absolute minimum?

[patnshan]

Hello,
I am looking to buy a very cheap laptop and am wondering the bare minimum chip, memory, etc. I should consider in terms of my needs. I have a nice desktop that I use for everything currently.

I need the laptop for:

1. Surf the net wirelessly on my cable connection
2. Watch DVD's and listen to music occasionally while on vacation, etc.
3. To store photos from digital camera (when the stupid 128 MB max smartmedia card fills up)

I can do things like burning, video and photo editing, etc. on the desktop.
Also, I am going to get a desktop replacement notebook in the next year or two, so this is only a temporary fix. I am looking for the bare minimum that will allow me to do the basics. Of course, it must be fast enough to bring up we pages, play DVD's, etc.

Specs that are even below what is currently available as new is OK, as long as you think it would do what I need it to.

Thanks much for any guidance you can provide,

Pat

 

[The_Other_One]

Well the BARE BARE min would be something around a Pentium II. Beleive it or not, if you were to invest in a wifi card, it would work just fine online. 350MHz or so is suppose to play DVD's without additional software. Photos should be fine...

Now, you didn't tell us how much money you had to spend. I would reccomend something like an Averatec. that's what I'm on right now. If you hurry, you might still find some 3270's on sale for around $600.

 

[patnshan]

Well the BARE BARE min would be something around a Pentium II. Beleive it or not, if you were to invest in a wifi card, it would work just fine online. 350MHz or so is suppose to play DVD's without additional software. Photos should be fine...

Now, you didn't tell us how much money you had to spend. I would reccomend something like an Averatec. that's what I'm on right now. If you hurry, you might still find some 3270's on sale for around $600.

That is exactly what I was looking for, some guidance on what I could get by with. My sister in law actually has a notebook about 3 years old she wants to sell. I wanted to get minimum specs so I could compare it to what she has. I am CERTAIN it is faster than a PII. She wants like $100 for it and I know it's in good condition. I would think $100 for ANY laptop in good condition is worth it, right?

Pat

 

[Lanther]

I would pay $100 for anything with a PII or above in it. Anything before that I probably wouldnt. But if its only about 3 years old it should be decent at least.

 

[patnshan]

I would pay $100 for anything with a PII or above in it. Anything before that I probably wouldnt. But if its only about 3 years old it should be decent at least.

Thanks, that's what I was thinking. Also, how upgradeable are these things? HD? Drives? memory?

Pat

 

[flame1117]

I think RAM is the only easy this to replace, and maybe the HD everything else is a huge pain if you can at all.