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Yup, I bought a netbook and it's better than any amount of money I could have spent on a laptop. *NM* BlackAdder Send a noteboard - 22/01/2010 02:27:45 PM
I've started to wonder why people continue to buy new laptops every couple of years like the old ones are somehow broken or useless. Case in point- My wife's friend decided that she wanted a laptop. She'd never bought one before, and wondered if I could help her make some decisions. When I sat her down, I asked her the same questions I ask everyone before they buy.

-How important are looks to you?

-What will you be using the laptop for 95% of the time?

-How big a concern is weight and size to you?

-How much money are you looking to spend?

Long story short, we got her a used laptop from a local store for a right around $250. It was an older 12" Dell, with 1GB of RAM and a Pentium 4 processor (Can't remember the speed) and a somewhere in the neighborhood of a 50Gig hard drive.

Now, if she had gone out and bought something on her own, she probably would have gotten a Mac, and paid about $1500 for what they'd have upsold her to (she's a sucker for stuff like that).

It just amazes me that people who do nothing but type documents, browse the web, and play internet based flash games will pay close to $2000 to do that. I have a 14" pentium 3 laptop with 640MB of RAM, a 16MB graphics card and a Pentium 3 1.2Ghz processor with a 25 Gig hard drive. I paid $100 for it, and it does everything I need it to do. It even plays Torchlight, a game that just came out (and which, if you liked Diablo, you owe it to yourself to buy).

Don't misunderstand me, there are people who actually NEED a computer with a blazing processor, amazing graphics card and 4 gigs of RAM. Maybe they edit videos for a living, or design complex websites, or spend all day playing with Photoshop or something else very intensive. But for the majority of people out there, anything built after 2001 will still probably work just fine. Netbooks have more than proven that, with their incredible popularity despite their lack of speed and RAM. And if you're looking to buy something new, then there are many many options under $500 if you look around. Try techbargains.com, or check out places like Dell's refurbished laptops section.

People are just silly.

/rant
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An honest question- Why do people spend so much money on laptops? - 22/01/2010 10:52:03 AM 1034 Views
I'm mostly happy with my Thinkpad from 2003 - 22/01/2010 12:58:12 PM 533 Views
I lucked out on my screen resolution - 22/01/2010 01:25:02 PM 732 Views
Transport Tycoon is utterly awesome. - 22/01/2010 01:36:28 PM 558 Views
Too right it is - 22/01/2010 01:52:56 PM 520 Views
A few things: - 22/01/2010 04:57:07 PM 602 Views
Oh, multiplayer? Several people on one company? Interesting. - 22/01/2010 07:03:58 PM 583 Views
The point then lies more in designing and implementing - 22/01/2010 09:18:41 PM 507 Views
Well, you pretty much answered your own question. - 22/01/2010 02:09:49 PM 660 Views
In conclusion: - 22/01/2010 02:14:59 PM 525 Views
People also pay $100 for jeans with holes in them - 22/01/2010 02:21:00 PM 584 Views
I'm thinking about buying $5 jeans and putting holes in them. - 22/01/2010 02:26:42 PM 553 Views
Yup, I bought a netbook and it's better than any amount of money I could have spent on a laptop. *NM* - 22/01/2010 02:27:45 PM 408 Views
I honestly don't care for netbooks. - 22/01/2010 04:18:41 PM 599 Views
I like the 12 inch laptops quite well. Very portable, very nice. - 23/01/2010 08:54:54 AM 629 Views
Well, it depends on your needs - 24/01/2010 02:46:53 AM 740 Views
I wish i would have spent more. - 22/01/2010 03:44:03 PM 619 Views
so do I - 22/01/2010 04:03:07 PM 537 Views
You sound like you know what you're doing, so I'll make this an honest question. - 22/01/2010 04:38:33 PM 651 Views
You underestimate a mans need for pornography. *NM* - 23/01/2010 03:51:46 AM 236 Views
File transfers and multiple streams.. - 23/01/2010 04:06:11 AM 617 Views
because our fathers pay for them........... *NM* - 22/01/2010 05:54:31 PM 255 Views
Speak for yourself. I've paid for each and every one of my computers. *NM* - 23/01/2010 03:29:19 AM 277 Views
Same here. *NM* - 25/01/2010 12:59:42 AM 243 Views
I don't understand why anyone would spend any money on a Mac. *NM* - 22/01/2010 08:19:22 PM 254 Views
+1 *NM* - 22/01/2010 09:20:52 PM 226 Views
This *NM* - 23/01/2010 08:57:01 AM 282 Views
Me neither *NM* - 23/01/2010 12:09:24 PM 240 Views
Let's see... - 24/01/2010 12:13:46 AM 544 Views
I really prefer desktops in nearly every situation. - 22/01/2010 08:37:05 PM 590 Views
I do too, but laptops are still useful. - 22/01/2010 09:29:04 PM 592 Views
Well, if you want to play games, it's fairly necessary. - 23/01/2010 02:31:10 AM 564 Views
I've actually gone that route for. . .hm, about 5 years of college now. - 23/01/2010 03:38:12 AM 717 Views
where can I find such desktops? - 23/01/2010 03:05:02 PM 523 Views
Re: Well, if you want to play games, it's fairly necessary. - 26/01/2010 04:41:57 AM 558 Views
~shrugs~ - 23/01/2010 03:46:03 AM 541 Views
My son and his friend were talking about this with me last week. - 23/01/2010 04:11:08 AM 552 Views
- 23/01/2010 08:59:11 AM 677 Views
Easy - 25/01/2010 04:18:20 AM 474 Views

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