Please Help Me Find a New Laptop - $300 Budget

patthecat on 16/10/2015 - 16:28
Last edited 17/10/2015 - 09:46 by 1 other user

I would really appreciate some advice on which laptop / device I should get. I have little technical knowledge and no one to ask so …..please help!

I currently have an ipad, other half has a chromebook. I am getting fed up of not being able to connect to our printer (no way of installing the printer driver from CD) and my son keeps stealing my ipad so its time for me to get something new.

My requirements are:

Mostly internet browsing
Create the odd word document or spreadsheet
Connect to a cheapie printer (as found on ozbargain)
Copy our CD's onto usb for the car
Download some things that seem only to be downloaded to windows or mac. For example I have a harmony remote but can't program it via chromebook.
I would like it to be fast to open up - Like the ipad or chromebook, not sure what windows is like now the last windows version was 7 but seemed to take ages to start up on our old laptop.
I am happy to store photos on an external drive.
I am happy to get an external CD/DVD drive.
I do not do any gaming.
I want to spend about $300 in total.

Thankyou, really appreciate any help.

• 

  ozhunter on 16/10/2015 - 16:37

  I want to spend about $300 in total.

  If you wan't it to be brand new, it would be pretty much the cheapest windows laptop that you can find.

  https://www.jbhifi.com.au/computers-tablets/laptops/asus/asu…

• 

  MattyAu on 16/10/2015 - 16:41

  +4

  Have a look here: http://www1.ap.dell.com/content/topics/segtopic.aspx/product…
  Dell Outlet, some great bargains in there

• 

  elusive on 16/10/2015 - 17:08

  +1

  I would like it to be fast to open up - Like the ipad or chromebook, not sure what windows is like now the last windows version was 7 but seemed to take ages to start up on our old laptop.

  Unfortunately, that's probably not gonna happen on the cheapest laptops you can find. Windows 8 (and 10) will start up faster than 7 and can probably sleep for far longer with the appropriate (tablet-like) hardware. If you sleep instead of shut down, it will start up fast, but probably won't last more than a day or two before the battery drains.

  eMMC, HDDs, Atom processors… they work. They're not particularly fast. They probably won't feel particularly snappy.

  That said, if you're sticking to a $300 budget, I'd second matthewk85's suggestion of the Dell Outlet, though I'd additionally recommend you pick something with 4 GB of RAM. Options:

  • DFO-2942649IP for $329 or DFO-2943641IP for $313. That's 13" screen, and convertible into a tablet mode.
  • DFO-3067207IP or DFO-3067293IP for $249. That's 15" screen,

  Another good option is to pick up one of the models with a Pentium CPU and 2 GB RAM, and then upgrade the RAM yourself. That gets you a faster processor. DFO-3069400IP for $265 would probably cost $20 to upgrade to 4 GB RAM (assuming it has two slots?).

  To further speed things up, especially startup time, you could replace the HDD with an SSD. If Tightarse keeps coming up with his deals, you'll probably see a 128 GB one for something like $60 soon.

  • 

    MattyAu on 16/10/2015 - 17:18

    Another good option is to pick up one of the models with a Pentium CPU and 2 GB RAM, and then upgrade the RAM yourself.
    To further speed things up, especially startup time, you could replace the HDD with an SSD.

    exactly what i did with the Inspiron 11 3000 2-in-1 with a Intel Celeron Processor N2840; does everything i need it to.

    • 

      elusive on 18/10/2015 - 15:07

      In fact, here's a decent SSD to put in => https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/215812

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  patthecat on 16/10/2015 - 18:17

  thank you this is exactly the kind of advice I need!

  I will look into the suggestions at the weekend.

  I have had a Dell before and was happy, I am also happy buying refurb, second hand or from overseas as the chromebook was an ozbargain deal from amazon.com

  Cheers

  • 

    elusive on 16/10/2015 - 18:28

    One thing to note is that the smaller laptops these days don't come with optical drives (they take up valuable space for bigger battery, thinner laptop, etc.). Shouldn't be a problem for printer drivers as you can usually download those from the manufacturer website. Otherwise, I think it was something like $25-$30 for a cheap USB DVD drive.

• 

  patthecat on 19/10/2015 - 09:56

  So over the weekend I decided on an refurb inspirion 11 3000 2-in-1, just tried to order and it says they are out of stock for all laptops!

  Just wondering how often the refurbs are for sale?

  Cheers

  • 

    MattyAu on 19/10/2015 - 10:06

    I've found they tend to take them off over the weekend and relist them during the week; check back today.

    • 

      patthecat on 19/10/2015 - 10:53

      righto will do thanks