Best laptop deals around?

Posted by mamadavid (251 days ago)

My son's Lenovo laptop (18 months old) is in its death throes and we'll have to replace it pretty quickly. Have never used a Mac but was wondering if this might be the moment to switch. On the Apple store site the cheapest MacBook is in the 8000 range. Is it worth it or would we be better off sticking to PC in terms of price / performance? My son just does schoolwork (Word, PowerPoint, Excel) and Facebook on his computer, so doesn't need many frills. Any advice?

(I am based in Hong Kong)

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Posted by axptguy38 (251 days ago)

The cheapest MacBook would work for that. You'd have to buy the software of course since your Office package for Windows will not work.

Then again you can get a pretty nice Lenovo Thinkpad X200 for about 11k. Very small and light = easy to carry around. Very durable. BTW "just plain Lenovo" should not be confused with the "Lenovo Thinkpad", which are much better quality.

Price/performance wise you'll get a better deal on a PC, but your son doesn't seem to need the performance so... Also, Macs tend to have fewer issues since Apple has absolute control of the hardware and operating system.

(I am based in Hong Kong)

Posted by Singh is King (251 days ago)

i just bought an Asus eee laptop ( they call it a netbook these days) with a windows XP operating system with 4 GB hard disk for 2900 HKD, works like a charm although the screen is small but lots of "coool" factor; and you can buy MS office separately, infact, I have an extra MS Office version with me and if you're interested in it for a reasonable price - let me know via PM

(I am based in Hong Kong)

Posted by axptguy38 (250 days ago)

"i just bought an Asus eee laptop ( they call it a netbook these days) "

Laptops are still called laptops. Netbooks are a special kind of laptop. Smaller, with a small screen, and lower powered.

Netbooks are great, but note the small screen and small keyboard, both of which hamper productivity. The price and size are great, however.

(I am based in Hong Kong)

Posted by mamadavid (250 days ago)

Thanks all, especially axpatguy -- always helpful, always well informed! Still checking the options, but will probably take the coward's way out and stick with PC.

(I am based in Hong Kong)

Posted by Telemundo (246 days ago)

Agree with Ax38... netbooks slow you down.

(I am based in Hong Kong)

Posted by 4G (245 days ago)

is he in SOUTH ISLAND SCHOOL

(I am based in Hong Kong)

Posted by asifsid (33 days ago)

you should consider Dell laptops, they are pretty good as far as price and configuration is concern. A good dell xps or vostro would cost you around $500

(I am based in Hong Kong)

Posted by tigerbay (33 days ago)

Cheapest deals I found were back home with the big discounters.

(I am based in Shanghai)

Posted by rockchu2 (33 days ago)

The cheapest Macbook is good enough, the latest one is even better. But for the purpose, you can just get the netbook.

(I am based in Hong Kong)

Posted by FrancisYip (32 days ago)

I also agreed that if it just for simple school work, a notebook is enough. If you want something portable, you can get a netbook and simply install the Open Office for Word, Powerpoint and Excel.

(I am based in Hong Kong)