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General discussion

Bang for my buck

Mar 5, 2005 12:59AM PST

Anyone have any secrets they want to share on buying a good but affordable laptop???

I'm a grad student who's Dell 600m decided to have motherboard failure (began under warranty, but they only told me what the problem was after warranty expired) and now I'm looking for a notebook around 1000. I'm wondering what people believe is the best deal for around 1000 dollars.
I'm not sure about all the things I require, but wireless built in card and over 256 for memory. I also carry my computer everywhere, so durability and size are important to me. Also, warranty is a big issue for me.

Thanks for any help you can offer.

Discussion is locked

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Dell again unfortunately
Mar 5, 2005 1:45AM PST

Well, unfortunate Dell offers the most bang for your buck. However, the drawback is that their quality isn't the greatest.

You may want to look into averatec. They offer very affordable thin and lights.

Or take a look at what your local bestbuy or circuit city has to offer.

Finally, there is also the refurbished computer route.

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Beware... Sotec is now Avertec.
Mar 5, 2005 2:41AM PST

Research the trail of sorrow...

Bob

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I love my Averatec
Apr 11, 2005 1:55PM PDT

I've had my Averatec 3150 since Aug. 2003 and it's been great. I really like how light and small it is. Great for traveling and easy to get out and back into my bag while on the plane. For the price, I don't know anything that can beat it. I got mine for $750 (after rebates) from BestBuy.com. Averatec had a $50 rebate and BestBuy.com was adding their own $150 rebate back then, but only online. Toward the end of this year, I may be ready to get a new Averatec so I can get built in wireless (have a card now), bigger disk (only have 30GB now, currently they offer up to 80GB), DVD burner (only have CD-RW/DVD now), and a faster processor wouldn't hurt. And all this is still under a grand.

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Take a look at Compaq
Apr 11, 2005 2:58PM PDT

I know it's not the best laptop of all but somehow Compaq has never dissapointed me (unlike my $3000 Alienware). Take a look at the V4000 (i own the V2000). The V4000 has another extra $100 rebate right now and you're looking about $1100 for Pentium M 730, 512MB RAM and 12cell battery. I'm thinking about getting the V4000 for my wife but then got confused after reading about the 64 bit channel people mention about in this forum.