OT: Low budget computer question

[sportdan30]

I'm thinking of getting my son one of those all in one computers (HP, Dell, Lenovo, etc). He'll most use it for school work, editing, and Minecraft. Perhaps some games like a Wizard 101 but nothing graphically intense. I'm only looking to spend around $500. Is it worth the money and will it be powerful enough for what he intends to use it for?

Thanks.

[Inuyasha]

You can get a cheap laptop around $250-$300 these days (Frys, Microcenter).

I got one for my son 2-3 years ago just for schoolwork for $200 at Fry's and it's still going strong. It's an eMachines brand, not even sure if they're still around. It also came with MS Word and Excel for free and that's really all he needed.

It's defiantly outlasted it's $200 price tag. I would definitely avoid Compaq and HP laptops. I've not had good experiences with those companies.

[dbdynsty25]

Get whatever Asus you can afford. It's that simple.

[sportdan30]

Thanks. Curious why Asus?

[dbdynsty25]

Thanks. Curious why Asus?

They make fantastic laptops. I've had four and loved every one of them. No issues at all. Which is more than I can say for my sony...dell...toshibas...and samsungs. All had issues. I'm an Asus customer for life when it comes to windows laptops.

[TCrouch]

My brother got one of Asus' little mini-tower setups and it's been fabulous for him, too. I had a similar rig about 6 or 7 years ago and I loved it. I've had zero problems (or know anybody who's had problems) with Asus rigs.

[JackB1]

I'm thinking of getting my son one of those all in one computers (HP, Dell, Lenovo, etc). He'll most use it for school work, editing, and Minecraft. Perhaps some games like a Wizard 101 but nothing graphically intense. I'm only looking to spend around $500. Is it worth the money and will it be powerful enough for what he intends to use it for?

Thanks.

You might want to consider a Chromebook. No windows hassles and hard for a kid to mess up.

[sportdan30]

Thanks everyone. Was close to pulling the trigger on an Acer/Gateway, but I think I'll do a bit more research on the Asus brand and see what kind of deal I can find.

[sportdan30]

nm

[sportdan30]

This is what I'm thinkin of buying for him, but thinking it might be overkill, not to mention a little more than I wanted to spend. I don't see him playing many games besides Minecraft. He will be making youtube videos and doing some light editing. Can I get buy with a lower cost laptop with around 4GB of ram?

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/desktop-16g ... ab=reviews

[Danimal]

I know this might sound really odd but I spent money on a cheap Toshiba laptop and it won't even run Minecraft for my daughter, she is constantly on my machine. The frame rate is just so chunky it is unplayable and Toshiba puts so much crap on their laptops it is not funny.

[sportdan30]

I know this might sound really odd but I spent money on a cheap Toshiba laptop and it won't even run Minecraft for my daughter, she is constantly on my machine. The frame rate is just so chunky it is unplayable and Toshiba puts so much crap on their laptops it is not funny.

Yeah, I looked at the requirements for Minecraft and it's 4GB. So, I think I'll stick with a desktop, but go with a 8GB Asus that is expandable to 16 GB. And it's a $100 less than the one I posted. I honestly don't think he needs more than that. Now, I just need to find a cheap monitor!

[dbdynsty25]

I would never buy a windows machine with less than 8gb of ram. Just the OS overhead kills most of that 4gb so you definitely need more to run games comfortably.

[Inuyasha]

Well my wife's laptop when dead. It isn't loading windows anymore, just in an infinite loop. I don't want to deal with it so just going to get her a new one.

Are you guys still positive on ASUS? I remember this thread and you recommending it. I checked Amazon they got good reviews and the prices were super cheap.

example : http://www.amazon.com/15-6-Inch-Dual-Co ... sus+laptop

I dont know about ordering online since I like to test it out, but I doubt any retail store will beat these prices.

btw - how do I get data off the old laptop? Some way eaiser than taking the HD out and hooking it up to another computer?

[pk500]

Asus or Lenovo. That's the only way to go with Windows laptops.

Sounds like a MacBook Air is out of your price range. You can take every Windows laptop I've used since 1994, fuse them into one super-machine, and it still won't touch my current 13-inch MacBook Air. Extraordinary computer.

[MizzouRah]

Lenovo is good from my experience and so are HP/Dell laptops, just get a good i5/i7 processor at 8 GB of ram and step up on the video card and you'll be fine. I buy Dell desktops and HP laptops, but I'd buy an Lenovo laptop as well.

Stay away from Acer/Gateway/emachine

[Inuyasha]

Thanks. What's funny is I have a emachines laptop that's lasted me 3 years. Still going strong. I rebuilt my wife's w win 7. Man win 8 sucks. It's like a new machine now. I'll still buy a new one but I wish they could ship w win7.

[MizzouRah]

Thanks. What's funny is I have a emachines laptop that's lasted me 3 years. Still going strong. I rebuilt my wife's w win 7. Man win 8 sucks. It's like a new machine now. I'll still buy a new one but I wish they could ship w win7.

Yeah.. I put W7 on all mine and family pc's - one exception is my daughter who has a touchscreen. I have an uncle who's had an emachine for over 5 years and never had an issue until now when the HD went out, which is expected, so yeah he's very happy with it. I fixed it all up for $30. He just uses it for internet though.

[dbdynsty25]

Now, more than ever, it doesn't matter what brand computer (PC) you buy. They all use the same vendors and parts...so you're getting the same machine no matter who's logo is on it. The only thing you really need to be cognizant of is the support and warranty. Find the best company in that regards and you'll be fine.