Underdog 1,593 Posted November 12, 2019 Duing research for a budget mini-laptop 11 to 12" screen for a relative that can be used to web surfing, Email, PDFs, MP3 playback (decent speakers), and portability, and also PDFs for recipes, etc.. Should have a decent connectivity ability and NOT an Apple or Chromebook device. Also looking for it ot be not too delicate w/ a solid feeling. A DVD is not needed but should have a couple of USB ports and ability to take a decent-sized Micro-USB card. Not interesting in a full-size laptop like mine with an I7 processor, DVD, etc. What are the minimums I should recommend.... and any thougths on current models, November specials, etc.? Thanks! Oh, budget is about $250. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JackDaWack 2,895 Posted November 12, 2019 Dell latitude has been working well for me at work. 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
W2MC 1,699 Posted November 12, 2019 Watch Dell's refurb list........they offer coupons pretty frequently https://www.dellrefurbished.com/laptops Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Sniper 6,372 Posted November 12, 2019 I bought wifey a HP Stream in 11" a year or two ago, which fits most of what you're looking for. She hated typing on a tablet, so this has a standard keyboard and most of laptop features, but is light and small. No CD/DVD, but does all she needs for surfing, email, music, etc. Amazon has them for like $170. https://www.amazon.com/HP-11-inch-Processor-Personal-11-ah110nr/dp/B07D9FG6WD/ref=asc_df_B07D9FG6WD/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=309743296044&hvpos=1o4&hvnetw=g&hvrand=13116577411630627034&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9003973&hvtargid=pla-571127050716&psc=1 and... she hasn't broken it yet, so thumbs up for decent quality. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Underdog 1,593 Posted November 12, 2019 The Stream sounds like it might work. I will also check out the Latitude and the refurbished list. My PC is a Dell. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Kevin125 4,772 Posted November 13, 2019 Low end Lenovo’s are good. Get a one Or two year old refurb laptop that runs Windows 10. It should have 8 GB of ram. CPU at that price range is irrelevant. I don’t have a specific recommendation. But a good refurb will get you more laptop for you money. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
NJBeretta 42 Posted November 13, 2019 I ended up grabbing an Asus E203M from Best Buy around Black Friday last year for about $175. Needed a cheap yet effective laptop for a work emergency (since no chance in hell my wife was going to go over the GWB a second time to go home for my work laptop). 11" screen, runs Windows 10 in that safety mode by default (i.e. only installs from the Microsoft Store are permitted) but that can be removed. But it uses that eMMC nonsense (the flash memory is soldered onto the logic board) - so if whatever machine you end up buying utilizes this, make sure it's 64 GB at a minimum. (the one I bought was 32 GB) It does have a microSD slot to expand storage capacity - which is what I needed to do to provide for the movies to survive a long ass weekend at the in-laws' stuck with work... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
LoraMoser 0 Posted December 4, 2019 My husband has something in between, though with older CPU and GPU. He has 16GB memory with i7-6700HQ and GTX 1050. The fan comes on audibly at times, but heat dissipation is good and processing seldom or never gets throttled back. Performance comparisons: i7-6700HQ - 8129 Passmark i5-9300H - 9774 Passmark i7-9750H - 13660 Passmark GTX 1050 - 5958 3D Mark GTX 1660 Ti -11558 3D Mark Yikes! That is way too much power for your tasks. I have a similar model with only 8GB because I run Linux and GIMP doesn't need much memory even for very large photos. Darktable is mostly GPU bound. We both love our Omen 17. Keyboard is especially wonderful. RJ45 Ethernet is advantageous for large downloads - WiFi isn't as fast as touted. I think HP stopped putting a DVD drive in there. We feel CD/DVD is indispensable, but you can always connect an external BluRay writer. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Underdog 1,593 Posted December 5, 2019 Picked up an HP Stream with a 14" screen on Black Friday for my father and he seems to love it. All he needs and it is light weight and the price was right. I actually like it and might have to get one myself. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites