Laptop buying help

[caryrae]

We need a new laptop but can't really spend much so I was wondering if any one has suggestions for the best I can get for $400 or less. I know for that price it won't be a great laptop. It will be for my wife and she mostly would use it for Skyping with family every so often, facebook + games, and she likes to play games on Pogo. It wouldn't need a huge HD since my laptop has all our pictures, videos and music on it. Mostly just something that can handle playing games on the internet without problems.

[WishingStar2006]

Have you considered a tablet? You can get one under $400 and you can skype and play games and go on facebook. Just a thought.

[caryrae]

She has an ipad but the games she likes to play on facebook and pogo don't run on ipads.

[PopPhan]

You might want to look into something like a Chromebook....These machines have little or no hard drive capacity, but are glorified tablets. I have one for internet and online games and I love it. Instead of having a full blown operating system (Windows / IOS,) it is set up to run completely off Chrome as the OS and browser. There are apps available from the Google Store, so a lot of the things that you would use on smartphones and (Android) tablets are available.

The price on the Samsung version I bought was $249. There was also an Acer version, with a 16GB drive, for $199. (My sister got the Acer and loves it as well!)

Skype is not available directly, but Google Hangouts does pretty much the same thing. Since most people who have Android smartphones/tablets have Google accounts anyway, this might work for you.

[caryrae]

I don't know anything about chromebooks. Do they work pretty much like a laptop for internet? Like some games she plays need flash and or java to run the games. Is it a full browser or like a mobile browser? I was looking and saw an Acer one for $279 that had 4GB ram, webcam, and 320GB HD (which is not a huge deal). Can they have stuff like iTunes installed in case my laptop ever died?

[Itchy]

I have bought 2 laptops from BestBuy and paid less than $300 as they were floor models. The most recent is a Dell and I got it for $271 after taxes. The other was a Acer and I had it for 5 yrs before it finally broke down. Both units are the very basic models. The newest one has Skype.

I just went in an asked if they had any floor models and talked them down in price.:blush:

Hope this helps....:mickey:

[PopPhan]

I don't know anything about chromebooks. Do they work pretty much like a laptop for internet? Like some games she plays need flash and or java to run the games. Is it a full browser or like a mobile browser? I was looking and saw an Acer one for $279 that had 4GB ram, webcam, and 320GB HD (which is not a huge deal). Can they have stuff like iTunes installed in case my laptop ever died?

Full blown browser. Now, there are a few facebook games that don't always work, but they (the games) suggest you load the Firefox browser to get them to work correctly.

Flash and java are fully enabled, so no problem there.

I don't know about iTunes, you might want to check the Google Play Store to see if it is available. I might check this evening when I get home from work....

[caryrae]

Thanks PopPhan this is something to seriously consider.

[TinkerbellT421]

I have an acer I bought in. Think 2008 or 2009. $250.00 at walmart, I have beat that thing....still running. And for what I use it for, it's been great.

[tjstrike]

Try tiger direct but if it's not something you need right away I suggest waiting till black Friday or cyber Monday. I bought 2 Emachine laptops from Walmart a couple of years back. $150 a piece and still holding up just fine.