Cheap Laptops - Better Than Ever

I need to buy a cheap laptop - by "cheap" I mean easily affordable - but at the same time it has to be reliable because it is for my college-bound daughter. The prices of systems have come down considerably in the first half of 2009. Indeed, a powerful system can be found in the $400 ballpark. What are some of the features that are important to consider when looking at the new low end systems or decent used systems? How much memory do you need? If you plan on running Windows Vista, you are going to need at least 2G of memory so that your system doesn't get bogged down. That sounds like a lot, but memory is relatively cheap these days. How much disk space do you need? Don't sell yourself short on this. People are putting all their digital pictures and mp3 libraries on disk, and that consumes huge quantities of disk space. Even for low end systems, I wouldn't consider anything smaller than 100G for your hard drive, and preferably it would be considerably larger than that. The display monitor is important. The newer flat panels are so easy on the eyes, you can work for hours at a time without getting eye strain.

With a laptop, since you'll be using it in a variety of environments, you'll need to be able to easily read the display in bright lighting, low lighting, and everything in between. It used to be, also, that having a laptop meant having a tiny display. The newer laptops are coming out with fifteen and sixteen inch monitors - nice! Networking capability is a requirement. Wireless is really the thing that makes sense these days. The battery life is also important, to ensure that you can maximize your mobility with the system. Batteries have improved significantly in recent years. The system I'm considering for my daughter includes a battery that will run for six hours! What else do you need in a laptop? Think hard before rejecting the notion that you need CD or DVD support; in fact, most likely you'll want the capability to write both to CD and DVD formats.

There are other intangibles that are important factors as well. What kind of maintenance or dealer support do you desire? If you select anything more than the default support, you're going to be paying for it. Is it helpful? Possibly. Will you use it? Possibly. Are you more likely to not need additional support? Probably. I guess my feeling is that if I'm paying $375 for a system, I don't want to shell out another $50 or more for extra support that I most likely won't need. I haven't touched on a big issue, and that's the preference of PC versus MAC. I'll stay out of that war - it's a personal preference - but all the things I've mentioned above will apply to your decision, regardless. Cheap laptops are better and cheaper than ever! Now is the time. Just say yes.