Laptops for under a grand

[sanjay]

this seems to be a big burgeoning sector in the lappy market.

it got me thinking that it would be beneficial for us to list all the laptops that were around a grand for people on a tight budget who want to get into a bit of mobile computing. i for one believe there are some great deals at the moment in this sector.

first up: Lenovo/IBM C200 Laptop
this one has recently come available again at big W, but with a celeron D processor (1.73ghz) it doesnt seem to be as good value as it used to be. still packs 1gb of ram, an 80gb hard disk, 15 inch display (but not widescreen) dual layer dvd burner and windows vista PREMIUM, which are all welcome at this price range. currently avaliable for $998.

next is the Compaq Presario F503AU
now available at retravision for $897 after $99 cashback, this is a very good value proposition. if you can live without intel processors you are treated quite well - a 64 bit turion processor at 2ghz, dual layer dvd burner, 512mb of ram, an 80gb SATA hard disk and 15 inch high res widescreen display, this is a very good deal indeed. you also get the geforce go 6100 graphics chipset, certainly a step up from the integrated intel offerings otherwise available in this price range.

the Compaq Presario V3118AU is also available for under a grand now.
Unfortunately this model does not apply for a $100 cashback but at $999 its still great value nonetheless, and unlike the other clearance model below, still seems in good supply. This is very similar to the F503AU but with a glossy finish, smaller screen (and as such much more portable) and a dual core turion x2 64 bit processor. smaller hard disk though, which is a shame. id still go for the below pavilion if I had the choice.

seen recently at myer and david jones (of all places) is the compaq presario C300 series
although the units i have seen for sale quite prominently only had the celeron D processor and not the core solo that you get for $999, these units were $200 cheaper and still had the cashback offer, meaning that the total cost of purchase is only $697. for this you are getting a very basic laptop though, with only XP home, a CDRW/DVDROM drive, 256mb of ram and 40gb hard disk. but for those who love the new laptop smell and are really tight, it appears a good deal. will get some more details on this one tomorrow.

dick smith has quite a few good deals on laptops at this price point too.

if you are VERY fortunate, you can pick up a HP Pavillion dv1610TN laptop
for only $991 - it is clearance stock and probably wont last long though. these laptops are very attractive devices and with a core duo processor, 80gb hard disk, foorprint-shrinking 14 inch widescreen display and a half gig of ram, is probably the best deal for under a grand currently. only XP home on this but many would say thast a good thing.

there is also the Acer Aspire 3634WLMi notebook
with only a celeron D processor and being an acer it probably deserves its pricetag more than the other laptops ive mentioned but its saved by the dual layer dvd burner and frankly excellent screen. still wouldnt really bother with models like this but from what ive heard there is a $100 cashback offer going on with acer recently so you may get some newer models for around a grand with this. they also have the Aspire 3618AWLCi for $998 but you get a better processor at the cost of nearly everything else - namely, hard disk and ram.

dick smith also has a bunch of Toshiba Satellite A100 models for sale for under a grand with a choice of celeron D or core solo processors. there was a $100 cashback offer too, but this ran out a couple months ago, which is a shame for those in the market today.

lastly there are the crazy offerings from dell.

first up they have the Inspiron 6400UMA
they are offering the base model with dual-core pentium D processor T2060, half a gig of ram, an 80gb hard disk and CDRW/DVDROM drive for $1099 delivered. this includes windows vista basic but for an extra $80 you can get home premium. the great thing about this dell is you can spec it up with a 9 cell battery, vista home premium and an x1300 graphics chip and still come out with change from $1500.

but for the great price of $849 delivered, the Inspiron 1501 is fantastic value.
its only got a mobile sempron 3500+ processor (yuck) but you get vista home basic, an ATi xpress 1150 graphics chipset and half a gig of ram for all that, plus you save $99 by not paying for delivery. of course, if you want a dual core turion TL50 processor, a gig of ram, DVD burner, 80gb hard disk and a 15.4 inch screen, you can opt for the higher spec model for $1098 delivered. i actually think thats better value than the inspiron 6400 myself.

thats all i have to say on the matter - i have recently been researching this area myself as i think there is lots of value to be had and im going to have a look at the HP pavilion dv1610TN tomorrow. let everyone know of the good deals for a grand youve seen around the place

[Smoke87]

you'll be fine if you stay away from ACER and Dell.

We don't do dell, because well, its Dell.

We don't sell ACER either because, well, they're a fucking shit laptop manufacturer. Honestly, they have made the worst laptops we ever sold, and we refuse to sell them to customers.

[DavoRulz]

That's a bloody nice and informative post, kudos

Originally Posted by sanjayschrapel

seen recently at myer and david jones (of all places) is the compaq presario C300 series
although the units i have seen for sale quite prominently only had the celeron D processor and not the core solo that you get for $999, these units were $200 cheaper and still had the cashback offer, meaning that the total cost of purchase is only $697. for this you are getting a very basic laptop though, with only XP home, a CDRW/DVDROM drive, 256mb of ram and 40gb hard disk. but for those who love the new laptop smell and are really tight, it appears a good deal. will get some more details on this one tomorrow.

I would imagine that they are moving PALLETS of those things. Couple years back I was working at Officeworks, and we had some $800 laptops (was nigh impossible to find something under $1200 then), and we made a game to see how many we could shuffle out the door. I did fairly well with 9 out in a 5 hour shift People just love cheap laptops. If you want one of those, get in quick.

[sanjay]

ive seen them there for about a week now (and i THINK they are selling the same model at radio rentals but dont worry, i'll take some happy snaps at radio rentals and myer tomorrow) and theres always people interested in them. the one reservation i have is they are really yesterdays laptops - they are a current model but housed in a last-generation's case with VERY low specs. that and the cashback offer only lasts till may 14, when all the compaq deals will suddenly seem less fantastic (face it, at a grand, a $100 cashback is a 10% discount which very few retaillers will be able to do themselves, and on an $800 laptop its impact is even bigger).

my main thought about making this thread was that the lenovo C300 is back at big W but in the light of all the other fantastic deals, it just doesnt seem that great anymore. i guess the gig of ram, huge reputation of lenovo/IBM and vista home premium does keep it competitive though.

oh yeah, and the advent of all these laptops for a grand are leading to pretty big price cuts across the board in the second hand laptop market - we have been marking down the laptops we have for sale at work quite a bit as a result (most of you know where i work )

[DavoRulz]

Originally Posted by sanjayschrapel

oh yeah, and the advent of all these laptops for a grand are leading to pretty big price cuts across the board in the second hand laptop market - we have been marking down the laptops we have for sale at work quite a bit as a result (most of you know where i work )

It's a real pity though, my laptop (see sig) is still more powerful than some of the cheapys. And now worth less as a result of said cheapys. I just don't get it

[Gierke]

Well sanjay, there is the V3118AU

[kingyubbo]

You work at dick smith sanjay?

Acer & Compaq currently having $100 cash backs so get in quick. Lasts til end of April to my knowledge

At a local dick smith, there's an acer laptop with a Pentium Centrino 1.73Ghz, 512MB RAM, Combo and i think 60GB HDD. All for $898 (after cashback) and you get a free laptop bag and 50 pack of CDRs. Tis ok if you know how to underclock for battery life

[sanjay]

Originally Posted by kingyubbo

You work at dick smith sanjay?

Acer & Compaq currently having $100 cash backs so get in quick. Lasts til end of April to my knowledge

dick smith dont sell second hand laptops, or anything for that matter

and gierke, v3118au is a sexy laptop but its $1299 after cashback at the moment which means it doesnt really fit into the thread. still great value at the price though

[seb]

V3118au is 999 at DSE and has been reported at Whirlpool to be 990 at good guys (month or so back).

I imagine it's a running out model but still looks pretty good.

http://www.dse.com.au/cgi-bin/dse.st...ct/View/XC3911

[Gierke]

That seems like a good deal. I paid $1200 I think just before xmas, but it has been replaced by this with slightly bigger HDD and double the ram so the 3118 should be cheap till they're all gone.

[sanjay]

Originally Posted by seb

V3118au is 999 at DSE and has been reported at Whirlpool to be 990 at good guys (month or so back).

I imagine it's a running out model but still looks pretty good.

http://www.dse.com.au/cgi-bin/dse.st...ct/View/XC3911

how the hell did i miss that. original post updated.

[kingyubbo]

Dude, if you don't get the HP, thats crazy talk

[sanjay]

im surprised theres been so little interest in this thread.

kingyubbo, yes as awesome as the pavilion is, i just bought a portege 4010 this morning which is much better suited to uni life and im going to have a look at a new car tomorrow - so ive decided theres not much point in a new laptop atm (as cheap and great as they are).

nonetheless, as promised, heres an image of the $695 laptop at myer rundle mall:


really, if you can live with the celeron processor, it does seem a great package for $695 after cashback - its got a 60gb hard disk for instance, instead of the 40 i thought it had. ram is lacking but an extra 256mb stick of DDR can be had for under $30 easily and bump this up to a very usable laptop. battery life is around 3 hours from what ive been told by the salesperson but im skeptical - the lack of speedstep would hurt it.

[kingyubbo]

I have the older 14" model of that laptop with the celeron processor. I only get around 2 hours 20 mins on it. With the larger screen and the bigger HDD, i doubt it'll do 2 hours.

I got mine for $675 with extra RAM back last year so this is pretty damn good. Cheap laptop anyone? Still... i'd gladly save and get that HP.... wowies

We should start the Adelaide Laptops under a grand scouting club.

[Subcommandante]

Originally Posted by sanjayschrapel

next is the Compaq Presario F503AU
now available at retravision for $897 after $99 cashback, this is a very good value proposition. if you can live without intel processors you are treated quite well - a 64 bit turion processor at 2ghz, dual layer dvd burner, 512mb of ram, an 80gb SATA hard disk and 15 inch high res widescreen display, this is a very good deal indeed. you also get the geforce go 6100 graphics chipset, certainly a step up from the integrated intel offerings otherwise available in this price range.

I am thinking of this one for my g/f.

Intel Shmintel, and the graphics chipset is sweet. She will have no troubles playing Sims 2 on this when she shoudl be "studying". I'll head down to Retravision tomorrow night for a ganzer.