Laptop Under or at $600?

[GFOviedo]

My wife's laptop broke down, and we are in need of getting another one since it is difficult since both of us are going to college, and have to do our assignments online. I used to be all into computer tech, but I stopped since parenthood took over that hobby. I was wondering if anyone can recommend a laptop for under $600. A few things I was is 1) at least i5 processor and 2) somewhat of a decent camera since we have to do video conference for our classes. Storage shouldn't be an issue since we can store our assignment on the cloud or a USB drive. We use Microsoft Office applications for everything. That goes for word, powerpoint and excell. I have seen a few HP laptops that offer what I am looking for for under $600, but I have had bad experiences with HP. My wife's previous laptop was a Lenovo, and we never really had any issues with it.

Thanks for any recommendations!

 

[tripplej]

As long as the laptop has enough CPU power and memory, brand doesn't mean much to me. Go to each manufacturer and see if you can customize it. Max the memory and the CPU power and see what is available in your price range.

 

[mechman]

Not sure if they make one at your price point but I've had good luck with Asus in the past. I run a surface pro nowadays.

 

[andyc56]

I just bought this Acer laptop about a week ago and am very happy with it so far. It's fast, has a 256G SSD (but no optical drive) and a backlit keyboard with a nice feel.

 

[ddude003]

I too have had good luck with Asus builds (i7-7700K Kaby Lake delid, 2x1080ti GFX cards, watercooled) and a Q553 laptop...

 

[GFOviedo]

Thank you guys for the recommendations. I am looking into them right now. I've had good luck with ASUS routers. So, I imagine their laptops are most likely good as well. The Acer looks good as well, I am trying to see if out local Best Buy carries them, and I can get 12 months 0% interest.

 

[JBrax]

I’m personally an Apple guy but.....if I were going to recommend I’d lean towards the Asus Chromebook Flip.

 

[GFOviedo]

I’m personally an Apple guy but.....if I were going to recommend I’d lean towards the Asus Chromebook Flip.

I've got two iPads and 3 iPhones, but the university I am enrolled with uses windows applications, which aren't very Apple friendly. Further, Apple laptops are twice as much as other manufacturers. We are poor parents / students with 4 kids. If we didn't have kids, it would be a different matter lol.

 

[JBrax]

I understand and been there done that. That Asus I suggested comes in well under your targeted budget and is highly reviewed.

 

[GFOviedo]

I too have had good luck with Asus builds (i7-7700K Kaby Lake delid, 2x1080ti GFX cards, watercooled) and a Q553 laptop...

Was this a pre-built PC or did you build it?

 

[ddude003]

Hi GFOvideo, This is my design/selection/build... An Asus ROG Maximus IX Formula mobo and twin ASUS ROG Poseidon Platinum GeForce GTX 1080Ti... Also an Asus display... I do signal and image processing as well as design unorthodox financial models to trade the markets...

Now a days you can dual boot on most any box or lappy to run MacOS, Nix and/or Windoz... BTW MacOS is my favorite Nix... 8^) And I do own a MacBookPro...

PS - Micro Center is another option for your shopping pleasure ;^) I have no relation with the company other than being a happy walk-in and online customer...

 

[Tony V.]

I also recommend Dell, they have very good support and have a lot of options to tailor to your needs.

 

[GFOviedo]

I’ve been looking around waiting for 4th of July sales. The wife said not to buy one, but whenever she tells me not to buy something, we end up buying it cause we need it. We’re aupposed to get some financial aid for our university. I’m going to wait until we get that to buy a decent laptop.

 

[GFOviedo]

So, I have been patient and I think I've got one picked what do you guys think? I can get it for $656 includes taxes at BestBuy?

https://www.bestbuy.com/site/dell-2...-state-drive-era-gray/6212813.p?skuId=6212813

 

[mechman]

Looks like it will do everything you want it to so I'd say yes.

 

[Sonnie Parker]

I've had a lot of Dell laptops and always had good luck with them. Still use one in our shop... and several Dell desktops/workstations... about 7 or 8 between my three businesses.

Currently have an ASUS ROG laptop here at home, but it's a 17 incher and loaded. Love it over all... other than it only gets about an hour of battery life before it needs charging... while nearly all of my Dells... including a 15 incher I use in my theater/listening room for REW and other things... gets about 8 hours of battery life.

 

[GFOviedo]

I've had a lot of Dell laptops and always had good luck with them. Still use one in our shop... and several Dell desktops/workstations... about 7 or 8 between my three businesses.

Currently have an ASUS ROG laptop here at home, but it's a 17 incher and loaded. Love it over all... other than it only gets about an hour of battery life before it needs charging... while nearly all of my Dells... including a 15 incher I use in my theater/listening room for REW and other things... gets about 8 hours of battery life.

My first laptop was a Dell. That I bought when I was 19 years old. My wife put my laptop buying on hold for now, and I am going to keep my eyes open during the Amazon Prime Day Sales and see if anything good comes up. There are to many different options at the $600 price, that I am not sure what to get. However, I need to stop thinking about gaming, and just focus on what's important since this laptop will be mainly use for school purpose so I do not need anything fancy.

 

[Mark C Flick]

Back when I was having issues with my MacBook Pro, I went out and bought the cheapest (almost) laptop I could find. Picked up a Lenovo with 1T HDD, 6 GB ram, i3 6100U 2.3 GHz all in for a paltry $279.99. Only have a few complaints, 1 - Windows 10, 2 - no backlit keyboard, 3 - native display is only 1366 x 768, 4 - I really don't much like the touch pad but, it works. For the price it's really kinda hard to complain about it.

 

[Sonnie Parker]

My Asus screen bezel broke... can hardly open and close it. I am going on 3 months now back and forth between xoticpc and Asus trying to get it warrantied. I purchased it 4/17 with a 2 year warranty, as I typically buy a new laptop every two years. I think I finally spoke with someone who is hopefully going to get it taken care of for me. Never seen the likes of such troublesome and frustrating attempts to get warranty on a laptop. That is one thing I like about Dell...they take care of you on the warranty. MSI also is quick and easy... they replaced my wife's screen after an issue she was having with it.

I don't think I'll buy another Asus... nor anything from xoticpc... just not very customer service oriented.

 

[JBrax]

Mac is the way to go.

 

[ddude003]

Sorry for your issues Sonnie... I've had my Asus laptop (Q553U) for over 3 years now and use daily with no issues... Did a HD to SSD upgrade early on... Touch screen, touch pad and keyboard all still work great...

 

[GFOviedo]

My Asus screen bezel broke... can hardly open and close it. I am going on 3 months now back and forth between xoticpc and Asus trying to get it warrantied. I purchased it 4/17 with a 2 year warranty, as I typically buy a new laptop every two years. I think I finally spoke with someone who is hopefully going to get it taken care of for me. Never seen the likes of such troublesome and frustrating attempts to get warranty on a laptop. That is one thing I like about Dell...they take care of you on the warranty. MSI also is quick and easy... they replaced my wife's screen after an issue she was having with it.

I don't think I'll buy another Asus... nor anything from xoticpc... just not very customer service oriented.

There are a lot of manufacturers that do not like to honor warranties, but they don’t have a problem taking your money for extended warranty options. Having good customer service makes a big difference and can make or break a business. I usually buy a new PC / Laptop every 5 years. So far Lenovo and Dell have been the best for me.

 

[GFOviedo]

Mac is the way to go.

I wanted to buy a MacBook Pro, but I’m a poor student/parent and I just could justify paying almost triple the $$$ for the MacBook Pro.

 

[JBrax]

Mac’s aren’t cheap that’s for sure. I just love the support with updates and they literally last forever. Never seem to slow down either.

 

[GFOviedo]

Mac’s aren’t cheap that’s for sure. I just love the support with updates and they literally last forever. Never seem to slow down either.

Support is pretty good from Apple as long as your device still under warranty. After warranty expeired, it will be very expensive to get support.

My iPhone 8 Plus is in excellent condition. Looks and feels brand new. The rear camera stopped working out of nowhere and the warranty had just recently expired. Apple wanted up to $400 dollars to fix it. It was cheaper to trade it in for the iPhone XR. Even my monthly payments and cellular cost went down $25. I guess Apple’s new cell phones aren’t selling and they have been heavily discounted.

May be if I get a good tax return, I might be able to afford the MacBook Pro.