Budget laptop (not for gaming)

groovygoodwine

Honorable
Dec 20, 2013
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0
10,510
Hi there,
Looking for a windows laptop at a budget price, it will not be used for gaming or major torrent downloads of any kind.

Any thoughts on what's out there, brands vs other brands?
 
Solution
If I were to buy a cheap laptop, extremely portable. Asus t100 all the way.

http://www.anandtech.com/show/7428/asus-transformer-book-t100-review Just a review, but I remember reading a hands on just a few weeks ago, done by a person that used it and only it for like 2 weeks and then wrote a wrap up on the unit. Its slow, baytrail, compared to haswell i3's and such. But 8 hours battery, charges via usb cable or power adapter, can be used as tablet, full windows 8, and flash storage. 64gb is like $350, ive seen best buy sales for $300. For that price you'd end up with Celeron windows clunk laptop. This is much better.

Dblkk

Honorable
Oct 30, 2013
323
0
11,010
If I were to buy a cheap laptop, extremely portable. Asus t100 all the way.

http://www.anandtech.com/show/7428/asus-transformer-book-t100-review Just a review, but I remember reading a hands on just a few weeks ago, done by a person that used it and only it for like 2 weeks and then wrote a wrap up on the unit. Its slow, baytrail, compared to haswell i3's and such. But 8 hours battery, charges via usb cable or power adapter, can be used as tablet, full windows 8, and flash storage. 64gb is like $350, ive seen best buy sales for $300. For that price you'd end up with Celeron windows clunk laptop. This is much better.
 
Solution

Dblkk

Honorable
Oct 30, 2013
323
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11,010


Its a baytrail processor. So its an atom, not a desktop processor. Which for web browsing, Microsoft office work, ect will be more than fine and scores better than cromebooks and Celeron powered laptops.

The cpu itself is the Intel® Atom™ Z3740 processor. For $379 at best buy, you get the 64gb flash. Which is quicker than hhd, not as fast as ssd, but typically rated lifetime warranty since theres no moving parts and not the typical mainstream ssd data blocks.

Link to best buy.
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/asus-transformer-t100-64gb-gray/2888473.p?id=1219080835459&skuId=2888473&st=asus%20t100&cp=1&lp=2

Its not on sale at best buy now, but normally goes on and off, plus best buy is just one of the places that sells them. But if you can and are interested, you should go to best buy as they would tyipcially have one set up and out for you to try.
 

Dblkk

Honorable
Oct 30, 2013
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http://www.bestbuy.com/site/asus-15-6-laptop-intel-celeron-4gb-memory-500gb-hard-drive-black/7288011.p?id=1219262036899&skuId=7288011&st=categoryid$pcmcat247400050000&cp=1&lp=2
Asus - 15.6" Laptop - Intel Celeron - 4GB Memory - 500GB Hard Drive $250

Compare

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/asus-transformer-t100-64gb-gray/2888473.p?id=1219080835459&skuId=2888473&st=asus%20t100&cp=1&lp=3
Asus - Transformer T100 $379

Comparison processor http://www.game-debate.com/cpu/index.php?pid=2098&pid2=1962&compare=celeron-n2830-2-16ghz-vs-atom-z3740-1-33ghz

Comparison HHD vs Flash http://www.differencebetween.com/difference-between-flash-storage-and-vs-hard-drive/

Similar priced pc
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/hp-15-6-laptop-intel-core-i3-4gb-memory-750gb-hard-drive-black-licorice/6060259.p?id=1219184620338&skuId=6060259&st=categoryid$pcmcat247400050000&cp=1&lp=5
HP - 15.6" Laptop - Intel Core i3 $379

Comparison cpu http://cpuboss.com/cpus/Intel-Z3740-vs-Intel-Core-i3-4010U

Another similar priced
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/toshiba-satellite-15-6-laptop-amd-a6-series-4gb-memory-750gb-hard-drive-satin-black/5546003.p?id=1219137665391&skuId=5546003

Toshiba - Satellite 15.6" Laptop - AMD A6-Series

CPU compare http://www.cpu-world.com/Compare/325/AMD_A6-Series_for_Notebooks_A6-5200_vs_Intel_Atom_Z3740.html

Then take laptop in general, asus t100 is a 10", most others are 15" bigger screen bigger notebook
t100 is also a tablet and has touchscreen, most other laptops don't
t100 is tablet first laptop second, take off the keyboard you have a tablet, other laptops are just laptop
t100 has smaller keyboard since its smaller, other laptops have larger keypads

There are hundreds of laptops all under $500, I just threw out what I would pick in same given situation. Other than that, there are countless options. One step up from the asus would probably be an i5 with ssd storage, or a i3 convertible with ssd storage as well. But on the other hand, one step up could also just be an i3 with a hhd, since flash is limited to 32gb and 64gb, a step up could also be a larger yet slower hhd. There are also 17" notebooks, and 14/13" notebooks as well. Then there are notebooks with dedicated graphics cards but those normally run at least double the $500 price. I just got my msi for $2500 and stuck another $1500 into three solid state drives. Everything with laptops is personal preference. The smaller, more portable, and 2 in 1 of the asus t100 might be perfect for you. Yet maybe just an Celeron and an actual laptop experience will be better suited. Under $500 is either finding a great deal on a i5 and just buying whatever laptop you find that deal on and going straight performance, or it could be finding a nitch like the asus t100, or it could be just finding 'your' perfect feeling laptop in which your happy with keyboard screen ect, and performance isn't an issue.