Laptop for DS starting 7th Grade

[racerfan]

Hey everyone, I know everyone has probably asked these questions before but I am so confused. My DS12 (will be 13 on 12/21) is asking for a laptop as a combo birthday/Xmas present. He wants to be able to do the usual and I think play a few games. Not too much since he does have a Wii and an Xbox360 so I say why play on the computer too:D

 

What does he really need in a laptop to get him thru the next few years of school? We were originally going to give him our old desktop but we are having problems with it and it is about 7 years old (lol). I know when he graduates he will need something really good especially if he is going into engineering as he says, but that is over 5 years from now and everything will be different.

 

I saw in the CC ad there is a Compaq Presario that is $499 after savings and rebates. Is this one good? I have a HP that I bought last Thanksgiving for $449 (its an Athlon) and DH has an old Toshiba. How is the Compaq?

 

Thanks for all the advice. We figure since school is starting in 3 weeks we should probably get something soon so he has it for when he needs it or should I just wait for BF.

[racerfan]

Anyone??? If the above a good one I want to go get it today unless you guys think I should wait.

[freesia39]

The cheap laptops will be fine. If he's not going to play any games that require intense graphics, it's more than enough.

[tokanm]

I just got a Dell laptop 3 gb 160 gb with a web cam, vista premium at Best Buy last month for $599. The extra bonus for me was that I do not have to deal with Dell ever, I only

deal with the Geek Squad..yeah much better, IMHO

[racerfan]

Thanks. This is the one we are looking at in the CC flyer.

 

Compaq Presario CQ50-110US 15.4” Widescreen Laptop

Model #: CPQ CQ50110US

Key Specifications

• Genuine Windows Vista® Home Premium with Service Pack 1

• AMD Turion™ X2 RM-70 Dual-Core Mobile Processor

• 15.4" diagonal WXGA High-Definition BrightView Widescreen (1280 x 800) Display

• NVIDIA GeForce 8200M with up to 1407MB Total Available Graphics Memory

• 3072MB DDR2 System Memory (2 Dimm)

• 200GB (4200RPM) Hard Drive (SATA)

• LightScribe Super Multi 8X DVD±R/RW with Double Layer Support

• 802.11b/g WLAN

Price was: $709.99

You save: -$130.00

You pay: $579.99

Mail-in rebate(s): -$80.00

Price after

rebate: $499.99

Edited August 4, 2008 by racerfan
taking out wrong stuff

[freesia39]

That laptop is definitely enough for a 7th grader. Heck it's enough for most users, who only use their computers to surf the internet and type an occasional document.

[Rockfordmom]

Thanks for all the advice. We figure since school is starting in 3 weeks we should probably get something soon so he has it for when he needs it or should I just wait for BF.

You should wait until his birthday/Christmas. He doesn't need it to start school.

[theboyzmom]

would this one (or one like it with similiar specs) work for a 13 yo who also wants it to play games on as well as do 8th grade work???

 

games he plays are:

 

Ruinscape

Dawn of War

 

ugh, I can't remember the other games he plays, but you get the idea...

[racerfan]

You should wait until his birthday/Christmas. He doesn't need it to start school.

If he got it now he would not be getting a gift from Grandpa for Birthday/Christmas. Grandpa is the one who is paying for it and says get him one when we find a good one. (He is Grandpa's fav because he is the only Grandson lol)

[racerfan]

would this one (or one like it with similiar specs) work for a 13 yo who also wants it to play games on as well as do 8th grade work???

 

games he plays are:

 

Ruinscape

Dawn of War

 

ugh, I can't remember the other games he plays, but you get the idea...

 

I hope so, since DS plays Ruinscape also. My DS will be 13 in December.

[freesia39]

Is this Runescape?

 

http://www.gamersinfo.net/articles/384-runescape

 

As for Dawn of War:

 

http://dawnofwar.filefront.com/info/Requirements

 

I think the laptop is enough.

[DaveL]

this one is similar, but cheaper! It seems like one of the best laptop deals to me right now.

 

 

http://www.officedepot.com/ddSKU.do?level=SK&id=430180

[theboyzmom]

awesome, thank you