What's a good laptop for under $500?

[Blanca BusaLess]

13yr old daughter put it on her Christmas list. Really have no idea what to get make or model wise.
Majority of time used will most likely be wasted time Oovooing and drooling over who her best friend heard some boy say about her so it doesn't have to be the best or fastest.
Things I think important is a good built in webcam and some basic coolness. Don't want to get her some huge outdated 10lb thing. I was looking at the Microsoft Surface. I like the fact it's a tablet and can turn into a laptop quickly. She said she doesn't want an iPad so don't bother.
But anyway resident geek squad what say you?

What are good laptops for under $500. I hope you have personal experience with them.

 

[BUBBA]

The only one I can think of has a big red border and 2 large white knobs on the bottom.
Hi Blanca!

 

[Blanca BusaLess]

Bubbbbbbbbbbbbbbaaaaaaa!
Waszzzzup?

Etchosketch huh?

 

[squale147]

Toshiba - Satellite is a good laptop...iv been using one for years..

 

[dadofthree]

https://deals.bestbuy.com/?ref=30&l...|15472763679#!/a+new+entertainment+experience

 

[Twobrothersbusa]

Look at the Acer line up. I bought a $297 Walmart laptop to get my Gopro vids off the SD card when I'm at the track. It is not a streaming monster, but will play SD card videos full HD with no problem. It made me look into the Travelmate Business class Acer PC's and we've been well served by the two we bought for my wife's business. I5 processor with 500 GB HD at 7200 RPM and 4 GB Ram for around 500 bucks. I was a hardcore Dell Latitude fanatic prior to the Acer's and just couldn't justify the 2X price of the Latitude for the Acer. The Latitude warranty covered issues, but still had several over 4 yrs of service. I'm a fan of the Acer's and have one low end and two fairly high end boxes for experience.

 

[mr8ball]

Hey check out QVC or HSN. They have lots to choose from and you get to make payments with no interest. Some come with as much as a 4 year warranty and 3 or 4 year virus protector. You can have it by Christmas to
Shopping Online at Home is Easy with QVC — Official Site

Laptop Computers | Laptop Deals, Laptop Reviews & More at HSN.com

 

[lil charlie]

Toshiba makes some of the best quality lap tops around. I paid $300 for my Sony Viao a few years ago and it's still going strong. I have bought two of the Acers for the kids over the years and neither were very good if you ask me and neither lasted a year..... Maybe I just had bad luck with them. Tigerdirect.com is a good place that let's you order them the way you want.. My last two desktops have come from them.

 

[BUBBA]

Bubbbbbbbbbbbbbbaaaaaaa!
Waszzzzup?

Etchosketch huh?

Hey Blanca.
Doing well, how bout you?!
Glad you got the reference.
Why is everyone so serious now a'days?
Jus say'n!

 

[_WOLFMAN_]

Have had very good luck with Toshiba, Acer or Asus. Laptops are a real balancing act. If you get the biggest processor and biggest screen available you are gonna sacrifice because will be heavier and probably not a lots of battery life. I have a 17" Acer at home and it is really not that portable, fine for around the house but lucky to get couple hours of battery life. When I started school picked up a Asus 13.3" Laptop with around 7 hours of battery life and under 5lbs total weight,

 

[majestic12]

I am using an ASUS. It seems to work well. Mid weight, Ok power. If she is not trying to do any high power stuff like 3d modelling. I check the org on it and the girlfriend is always on face book so it might fit the bill. I got mine off Daily Deals, 1 Sale A Day flash sale for 280 bucks. Might be more without the flash sale but I have one and my buddy has a higher end ASUS and loves it.

Have you check consumer reports on laptops?

 

[Fireman6615]

Been using the Toshiba Satellite's here at the Station for about 8 or 9 years now. I've only had one go down from hard drive failure in that time. Just remember whatever you buy now is going to have Windows 8 on it and its nothing like any of the past versions of Windows.

 

[Blanca BusaLess]

So Fireman is windows 8 better or worse than before?
My pc still has Xp on it. Is she gonna be able to figure it out or will it be too complicated?

I'm leaning toward an iPad with keypad because they are simpler for her needs.

 

[Defiant]

Prices are fluctuating like crazy right now due to holiday season.

Your first choice, windows surface tablet, isn't bad. As a person who works in IT, it may be easier to navigate for non IT people if you decide using a 'tree' of decisions.

1. Tablets, 'Assuming a reputable tablet, not a no name', only reason to get over laptop:
a. Battery life #1 reason to choose over laptop.
b. Weight, portability.
Your choice of Microsofts surface tablet is a pretty good one for one reason only, it comes with a 'full' version of MS Office, currently beta. If that isn't important to her, pick another tablet. MS Tablet has almost no apps and it's stuck using only MS internet browser which is sub par compared to other tablet browsers. If she is using Itunes go with a Apple tablet, if not, go with an android tablet. Apple tablets currently have no 'good' native mapping software. Android is the most flexible.
2. Laptops, too many to pick from. Some things to look for in all the sales going on right now.
a. Minimum, 4 Gig of RAM.
Minimum, 500 Gig to 1 Terabyte of HARDRIVE space.
Minimum, I3 or I5 CPU or better.
Minimum OS, Windows 7. Windows 8 will not get you much, only helps for touch displays.
b. AVOID anything less than 4 Gig of memory. Anything that says 'net' something. Tablets are better than netbooks nowdays.
Anything that says Celeron.
Good laptops manufacturers, HP, ASUS, ACER, IBM. If your budget goes to $700 and up, IBM y400 gamer laptop 14in can be had for $750 till 12/15. Other manufacturers will probably be less in quality.

 

[dbrian]

You can easily get a core i5 laptop under $500budget. The best deal I could find was this

Best Laptop Under $500 – Deal of the week | Best laptops Under 500 Dollars

This Acer laptop got
A8-4500M running at 1.9 GHz with 4 MB Cache
AMD Radeon HD 7640G Graphics packing 512MB of graphics system memory
4 GB DDR3 RAM.
500 GB 5400 rpm Hard Drive

All this for $449. I think this is the best deal you could get or you can go for a core i5 laptop if you like intel processor

Compare all of them below. They got 7 top laptops under $500 comparision.
Top Laptops Under 500 Dollars Comparison | Best laptops Under 500 Dollars

 

[99er-haya]

look up for a Lenovo laptop, best quality relating performance and pricing; good stuff around 400 (€), ($ ?);
runs perfectly with xp prof or win 7, 32 bit !
good deal for xmas, I KNOW THAT (my daughter too) ...

 

[Argilbertson]

Quick search on newegg:

Gateway NE51B10u - 1.3GHz, 15.6", 4GB, 320GB, DVD, Radeon HD 6310 $359
Newegg.com - Gateway NE51B10u Notebook AMD Dual-Core Processor E-300(1.3GHz) 15.6" 4GB Memory 320GB HDD 5400rpm DVD Super Multi AMD Radeon HD 6310

Acer Aspire V3-551-8469 - 1.90GHz, 15.6", 4GB, 500GB, DVD, Radeon HD 7640G $479
Newegg.com - Acer Aspire V3-551-8469 Notebook AMD A-Series A8-4500M(1.90GHz) 15.6" 4GB Memory 500GB HDD 5400rpm DVD Super Multi AMD Radeon HD 7640G

If you're not afraid to go factory refurbished...

HP Pavilion m6-1035dx Notebook - 2.30GHz, 15.6", 6GB, 640GB, DVD, Radeon HD 7660G $499
Newegg.com - Refurbished: HP Pavilion m6-1035dx Notebook AMD A-Series A10-4600M(2.30GHz) 15.6" 6GB Memory 640GB HDD 5400rpm DVD Super Multi AMD Radeon HD 7660G

DELL Inspiron N411Z - 2.40GHz, 14", 8GB, 1TB, DVD, Intel HD Graphics 3000 $499
Newegg.com - Refurbished: DELL Inspiron N411Z Notebook Intel Core i5 2430M(2.40GHz) 14" 8GB Memory 1TB HDD DVD Super Multi Intel HD Graphics 3000

This one is pretty close to the laptop I paid $2000 for 2 years ago
HP Pavilion dv7-4169wm Notebook AMD Phenom II Triple-Core N850(2.2GHz) 17.3" 4GB Memory 640GB HDD 5400rpm BD Combo ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5470 $415
Newegg.com - Refurbished: HP Pavilion dv7-4169wm Notebook AMD Phenom II Triple-Core N850(2.2GHz) 17.3" 4GB Memory 640GB HDD 5400rpm BD Combo ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5470


I'll keep lookin for screamin deals!

 

[Defiant]

1 other thing, a lot of good prices out there maybe 'after rebate'. If you don't mind that, there are even better deals to be had. Also when you mail order, some places will let you skip the sales tax. That adds up for a $500. Tiger direct has an i7 laptop for $599 'after rebate'. ???

 

[Fireman6615]

So Fireman is windows 8 better or worse than before?
My pc still has Xp on it. Is she gonna be able to figure it out or will it be too complicated?

I'm leaning toward an iPad with keypad because they are simpler for her needs.

Can't say its better, I just don't really like it that much because its a drastic change. I currently have everyone here at the Station running Windows 7. If your jumping from XP to 8 that's a major jump in itself. I don't normally jump to a new version of Windows when it come out, I usually like to stay about one version behind because its always "buggy" Remember Windows Millenium! That way all the bugs are usually worked out. For a child and simplicity, I'd probably do the Ipad thing.

 

[Blanca BusaLess]

Cool guys thanks for the links and advice.
Last computer I bought was about seven yrs ago.

My main reason for not wanting to go iPad route is that you can't really create word documents or PDF files to be used later for school reports and projects. An iPad will def get used more for useless crap than making herself better which is what I don't want.