In need for a cheap laptop for school ($200-300)

[ecru0s]

Okay so I'm going to college in October and I'm in a need for a new laptop. Since my knowledge about laptops is kind of on a low side I need some help. I want to spend as little as possible.

 

I've been thinking between these:

 

 - Asus - 15.6" Laptop - Intel Celeron - 4GB Memory - 500GB Hard Drive - Black

 

 - Dell Inspirion i3531-1200BK 15.6-Inch Laptop

 

 - Acer C720 Chromebook

 

I'm primarily going to be using it for programming/office stuff, so are these two sufficient enough?

 

Thanks in advance for any help!

[79wjd]

I'd highly suggest getting somethign with a 1080p display if you can make the budget for it work. Once you get used to a 1920x1080 display it sucks going back to anything less. So, if you could get your budget up to $650~ then it would be VERY worthwhile. If not, then I'd at least aim for $500~ at which point you'll be able to get a real cpu ( http://shop.lenovo.com/us/en/laptops/lenovo/g-series/g510/?sb=:000001C9:0000FB92: ). 

 

I'd also avoid Celeron processors and Dells like the plague. 

 

$350: http://www.shopping.hp.com/en_US/home-office/-/products/Laptops/HP/G8Q01UA?HP-15-r030nr-Notebook-PC-ENERGY-STAR-

$400: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834300662

$500: http://shop.lenovo.com/us/en/laptops/lenovo/z-series/z50/?sb=:000001C9:00012129: 

$700: http://shop.lenovo.com/us/en/laptops/lenovo/z-series/z50/?sb=:000001C9:00012125:

$800: http://shop.lenovo.com/us/en/laptops/lenovo/y-series/y40/?sb=:000001C9:00012367:

[TheRunningOtaku]

I suggest that you get a windows laptop - the screen resolution doesn't really matter if you're on a budget. 

an i5 (4200U) would be good, but basically get the best processor you can (cpubenchmark.com is a good place to find performance numbers)

U and M skew processors are good, so look for 4***U or 4***M processors

Chromebooks are limited in their processor power and programs that you can use to code

[Freaky_spider]

maybe look into a chrome book? or is office required?

[ecru0s]

(Microsofts) Office isn't strictly required and I'm planning on using Linux as my main OS anyway. Also since I only need my laptop for school (couple hours a day) so I don't really care about resolution all that much. I kind of changed my mind about Chroomebook aswell. As I saw it doesn't have much space to begin with.

[ecru0s]

Ok, so it came down to these two:

 

 - Dell Inspirion 15 i3542-3333BK

 - Toshiba - Satellite 15.6" AMD A4-Series

 

I don't know much about AMD's CPU, so don't really know for which one to go for.

 

Thanks again for all the help guys.

[79wjd]

Ok, so it came down to these two:

- Dell Inspirion 15 i3542-3333BK

- Toshiba - Satellite 15.6" AMD A4-Series

I don't know much about AMD's CPU, so don't really know for which one to go for.

Thanks again for all the help guys.

no question, get the dell.

[CyanOG]

If you're going to buy a cheap laptop just buy a android tablet(nexus 7 2013) or if you can find a good deal on a iPad Mini with Retina .. Trust me

You can buy keyboards for tablets reason why I'm recommending one is because they are not slow unlike cheap laptops.

[13CA350]

I'd recommend a Intel Core i3/5/7 processor

I'd recommend also that Asus makes great electronics

And also a Chrome-Book relies on Google Drive and ONLY Google Drive. It is IMPOSSIBLE to install third party software, at least stock

[79wjd]

If you're going to buy a cheap laptop just buy a android tablet(nexus 7 2013) or if you can find a good deal on a iPad Mini with Retina .. Trust me

You can buy keyboards for tablets reason why I'm recommending one is because they are not slow unlike cheap laptops.

but typing on a tablet, even with a keyboard is just....blegh 

 

A laptop is just so much better since you can use it anywhere in any position--upside down, on your bed...anywhere. 

 

But then again, a $300 laptop sucks anyway....so 

[davidvu396]

I would go for any Chromebook, preferably one from Dell.

[ecru0s]

I just found about this:

- Samsung ATIV Book 4

 

Is this legit? It seems so cheap with hardware it has to offer. Also THIS version is $100 more expensive but it has the same hardware as the other one. 

[davidvu396]

I just found about this:

- Samsung ATIV Book 4

 

Is this legit? It seems so cheap with hardware it has to offer. Also THIS version is $100 more expensive but it has the same hardware as the other one. 

If you want to use it sometimes on the go, it is fine. I doubt it has more than 4h of battery life.

What are you going to do with it?

[ecru0s]

I'm only gonna use my laptop when I'm at the school. I got desktop PC at home. So at most, I'll probably be using it 3-5 hours a day.