minimum requirements

T

Trackerway

New Member
I'd like to get a laptop for just a couple uses: 1) to type articles in a word processing program, 2) to send and receive email.

I would not be hooking it up to a printer or playing any video or music on it. I would need to be able to hook it up to my main computer's network, preferably wireless, but I could go wired if necessary.

So I'd like to know what the minimum specs I could go with would be. I'm hoping to buy a used laptop (real cheap :D) but want to make sure I get something that will do what I need.

Thanks.
 
2GB of Ram..... 2GHZ or so Processor.... 80GB + Hard Drive..... and i'd recommend you buy new!
 
For your needs, pretty much any new lappy will do. 1GB of RAM will be just fine (for your needs, even 512MB would do when running Vista), and if you want more it's cheaper to buy some and install it yourself rather than ordering the machine with extra. A single-core CPU will do just fine, though getting a laptop with a dual-core CPU won't be significantly more expensive and makes your system run a little. $700 will easily get a lappy that's got more than enough power to handle all tasks you want it to.
 
Is that a joke? Half a gig of ram? Most new laptops come standard with 1 or 2 gigs of ram minimum lol. 512mb will run vista home basic, but badly.
 
Is that a joke? Half a gig of ram? Most new laptops come standard with 1 or 2 gigs of ram minimum lol. 512mb will run vista home basic, but badly.
Click to expand...
And how would you know? Have you actually tried it? My lappy ran Home Basic just fine with half a gig of RAM, it even ran some older games (Red Faction, AOEII, etc.) perfectly fine, played movies/DVDs without any lag, for word processing and internet it was more than poweful enough and connecting up to a wireless network isn't really that resource-intensive.
 
hackapelite said:
And how would you know? Have you actually tried it? My lappy ran Home Basic just fine with half a gig of RAM, it even ran some older games (Red Faction, AOEII, etc.) perfectly fine, played movies/DVDs without any lag, for word processing and internet it was more than poweful enough and connecting up to a wireless network isn't really that resource-intensive.
Click to expand...

my sis has a acer aspire laptop with vista home basic and 512mb of ram. and sorry, it's horrible. she added a gig of ram and now it's running sweet.

On Topic:

I'd get this baby. I have a similar one except with a different integrated graphics which is worse than that one and my laptop is running fine. :)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834114486
 
Last edited:
you dont need anywhere near 2gigs of ram or a dual core machine IMO
if you where buying new i would say a single core and 1gb ram with vista

but i would go look on ebay you could get an XP machine from there with 1.6ghz single core and 512-1gb ram a 40-60gb hard drive for about £200-£250 maybe even less and that would be perfect for your needs
 
No, hackepelite, I have not tried vista with half a gig of ram. People have reported that it works, but try any game or any multitasking.
 
ivee also read vista basic works on 512mb ram but it wont multitask very well
i would say 1gb for it to be able to run effectively
 
People have reported that it works, but try any game or any multitasking.
Click to expand...
I tried some games, as I posted earlier. They worked well. Also, just in case you didn't realise, the OP doesn't need the lappy for GAMING or MULTITASKING, but WORD PROCESSING and E-MAIL. I'm not saying that (s)he SHOULD go with 512mb, I'm just saying that 512mb would be sufficient for OP's needs, though I admit it would be kind of dumb but if (s)he's considering used laptops, it might well be that (s)he's on a tight budget.
 
Unfortunately this thread seems to have veered way off course. Based on what you plan to use your laptop for, just about any lappy produced in the past few years should be "sufficient." Notice I didn't say fast or fun, but SUFFICIENT.

Probably the easiest way to help would be by you posting the specs for the used laptop you're considering.
 
if they are looking at used laptop they are probably going to have xp on them anyway so 512mb should be sufficient
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top