Looking for a laptop

[hypernova]

I'm going back to school for the first time in eight years this fall (taking 5 classes beside my full time job) and decided that having a laptop would be a decent investment.  I'm not looking for anything powerful, just something that's reliable, but not too old, and if possible with wireless capabilities already.

So...tell me what you got, and what you think it's worth.  And just as a starting point, I'm definitely not paying any more than $500.  (I'm only considering that high just so it's worth keeping for awhile.)

[GlennM]

Why not go to a store and simply buy one?  $500 should net you a nice reliable XP laptop.
$300 netted me a pretty nice one that I have had a couple years, the battery is toast, but that is because I leave it plugged in too much.

[testicle187]

I have a Compaq Presario V5303NR for sale if you are interested.  I am wanting $400 for it.  I got it last Thanksgiving.  The battery still holds an excellent charge since I always leave it out of the laptop unless I use it at school, which is rare.  I also upgraded the memory to 1 gigabyte.

Specs:

AMD Turion 64 Mobile ML-32 1.6ghz
15.4" WXGA Monitor
60gb Hard Drive
1 gigabyte DDR 333mhz ram
ATI Radeon Xpress 200M Video
DVD/CD-RW
802.11b/g Wireless LAN and 10/100 LAN
Windows XP Home SP2 with COA

I still have the original box and paddings and it is in excellent cosmetic and functioning shape.  Let me know if you are interested.  $400.

[Texasmame]

Not to be a ---tallywhacker--- but my neighbor just gave me one.

 

Okay, I am being a ---tallywhacker---.   

Good luck in your search!

[NightGod]

Also worth checking Ebay and places like www.dealnews.com to find some bargains. If you keep an eye on dealnews, they usually post limited-quantity huge discounts (talking hundreds of dollars) for most major laptop manufacturers once or twice a month, you just have to be ready to jump on them when they come up, because they tend to only be good for a few hours before they sell out.

[hypernova]

....

My parents went out and surprised me.  They bought one for me!

Mom called me at work asking me to come out and take a look at the computer.  (A general statement.)  Said it wouldn't take but 5 minutes, so I knew something was amiss.

Get there, and she's got the box with a bow on it.  It's a Toshiba Satellite A215-S4697.  I'm breaking into the box currently.  So I guess this ends my quest for a laptop.  Thanks for the interest!

[stephenp1983]

Thats great can't beat a free laptop   What are you going back to school for ?

[Havok]

That is so unfair! Why can't I get anything free?