How to Buy a Laptop on a Budget
Prices for laptops keep coming down all the time and even a cursory look on the Internet, or in your local electronics store, will have you dizzy choosing from the wide variety of equipment for less than $1,000. Even so, while a good laptop can be yours for a good price, everything isn't a good deal. Before you part with your cash make sure you do your research.
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Instructions
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Ask yourself what you're going to be using the laptop for. Do you want to play games on it? Or do you just want a basic setup for word processing? Before you buy one, determine what processing power, memory, graphic capability, hard disk space, battery life and screen size you'll need to do the job comfortably.
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Check out surveys of laptops in computer magazines and online sites for the latest information about the reliability of brands and what expert reviewers and customers are saying about them.
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Look to take advantage of sales, rebates and coupons to make your laptop budget go farther. Students can often get a student discount from certain stores, so it's worth asking.
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Buy when you need to buy--and only what you've decided you need. No matter how long you wait for a good deal, you'll usually get more for less in 6 months. Given that, act quickly if you see a good deal. The best ones go quickly.
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Choose a highly rated local builder or Internet/mail-order company and ask them what configuration they can put together for you in your price range.
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When you're shopping around, remember RAM is king. Get at least 512MB. Get any less and you're throwing your money away.
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Look for chip logos like Intel or AMD CPU. If you haven't heard of the chipmaker you could be buying a lemon.
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Decide how many extra internal card slots and disk-drive bays you'll need in order to have room for future expansion.
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Decide what pre-installed software you need and factor in any costs for extras -- peripherals and additional hardware such as modems, sound cards, video cards and speakers -- into your final price.
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Check on the length and value of the warranty or service contract the seller is offering. Stick with the usual 1-year warranty and don't upgrade. If things go wrong after a year, you will probably be able to replace the same machine for much less.
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If you're thinking of buying a second-hand computer from an auction or classifieds site, like eBay or Craigslist, be sure you know enough about computers to diagnose and repair problems yourself. If you don't and you still want to buy second-hand, go to a computer repair shop and see if they have reconditioned models for sale and will give you some type of warranty.
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Beware of "up-sell" tactics. Stores and Internet computer companies often lure customers in with ultra-low prices just to get talking to you and then persuade you to pay more for a different product.
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Be careful when salespeople offer you extras like full-scale antivirus packages. Consider instead using a basic security suite such as AVG's AntiVirus ( a ink is provided in the Resources box). It may not be as effective as the established brands, but it's free.
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Tips & Warnings
Needs vary, but a basic laptop these days should come with at least a 5,400-rpm hard drive, a dual-format DVD burner, all the basic I/O ports including a FireWire port, a memory card reader (compatible with SD, MMC, and MS formats), 512MB of memory, 80GB of storage space, a 15.4-inch widescreen display and good battery life.
Top-rated Internet/mail-order companies provide or sell telephone and on-site service after the sale. Check and compare their offers.
Be sure to ask, "What's the catch?" if a price seems too low for what you're getting.
Avoid house brands in stores. These are made cheap for retailers, and advertised cheap to get customers in the door.
