Recommendation wanted for $300 laptop

[lakedude]

Davey your link is sold out, in fact Newegg doesn't have much of any decent laptops under $400 right now.

Good deals are going like Twinkies!

Smoove you got one heck of a deal!

Office Depot had 3rd gen Ivy based i3 laptop for $399 but they seem to be sold out as well. T

You can still find 2nd gen Sandy based i3 laptops for under $400 if you shop around.

 

[frozentundra123456]

Best Buy will have an Asus w/ a B980 for $249.99 on BF.
https://blackfriday.bestbuy.com/doo...top++4gb+memory++320gb+hard+drive++matte+pink

Looks like a great deal to me. What do you guys think?

Edit: Crap...Noticed it doesn't have a DVD drive :-(

For that price, I would not hesitate because of the lack of a DVD drive. I cant remember the last time I used a DVD drive except in my work laptop to install an HPLC analytical software program. Anyway you can get an external DVD drive for not much though.

I have a feeling that it will be very difficult to get that laptop though. I am sure they wont have many and everybody will want one.

 

[lakedude]

I have a dissenting opinion about optical drives. Several of my friends have bought ultrabooks or netbooks that lack optical drives. All thought they could live without an optical drive and all have purchased external drives which are inconvenient.

Of course it really depends on what the OP wants or needs but I wouldn't buy a laptop without an optical for my own use.

 

[coloradotrout]

Thoughts on these two:

Asus at Best Buy - 14", 4gb, 350gb, B980, no cd/dvd for $249 (370 w/ tax)
HP at Walmart - 15.6", 4gb, 500gb, i3-2328M, yes cd/dvd for $349 (380 w/tax)

So with an external $30 cd/dvd for the ASUS, it's a net $80 less.

We now have both -- one is going back ;-)

 

[coloradotrout]

OK.. am I the only one that finds Win8 horribly inefficient? I grew up with DOS, then Win3x, Win95, and so on. Since Win95, the UI has done little for me.

I want to be able to switch quickly between apps -- cut/paste -- look at apps side by side, and know what's running, and close stuff I don't want running. Win 8 seems to do everything opposed to what I want.

I tolerated Vista on my home computer -- and I finally tweaked Win7 on my work computer to where it was mostly usable. I don't need an OS deciding what app it most important, or hiding the 100s of junk apps I'd rather delete.

 

[coloradotrout]

Re: Win8 Metro -- "Classic Shell" solved this. I tried some other, but it did not work. Classic shell has a lot of options, but most importantly, it gives the desktop w/ start menu back.

Who believes the touch screen interfaces is going to be more efficient than keyboard shortcuts and mouse? (emphasis on keyboard shortcuts). Where there is no keyboard or mouse (small screen devices), I can see where touch is effective, but I use a large "natural" keyboard, and trackball mouse. I need to get data in and out and don't care to dance with my computer. Am I too harsh?

PS -- any thoughts on which laptop noted a few posts above?

 

[Steltek]

Re: Win8 Metro -- "Classic Shell" solved this. I tried some other, but it did not work. Classic shell has a lot of options, but most importantly, it gives the desktop w/ start menu back.

Who believes the touch screen interfaces is going to be more efficient than keyboard shortcuts and mouse? (emphasis on keyboard shortcuts). Where there is no keyboard or mouse (small screen devices), I can see where touch is effective, but I use a large "natural" keyboard, and trackball mouse. I need to get data in and out and don't care to dance with my computer. Am I too harsh?

PS -- any thoughts on which laptop noted a few posts above?

If you want a cheap laptop and are willing to accept a Celeron-based unit for the kids, you can get order the following for in-store pickup at Best Buy for $249.99+tax in lieu of the ASUS you quoted above:

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Dell+-+I...&skuId=6933738

Unlike the ASUS, it has a DVD drive. There is also a $25 off coupon for in-store pickups of $250 or more good the next two days if you can add a cheap pick-up filler item to the online order:

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Global-P...at288300050007

 

[coloradotrout]

I think I'd go with the Asus, B980 and 4gb, over the celeron. We can add an external dvd for $30. That said, we my opt for the Walmart HP that has an i3, 500gb drive, and internal dvd.

Does anyone know if there any any downsides to the Walmart HP one I mentioned above? I have not powered it on yet, but it "feels" solid. I have been playing around with the ASUS. I like it. Now with the 'classic shell' installed it's usable. For me, I'd prefer if the top cover was not so "slick". I can see losing a grip on it eventually.

 

[godforbids]

By the way, for anyone who's interested in the "Gateway NV77U" that Smoove910 mentioned on page 1, I found a refurbished one from the same series here. Can't vouch for that site but the system sounded interesting.

 

[coloradotrout]

We got an HP i3, 4gb, 500gb, at Walmart for 349 + tax.

That is probably our keeper. All other i3's seem to be around 449 +

Walmart actually had quite a few by mid AM still left. Which makes me wonder what is wrong. But I fired it up last night, and it seems fine.