Recommendations for a good cheap and cheerful laptop around $700?

Forums › Laptops and mobile computers › Recommendations for a good cheap and cheerful laptop around $700?

sidefx

3775 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 1295

Trusted

#113516 19-Jan-2013 09:35

Anybody have any recommendations and\or lines on current good deals for a decent laptop around $700? It would mainly be used for web browsing, email, very basic photo manipulation (picasa), word\powerpoint and occasional movies playback to a TV.

It's for my father and he does get a bit frustrated when things are slow; I've played with a couple of netbooks and they seem very sluggish. Also a decent sized screen for him would be a plus. Doesn't need amazing battery life as it will probably mostly be used at home.

"I was born not knowing and have had only a little time to change that here and there." | Octopus Energy | Sharesies
- Richard Feynman

1 | 2

2120 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 506

#747262 19-Jan-2013 09:39

Why not a desktop in that case, more value for money?

Actually desktops don't seem to be much cheaper than laptops anymore!

sidefx

3775 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 1295

Trusted

#747264 19-Jan-2013 09:44

Yes I was considering that too; I generally build my own desktops and know I can put a decent one together for fairly cheap, but then factoring in a new screen, etc and the convenience of a laptop the advantages become a little less clear!

"I was born not knowing and have had only a little time to change that here and there." | Octopus Energy | Sharesies
- Richard Feynman

vexxxboy

4336 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 2072

#747267 19-Jan-2013 09:54

for example Playtech are selling a desktop for $579

http://www.playtech.co.nz/afawcs0139234/CATID=139/PlayTech-Home-PCs.html

and then add a 23" full HD monitor for $179

http://www.playtech.co.nz/afawcs0139235/CATID=507/ID=17128/SID=584533377/productdetails.html

Total $760

Common sense is not as common as you think.

allan

2073 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 899

ID Verified

Lifetime subscriber

#747291 19-Jan-2013 10:45

You could check out PB Tech's latest weekend sale.

gzt

18679 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 7809

Lifetime subscriber

#747418 19-Jan-2013 16:59

Newer machines will come with 8. That may or may not be a problem for the user.

Btw, what are the specs and o/s of the current machine?

farcus

1626 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 437

#747440 19-Jan-2013 17:27

one of these

http://shopap.lenovo.com/nz/en/products/laptops/thinkpad/thinkpad-edge/

New World

Shop on-line at New World now for your groceries (affiliate link).

billgates

4705 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 671

Trusted

#747457 19-Jan-2013 17:53

Lenovo has 30% off till sunday midnight. Edge E330 is $730 incl GST. You can add more RAM etc for cheap too.

http://shopap.lenovo.com/nz/en/deals-and-coupons/

Edit - If you select 4GB RAM in the upgrade screen instead of adding $44, it only adds $2 more to the order. Good spec laptop. i3, 4GB RAM, 320GB 7200RPM for $732 incl GST.

Do whatever you want to do man.

gzt

18679 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 7809

Lifetime subscriber

#747473 19-Jan-2013 18:15

+1 that imho. Good find!

This model has a thinner screen bezel than the traditional chunky lenovo design. Thicker bezel is only in T series now. Lenovo design and build is miles ahead of anything like Acer and similar so I would not expect any problems. But tell the user to always lift the screen from the middle as best practice. User should be doing that anyway.

Gilco2

1556 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 134

#747477 19-Jan-2013 18:21

I bought a HP Probook 4530s which can do all that a year ago for $700. Was brand new through Laptop Battery. They get new ones at times but also a lot of good used laptops. The HP was cancelled orders as they were supposed to have usb 3.0 ports but there was a shortage of chips apparently so they were fitted with standard usb 2.0. Has been an excellent unit. I wouldtnt touch a home HP laptop but the business ones seem okay

HTPC Intel Pentium G3258 cpu, Gigabyte H97n-wifi motherboard, , 8GB DDR3 ram, onboard graphics. Hauppuage HVR 5500 tuner, Silverstone LC16M case, Windows 10 pro 64 bit using Nextpvr and Kodi

tukapa1

753 posts

Ultimate Geek
+1 received by user: 235

#747616 20-Jan-2013 08:33

billgates: Lenovo has 30% off till sunday midnight. Edge E330 is $730 incl GST. You can add more RAM etc for cheap too.

http://shopap.lenovo.com/nz/en/deals-and-coupons/

Edit - If you select 4GB RAM in the upgrade screen instead of adding $44, it only adds $2 more to the order. Good spec laptop. i3, 4GB RAM, 320GB 7200RPM for $732 incl GST.

Only a 13" screen though - will that be big enough? OP says he was looking at netbooks so maybe but then says he wanted a decent sized screen. If 13" is big enough then the Lenovo is a good prcied laptop.

farcus

1626 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 437

#747825 20-Jan-2013 15:41

you can get the E530 with a 15.2 inch screen for about the same price (although it is not listed on that coupon screen but from the link I posted earlier)
The difference is it has an i3 processor instead of an i7.
The E530 with an i7 processor is about $900

Here is the direct link

Apple TV

Stream your favourite shows now on Apple TV (affiliate link).

hatchi

65 posts

Master Geek
+1 received by user: 1

#754624 2-Feb-2013 00:11

Have you considered the Hewlett Packard pavilion sleek book at dick smith http://www.dicksmith.co.nz/product/XC8569/hp-pavilion-14-b013au-notebook-red

Signed by Robbie,

* @hatchinz

* FaceTime at hatchinz@me.com

* iMessage at hatchnz@me.com

Computer Sales | Apple Sales

Dick Smith Riccarton, Westfield shopping town, Christchurch

Phone 03 343 0742

michaelmurfy

meow
13579 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 10910

Moderator

ID Verified

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#754637 2-Feb-2013 01:38

hatchi: Have you considered the Hewlett Packard pavilion sleek book at dick smith http://www.dicksmith.co.nz/product/XC8569/hp-pavilion-14-b013au-notebook-red

I have one of those, it's boxed up, served me well for a year or so before I found the CPU to be very sluggish, ended up buying a Core i5 Toshiba laptop.

Lenovo has 30% off till sunday midnight. Edge E330 is $730 incl GST. You can add more RAM etc for cheap too.

http://shopap.lenovo.com/nz/en/deals-and-coupons/

Edit - If you select 4GB RAM in the upgrade screen instead of adding $44, it only adds $2 more to the order. Good spec laptop. i3, 4GB RAM, 320GB 7200RPM for $732 incl GST.

I'd highly recommend that laptop, my flatmate bought one and shoved a SSD in it and it flies - very good performance, excellent screen (slightly makes me jealous due to it's viewing angle + lack of gloss) and runs Linux very well (if you're into that) - also as a bonus has a charging port which charges devices through USB even if the laptop is turned off.

Michael Murphy | https://murfy.nz
Referral Links: Quic Broadband (use R122101E7CV7Q for free setup)

Are you happy with what you get from Geekzone? Please consider supporting us by subscribing.
Opinions are my own and not the views of my employer.

sidefx

3775 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 1295

Trusted

#755221 3-Feb-2013 21:16

Thanks chaps, that lenovo deal looks pretty good and seems to still be going...? - I'm actually looking at the E530 i3 with 4GB, 500GB HD and upgrade to 1600x900 screen which brings it up to $810 and seems pretty good to me. My old man will probably appreciate a bigger screen of the E530 and won't be too fussed stretching the budget a bit. Is the screen upgrade worth it to 1600x900 though - it only adds $12.50 and while it's the same size I the higher res would seem worthwhile to me.

Any other recommendations if I suggest he spends a wee bit more and goes up to around $900 or am I unlikely to find something to rival the lenovos? I've looked a bit at the deals\sales at various other places but they often seem to have lower end (or netbook) type CPUs and fairly plasticy type builds.

EDIT: Also can anybody tell me how long lenovo takes to ship them to NZ?

"I was born not knowing and have had only a little time to change that here and there." | Octopus Energy | Sharesies
- Richard Feynman

sidefx

3775 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 1295

Trusted

#755794 4-Feb-2013 21:34

sidefx: Also can anybody tell me how long lenovo takes to ship them to NZ?

And finally can anyone tell me if one orders from Lenovo would that be considered an import and so you might be stung for GST + IETF(Import entry transaction fee) or since they seem to trade as Lenovo New Zealand, is it like buying from a local company?

"I was born not knowing and have had only a little time to change that here and there." | Octopus Energy | Sharesies
- Richard Feynman

1 | 2