If you need a new notebook but don’t have a whole lot of funds, you’ve got a couple of options.
First
Most laptop manufacturers offer downsized versions of their high-end rigs. These can range from $400 to $700, and, while not as powerful as those in the $1000 and up range, can pack a lot of bang for the buck if you know how to shop around.
A couple of the best options of this variety…
Dell Latitude D600
With a Pentium M 1.8GHz processor, 512MB of RAM, and 40GB of storage space, the Dell Latitude packs a punch for its price. You can find these units new and used between $300-$500. The unit comes equipped with a CDRW/DVD drive, built in wireless LAN, and a fourteen inch display. It’s not the roughest, toughest machine on the market, but at around $400, it more than gets the job done.
HP Compaq NC 6220
The HP NC6220 has a lot in common with the Dell Latitude, including price and processing power. However, it has twice as much RAM and comes equipped with high speed Ethernet. If you’re a gamer, speed counts, so the advantage is clearly the HP Compaq NC 6220.
Second
If you just need something simple and you’re looking for the absolute, bottom dollar, cheapest laptops around, a trend that’s catching on is the ultra-cheapie notebook. These can actually cost as low as $150, but tend to be lacking in terms of hardware. If you need a notebook for gaming, for graphic design, editing or watching movies, listening to music, etcetera, the super cheapies aren’t exactly your best bet. But, if you only need a basic notebook for writing, and your basic daily internet routine (emails, checking your basic websites, etcetera), the super-cheapies are, at least, efficient.
The notebook being touted as the cheapest laptop in the world right now?
The Medison Celebrity
The Medison Celebrity goes for about $150, and was created as a sort of an answer to the OLPC, or One Laptop Per Child project. The OLPC notebooks were designed to give children in poorer countries more opportunity, and they went for about $100. They were funded by charity and donated to schools around the world. This was a great effort to try and make the world a better place, but in the US, the price of these laptops may well shoot right up to $500 before long. The Medison Celebrity is staying at a solid one fifty for now and the immediate future.
It’s not the best laptop in the world. It’s neither fast nor powerful, it only has about 250MB of memory, but… it gets the job done. It does connect to wireless internet, it can handle web browsing and word processing, it’s small, lightweight, and probably the cheapest computer in the world.
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