Is this any good?

[vlv8vic]

Have lost all faith in the Education Departments Laptop program. I was given a dud from day one which none of the school techs have been able to fix. Never any answer to phone or email at the head office. It has finally come up on the rollover list, only to be bumped to September and even though my contracted lease has finished they will not replace the machine until then and insist they will keep charging me until then.

(for those who don't know some teachers get an offer to have a lease laptop for about $6 a week replaced every 3 years).

While i am only paying about $300 per year for the machine i also only really use it for reports and emails so it doesn't need to be flash.

Found this deal today, it is $547 - i figure if i can make it last 4 years then sell it for something (anything! $50 whatever!!!) it is better than the crap i have now and more economical.


Compaq Presario C731TUNB
Processor - intel celeron M processor 540 1.8GHz
Mem - 512 MB DDR2 (1 Dimm)
HD - 80GB 5400RPM
Optical drive - Supermulti 8x DVD +- R/RW with double layer support
Display - 15.4" WXGA widescreen brightview
Res - 1280 x 800
Video intel graphics media accelerator X3100, up to 64MB total avail. graphics memory.
tv - S video.
Camera - Integrated HP low light VGA webcam
LAN - integrated 10/100 LAN 802.11b/g WLAN
Modem- high speed 56K
Speakers - Altec Lansing
Card reader - 5 in one.
USB - 3 usb 2.0
Software - lots of novely items but includes Windows Vista Basic
1 Year warranty.


Like i said it doesn't have to do much but word process, email and reports which is a basic program. I assume it has wireless but don't know enough about that to make sense of the list! It would be maintained by the school tech and most programs are available to me for free.

What do you think? Would i be stupid or not? I don't need it for gaming or anything flash and would like to save money.
All ideas appreciated - remember i hardly use the thing and saving money is the plan.

[50LTRv8]

The only real problem I see with it is RAM. Get as much as you can and the machine should do o.k.

Just surfing the web alone can chew 150 MB RAM

Try and upgrade as it is cheaper when you buy than to do it later

50LTRv8

[Hillerus]

The only real problem I see with it is RAM. Get as much as you can and the machine should do o.k.

Just surfing the web alone can chew 150 MB RAM

Try and upgrade as it is cheaper when you buy than to do it later

50LTRv8

I agree. I bought a laptop very similar to that for work, and with that amount of RAM running Vista, it was pretty slow. I took it to a computer place, and for about $100 I got it upgraded to 2gig. It made a huge difference.

[vlv8vic]

Cool that sounds like a plan. Does the price sound pretty good? I know i'll get ****ed off if it's too slow but at the same time this is a money saving scheme.

[minux]

Jon, seems ok for the price, thought about seeing the Dept and having one that would be better for longer and novating it?
Know how you feel, Kaye is dealing with the same thing, her laptop is a piece of crap. We ended up buying her one that she could use for personal use as well as school(obviously within limited use guidelines). They were making her pay $11 a week for the crap they gave her.

[vlv8vic]

Yeah mine was simply a dud from day one. I can't wait to part company with the thing. Not sure what you mean by 'novating' it.

I've made my cheap home computer last a good 5 years with plenty left in it so i can't see how i could lose buying the thing.
The laptop will be mostly school use, i try not to cross-contaminate my work and play lol.

[minux]

Yeah mine was simply a dud from day one. I can't wait to part company with the thing. Not sure what you mean by 'novating' it.

I've made my cheap home computer last a good 5 years with plenty left in it so i can't see how i could lose buying the thing.
The laptop will be mostly school use, i try not to cross-contaminate my work and play lol.

A novated lease is where you select what you want to buy, you own it and pay for it pre tax. So basically if you get paid $500 a week gross and laptop costs you $50 a week. Instead of paying tax on $500 you pay tax on $450 and $50 is paid for the laptop.

[azkwazere]

Dont buy the above laptop, WILL RUN LIKE A HEAP OF ****!

Ram, 512? who the **** tries to sell a laptop with 512mb or ram these days? vista reccomends like a 1gb i think it is minimum and runs like a turd on 2gb. Our workstations at work have 4gbs and it runs ok. Hard drive is small, 100gb minimums these days.. most come with 160's. 3 USB ports isnt much either...

laptops are hard to upgrade, not like a desktop... i wouldnt buy (a laptop really) anything with less than 2gb of RAM, 100Gb HDD. ESP. with Vista on it.

aZk.

$500 for a laptop = will last a year and then DIE. Im guessing its a no name brand too? Dont waste your time or money, you think your last notebook was a piece of ****... buyer beware.

[vlv8vic]

My current one has lower specs and has had Vista put on it. It's hard to say why it is so crap but it doesn't run any different since it was re-imaged to the schools new vista setup (from XP).

"JON" (signing midway through is cool!!!)

I know to the gamer nerd it is a crap machine, but look at what i need... current laptop has 30GB hard drive which i have never filled so 80 is unnecessary by a mass amount.
I would NEVER have more than one USB device plugged in - only ever a memory stick and even that is hardly ever used.

Why would i need to upgrade it?

I know you are saying "i wouldn't buy" but for what i need is it really that bad? The things you mentioned don't affect me one bit.
Remember, we're talking about running reporting, a bit of internet and email. Do i really need 100 GB for that? lol.

[azkwazere]

My current one has lower specs and has had Vista put on it. It's hard to say why it is so crap but it doesn't run any different since it was re-imaged to the schools new vista setup (from XP).

"JON" (signing midway through is cool!!!)

I know to the gamer nerd it is a crap machine, but look at what i need... current laptop has 30GB hard drive which i have never filled so 80 is unnecessary by a mass amount.
I would NEVER have more than one USB device plugged in - only ever a memory stick and even that is hardly ever used.

Why would i need to upgrade it?

I know you are saying "i wouldn't buy" but for what i need is it really that bad? The things you mentioned don't affect me one bit.
Remember, we're talking about running reporting, a bit of internet and email. Do i really need 100 GB for that? lol.

no, but smaller hardrives mean there usually made by unknown brands or are just old stock.. get it? Its not that you need the space but the drive quality at issue.

RAM is important, it makes the world of difference. Any machine with vista, 2gb min. wont reccomend less to anyone for anything.

Im concerned for quality. There is a reason why things are expensive, most of them come from asia, not saying asia is dodgy but there are qualtiy issuses from some manufacturers. You pay more for good stuff... just how it is.

Im just saying beware of cheap immitations.

in my job i see alot of laptops + desktops per day. All with different configs, hardware and OS's... I can tell you which ones i like and which ones suck. im not making wild accusations.

And dont buy from Acer, ever...never.

aZk.

[vlv8vic]

Old stock doesn't bother me. You say it'll die in 1 year - what bit? so i know what to look out for.
I don't want to sound like i am defending the cheap machine but our needs are obviously very different, though i do get where you are coming from with your concerns.

Hell i was still using a Windows 95 machine 4 years ago the only thing that upset me was that it couldn't run the newest msn which i use once in a blue moon!!!

[azkwazere]

yeah i get the needs thing... still.... buy quality. You might not use it alot but you know itll work 100% everytime you do. Its like a random tool. I dont buy crap tools, event the ones i dont use very often, that way i know itll work 100% when i need it.

Laptops go for a few reasons. PSU's fail alot.. they aint cheap in the ol' tops. Hard drives go, Motherboards go too. The main thing though is the screens. They just turn really ****, loose wires, they die.. fast.

I was in a school with a "latop class" 30 students all with laptops. All Acer mind you. Got through 9 and 10 ok, then, when the program re-merged with normal classes in 11 and 12, they all started dying. Now, not one alive as far as i know. Mostly screens but touchpads and all other high use parts cant keep up.

aZk.

[Astranomical]

Have lost all faith in the Education Departments Laptop program. I was given a dud from day one which none of the school techs have been able to fix. Never any answer to phone or email at the head office. It has finally come up on the rollover list, only to be bumped to September and even though my contracted lease has finished they will not replace the machine until then and insist they will keep charging me until then.

(for those who don't know some teachers get an offer to have a lease laptop for about $6 a week replaced every 3 years).

While i am only paying about $300 per year for the machine i also only really use it for reports and emails so it doesn't need to be flash.

Found this deal today, it is $547 - i figure if i can make it last 4 years then sell it for something (anything! $50 whatever!!!) it is better than the crap i have now and more economical.


Compaq Presario C731TUNB
Processor - intel celeron M processor 540 1.8GHz
Mem - 512 MB DDR2 (1 Dimm)
HD - 80GB 5400RPM
Optical drive - Supermulti 8x DVD +- R/RW with double layer support
Display - 15.4" WXGA widescreen brightview
Res - 1280 x 800
Video intel graphics media accelerator X3100, up to 64MB total avail. graphics memory.
tv - S video.
Camera - Integrated HP low light VGA webcam
LAN - integrated 10/100 LAN 802.11b/g WLAN
Modem- high speed 56K
Speakers - Altec Lansing
Card reader - 5 in one.
USB - 3 usb 2.0
Software - lots of novely items but includes Windows Vista Basic
1 Year warranty.


Like i said it doesn't have to do much but word process, email and reports which is a basic program. I assume it has wireless but don't know enough about that to make sense of the list! It would be maintained by the school tech and most programs are available to me for free.

What do you think? Would i be stupid or not? I don't need it for gaming or anything flash and would like to save money.
All ideas appreciated - remember i hardly use the thing and saving money is the plan.

For the price it seems mostly ok, just keep in mind that its using mostly ancient 2004 technology that you wouldn't want to invest too much in unless you're collecting antiques. Either way, even if you're still running XP, you'll want to upgrade the RAM to at least 1GB.

[arrow224]

Go for it dude. Basic machine for basic use.

Just chuck another 1GB stick of RAM in there, and it will be sweet as for your needs of word processing

As for wireless, it does have it: 802.11b/g WLAN (WLAN being Wireless Local Area Network).

Also, it's not an Acer, so its all good there. Stay away from Acer. Malfunction more than any other brand, techies hate them with a passion.

[stocky]

thought about getting a dell? i got one and they got good service if anything breaks down on it

[spxdsn]

If all you're doing is e-mail and word processing i'd say go for it, just be prepared to wait a while for the thing to turn on and for documents to open. Definately upgrade the ram, another 1gb will set you back all of $60, is the most simple thing to install, and will make a huge difference. Is $547 the before or after cashback price?

[CSP]

Simple solution to this: Salary Sacrifice a DELL.

You go out and buy one in full. Then get re-imbursed the cost of buying it multiplied by about 1.5 and the cost is deducted pre-tax.

People who don't buy laptops this way are silly. You can practically get a brand new laptop half price!

[vlv8vic]

I think there is a limit on how much you can salary sacrifice so i would have to check that, i mean you can only have so many items on the system before they say no (hell i'd do it with the home loan if i was allowed!).

spxdsn that price is after the cashback. i think it is about $700 upfront.

thanks for all the replies crew. i'm getting the school tech to look over one and see what he thinks and talking to our Apple man later in the week. Might let him talk me into a macbook or something and see if i can add it to my pre-tax sacrifices.