Thank you to everyone who has made suggestions on my can I get sub-$800 laptop question!!
After getting a crash course in laptop specifications and searching various online deals, I’ve discovered that I can go lower than $800 for my needs. Much lower. Oh my how the world has changed. Six years ago, I was scraping the bottom of the barrel with a $880 Compaq Presario (that has, surprisingly, held up really well). Now, I am again scraping the bottom of a much bigger and better-constructed barrel.
Lenovo offers 3 lines of laptops, the warrior Thinkpads, the classy Ideapads, and the much-less-mentioned “value line” G530s. I originally concentrated my search on Ideapads (recommended in a couple of comments), and came really close to buying a U350 or a Y550.
But then boyfriend and I found this Newegg deal for a G530 (see Newegg.com deal here). We thought it fits my needs (I am a fairly undemanding user) and budget. Fast-enough processor. Adequate RAM. Good-sized screen. At 6 pounds, it’s slightly heavier than I would’ve liked, but that’s a small quibble.
At $450, the price IS right.
Add on taxes and fees, and the grand total comes out to $510. The comprehensive reviews I found of the G530 all gave the laptop good ratings for a budget laptop (see reviews by notebookreview.com, hothardware.com, about.com, and pcworld.com). The consensus seems to be: “Nothing fancy. Just a solid, budget laptop fit for basic computing needs.” And that was exactly what I was looking for.
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