so hot that it just shuts off from time to time. If you put your hand on the bottom of the case it's not warm it's HOT. My Dell Inspiron 1720 with the Intel Core 2 Duo runs cool as a cucumber. The Toshiba seems a tad faster though.

I got a 17" laptop a few months for only $100 more than what you want to spend by getting a Dell Outlet computer. It was $689, pristine, never touched condition. If you go to the Dell website and look at the laptops with 15" screens you should be able to find one with a Core 2 Duo, 2-3 Gig of Ram, 160GB HD, Vista Home Premium etc. for $599 or maybe just a tad more. Id have to give the Dell a thumbs up for looks and quality construction. Other than the excessive heat the Toshiba is a nice machine and fast enough that I could see it being fine for years and years to come. The screen on the Toshiba is excellent. If you watch for sales you can find a nice Toshiba at Office Depot for what you are willing to pay. For the best deals watch this website=> DEALS 2 BUY

 

[JohnBrowning]

When Bill and I both agree on something you know that it is a good product because we normaly look for different things in a product. The one we both like though is quality and a fair price. I also think that Bill and I are both result driven! So again get a Dell Vostro. Did I mention mine is wisper quite and outperforms my friends $1500 Toshiba all the time!

 

[BrianWC]

My Sony runs warm with it's "Pentium Dual Core." Running SETI at home heats my house by four degrees.

I admit I don't know much about the Vostro line. But my work computer is, until the end of a month, a Dell Latitude D810 that the USDA saw fit to load with Win2k. I'll get an HP laptop of some yet undetermined spec running XP on the 29th, I'm told.

My Dell has been very reliable, I have to admit. But when I was looking at new Dells in Best Buy, all but the XPS seemed to have a cheap feel. Whatever you get, there is no such thing as too much RAM with Vista. I'd also consider making a computer with a real graphics card a tie-breaker. At least on last years models, in the $599 range there were not that many at all. I don't game, and have yet to encouter any issues with my intel integrated graphics, but who knows what gotta have it graphic intensive app is around the corner.

 

[BrianWC]

BTW, I got REALLY LUCKY with regard to Microsoft Office. The govt, or at least the Forest Service, since they have such a big license or whatever with Microsoft, is in a program where employees can purchase a full strength version of Office (Enterprise Edition) with every conceivable Office program for the price of the dvd and shipping. All total, I paid $20. Nice!!!!!

 

[OVERKILL]

ASUS makes some VERY nice laptops, with a great warranty. But they are normally quite pricey which probably puts them out of the question. Their construction is far superior to DELL's.

 

[ConfederateTyrant]

The Latitude and Vostros series computers from are, in my opinion, far better computers than the Inspirons. Perhaps because Latitudes and Vostros laptops are business oriented.

 

[Quattro Pete]

I second the notion of going with Vostro over Inspiron. I have an Inspiron notebook, and while it never broke down on me, you can definitely feel the cheapness of it on every corner. On the other hand, the Vostro desktop that I bought recently looks pretty solid and well built. Then again, it's just a big brick, so it's hard to talk about it from quality/look-and-feel perspective.

 

[ToyotaNSaturn]

For the price, you'll be hard pressed to beat today's NewEgg combo special.

Link to NewEgg Combo Special page today

You get a Toshiba CoreDuo laptop with Targus case, cooler, mouse for $539. Bump the RAM to 2GB and you'll be all set as a general purpose machine.

 

[JohnBrowning]

Overkill, I almost bought an Asus laptop but then other things came up that took all the money I had for a top of the line laptop. They are great laptops but pricey!!!

Brian the Dell Vostro is business only you cannot buy them at retail level. From what I understand they have the same mobo as the Inspiron models. The Vostro 1000 is plastic but the 1400 and 1500 are magniesum case.If you wanted to you could step into a Vostro 1000 for as little as $399 and that is with wirless,and CD/dvd rom etc... Iwould not go that route but you could.The great thing about the Vostro line is that they have a product for every concievable need except high end gameing from budget to high end artitect/cad. Small ultra lite and compact to 17 inch monster. You get to configure it exactly how you want! You are not stuck with a preconfigured unit that either is mising something you want or forces you to pay for stuff you do not need. You can get software and extra batteries or larger batteries at the same time something you can not do at big box stores and with most of the brands they sell their. For a budget laptop I would not consider anything other then a Dell Vostro which ever model suites you needs. Now if you wanted a gameing laptop or killer high end stuff I would say go with Fujitsu,Asus,Alien or Panasonic Tough Book etc......Those are all insanely priced though.The dell can have 1-2 hard drives and if you want them to set up various partions for you they will do that. Another thing you can not select at a big box store. Not haveing all that trail/bloat ware is also so nice!!! That is 2 hours saved right their getting rid of stuff you do not need or want on your computer!

Oh did I mention if you get a Dell make sure you get no smaller then the 6 cell battery stay away from the 4 cell. I have two 6 cells that where included inthe price I quoted you. They make a 9 cell as well for t but it sticks out the bottom 1/4 of an inch. Definately pay the $15 to upgrade from b/g Wifi card wich is standard to "N"type which is actualy A/B/G/N compatable!!!

 

[ToyotaNSaturn]

What does the Vostro line bring to the table that the Latitude doesn't? Seems that when I price a comparable Vostro (to a Latitude) the Vostro models always cost more.

 

[Quattro Pete]

Originally Posted By: JohnBrowning
Dell Vostro is business only you cannot buy them at retail level.

Say what? There is nothing that can stop an individual from purchasing one online, whether you own a company or not.