Cheapest useable laptop

[ZoZubin]

A friend of mine asked what is the cheapest but still very useable laptop.

 

I think its the ASUS EeBook x205. It is totally useable for normal tasks like web browsing and music/video streaming. It has great battery life a decent screen compared to the HP stream and is very thin and compact for the price of only $199!

 

I was wondering, does anyone know a cheaper solid laptop?

[Castdeath97]

The Eebook does indeed have a slower processor than the stream though.

[IanDrexP]

A friend of mine asked what is the cheapest but still very useable laptop.

 

I think its the ASUS EeBook x205. It is totally useable for normal tasks like web browsing and music/video streaming. It has great battery life a decent screen compared to the HP stream and is very thin and compact for the price of only $199!

 

I was wondering, does anyone know a cheaper solid laptop?

Get the HP Stream! Linus mentions it in his recent back-to-school laptop video

 

[Wufflez]

2GB DDR3 and full windows 8? I'd call that barely useable

[ZoZubin]

I don't know why people rate the HP stream as better then the EeBook x205 for the slightly better processor. I mean you won't be doing heavy workloads on both of them! Personally i would rather have a better display and better battery life. and besides. you can only get the stream in blue and pink. It looks like a laptop for children.

[ShadowCaptain]

HP stream / X205 for sure

[Castdeath97]

I don't know why people rate the HP stream as better then the EeBook x205 for the slightly better processor. I mean you won't be doing heavy workloads on both of them! Personally i would rather have a better display and better battery life. and besides. you can only get the stream in blue and pink. It looks like a laptop for children.

I'd rather have something that chugs less. I have dealt with worse screens before. But, that is only a matter of preference.

[Cakefish]

Acer ES1-131. You can upgrade the RAM (i.e. it's not soldered). I have 8GB in mine instead of the 2GB that was installed out of the box.

[ZoZubin]

I'd rather have something that chugs less. I have dealt with worse screens before. But, that is only a matter of preference.

 

True but I've seen reviews of both. and the Attom in the x205 is a quad core, so it does kick in for a few seconds when launching an application or something. Most people don't notice the difference in day-to-day tasks. But if you do photoshop or something like that, I can understand the Stream decision.

[Cakefish]

Yes. My top tips;

- nuke McAfee out of existence

- install Windows 10 (frees up precious storage space due to no longer needing WIMBoot partition)

- do a Reset to get rid of bloatware

- use Edge whenever possible instead of Chrome

[Wufflez]

The Hp stream is surprised me in how well it preformed. For Everyday tasks it works like a charm. Just get rid of MacAfee and probably avoid chrome and it'll do just fine for what OP needs it for.

I had specs on a laptop very similar to the Hp stream. It was usable. Not enjoyable so I upgraded the CPU and RAM finally.

[Drackeo]

HP Stream thingy

[Minzo]

I had specs on a laptop very similar to the Hp stream. It was usable. Not enjoyable so I upgraded the CPU and RAM finally.

You upgraded the CPU on a laptop?

[Wufflez]

You upgraded the CPU on a laptop?

Yeah, from a Celeron 900 to a Core 2 Duo T9300

[Minzo]

Yeah, from a Celeron 900 to a Core 2 Duo T9300

Cool, didn't know that was possible.

[Wufflez]

Cool, didn't know that was possible.

Yup, there are limitations however. Tdp has to be the same and you cannot exceed a certain FSB. It varies with each laptop/motherboard. Other than that you just have to look up your socket type and get a CPU in that socket.

[Earache]