I am looking for a cheap (Microsoft) laptop. Preferably able to run Runescape, youtube, and sals all at once. I will also be using it to create simple scripts in VisualBasic... any recommendations?
I forgot to mention I will most likely be running Torque on it www.garagegames.com.

(Wasn't sure if I should post here, sorry if it's in the wrong spot...)

Thanks for you help!

~Peace

What is your definition of "cheap"? Mine is $800, but I don't know about yours.

Ehh... Below 1k, around $500 but I am good up to $999

Well if I was buying a laptop today, I'd buy a Lenovo IdeaPad U110 for $1000 (11.1" screen, 2.4-3._lbs, C2D 1.6GHz, 3GB RAM, 120GB drive). The difference though is we're different markets--I like small, portable, and light. Do you have a preference on size or weight?

Well bellow $1000 preferably... but I like portable and light, not so much small.

I have a question... how much do most school laptops cost? Not sure if could handle what I have in mind though...

Would any of these do well?


Fujitsu LifeBook V1010 Core 2 Duo T5200 1.6GHz
2GB 120GB DVD±RW DL 15.4" Vista Business
Part # FPCM32444
New Reg Price
$549.99
Save
$20.00 (4%)

$529.99


Gateway M-6843 Core 2 Duo T5750 2.0GHz 3GB 160GB DVD±RW
DL 15.4" Vista Home Premium w/Webcam (Garnet Red)
Part # M-6843-R
Refurbished
$529.99


Gateway P-6822 Core 2 Duo T5250 1.5GHz 1GB
250GB DVD±RW 17" Vista Home Premium w/Webcam
Part # P-6822-PB-R
Refurbished
$539.99


Toshiba Satellite A205-S5855 Core 2 Duo T5550 1.83GHz 3GB
160GB DVD±RW 15.4" Vista Home Premium w/Webcam (Onyx Blue)
Part # PSAE3U-075023B-R
Refurbished
Almost Gone Reg Price
$579.99
Save
$20.00 (3%)

$559.99


Toshiba Satellite Pro L300-EZ1502B Core 2 Duo T5800
2.0GHz 1GB 160GB DVD±RW DL 15.4" Vista Business
Part # PSLB9U-010016B-R
Refurbished
Almost Gone
$569.99


Gateway M-6880 Core 2 Duo T5750 2.0GHz 4GB 320GB
DVD±RW DL 15.4" Vista Home Premium w/Webcam (Blue)
Part # M-6880-R
Refurbished
$579.99


HP Pavilion dv6753ca Core 2 Duo T5550 1.83GHz 2GB
250GB DVD±RW DL 15.4" Vista Home Premium w/Webcam
Part # KC432UAR
Refurbished
Almost Gone
$579.99


HP Pavilion dv2915nr Core 2 Duo T5550 1.83GHz 3GB
250GB DVD±RW 14.1" Vista Home Premium w/Webcam
Part # FE990UAR
Refurbished
$589.95


Sony VAIO VGN-NR498E/W Core 2 Duo T5750 2.0GHz 3GB
250GB DVD±RW DL 15.4" Vista Home Premium (White)
Part # VGN-NR498EW-R
Refurbished
$589.99


Sony VAIO VGN-AR605E Digital Studio Core 2 Duo T7100 1.8GHz
1GB 160GB DVD±RW DL 17" Vista Home Premium w/Webcam
Part # VGN-AR605E-R
Refurbished
$599.99


HP Pavilion dv5t Core 2 Duo T5800 2.0GHz 2GB 160GB
DVD±RW DL 15.4" Vista Home Premium w/Webcam
Part # 4795-047
Refurbished
Almost Gone
$609.99


Dell Inspiron 1545 Core 2 Duo T6400 2.0GHz 4GB
320GB DVD±RW 15.6" Vista Home Premium w/Webcam
Part # BLK-DELL-1545-RCD-R

I guess I should say a maximum price... so lets go with around $800
(The reason I said I'm good up to $999 was because I was including the money I use in a different hobby.. I would rather not use that lol )

Well, if you're going to run that abomination that is called Vista, you'll need at least 3-4 GB ram For mobility, go for Wireless-N.

I'm not sure about the other things, the techies can help you with that

I would personally shy away from 15.4" laptops. I've never liked them and I always find them an odd standard that somehow caught on. To me, a normal laptop should have something between an 11.1" and a 13.3" screen and less than 4.5 pounds. Here's a small selection I like (and I find balanced) from NewEgg.

Lenovo ThinkPad SL400 (14.1" screen, C2D T6570 1.8GHz, 2GB DDR2, 250GB drive, GMA4500M HD, Vista Business)
Toshiba Satellite Pro S300M (14.1" screen, C2D P8600 2.4GHz, 2GB DDR2, 160GB drive, GMA4500M HD, Vista Business w/ XP Pro downgrade)
Lenovo ThinkPad SL300 (13.3" screen, C2D P8400 2.26GHz, 2GB DDR2, 160GB drive, GMA4500M HD, Vista Business)
Toshiba Satellite U405 (13.3" screen, Turion X2 RM-74, 4GB DDR2, 320GB drive, Radeon 3100, Vista Home Premium 64-bit)

Then there's also netbooks, which should meet most school needs. These laptops are smaller, lighter, and cheaper than larger laptops, but are not particularly fast. Plenty for using the web, instant messaging, watching normal videos (not high definition though), and using normal programs like Word, Excel, Powerpoint, and the like. Basically, it's a laptop for 95% of what you normally do. And yes, it can play Runescape full-screen. I can't say much about the performance on newer netbooks, but the performance on my EeePC 900 (with a 900MHz Celeron M and using GMA900) was good enough to play, but I still much prefer my desktop. Here's a small selection of netbooks that I think are good for the price.

Asus EeePC 900HA XP (8.9" screen, Atom N270 1.6GHz, 1GB DDR2, 160GB drive, WinXP Home)
Asus EeePC 1000HA (10" screen, Atom N270 1.6GHz, 1GB DDR2, 160GB drive, WInXP)
Samsung NC10 (10.2" screen, Atom N270 1.6GHz, 1GB DDR2, 160GB drive, WinXP)

The final laptop I'd like you to consider is actually a convertable laptop. This one has a screen that will swivel on its hinge and make it into a tablet. The price is VERY good for what you'd get, as well.

Lenovo ThinkPad X61 (12.1" screen, C2D L7500, 1GB DDR2, 160GB drive, GMA X3100, Vista Business)

You do realize that's 1GB RAM with vista business? I might work if you turn off aero (sp?) and all the other stuff, but I wouldn't recommend it
The rest of Bob's are good, but they are mostly on the light side, and if you're okay with heavier/bigger you can probably get some better deals.

Pop a 2GB stick of RAM in--DDR2 800 SO-DIMMs are cheap.

Might want to mention that
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16834147925 - HP Pavilion dv3-1075us NoteBook AMD Turion X2 RM-72(2.10GHz) 13.3" screen, 4GB Memory 320GB HDD, Radeon HD 3200
For $900 ($850 with rebate) it looks good: fingerprint reader, mic + webcam, 5-in-1 memory card reader, etc. are all nice extra features, along with solid performance with vista 64bit.

Again touching on the size aspect, would you mind haveing a 7-10" screen?

Sounds cool

I think I would mind having a 7-10" screen because I love to multi task and that doesn't give me much space to open my usual 20 windows.

Jesus christ! Cheap to nearly everyone here is expensive! I'll have you all know I purchased my computer for $30 from a friend, and upgraded the RAM for $20. Now, THAT'S cheap.

I suggest finding people who have laptops and don't use them, and then buying it from them.
~~Samarkov

How does this help the topic starter get his/her original question answered? ~ Spar

I'd go for the Intel Classmate.
It's a convertible (can be a touchscreen notebook) netbook that is $500 and has 60GB of hard drive.