Laptops that are cheap but still quality?

lepixelista

I've been looking into getting a laptop for quite awhile now, and I wanted some opinions on what are good, but also aren't extremely pricey.
I was playing around with the MacBooks at Fry's and I thought they were awfully spiffy, but what doesn't when it's new? I also saw some Dells that weren't incredibly expensive, but I wasn't able to try them out.
Also, Vista or no? I've heard mixed feeling about it, mostly bad, but my experience with it hasn't been bad.
I'm not really looking into anything Linux, but I'm all for Mac and Windows.
I'm not a real tech person, here, so any help is appreciated. =)

tuttle88

I'm currently writing this on my new laptop. An Acer Aspire 4710 which has an Intel Core Duo 2GHz processor, 1GB RAM, 120GB Harddrive, wireless bluetooth etc., I bought it about 3 weeks ago for AUD1200. So far I'm very happy with it. My last laptop was an acer, my mother and I shared it and it was the cheapest we could find and we have had no problems with the actual machine the power cord had some problems but the actual machine was great. That's the main reason I went with acer again this time.

I was going to look at macbooks but I went shopping on a Sunday and Apple stores aren't open on Sunday in Adelaide so they lost out.

This machine has Vista and so far its been alright. Its pretty spiffy looking, of course anything you buy probably wont come with office but I downloaded open office which as not made the computer explode in flames. I find it a little obnoxious in its hand holding. "Would you like to do this?", yes that's why I pushed the button stupid.

Other than that Vista has been alright.

WallyBman

Have you checed out Dell's Ubuntu laptops??? If you want XP on one, just spend another $100 on eBay to grab an oem copy of XP.

lepixelista

I'm currently writing this on my new laptop. An Acer Aspire 4710 which has an Intel Core Duo 2GHz processor, 1GB RAM, 120GB Harddrive, wireless bluetooth etc., I bought it about 3 weeks ago for AUD1200. So far I'm very happy with it. My last laptop was an acer, my mother and I shared it and it was the cheapest we could find and we have had no problems with the actual machine the power cord had some problems but the actual machine was great. That's the main reason I went with acer again this time.

I was going to look at macbooks but I went shopping on a Sunday and Apple stores aren't open on Sunday in Adelaide so they lost out.

This machine has Vista and so far its been alright. Its pretty spiffy looking, of course anything you buy probably wont come with office but I downloaded open office which as not made the computer explode in flames. I find it a little obnoxious in its hand holding. "Would you like to do this?", yes that's why I pushed the button stupid.

Other than that Vista has been alright.

^^ I'm probably going to end up getting Vista, but depending on which model I get, still not sure yet.
Thanks for your observations about Vista, before your post I hadn't heard ANYTHING good about it. Dx
The one I've been looking at is a Dell, I think. It's $699USD, and it has Vista.

Have you checed out Dell's Ubuntu laptops??? If you want XP on one, just spend another $100 on eBay to grab an oem copy of XP.

I've been looking at Dells, yes. I haven't seen any Ubuntu ones though. Unless I suddenly have a mood swing against Windows, I think it'll be Vista or XP, although I'm REALLY getting sick of XP. But then again, I don't know how much better--if at all--Vista'll be.

WallyBman

Search for Ubuntu on the Dell website. Not only are they guaranteed to work perfectly with Ubuntu, but they are SUPER cheap. And, like I said, $100 or so gets you an oem install of XP or Vista on eBay.

lepixelista

I didn't find any... could you post a link?
It's dell.com, right?

Apreche

http://www.dell.com/open

aresef

If you're a college student, I *highly* suggest going to the Apple Store. You can get a really awesome deal on all their stuff, and they'll throw in an iPod Nano on the house (eBay fodder).

Jain7th

I got my 15 '' Mac Book Pro 2 weeks ago and I highly recommend it to each person, which can afford it (but trust me, it's worth the money you pay for it). The battery easily lasts 3 hour, with the brightest screen setting and while surfing the net via WLan. The case often gets quite warm but a fan speed app easily solves this problem.

And Mac OS X is just a dream come true, when my last laptop running Windows had slowdowns, the Mac adds a fade effect (though the MBP easily doubled the price of my previous Laptop). When you're worrying about switching, stop instantly. Trust me, I used Windows based machines since I was 6, and after 2 days the machine, used by me nearly 6 hours each day for two years, felt wrong, buggy and complicated (the two finger scrolling is a dream). And students get a real nice price cut with an iPod nano if you life in America or Canada (the Austrian online store doesn't offer such a thing :/ )


But a dell laptop running Ubuntu is still a very good choice in my opinion, Linux is a great OS

m16 elitest

I've had the same experience with my Macbook. If you want a laptop that is slim, portable and stylish, go with the regular Macbook. If you want a full desktop replacement, go with the Macbook Pro.