Laptop?

Gateway or Asus in that price range.

Might have a hard time getting a BD player in that $ range though.

 

Check out newegg sales. I'd venture away from some of the HP laptops.

Agreed, the 500 price point will be difficult. Anyway you can just get a netflix account and stream away? Or are you looking to travel with bluerays?

 

Try the Dell Factory Outlet online and filter on the Scratch and Dent. I bought my wife a nice Studio 15 about 5 months ago, and I couldn't find a scratch on the laptop at all. You might be able to come close to $500 there, even with the Bluray player.

 

Mac.











Hahahha... Just had to say it Robbie.

 

Ahem. I hate Dell. No... I Hate Dell... I mean.. I REALLY HATE DELL.

But they do have one redeeming value. When it comes to bang for the buck cheap laptop I have to very begrudgingly admit they are probably the best bet.

Go to fatwallet.com/c/18 and search for Dell. (in the small title search, not the big search at the top) Those guys always know the best deals. Sort the posts by date and take your pick.

If they do not have deal you like today, usually in a week or two you'll find something that will be basically the best deal on the net. Deals get better at end of month and quarter. As for the quality... Dell laptops can't keep up with Thinkpads or Macs but they are a whoooooole lot better than HP.

Many of those deals you can customize for the blu-ray, so if the deal does not list a blu-ray, don't fret.

BTW I hate Dell.

Edit: BTW Mike, good advice, but FYI if you watch their deals, you can often find a new one less than used.. the key to Dell is you must ONLY buy when they have a deal.

 

Yea, I was never a big Dell laptop fan until recently. I knew way too many people that had failed hard drives and motherboards to like them. The IT guys at my company convinced me that they have turned around in recent years.

No complaints (so far) about my wife's laptop, and with the 3year onsite tech support, I'm fine with the $500 or so it cost me. If it lasts more than three years, that's a nice bonus.

I really wanted to justify getting her a Macbook, but the bigger bang for the buck was Dell.

 

Most laptops have built in wireless networking devices.

All you need is a wireless router so you can squirt the internet to your laptop over the air.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833162033

edit: Out and about, you will be relying upon hotspots for connectivity.

 

Yeh, via tethering.

 

The only thing I hate more the Dells are Range Rovers but that is for another thread.
I had a Dell laptop that the port on the back that the electrical cord plugged into became loose within a year. Dell said it was my fault and that the entire motherboard ( where the port was attached) would have to be replaced.
HUGE design flaw. This laptop sat by my bed and I would plug it in when needed. Never taken to work, flown like a kite...
Never again.

 

Robbie, if you want internet on the laptop you have two ways of getting there. One way of course is WIFI. You must be near a hotspot of some kind. (like a starbucks etc) A royal pain.

Your Droid has a 3G (mobile broadband) connection to Verizon. As you know it can be used most anywhere. You can buy any number of mobile broadband devices for the laptop. You can (I think) order it directly from Dell with one built in. Or you can buy a USB connector or a MeFi or whatever they call it.

I got an HP netbook with the card built in. I hate hp laptops but because I spend a mountain of money with VZW they sold me a $399 netbook for $50. (+ two years at $59/month) I rarely use it and hope it makes the 2 years.

You can technologically tether your laptop to your Droid and use the Droid's mobile broadband. However depending on the Droid you may have to root it and you'll be breaking the VZW rules.

Best bet is to use PdaNet. http://www.junefabrics.com/android/index.php

I believe it will allow you to tether via bluetooth so it is wireless but keep in mind this configuration is a battery eater.

EDIT: I see you no longer have to root your phone for PdaNet. Yay!