Technobabble

Cheap Notebooks

Posted by on Dec 4, 2006 | 4 Comments

I never thought I’d see the day my wife would be combing the circulars for a cheap notebook computer. I was always the resident geek, the one who would get the evil eye for spending too much time on the PC. Then one day I woke up, the fourth wheel in a three computer household. With two desktops and one tired old notebook, we play a game of musical desk chairs on a daily basis.

When the music stops, grab a computer.

So there she was, sitting at the kitchen table, flipping through the laptop section of a HP mail-order catalog.

She looked up and asked, “why are these notebooks so cheap?”

I went through all the usual culprits: type and speed of the processor, amount of RAM, size and speed of the hard drive, the type of optical drive (if any), size and quality of the screen, the ruggedness of the case …

“So what makes this notebook cost twice as much as that one?”

Now I was never one to buy the most expensive computer, nor the cheapest. I always spent the most I could stomach spending, not the least. I’ve always been wary of low-end components. A cheap notebook just isn’t in my DNA. (If I had my druthers, I’d have a Panasonic Toughbook, like Gabby Reese and Laird Hamilton.)

But I’m taken aback by the very fact that my wife is even interested in buying a notebook computer. I never thought I’d see the day.

Alas, I fear that no explanation that I can offer will dissuade her from taking the cheap notebook route.

[tags]cheap notebook, HP, family computer[/tags]

  • Jeff

    Dan,
    Let her get a cheap one, but look at the Acer line that Tiger Direct sells. In my family/circle of friends, we now own 5, from a year old to my new 3 week old unit. Great picture, nice controls and the wireless G works better than my older (2 years) HP. Just upgrade the RAM to a gig.

    Regards,

    Jeff

  • Larry C

    Absolutely… go cheap. My wife wanted a laptop computer last year. I looked at her computer usage, she surfs the web some, uses Email to keep in contact with friends and family, keeps the family Christmas Card list (yes we still send cards!)and occasionally types out recipes, flyers or notes. She never has more than 2 windows open, so why does she need a powerful machine?

    While browsing through Best Buy last November, they were trying to clear out their XP systems in anticipation of Vista. I found an adequate Compaq machine. It only had a Celeron chip, but do you need more to run a web browser or an Email client? It had an adequate hard drive, 512 MB, wireless networking, and a DVD writer! For only $459 on sale, I bought it.

    Seven months later, she’s a happy camper (or is that surfer?). With the wireless connection we share our high speed internet connection and the printers. My only comment is that it took me most of a day to clean off the bloat-ware that was pre-loaded on the laptop and install Firefox ,Thunderbird, a firewall and anti-virus. I certainly appreciate that Apple commercial where PC is a bloated ball. I can relate to that.

  • Ingrid

    Last fall I was looking for a cheap laptop since we were a 4 person family with only 2 computers. I had a wish list and a spending limit. I didn’t think I was going to find a new laptop, but ended up getting one of the many xp laptops that flooded the market just before christmas. Got a little better than I was hoping for at the price that was just right. I’ve been using it daily since then and have been pleasantly pleased. Lately I’ve been bringing it to work and with the wifi I’ve been watching tv shows on veoh or web surfing at lunch time. At home I use it for a little bit of everything.

  • TonyP

    You get what you pay for.
    This is true in EVERYTHING in life imo.
    So yes you might save a few bucks, which is fantasic, but you will get cheap components (likely made in China) and older/superceded technology.
    I myself was in the market a few months ago and must have sifted thru 1000ds of “cheap” laptops, but finally settled on a Dell XPS system. There was a significant price drop due to free delivery and other once off dicounts so I took advantage and couldn’t be happier about my decision. I have an ultra fast, new, shiny laptop that has quality parts inside and that are near the latest in tech. I am an IT technician so I expect this laptop to be in service for 5 years at least, so if you look at the cost spread over time, it works out very economically.
    Oh and it helps (financially) if you can do some “work” at home to justify the writeoff on tax.
    But good luck finding a cheap one tho…