tchub12 :
Hello, I want to buy a laptop for my friend in a low budget (est. under 500$) , could you advice me some ? The articles I read didn't really give anything... She loves playing lol and only so I don't need much performance, I need durable and lightweight laptop. Thank you in advance.
Luc_4_ :
I got really cheap with mine even going through local craigslist ads and found a out-of the -house vendor bought a nice little Thinkpad A8 5550M APU with radeon graphics for about $350 500gb HDD.
It can play LoL if thats all she wants,
Try looking through some small vendors in your area might be a better bet than going to a Fry's or Best buy which you might get lucky and find one for about 400 I know I did on best buys website.
Hi tchub12,
Seems very kind of you to buy a laptop for your friend - so let's help you find a good laptop!!!
Luc_4_,
Firstly, your idea is very good. If you need something for cheap buy used. From the particular laptop you made an example from, I would always recommend staying away from mobile AMD APU's - I've got one in my laptop which is very similar to yours and it really isn't great. The iGPU really kicks butt for what it is but the CPU is just ehhh.
tchub12,
Back to you for a moment, here are some things you might want to tell us:
- Are you okay with buying used?
- Are you okay with something older? (as old as 5 years)
- Do you favor any particular brands based on experiences etc. ?
- Do you prefer anything in else particular or is this just a "get 'er done" laptop?
Here's some things that I would suggest based around what you said:
"She loves playing lol and only so I don't need much performance, I need durable and lightweight laptop"
- If you want durable, don't buy anything new from HP. Older HP laptops are built okay but the newer ones are cheap and junky.
- I would recommend Dell, Acer, Lenovo and ASUS as good makers of relatively thin but durable laptops if you're buying new. Toshiba makes some of the best built laptops but they're spendy unless you buy used - which could be good as well!
- Avoid Intel Celeron CPU's if you can and AMD CPU's altogether.
- Try and stay above 4GB of RAM if possible, that shouldn't be hard for $500
Here are some laptops I could recommend brand new off of Amazon / Newegg which are under $500:
Now I know these are all new but I wouldn't be able to accurately suggest used listings on eBay or Craigslist because those come and go and you'll have to find them based on your location, assuming you wish to purchase used.
I hope that helped a little. I always love helping people help other people with tech!
Good luck, let us know how it goes!
- BHogervorst