Black Friday:$300 laptops

[Bright_Star]

From what I understand, Wal-Mart is going to have $300 laptops on Black Friday. That's nice. It really is BUT the 1st thing I would ask when looking at these "bargain" laptops is what they DON'T have included that makes them so super cheap.
I'd hate to be the cashier that sells somebody these things only to have the customer come in the next day screaming up a storm that it didn't have so & so & they want their money back.
I'm sorry but I'll take the regular priced laptops everytime. You want a cheap laptop that you know has the stuff you want on it then go to a used computer store or a flea market...lol.

[Catwoman2965]

Oh yeah, you KNOW it won't come with any Microsoft Offce; and bare bones memory, etc. People just don't get it though; they see $300 and laptop in the same sentence, and think they're getting some awesome deal!

I really wanted a laptop for my next computer, but when my hard drive died unexpectedly (hey, it was 6 years old!) - i just got another CPU, as I couldnt' afford the laptop with all the "stuff" i wanted on it right now. I still spent just under $900, but I got what I wanted, plus the software I needed, and I'm happy. The laptop will just have to wait.

[Irving Patrick Freleigh]

I'm looking for a laptop and I wouldn't touch that with a ten-foot pole.

I might end buying one through Dell again. Maybe I'm just lucky but I've had my desktop for over 4 years and had no problems with it.

[Catwoman2965]

I bought my second Dell; in spite of what I've heard about their sucky customer service, i never had any problems with my machine....it did die, but it was about 6 1/2 years old, so i wasn't too upset. The main reason I bought another Dell was right about the time I bought it, they had announced they were bringing back XP "due to customer requests" more like complaints, but even so, I didn't want Vista, not yet anyway.

[GolfCart34]

My Apple PowerBook was the best $1400 I've ever spent. I've had it for over 2 years and haven't had a single problem with it. Maybe that's because I spent good money and bought a decent machine! I stay as far away from bargain basement computers as I can. One of my college computer teachers even said that you're better off spending the big bucks now because then you won't have to upgrade or replace your computers as often, thus saving money in the long run.

[Dave0523]

$300 laptops? Are those the ones I've heard about that come pre-loaded with Linux instead of Windows? Can't wait to hear the return stories on those...

--Dave

[RammsteinGirl]

$300 laptops? They must be completely bare bones. Of course, someone who knows absolutely nothing about computers will just see "LAPTOPS ON SALE!" and buy them in the mad Black Friday rush. I'm sure idiots will be punching each other out over them. Luckily, I will be safely behind a cash register on Black Friday. /sarcasm

[Mr. Rager!]

EFF $300 laptops!!!

I HATELOATHDESPISE them!! Argh!!

I always have to deal with people that think that 512mb of RAM will be just fine for running Vista. No, moron. You'll hate it then return it. Then you'll cry when there's a restocking fee... dumbass!! I refuse to sell them. My sups get great joy when someone tries to buy a $349.99 laptop from me.

[Broomjockey]

you know, I almost wonder if it'd be worth it to get one of those cheapo laptops then gut it and throw in some more powerful stuff.
Really, the main thing would be to make sure the motherboard can handle anything you plan on putting in to it, then get the graphics card, ram, and processor upgraded. But I'm not familiar with the pricing for parts for lappys, so I really don't know if it'd be worth it.

[Mr. Rager!]

you know, I almost wonder if it'd be worth it to get one of those cheapo laptops then gut it and throw in some more powerful stuff.

Umm... good luck with that one. Seriously. You'd be better off just buying a laptop that already suits your needs.

[sld72382]

If it's not for gaming, then just through another 1GB chip into it and you're off.

[Broomjockey]

Umm... good luck with that one. Seriously. You'd be better off just buying a laptop that already suits your needs.

Which is why I said I was wondering. I'm getting fairly into desktop hardware, but I still don't know anything about laptops, pretty much.

My current laptop is getting fairly aged, and I don't really wanna lay out cash for a new one, so anything I could do to save cash would be a bonus. I'm probably eventually just going to see if I can get an extra stick of RAM dropped in it, though it's old enough that I might not even be able to do that.

[SuperDan]

I have a laptop that I got a few BFs ago for under $300. It was the year that Wal-Mart and Best Buy's BF ads got leaked and they got into a pre-Thanksgiving price war with their BF laptop prices.

Bare minimum RAM (one 128mb stick) but upgradeable to 2 1Gb sticks, and the MS Office on it was only a 60-day trial (yay for being able to buy Office for $10 at school). Everything else about it was ok for all but maybe hardcore gamers. I still think it was worth the eight hours of freezing my ass off and shaking my head when someone called the cops over someone cutting in line.

[ditchdj]

Personally I'm leaning toward the PSP Portable. It's pretty much a mini-computer. I can play video games on it, surf on the web using a wi-fi connection, listen to mp3's and watch movies on it. You can even put "Windows" on it through a theme that someone wrote that you can download online. And it only costs $169.00.

[gregmaddux17]

Umm... good luck with that one. Seriously. You'd be better off just buying a laptop that already suits your needs.

Thats what I would do and I would never consider buying a cheap laptop.