Best Inexpensive Laptops on the Market 2011

Ok, so here's my criteria - I'm going to pick the highest-rated laptop (with the most stars at amazon - if two have the same amount of stars then the one with more reviews wins) below $300, then between $300 and $600, then $600 to $1000. You pick your price range and check it out.

Best budget laptop below $300 - it's a 3 way tie between

1. Lenovo ThinkPad R61 - refurbished

(would I buy refurbished? Yes I would, if the deal were good enough and there were some sort of warranty)

2. IBM Thinkpad T43 1.86GHz 512MB 40GB Laptop Notebook - refurbished

3. Dell Latitude D420 12.1" Laptop (Intel Core Duo 1.2Ghz, 80GB Hard Drive - refurbished

The above are all 5 stars with great reviews.

Best Inexpensive, good-quality, new laptop between $300 and $600

According to the reviews, it's this one:
Acer AS1430Z-4677 11.6-Inch Laptop

Best not-cheap, but still affordable laptop between $601 and $1000

Acer Aspire TimelineX AS4830T-6642 14-Inch Laptop

Ok, so I am no computer expert - BUT, I have been doing most of my work on a computer for more than 20 years. I have bought over 10 computers (my family currently owns 3 laptops and a desktop and we are planning to get a 4th laptop) in that time, and I do have a basic understanding of what's faster than what else.

I'm going to share that here, in a very basic computer processor and ram speed 101 lesson so that people who have even less of an understanding than me can benefit. That's one thing I notice, is that when you look up things about ram and processors and speed and power, very rarely is it in plain english that just anyone could understand.

Ok, let's talk about my laptops, what kind of processors and ram they have, and what they can do

1. my workhorse the toshiba - here's what it says in system properties

AMD Turion(tm) 64 x2 1.60 Ghz 1GB of RAM

The AMD Turion is the brand name of the processor (it competes with Intel) and 1.60 Ghz is the processor speed. Ghz stands for gigahertz.

So, my understanding is that there are four major things that affect how fast a computer is. The processor itself, the processor speed, the RAM, and how many cores it has. If there is more than one core, then it can run more than one process (task) at the same time.

Like I said, this laptop was bought almost 5 years ago - it was pretty top of the line then, but not so great now.

On this computer, I can generally run a browser and Microsoft word at the same time. If I try to open anything else, it gets way bogged down and generally needs a restart. I could help that by adding another GB of RAM. It has 1. If it had 2 it would be faster. Most laptops will have slots for expansion and all you need to do is open up the back and put the RAM in.

The computer can NOT run minecraft (a java-based 3d game). The computer CAN run Plants vs. Zombies (a much simpler game).

I generally just don't try to open more than one program at a time on it so as not to over-tax it.

We also have two Compaq Presario CQ60 with Intel Celeron 2.2 GHz processors and 2 GB of RAM

These computers start up fast and can run tons of programs at the same time. They can run minecraft easily.

They get bogged down with minecraft and camtasia at the same time (a software that records what's going on on the screen).

They were new about 2 years ago.

The computer we are going to buy is the Toshiba Satellite L755-S5271 and it has an Intel Core i3-2310M Processor 2.1 GHz and 4 GB of RAM. I am certain that it will be super fast with everything we need to do with it.

The i-series computers, I believe, came after the Pentium III processors. an i-5 is faster than an i-3 and an i-7 is faster than an i-5.

I don't know anything about how fast the macs are. I think most people who have macs are pretty computer savvy and know what they are doing anyway. I hope this helps at least a little bit. Leave me a comment if you have a question about what I wrote or if I got anything wrong.

So you may be considering getting a netbook instead of a laptop notebook. You know, those tiny laptops that look really cute? Well, for some people a netbook may fit your needs perfectly - for others you may be disappointed. Let's talk about it.

So, most netbooks can be bought for under $300, which makes them very attractive, however, did you know that most netbooks should only really be used for internet access and maybe a work processing program? With only one gig of RAM and a slower processor, plus a small screen, you aren't going to be able to do any serious gaming on it, or any video editing or anything that needs power or speed.

But that's probably ok for lots of people. I have a friend who has a netbook and it works great. She uses it only to access the internet and play videos. That's all she wants it for. It's almost like an oversized dvd player for her son.

She loves it and doesn't need anything more.

If that's what you are looking for, here's one with lots of good reviews: Toshiba Netbook.

Just make sure you are getting one that has wifi capability so you don't have to buy a plan like you do with your phone.