Best Laptop between $200-$300

[gunnlover]

I've been real busy with school, work, and the family. I don't have too much time for anything lately, let alone troll Calguns. I'd appreciate any recommendations on a good "cheap" laptop. It won't be used for Netflix or gaming...etc and will be used for business. It needs to have built in WIFI and bluetooth features. That's pretty much all I'm concerned with other than price. And I'd like to walk into Best Buy, Fry's, or a big box store for the purchase. Costco entry level laptop is over $400. Thoughts?

[jrara]

Best bet is online if you want prices like that.

Try Deals2buy.com, they got some coupons you can use or specials.

[swiss_]

I'd opt for a notebook over an ultra cheap full sized laptop. If all you need is internet connectivity and document editing abilities then you should be fine with a little notebook. A decent one will run you $250-$350.

[larkja]

At that price, new you'll be looking at a netbook. OR...

I have a business and have had great success with purchasing used, refurbished laptops (a couple years old) on ebay. The last one was a Lenovo with Windows 7 pro, 8G RAM, 500G hard drive, etc. It had some good specs. I think I paid around $250. They typically last me around 5 years. But even if I bought new, after 5 years, I would probably be upgrading anyway. For me $250 is a lot better than $800. I have an account with dropbox and save all my files to the cloud (automatic backup). The only thing I have installed locally is applications.

[fishmonger]

slickdeals.... here are a couple options....

http://slickdeals.net/f/8575694-lenovo-b50-80-80lt00h6us-15-6-notebook-intel-core-i3-i3-4005u-dual-core-2-core-1-70-ghz-4-gb-ddr3l-sdram-ram-500-gb-hdd-235-free-shipping-ebay-daily-deal?v=1

http://slickdeals.net/f/8576246-dell-inspiron-13-7000-series-2-in-1-laptop-w-stylus-i3-6100u-cpu-4gb-ddr3-500gb-13-3-1366x768-win-10-290-after-70-slickdeals-rebate-free-shipping?v=1

how quickly do you need it? dell often has 50% off referbs. that would be what i would do.

[low67vdubinnocal]

I see the intel I3 laptops new on ebay now in that price range. Some do not have a dvd player but you could add a portable one if needed.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Lenovo-B50-15-6-Notebook-Intel-i3-4GB-RAM-500GB-HDD-Win7Pro-Free-Win10-Upgrade-/121805869954?hash=item1c5c321382:g:Ki0AAOSwiwVWTj3I

[wjc]

A neighbor just bought a Lenovo laptop with Google Chrome OS, wifi, usb, for $149 (base price). He got it at Best Buy.

I haven't heard any gripes from him yet...

[the86d]

Check pawn shops? Something with an SSD?

[readysetgo]

Lenova Thinkpad Yoga @ woot.com

http://www.woot.com/offers/lenovo-thinkpad-yoga-11-6-touch-ultrabook-11?ref=w_cnt_gw_dly_img

Win10 Pro

Just under $300 after shipping and tax. Just bought two, haven't opened yet but the reviews are positive.

http://amzn.com/B01B16MXLU

[Iknownot]

Lenovo has had think pads on sale on that range. Pretty good laptop for the money. I have a buddy that got one about a month back and he likes it so far.

[billofrights]

No offense, but that's a pretty restrictive budget if this is going to be for business use. You're basically looking at refurbs or Chromebooks at that price level.

[Iknownot]

No offense, but that's a pretty restrictive budget if this is going to be for business use. You're basically looking at refurbs or Chromebooks at that price level.

That's not true at all. The Lenovo posted on this thread is better than a netbook or chrome book. It can handle basic business tasks just fine.

If you really look around you can sometimes find i3 laptops for just over $300. Just a matter of really keeping a eye out for a deal.

[orangeusa]

I bought a refurbished laptop from Best Buy for $350. HP Envy, i5, Windows 10. Full warranty. Normally $620.

I asked the guy what is the cheapest decent laptop. Lo and behold, goes to back and brings it out.

[spddrcr]

love both the lenovo's I have had. the first one had traveled all over the world with me for work and was bombproof. Upon pulling up to the big hotel at Yosemite the luggage guy dropped it in a 3 inch deep puddle of semi frozen water by accident. I took it apart and let it sit overnight and after reassembling in the morning it fired right up.

the second one I have had for about 2 year now. not as good as my first one but pretty decent overall.

[stilly]

I've been real busy with school, work, and the family. I don't have too much time for anything lately, let alone troll Calguns. I'd appreciate any recommendations on a good "cheap" laptop. It won't be used for Netflix or gaming...etc and will be used for business. It needs to have built in WIFI and bluetooth features. That's pretty much all I'm concerned with other than price. And I'd like to walk into Best Buy, Fry's, or a big box store for the purchase. Costco entry level laptop is over $400. Thoughts?

I would never recommend a POS that you can walk into a big box store and buy. If the laptop is $400 brand new, then it will be garbage after a few years.

I will tell you what I tell everyone else.

What you should look at is a nice Dell Latitude E6400 or a 6410. You can go with the 6520 as well, but for the price, it is hard to beat the E6410

You can get them for around $200 and they can have an i5 or better CPU plus a 14.1" screen. If you want a larger screen then look for the 6420.

http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=m570.l1313&_nkw=Dell+Latitude+E6410&_sacat=0

They have been a solid performing laptop for me now for over 4+ years. I actually have an E6400 (which I do not like because it has an 8GB limit on RAM and it uses DDR2) I believe the E6410 uses DDR3 (costs about half as much) and I THINK has a 16GB limit. If no then I think it might be the 6500 series... but the E6410 is certainly worth looking at.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Dell-Latitud.../281962337564? <== incorrect title (it is not a 6510) and it does not have a wide screen, but if his other specs are correct, this is not a bad machine and if it has the nVidia graphics card (nvs 3100 or something) then it should be GTG...) You can add blue tooth for under $10 delivered.

These laptops can run dual hds, a hd + SSD, it can run two extra batteries + have the extended battery for the laptop itself. They are just awesome and the fact that they cost about $2k 6 years ago and many are still in excellent shape means a lot to me. I thought they were made of a magnesium alloy or whatever instead of that plastic **** they have in the stores. My 6400 is like that anyways.

If you get it, make sure it has the lighted keyboard (no biggie if not, you can always buy one and swap it out too for $10-$20) but make sure it has the Nvidia graphics (it should have the higher res screen too)

nVidia graphics (can not change out the graphics that I know of)
Lighted Keyboard (this can be changed)
CPU (this can prolly be changed)
Bluetooth (this can be added for $10 or less...)


Good luck.