Sub $900 laptop for my son

iceman (Mike) · #1 28-11-2011, 07:15 AM

Hi guys

I'm looking to buy a Windows laptop for my son, under $900.

I'm not looking for an <$500 notebook - it has to be grunty enough to play games and he'll also use it for school work obviously (he goes into yr 7 next year).

Specs:
- Minimum Core i5 (not i3)
- Either 13" or 15"
- Minimum 4G RAM
- Minimum 320G HD
- Windows 7 64bit
- Ideally dedicated graphics card, minimum 1G RAM

I'm thinking something like:

- this
- this
- this

Any other suggestions/recommendations?

Good places to buy from?

Thanks

cjmarsh81 · #2 28-11-2011, 08:19 AM

Not a fan of Toshiba, however that ASUS looks pretty good for the price.

Chris

multiweb (Marc) · #3 28-11-2011, 08:24 AM

I got one of these. Plenty of grunt.

iceman (Mike) · #4 28-11-2011, 08:25 AM

Looks ok, Marc, but want something a little beefier.

I have 2 Toshiba laptops at home already and they've been pretty good.

multiweb (Marc) · #5 28-11-2011, 08:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by iceman

Looks ok, Marc, but want something a little beefier.

I have 2 Toshiba laptops at home already and they've been pretty good.

I know it says 'notebook' but I run CCDStack 64bit on it, MAXIM all my guiding programs, etc... I got an extra 16GB RAM. RAM is cheap. It has good video hardware acceleration. I'd assume it would work well within specs for what your son wants to do with it if it's for school. The only restriction would be the screen size. For the $1k ball park you can get a good TOSHIBA second hand.

DJDD · #6 28-11-2011, 09:16 AM

maybe Dick Smith?

http://dicksmith.com.au/product/XC88...eline-notebook

Kal (Andrew) · #7 28-11-2011, 07:23 PM

Aldi had a special on last Saturday for a medion 17.3" laptop with an i5-2430M 8GB RAM 1TB HDD W7 and a beefy GT555M graphics card for $899.

Can't get much better value than that for under $900 especially if you want it to play games. Pretty sure they would have sold out though =/

Irish stargazer (John) · #8 28-11-2011, 09:11 PM

We have Toshiba and Samsung core i5 machines and a Samsung netbook. Can't fault the Samsungs.

dynobolt (Dave) · #9 28-11-2011, 09:56 PM

Hi Mike,

Similar to Kal's suggestion except it's an ASUS http://www.catchoftheday.com.au/smal...ducts_id=43641

Might be a bit big to lug around though.....

Harvey Norman has an i7 15.6inch 1gb graphics etc. for around $900 with a free X-Box 360 (spare Christmas present?)

Dave

ballaratdragons (Ken) · #10 28-11-2011, 10:23 PM

I just got one of these and it is great! $675

http://www.pccasegear.com/index.php?...ducts_id=18560

iceman (Mike) · #11 29-11-2011, 05:12 AM

Thanks for the extra suggestions guys. I don't really want to get a 17" though, it'll be too big for him to lug around.

tlgerdes (Trevor) · #12 29-11-2011, 06:25 AM

These tick your boxes

http://www.officeworks.com.au/retail...tops/HEPG61031

http://www.officeworks.com.au/retail...tops/HEDV64023

http://www.officeworks.com.au/retail...ops/AC57502414

http://www.officeworks.com.au/retail...tops/TOL75004P

There are plenty options in that price bracket

iceman (Mike) · #13 29-11-2011, 06:26 AM

I like the look of this, but it's getting a bit pricier than what I wanted to spend.

http://www.pccasegear.com/index.php?...ducts_id=18814

Good specs though.

iceman (Mike) · #14 29-11-2011, 06:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tlgerdes

These tick your boxes

http://www.officeworks.com.au/retail...tops/HEPG61031

http://www.officeworks.com.au/retail...tops/HEDV64023

http://www.officeworks.com.au/retail...ops/AC57502414

http://www.officeworks.com.au/retail...tops/TOL75004P

There are plenty options in that price bracket

Thanks Trevor, some good options there.

You're right - there's heaps. Every now and then ASUS or someone comes out with a deal as well so I'm not sure whether to wait..

kustard (Simon) · #15 29-11-2011, 07:29 AM

Mike,

If you jump onto CatchOfTheDay right now they have a couple of deals for laptops starting from about halfway down the page. The often have very reasonable deals pop up. Just check it every day after midday. I've bought a few things from them and most times you'll have the goods within 2 weeks.

Cheers,
Simon

iceman (Mike) · #16 29-11-2011, 07:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kustard

Mike,

If you jump onto CatchOfTheDay right now they have a couple of deals for laptops starting from about halfway down the page. The often have very reasonable deals pop up. Just check it every day after midday. I've bought a few things from them and most times you'll have the goods within 2 weeks.

Cheers,
Simon

Yeh I've some stuff from CoTD before too

I don't mind the look of this one