Computers & Tablets

[kateb94]

I am entering college in the spring semester. I've never owned a laptop and now am in a position where it is a necessity. I am on a very restricted budget. ($250-$300 max) I don't really know where to begin with the specs or even the best brand. The only school laptop I ever used was a MacBook Air that was provided to us in high school. Clearly that is an impossibilty right now. I'd like to have some type of direction on what I should get.

[bobberuchi]

Fortuanly there should be plenty of decent laptops in that price range for college.  

i.e your laptop will mostly be used for researching online, email, social media etc.  

Many the moder small laptops don't have DVD players and smaller HDD. But they can go a long time on a charge. You don't even have to by any Office software. You can use Google Docs for almost all your needs.

Take a look at the HP Stream.  Pretty slick little notebook. Granted they only have 32 GB storage so you would not be store photos or things like that.

[Noob]

Hi there.  Just in case you went through the laptops from low to high price on BBYs website, I would recommend buying something that is new , not refurbished.  

In that price range for college you want to get something like this:

Processor:  i3 highly recommended for family, friends, and anyone I care about, I never recommend anything less than an i3 for browsing, occasional netflix, typing papers, etc. 

(do not get anything that says Celeron, they are garbage)

Hard Drive: any standard size today will be enough for storing documents but lets say 256GB.  The standard today is usually 1TB in this price range anyway, more than enough storage.  

(Avoid laptops that have Windows 10 and 32GB storage.  It is not enough space for the operating system)

Memory:  preferrably 6-8GB.  higher is better but either will work for you.

Recommended brands:  Dell, ASUS, really at this price anything with i3 will do the job.  These brands are just my personal preference.  

Recommended laptop:  https://www.bestbuy.com/site/dell-inspiron-15-6-touch-screen-laptop-intel-core-i3-8gb-memory-1tb-har...

This is a little above your price point, but if you can afford it I would definitely recommend this.  Go with an open box if you need to save some cash. 

Second pick if you really need to go lower:  https://www.bestbuy.com/site/lenovo-15-6-laptop-amd-a6-series-4gb-memory-amd-radeon-r4-500gb-hard-dr...

The processor is not an i3, but it is a quad core processor and the processor performance is comparable to the i3 (http://cpuboss.com/cpus/Intel-7100U-vs-AMD-A6-7310); .  Memory is a little lower than the standard now days but should work fine for typing papers and basic use.  Lenovo used to be really good.  I don't think they are what they used to be, but I haven't really used them in a while.  Still at this price, I would try this one.

Good luck!

[Wansert]

I have been using the Dell laptop for almost three years , in my opinion ,compare other laptops , it has been relatively mature,and almost all software applications and games in support

[Wansert]

By the way , Especially the password protection function is very comprehensive , you don't need to worry about you unable to access your laptop because you {removed per forum guidelines}

[Newanton]

I'm using a Dell laptop.