Step one. Decide exactly what are you looking for.

What kind of user are you ? Do you want a computer just for working with text (reading text messages, creating and editing documents, answering emails etc), or do you want to make software, design graphic and use your laptop for gaming. If you want a computer that is capable of running the newest games or if you are a professional graphic designer, then you’re probably should buy a more powerful, new computer instead trying to find a cheap one on sale. But even if that’s the case, you can always try your luck. There is a chance that you will find an almost brand new laptops for sale. Many people in the world are chasing „what’s fast and what’s new” that constantly buy new hardware and look to practically give away the old one.

Step two. Find a laptop sale on the Internet, alternatively in the ads.

The most popular and the most recommended units are usually displayed on the front pages of those directories. Often they are the best purchase, but sometimes you can find a pearl at the bottom of a mud puddle. A little digging pays off, especially when you are a little more advanced than a average user and you know exactly what you are looking for. If you’re ready to do some personal evaluation, you may even want to consider buying a used unit. The last step revealed in this article provides information on how to buy a used laptop. If you are not the „know-all-about-computers” type, and you’re still wondering what’s what in the computer business, contact the salesman or laptop producer for details on the model that you like. In step three I cover some general hardware tips on what to look for in a good laptop :

Step three. Decide which components suit your needs.

Look for a unit that exactly matches your dream laptop, or at least a unit that is the closest equivalent. The most important things you should consider, in order, are :

CPU and cooling: I recommend Core Duo. It would be perfect for most tasks. While a single processor may be enough for word-processing and internet browsing only, buying a laptop with Core Duo will give you the comfort of working with most up-to-date applications, including some games. Laptops of the Core Duo family have two processors mounted on the motherboard. Those processors split similar tasks and are perfect for multitask systems such as Ms Windows XP. Two or more processors gives you warranty that the operating system runs smooth and saves you loads of time.

Now cooling is extremely important. If you plan to buy a used one, be sure to ask the previous owner if the computer needs extra cooling (sometimes the little-built in fan is not enough). If the laptop suddenly goes off without a warning, it’s a good sign that it’s overheating. If you plan on traveling with your laptop often – buy a computer with a decent cooling. There are also external laptop cooling pads available, but the’re not too handy, so they’ll do well for home users only.

Memory and disk space: Memory is crucial to the multitask operating system such as MS Windows. Each application you run at a given time takes a bite out of memory. If you open many windows and applications at once and often, don’t even think going below 2GB on your laptop. As for disk space – make sure, you will have enough for your needs. 80 GB is a must, and if you like to gather files or download tons of pictures, look for double the space.

Graphic chipset/card: If you work with graphics or still want to play some games, you don’t want to buy a laptop that has an integrated graphics card. Trust me on this one. A integrated card uses up the system memory and is not as fast as stand-alone cards. If you want faster graphic cards invest in a laptop with Geforce or any other card that has those two: a accelerator on and it’s own memory chipsets on board.

Battery life: The longer the battery life, the better. With Core Duo average battery life lasts for about 3,5 hour. That is pretty decent. To prolong the life look for a laptop without the unnecessary components ( For instance – you save a lot of energy when you turn off wireless network adapter, so if you don’t need one, look for a pc without it on board. Alternatively you can buy a pc with a button that let’s you conveniently turn the WN feature off )

Look for these extra features that might be crucial to you; sound card, wireless network adapter, on-board internet camera, touch pad or stick and so on. Make sure the weight, shape and size of the unit suit both your room and your personality. 

Step four. Chose your laptop model and compare the prices.

There are services online which help you decide, which model to purchase considering the price. Portals like Bizzarre.com or Pricegrabber.com let you compare the price of a particular units in different stores and in places like Amazon. Additional research pays off.

Step five. You want to buy a used laptop ?

Make sure, that the offer is safe and the computer you want to buy is still in good shape. It would be great if you could personally visit the person selling the laptop to check, that everything is in order, that the computer is perfectly intact and there is no parts missing. Check the keyboard. Turn it on and make sure that every component is working, including the sound card and graphics card. Also, you might want to rent a laptop. For your current situation, it may be the best decision.

If you don’t have the leisure to visit the seller personally, ask, if you can take the computer for a try first. If want to take it, ask if you may return it later in case anything wrong pops up. Check, if the computer is still on warranty(when you buy an used unit, be prepared, that it may no longer be on warranty). Also make sure, that there is a good computer service in your area that can do some maintenance for your new laptop in the future (make sure, that the service will accept the computers brand you’re about to purchase)

That about covers the topic. Last piece of advice would be: if you want to buy anything, and you don’t know much about it, don’t hesitate and ask your more experienced friends for advice. They’ll be glad to help.

If gaming is not a serious concern for you, go with the cheapest thing you can: Just about anything will run your word processor and browser. For an operating system, unless you are purchasing more than 3 GBs of RAM, try to stick with Windows XP: Support and compatibility are simply better at this point time. However, be aware that you will need a 64-bit operating system (Win7 64 is recommended) if you intend to exceed this amount of memory, as 32-bit operating systems such as XP are unable to effectively utilize more memory.

The next important point in buying laptops on sale is to know where to look. For this, we turn to the Google. Key in a helpful query like notebooks on sale, and peruse the hits returned. Competitive price offers begin at the $200 range, but these lower-end models will not be suitable if you intend to use your computer for portable gaming. Under no circumstances, however, should you seriously consider spending more than about $800, which should be more than adequate.

Finally, take a look at the addon options provided: Some sort of external USB mouse can be very useful as the trackpad is not suited for precision control. While not normally recommended for a desktop PC, the extended warranty of up to 3 years is worth considering: Laptop computers often have high failure rates due to battery failure, loss of external components such as the rubber feet, friction wear of the built-in mouse touchpad, and failure from overheating. As laptops are not particularly user-serviceable, you can’t count on being able to fix this yourself or have a technical friend fix it for you: When laptops fail, they pretty much have to be sent back, and that means you’ll want the warranty. Be sure to keep track of when your warranty will expire and send it back for one last servicing before it does, and get those lost rubber feet, the dead battery, damaged power jacks, and other wear-and-tear issues fixed up for the last time.

With all this in mind, an external hard drive is a worthwhile consideration, to back up all your data when you send it in. Expect to have to do this! Plan ahead, because within a year of the warranty expiring, you’ll be the proud owner of a doorstop, paperweight, or brick. Good thing you know how to get cheap new laptops, right?

I purchased the 3G 16 GB version and the cost was $629 in addition to paying for the Internet service that is provided by AT&T. You can also purchase a limited Internet usage package for $15 a month but I think the unlimited package is the best deal. What I love about the 3G version is that you have access anywhere you go. I have been able to use this device to connect to the Internet while hiking up mountain trails. If you are looking for a device that will allow you to stay connected to the Internet then this is the one since the 3G service is built in. The webpages load fast and there is no lag which is something I love. The device also features the ability to listen to music, watch movies and play games. I also download applications from the iTunes app store and I have used the iWork programs to create presentations on the bus while traveling to work. The application also gives you the ability to store your work online which is a great feature because you can access it from any computer. What I love most about the iPad is that it does everything that the iPhone does and better so I can downgrade my phone plan and just use a basic plan. I can then use the money that I save on my phone bill to purchase a nice iPad case and some food at the store. I also love that it is light and easy to carry and I believe everyone should purchase this from the Apple store. The past Apple products include the inventions of the MacBook and iPod and if history is any indication then the iPad will evolve into something you can’t live without due to the amazing applications that are flooding the app store and making our lives easier than ever.

The Acer Aspire Timeline laptop has to be the thinnest as well as the lightest laptop with a normal size laptop screen. I know there are those little laptops out there for $300 , but they don’t have the RAM nor the hard drive space as most others. The Timeline comes with three different size screen to chose from. The smallest being 13.3″ and the largest measuring at 15.6″. The Acer Aspire Timeline models are all about once inch think, with the heaviest one weighing only 5.3lbs.

As for the quality of the laptop, it’s just a good as any other brand of laptops out there. The Acer Aspire Timeline has at least 3 GB of RAM as well as 160GB of hard drive. You can have more of each if you want, but if you’re looking for very cheap laptops, you will easily get by with the basic hardware. The lowest price that I’ve found for one of these is $399.

As usual, there are many different ways that you could upgrade the base unit, but it will cost you quite a bit more. If you’re going to be just on the internet, checking emails, or any other of the basic things, the basic unit is more than what you’ll need. If someone who likes to play online games, or some of the those types of game that you need to download on to your laptop, then you will need a little more muscle in your laptop.

Either way this Acer notebook computer is a good laptop for sale and will do what you”ll need it to do. With it being one of the thinnest ones out there, you won”t have a problem carrying it around.

Reviewed April 2010

When comparing laptops, not only do you need to look at GB’s, MB’s, MHZ’s. How about the CD/DVD? Are they both of the same caliber? Let’s not forget the programs too. Make sure that they both are using the same OS. Look into the spyware programs, there seems to be many of them that ain’t worth the box their packaged in. McAfee and Norton are two of the well known ones, I like both of them so I don’t favor one over the other.

If you were to go on Dell‘s or Gateway’s website, you would see that they both offer the basic programs (some on 30-60 day trial period), but do you really need them after the trial period ends? After that period ends those files take up space on the hard drive unless you remove the program. Hopefully you won’t accidentally erase a shared file. Save yourself the time with Dell. You can select to have no productivity software installed and if you talk to an operator, you can go through the list of other programs that you’ll never use, especially those trial ones.

You can visit many sites to download free programs, but again you need to watch where you get them from. There are a few site that are well trusted that you can use, the one I’ve used in the past is download.com. Why pay for the same program when another trusted site offers it for free?

If you’re in the market for very cheap laptops, I hope this article has given you some direction. Buying laptops for sale doesn’t have to be hard. Follow your instincts and do your reaserch and you’re half way there.