Get a 15.6-inch Acer Aspire laptop for $329.99
Nope, it's not a refurb. Nope, it doesn't require any rebates. Yep, it has Windows 7. In short, here's your chance to score a full-featured notebook for a Netbook price.
I love a good laptop deal, and this is one of the best I can recall: Best Buy has the Acer Aspire AS5532-5535 for $329.99 (plus $15 for shipping and sales tax in most states). You may be able to avoid shipping charges by opting for in-store pickup.
As you might expect, this is a fairly no-frills notebook, one that's best suited to folks with no-frills needs: kids, students, grandparents, and anyone else who engages primarily in Web-based activities.
On the other hand, the Aspire does sport an ATI Radeon HD 3200 graphics subsystem, a damn sight better than the integrated Intel turtleware that's usually found on bargain-basement laptops.
In exchange, you have to live with a single-core AMD Athlon processor. That's fine for everyday apps, but forget about doing any heavy-duty multitasking.
Acer rounds out the hardware with a 15.6-inch display, 3GB of RAM, a 160GB hard drive, 802.11n Wi-Fi, and the obligatory DVD burner. My big complaint: just two USB ports.
The system runs Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit and comes with a 6-cell battery, which should net you about 2.5 hours of runtime (according to Acer).
CNET hasn't yet reviewed this model, but the nearly 500 users reviews on Best Buy's site average 4.5 stars out of 5. Translation: At this price, this Aspire will probably sell out fast.