I don't know what you want or need or want to spend but here is a Toshiba with very decent specs for $599 and free shipping
Toshiba L305D-S5874 Satellite Notebook

Now is a great time to look for one they have some very good back to school specials on.

I just some some good prices at walmart in their flyer. I would check you local store flyers.
ShopLocal you can put in your zipcode and see all your stores ads there.

you can also check your local craigslist I have found very good deals on computers there and you get to go look at them and try them before buying a used product.

I am also looking for a laptop - but I want to avoid Vista. I have a Toshiba now and I love it (but it's 6 1/2 years old - and was very low end even when I bought it - has started taking 5-10 minutes just to turn on and load a browser. And it only has a 20GB hard drive and I want a larger one so I can take it to my stereo/turntable and start recording my cd's.

I want to surf, do email and also store digital media (probably mostly music - but maybe some pictures and video). And I'm torn between getting a really portable one that I might take around with me more comfortably - or a heavier, less expensive one to use primarily on my wireless home network in the living room (and again, near the stereo).

I thought about getting a used XP machine on craigslist (mostly so I could get XP). I guess the other route would be getting a custom Dell laptop.

If I get a used one, any ideas what minimum specs to look for? And am I missing anything about other laptops that I could buy new with XP.

Thanks.
Lynn.

I just went online and searched for a lightweight Dell with XP. This is what I came up with.

http://www.dell.com/content/products/productdetails.aspx/latit_d630?c=us&l=en&s=bsd&cs=04&~oid=us~en~4~latit_d630_anav3~

I'm not sure if this is a good deal or not. I'm not even sure I need/want this much computer. It's possible I should get a less expensive used laptop until I know how much I'll really need in a laptop. On the other hand, I don't want to wait so long that I can't order a new one with Windows XP. Even now, Dell is only offering that as a $99 Bonus (pre-isntalled with Vista as a DVD should I want to switch later). Dell doesn't seem to offer just XP without paying a premium and buying XP and Vista both. When I bought my Dell desktop this January, I was able to order just XP and not pay more to do so.

I also have a question about the wireless card. What kind do I need if I want to connect with my wireless home network (I have a linksys 802/11b router) and also connect to WiFi spots. I guess I should ask what Wifi spots are? I'm under the impression that I could take my laptop to certain parts of the city (and even airports) that are wired and I could connect to the internet for free. Am I right that that exists for free? And if so, what do I need in my computer to tap into it.

I think there are different built-in wireless cards - but I don't know the difference and what to look for.

If I'm buying used, I don't know what to look for to make sure I'm getting a good computer. Is there a way for a non-tech savvy person to assess the condition of a used laptop - or do I have to go by instinct about whether the seller is trustworthy (and at least make sure I can access the internet - and maybe open a couple of programs).

Thanks again.
Lynn.

lynn several pc makers are still offering xp including HP, and lenovo (IBM)but if you go with a custom built you can easily get xp and exactly what you want on it. so many come loaded with bloat that the big names put on them that we don't need or want.

For craigslist when I bought one of my pc's from a guy here, I went to the event viewer and looked at all the logs to see if there were any errors showing up, I went to belarc and ran it to see what it had to say about the unit, I tried out various programs on it to make sure they worked, music, video, flash games, dvd and cd, browsers, I just went through trying out everything I could, of course checked add remove programs to see what it said was there, made sure all updates had been done.
Since the one I was getting had the clear side panel I could see the inside too so I could see all the fans working and I checked the usb ports. You also have their contact info and know where they live LOL. Make sure you have a genuine key number for the xp install on it and if possible the actual xp cd, or the recovery cd if that is what it came with. And get the passwords!

I also like to check for the i386 folder, you can do a search for i386.

here is a Toshiba with xp pro
Toshiba Satellite Pro L300D-EZ1003X Notebook PC

XP Pro Laptops
there are several and some very low prices

here are some with xp pro at buy.com
267 products found
you can refine the search and do it for xp home or xp media too.
I personally prefer AMD processors and would definitely not get a Celeron processor.

Notebooks

Raven - thanks for all those great links.

And that information about what you checked for in a used computer is fabulous. There's a lot of good lessons in there even if I don't buy used. There is so much to consider - and I'm not versed with computers, so I could imagine spending an hour or so checking out a used laptop. I don't know what the i386 folder is.

I don't have any computer games - any tips for another way to check the flash player. I'm sure it gets used all the time in apps I don't even realize.

I'm afraid having contact information doesn't offer much protection. I may know how to contact them, but that doesn't mean there's much I could get them to do if they intentionally sell me a faulty laptop or misrepresent it. (I just had the experience of renting our beach apt. (well not ours, but one we rent for the season) to a family in our neighborhood. They trashed the place - including stains the top carpet cleaning company couldn't get out - and when I called them, she actually yelled at me and was shocked I'd call to complain about how they treated our casual beach apt. Short of taking her to small claims over a few hundred dollars, it doesn't seem there's much I can do.) I suspect a few hundred dollars of used laptop would be similar if I'm being intentionally sold a faulty computer.

Those links above offered some great XP deals. I have a couple of other questions. I'm glad you commented on the AMD processors bc. I didn't know they were good ones. I'd been shying away from AMD because I was getting it confused with a sluggish Athlon processor my husband once had (and he had a lemon from day one with that laptop from 4 years ago).

I don't know which of the intel processors are good. I thought any core duo were good, but I see a lot of the above links don't have that. Any other guidance to which processors are good - other than AMD vs. Celeron.

Perhaps I don't need Microsoft Word - which none of the new ones seem to have - now that I'm a bit braver with computers I might try the office freeware. Would that cause me any problem going back and forth working on the same document on Word 2003 on my desktop and the freeware on my laptop?

I do want an audio line in jack - some of the above don't have that. I want to record vast libraries of albums (and some cassettes) - which seems doable if I run the right cables from my receiver line out to laptop's line in. Other than looking for the laptop to designer an audio line in, is there anything else I should check to make sure I can do that with the laptop?

Some of the new bargain laptops only have 256 or 512 MB RAM. I was under the impression that that was way too little - esp. if I'm transferring and recording digital media. Even my Tivo desktop software requires more than 256RAM. Is 1 GB Ram enough, or should I look for 2. Is that expandable later (if I ever make the switch to Vista)?

Thank you.
Lynn.

If you are dealing with Vista, you should have atleast 2GB of memory expandable to 3 or 4g's. If you are dealing with XP, it would be nice to have 1G expandable to 2 or 3.
As for processors, Intel core 2 duo's are what you should be looking for. I beleive they start at around T2300 (low end) and go up to around T8300. Try for mid range to keep cost down around the T5500. Shy away from "integrated video" and see if there are any with 512 or more MB of dedicated video memory.
For free ware office progam, if you are talking about "OpenOffice" there shouldnt be any problems

since you said you want only xp I would not go lower than 1gig on memory, memory is cheap so you can add memory later if you want as long as there are open slots and the pc has the specs to take more.

There are excellent AMD dual core processors, as I said my personal preference is AMD over intel. Every pc I own has AMD processors in them. That is something each person can decide. I just like their performance and the bench tests for AMD is always impressive.
Open office is the open source version of MS Office and it can be used pretty much side by side.

those bargain pcs you are seeing with low memory make sure those are not the mini pcs, there are many of those these days, like the asus eee and the cloudbook, they usually come with some version of linux on them and are not what you would want for a full service daily use laptop. Not because they have linux on them, that is what I am using right now and use daily, but because they are not meant to do the same type tasks.

As to the recording of vast libraries I will have to let someone else who has that type of experience help you there.

there are a ton of flash game sites online, just do a search for online games or flash games.
Free Flash Games

You should definitely check the full specs on any pc you are looking at to see how much expansion ability you have, for memory etc. If you are not finding enough info on one site just take the model number and brand and do a google search for that info. Some sites give more info than others.

It should say on it that it is Vista ready or in the specs.

The i386 folder when on a pc can be used instead of having to insert the actual xp cd, you can do a work around to have the pc find the i386 folder when it ask you to insert the xp cd. Which is good when you do not actually have an xp cd just a recovery media.

On some info on the laptops instead of saying dual core it will say x2. Like this "AMD Turion 64 X2"

I know I'm posting in a couple of threads but I'm trying to keep my posts on the relevant threads for those searching for similar topics.

Anyway, I just saw this Acer below. It has XP, a line-in jack (although I'm still researching to determine if I need that to record my albums on the computer), intel core duo processor (mid-range speed), 1 GB Ram. Any opinions on this package - and on Acer's in general.

http://www.acerspecial.com/tm3270_6637.html#

Thanks.
Lynn.

Should do what you want and more. I have had my acer aspire 7720 for almost a year and no problems and I love it.
Used to be devoted to Toshiba, but Acer was giving a lot more hardware upgrades for the money so I decided to take a chance and have not been disappointed

Thank you, Genes. This Acer did look like a lot for the money, but when I googled it and looked at customer reviews on various sites, they were pretty mixed. A number of people felt these broke down too early - and slowed down too early.

So I looked around some more. I think at this point that it's between Toshiba and Lenovo Thinkpad. This process would be easier if I knew entirely how I'd be using it. I know I'll do lots of surfing, some emailing, probably recording some digital media and maybe very limited word processing with open office software. I know I want XP. I know I want reasonable speeds (it drives me crazy when I have just a few minutes and can't get pages to load and change quickly). I am definitely not a gamer and don't plan to watch movies on it.

Here are some remaining questions:
- why should I shy away from integrated video? most of the preconfigured well-priced XP laptops I've found seem to have integrated video.
- I know I hate weights of 6 pounds and more. But I am torn about how small to go. Right now I'm not taking this back and forth to work - and I'm not likely to if it weighs even 5 pounds. Do I go with a small portable 12-13.3" laptop that weighs under 4 pounds? Might be fun to be willing to bring it more places with me. Other than higher price, what am I sacrificing to go that small. Anyone have laptops this small that they find really comfortable and easy to use - a pleasure to have and be able to tote around?

The Toshiba that Raven linked earlier is not currently available, but I found a very similar one - linked below:
http://www.buydig.com/shop/product.aspx?omid=105&ref=bizrate&utm_source=Bizrate&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=TBL300EZ1004X&sku=TBL300EZ1004X

And here's a Lenovo Thinkpad on ebay - for about $150-200 less than selling elsewhere (note the seller will upgrade memory to 2GB for free - which means he will open the new-in-package laptop just for that purpose). This is not refurbished. When I tinkered with Lenovo's website to customize one, even with their current sales, I couldn't do nearly this well. What do folks think of this one:

http://cgi.ebay.com/New-IBM-Lenovo-ThinkPad-T61-Laptop-C2D-2-0G-XP-64655ZU_W0QQitemZ250281364243QQihZ015QQcategoryZ177QQrdZ1QQssPageNameZWD1VQQcmdZViewItemQQ_trksidZp1638Q2em118Q2el1247

And beginning to customize a small Lenovo on their website, I came up with this:
http://shop.lenovo.com/SEUILibrary/controller/e/web/LenovoPortal/en_US/config.workflow:java-configure?x=x&sb=%3A00000025%3A00000169%3A

I didn't finish customizing it - and there might be some changes I should consider (I didn't even think about service plans yet), but so far this is $1300 range. My business has picked up this summer, so maybe I could treat myself to this - but would still love opinions about how to specificially configure this. And in general if I should seriously consider going smaller.

I did not yet look on ebay for the smaller thinkpads. And I haven't yet researched the smaller Toshiba's. Before I do that, I thought I'd wait to get some more guidance.

Thanks so much.
Lynn.

I'm researching laptops like a demon. I'd still love feedback on my above post, but I also wanted to share a great article I found. I figured other people who are looking to decide on a laptop might read this thread. This article culls information from many mainstay reputable reviewers (cnet, PC World, and many others) and provides a good overview of considerations in choosing a laptop. HTH:

http://www.consumersearch.com/www/computers/laptops/#intro

In addition to this intro page, you can click to see the full story, and specific side stories (best ultraportables, best media, best cheap laptops, etc).