Birthday boy wants a laptop...

Me and my mother-in-law need to get my boyfriend a laptop for his birthday next weekend. And I don't know what to get, I need a nicely priced laptop, his internet is wireless, and he needs it mostly for school work(but he games too) So I was wondering if you could give me some hints on what the heck I'm doing. The only real problem is the price. We can't pay $1000 for a computer....And If I do find a cheap one, I don't know if it'd be worth it or not. We have a $700 (ish..) Max budget. I have an Acer Aspire 3610 laptop, and I think it's pretty good, so something along those lines would be nice.I just don't know what to look for as far as processors and such goes.

that's one helluva budget.

$700 is plenty for a notebook today. You'll be looking for something that has either a Core 2 Duo or a Turion X2 with Wifi built in. Most laptops do have wifi built in.

You need to configure a laptop at Dell or HP (or the like). Give them a call and see what they can do. I'd also hunt for specials at computer stores on laptops.

Look at refurbished Acer laptops. Any small computer retailer can get you a really good price on them. They have no marks on them or anything and come with a full warranty.

You just save money.

BTW, I am very biased towards IBM for no reason whatsoever.

(Well, my Thinkpad has been good so far, with linux, and RMS uses a Thinkpad ;-))

IBM/Lenovo make expensive units. They hold their value better, but still.

yeah well, mine comes from eBay...

Said By free::zombie

yeah well, mine comes from eBay...

Did you have a good experience buying a notebook on eBay? I've been considering doing that, but it's a major purchase, at least on my budget it is, and I don't want to risk getting scammed.

MANY of the second-hand laptops on eBay are sold by more-or-less specialized companies which should be trustable...

Said By free::zombie

MANY of the second-hand laptops on eBay are sold by more-or-less specialized companies which should be trustable...

Quoted for truth.

Zombie is totally correct. Many sellers on Ebay are now businesses that just use Ebay to get to customers and, as such, are very reliable.

I would suggest getting the Sunday paper and looking at the sales ads. You should be able to find something in your price range.

In any case, if he wants something more expensive, what about giving him the money and he puts the rest? I am a firm believer that sometimes money is better than the actual gift, specially in cases like that.