I need some laptop purhasing guidance

[fecmech]

Gentlemen--I want to purchase a laptop for use around home and some occasional travel. I am not a gamer, don't need storage, would like to stream occasional video and basically surf the web. Currently running a desktop with XP and 80 gig HD that's half full and fairly satisfied with it. Some draw backs such as trying to read some web sites as they keep bouncing around as content is added etc. Kind of overwhelmed by what's on the web. I hear complaints about Widows 8. Would Windows 7 on a refurb be better for me?? I don't really want to spend more than $250-$275. Wondering about this refurb.http://www.bestbuy.com/site/hp-business-notebook-6910p-14-1-notebook-intel-core-2-duo-t7300-2-ghz-silver/1308916178.p?id=mp1308916178&skuId=1308916178#tabbed-customerreviews. Any help would be appreciated.

[pertnear]

The laptop in your link has a slow hard drive, insufficient memory (only 2gb) & the wireless is slow, being a "G" while "N" is now available. It doesn't say if the W7 OS is 32 or 64bit. You want 64bit.

Still not too bad for the price but I'm sure you'd find it a bit slow for general use unless you are verrrrry patient.

IMHO

[williamwaco]

Gentlemen--I want to purchase a laptop for use around home and some occasional travel. I am not a gamer, don't need storage, would like to stream occasional video and basically surf the web. Currently running a desktop with XP and 80 gig HD that's half full and fairly satisfied with it. Some draw backs such as trying to read some web sites as they keep bouncing around as content is added etc. Kind of overwhelmed by what's on the web. I hear complaints about Widows 8. Would Windows 7 on a refurb be better for me?? I don't really want to spend more than $250-$275. Wondering about this refurb.http://www.bestbuy.com/site/hp-business-notebook-6910p-14-1-notebook-intel-core-2-duo-t7300-2-ghz-silver/1308916178.p?id=mp1308916178&skuId=1308916178#tabbed-customerreviews. Any help would be appreciated.

They keep changing and shifting stuff around as you are trying to read them. I have the same problem with a very fast desktop with 8 gigs RAM and a 50gb FIOS connection.

That is poor page design. I don't think you can get away from that.

By ALL means, DO NOT buy Windows 8.
If you must buy 8, download the third party freeware program called Classic Start Menu.
It will allow you to Emulate ( Look Like ) Windows 7 and you can customize to look like anything you like.
I have been using it for over a year. It is great. You will never see those tiles again.

Streaming video is going to depend more on your connection than your processor/RAM.

I would expect the refurb you listed to be as good in that regard as your old desktop.

That said, I would not buy a refurb with only a 30 day warranty regardless of price.

[joesig]

XP to anything will be a little painful.
I have been issued HP laptops for work and purchased them on my own new in the $400 range. The ones from work are much nicer ($)
I agree Win 8 probably won't be your friend and you can't have too much memory. The price seems good.
Even 802.11b is faster than your Internet access. You'll be fine.

The gamble with ANY electronics is how long before the magic smoke is let out. If you get some semblance of a 1Y warranty and do backups, you'll be fine.

How available are replacement parts? Not from HP!($)

[shooterg]

IF you use a smartphone Windows 8 with touchscreen might not make you grind your teeth. Otherwise download the shell to prevent going crazy and beating on your new laptop with the nearest hammer.

[khmer6]

If you bump your budget up to 300 you can find a decent new laptop with a modern intel processorĺ

[Yodogsandman]

Wait for Windows 10 to come out, maybe in June. I'm currently having mine fixed, to last at least until it does come out.

[khmer6]

You don't need 64 bit unless you are running more than 4gb of ram. Only my servers and main rig for VMs are 64 bit. I much prefer 32 bit so everything works. It's getting better but I still find some older software that won't install or buggy on 64. If you buy a new computer with 8 you can still downgrade to 7. All consumer computers are windows 8 now. Windows 10 is in a few months. But rumor has it it will be a free upgrade for Windows 7 and windows 8 users.
I don't see anything on sale right now around your budget that's decent but I'll keep an eye out. They come up fairly often

[bob208]

nothing wrong with 8 I learned how to use it in 3days. I bought a refarb. it lasted 6 months. bought a new hp. for not much more.

[fecmech]

The refurb I mentioned is off the table now and I appreciate the replies. For basic surfing and occasional streaming is there a minimum amount of memory or processor speed that I need?? As I said I don't game at all or do multiple things at the same time on a computer. I am not currently streaming on my desktop but do through a Roku on my TV, I have no problems there.

[MaryB]

Best Buy and refurb = run away fast! Bad news and junk they build from abandoned computers brought in for repair. Here are some choices http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&IsNodeId=1&N=100006740%204019%204018%204814%20600004968%20600 004970 in your price range a 15 inch screen will be max probably.

[MtGun44]

Treat Win 8 as the cancer that it is. Win 7 is stable and all works well. I literally went out
and replaced two laptops and a desktop that were working but clearly on their last legs after
working on FIL and sister's Win 8 machines to help them. I wanted to get the last of the Win 7
machines before I had no choice. For a while, Win 7 was gone, but too many folks apparently
refused to buy anything with Win 8, so Win 7 came back - not sure if it is still out there.

It is literally a phone OS grafted to a computer, totally screwing it up if you do anything beyond
looking at a few web sites. EVERYTHING is far, far more difficult to do - if you want to do anything
even slightly outside of what Win 8 thinks is "normal" you are in deep trouble.

[bob208]

on windows 8 you can shut off the touch screen and it will work like regular windows we are used to.

[FredBuddy]

Take a look at iPads. I have win7 desktop out in the shop; got an iPad for the house and because my wife has vision problems, I figured the retina display would help. With an additional router things are working well, SWMBO has taken to it, and now I'm learning apple tv. Hope to replace the satellite as it's getting too costly for what we use.

[scarry scarney]

One thing that no one is talking about is the processor. Once you buy a laptop, you are not going to upgrade the processor. So, buy the fastest processor you can afford. I bought my laptop two years ago, with an I7 processor. I still see I3 and I5's out there. Buying an I3 would be like trying to pull a 12 foot trailer with a 4 cylinder ford Taurus on a busy highway these days.

[dragon813gt]

There is nothing wrong w/ Win8. Don't be scared by all the naysayers. It's extremely stable and boots in no time. I had just as many problems w/ Win7 as I did w/ Vista.

You don't need to run Win8 in metro mode. Download Classic Shell or any of the other apps that give you a start button and allow Win8 to work like the versions you're familiar w/. That's all it takes. Metro mode is best w/ a touchscreen. Which mine has and I have to say it works great on one.

Basic rule of laptops is buy the fastest processor you can because you won't be upgrading it. A lot of laptops now run the OS off a SSD and then have a large conventional hard drive for everything else. I will deal w/ little quirks so I have a completely stable OS w/ a 10 second boot time.

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

I have no issues with my Toshiba Laptop with Intel Core i3 processor, purchased 18 months ago...with windows 8. It was $349, the first thing I did was upgrade the RAM to Max, I don't recall the sizes, but it was another $50 or so. A bit of insurance for longevity, I figure.
I am no expert, but I don't understand all the complaining about 8...if you don't like the tiles used for touch screen, you can just use the traditional desktop by clicking that tile...no downloading classic shell needed. Then it's just like Vista...without the glitches (I've never used 7).

[oscarflytyer]

all I buy anymore are Dell Refurbs/scratch and dents. Been doing this for me, family, friends and acquaintances for years - all with great results. I am currently on a nearly 4 yr old Dell S&D now.

[William Yanda]

I heard that Dell is anti 2nd Amendment. Anybody confirm this?

[TheDoctor]

So I said about Harrison Ford, but no one bit that hook!

[Pb2au]

Currently testing a Lenovo Yoga for work. So far it is a good machine at a smaller footprint.
It has a strong processor, plus a good piece of storage. I always store my heavy data on a jump drive and or Dropbox, so no worries there.
by the way, win 8 works just fine. I've been using it for work for the last year. As for accessing your programs you like, or ANYTHING for that matter, just hit the key that looks like the windows logo first. This will take you to the tiles dashboard. Immediately just type what you are looking for and the search window automatic opens and populates the results below it. Simply click on your target after that.

[khmer6]

Windows 8 is fantastic. It is extremely stable even more so over 7. People complain about 8 because of the so called reviews and the gui. Hardware is years beyond software. Core i3 from 4 years ago will still go head to head with modern CPU. Even the celeron and current generation pentiums are good. The yoga is very nice. I get sent demo units all the time from hp dell and lenovo. The surface 3 is also a great machine but like the yoga above your budget and honestly from your needs you stated would be a waste of money. Just hang in there a friend of mine was lookin exactly what your were looking for. Some online poker. Reading Web browsing and I was able to find him a great machine for 300 out the door. He was about to buy a used Conroe machine just like you

[fecmech]

Well I pulled the trigger on an Asus EeeBook x205TA.
http://www.laptopmag.com/reviews/laptops/asus-eeebook-x205ta

After doing some research I decided I wanted small & light as opposed to a larger laptop for trips and emails. Have no need for storage so the 32 GB flash storage was not a problem and according to some tests & reviews it will stream ok. Reviews at Amazon etc seemed generally positive. I'm not a gamer and don't do any real work on a computer other than surf so hopefully this will work for me. It was only $214. to my door so we''ll see how it works out, if I don't like it my credit card guarantees a full refund in 60 days. I thank all who took the time to respond. This board and it's members are definitely a friendly and helpful bunch!

[khmer6]

Nice choice. Modern day intel atoms are very useful. Those bay trail atoms are really underrated. I use one for my back up in the field windows 8.1 tablet. It runs quickly with the flash memory.