Need advice on buying a laptop for under 20K

britboy

britboy

Disciple
Hey ya'all.

So, the thing's this..a friend of mine needs a laptop and she hasn't got any brand in mind. Her conditions are

1. Should have a DVD-RW
2. Should have at least 2GB of RAM( not DDR, :p )
3. Should cost less than Rupees 20K.

She's in Chennai and I have no idea what the prices are over there. If you guys could help us out, I would be grateful :)

P.S: Does a "laptop" with such specs even exist?
 
Yes. Such laptops exist but the only cpu you will get would be the Intel celeron. I suggest you increase your budget to 23-24K and buy yourself any core2duo/intel dual core based laptops from MSI/ASUS/Acer-Emachines/Samsung.

If you have a fixed budget of 20k you can buy the MSI x340 which has the following specs:-

Intel core solo -su3500 @1.4Ghz

2gb ddr2 ram

Intel® GMA 4500MHD

320GB SATA

1.3Mp Webcam

Bluetooth

13" LCD

This laptop retails for Rs.17500-18500. Depending on your city. The MSI x340 doesn't come with a dvd writer however you can buy an external dvd writer for 2k. The laptop comes with 2 years warranty. http://cgi.ebay.in/MSI-X340-NOTEBOO...58100532?pt=IN_PC_Laptops&hash=item3f047add34
 
There is no point in getting a laptop in that budget. It would be outright outdated..... :(

Better opt for a used laptop from the TE Market. I have seen good quality/condition ones retailing there at ~18-20k.....

:)
 
The OP mentions he wants a laptop for a girl/lady/woman - the maximum she would need it for is facebook/web surfing/watching videos--max 720p---as long as the "print" is good women are ok with it, she will need it for video chatting,skype,yahoo,gtalk,etc. use it to store data and run ms office--the msi x340 -the online reviews call it the poor man's macbook air-this laptop is perfect for. Its slim which means it will fit into her handbag and it also doubles up as a fashionable accessory.

Btw core2 duo is a very capable platform. not everyone needs to game on their laptops and the MSI/Asus laptops come with nvidia/ati video solutions which can play most stuff at low resolutions and settings. With my c2d based MSI cr400x i can do everything you can with your corei3/5/7 laptops apart from playing games--which i have my desktop to do.
 
^^^ Lol.... U are seriously underestimating the techno-geekiness of ladies, mate.....

In fact, when it comes to having fully loaded gadgets, some of my female friends are the limit!!!

:D
 
I know we are OT....

But do consider this: My friend (a lady) owns an iPhone 3GS as her primary phone & a Samsung Galaxy S as her secondary phone. When asked why, she says that the iPhone is intuitive whereas the Android is an intellectual purchase......!!!

Again, she uses a Vaio lappy at home whereas carries a Dell mini on the go. This is apart from the n number of desktops at her studio.

She has 2 Sony Cybershot P&S & 1 Canon 50D.....

Phew.... I sometimes feel less geeky looking at her gadget & tech love..... :ashamed:

BTW, did I mention that she is a professional photographer/photoshopper & runs her dad's Advertising Studio as a hobby!!! :eek:hyeah:
 
My friend isn't as geeky as yours nehaladsul :) and I agree with you that such a laptop would be outdated. But like sunnny27 points out, she is not going to be using it for heavy duty stuff.

Though I was hoping for a notebook with an Atom processor, I'll play this by her, let's see what she says. Thanks dudes :)
 
The Msi x340 is available in croma and you can also increase the warranty to 4 years by paying a bit more.

@nehaladsul - you need to know more women and their needs my friend!!!
 
I talked to her about the different options available. She is willing to spend 5k MORE. It seems she is going to use it for design software like PS, 3DS Max and Maya.

A geek emerges..
 
^^ Excellent! I like(encourage) women who embrace technology for functionality and not looks!

Now give us the exact budget(maximum possible permissible threshold) and let us know the factors which are crucial to her in buying this laptop--factors such as weight,portability,looks,battery life,warranty.

The laptop she needs will need a good gpu - http://www.primeabgb.com/index.php?...tegory_id=262&option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=53 (bear in mind the cpu is single core)

this is another laptop to be considered if the budget can be stretched a wee bit - http://www.primeabgb.com/index.php?...tegory_id=262&option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=53

If 25K is the maximum budget--consider the MSI cr400x(23-24k with core 2 duo t6600) , I own it and it happens to be very good and solidly built laptop and comes with Nvidia 8200M dedicated graphics. It handles photoshop nicely but I haven't tried 3ds max or maya on it however i do use it to learn blender and it works pretty well. It also offers 2 1/2 hours to 3 1/2 hours of battery life depending on what I do and with very light usage such as working with MS office I can get almost 4 hours of battery life. MSI offers 2 years of warranty with the laptop.
 
@ sunny27: you need to know more women and their needs my friend!!! ;)

@ britboy: I think the MSI CR400X suggested by sunny27 is a good choice..... But not all like to have laptops badged 'MSI'. So, do consider that.
 
A women and her needs is something only "the" women knows :p

@sunny27: As of the lady in question, looks like she has a little more to spare (surprised? I am not) and I come back with details. These are her words "Budget... Maybe up to 26-30K MAX! 15" would be wonderful. When you say details, I have nothing specific, except it has to have a DVD-RW and okay graphics... mainly for PhotoShop, CorelDRAW, Max and Maya... Looks? A VAIO would be wonderful! I'm now looking at Acer, Dell, HP and Lenovo. Any ideas?"

So we(as in us HERE) have decided the MSI CR400X is good @ 23-24K.

What if we up the ante to 28?

:)
 
Well if she can up the budget to 28-29k, there is MSI CR620, which I bought this Diwali and very happy with it so far. Core i3/2GB/320GB/15.6"/Win 7 home basic/Intel HD Graphics/2 yr warranty. There is also Acer 5745 with Core i3 in that budget. If budget permits, it's better to go for core i3 with intel HD graphics as these are pretty capable of almost everything apart from games. Also, I think Samsung R540 is there with core i3 within 30k.
 
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