Laptops Arena

Before rejecting the idea of buying a used refurbished laptop, read this article that may just make you change your mind. We can give you some pretty good reasons why a refurbished laptop is a good deal if you want a good computer but don’t have the money to pay the entire price of the brand new model. First of all, you have to accept the idea that a second-hand gadget does not mean it is damaged. Second of all, these refurbished laptops are sold by pros. A refurbished laptop is a unit that was sold to a person who returned it after a short while of use, claiming that there is something wrong with it. The “damage” may be nothing more than one dead pixel, but it’s good enough reason for people to return it. The manufacturer will repair the laptop and check it for any other possible errors. After that, the laptop is resold for a lower price and with a lower warranty period.
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So, as you can see, a used refurbished laptop is not damaged, it has actually been fixed. This is a great solution if you really want a specific model which is too expensive if you buy it brand new. The refurbished model will save you up to some reasonable hundreds of dollars. Manufacturers can offer between 6 months and 1 year warranty for the resold system so this may be reassuring if you are still not convinced of the quality of these computers. The term “used” has a different meaning when it comes to refurbished laptops. Here you have the guarantee that the product you are buying has been reviewed, rechecked and repaired. There are a lot of well known and respectable laptop manufacturers that offer very good deals on refurbished laptops. Dell, Lenovo and even Apple are only some of them.

We read some reviews written by customers that bought refurbished laptops in the past. One user said he buys refurbished laptops from Apple all the time (since he used the plural I’m guessing he owns a business). He used these Apple laptops for years and the reason he sold it was because he couldn’t run the OSX 10.5 application on it. After I read some more reviews, I found out that refurbished Apple laptops are selling like pancakes in the US. People that go to these stores often always check to see what new deals Apple has to offer. Remember that there is a difference between a refurbished laptop and a remanufactured laptop. The first category is just the unit that the customer returns. Some people even return a laptop after opening the case and never actually turning on the machine. So, they ship it back. Remanufactured laptops are those computers that had a damaged part which has been replaced (may be more than one part).



If you want to make sure you are not being ripped off, here are some tips. People will try to sell used laptops claiming that they are refurbished. In order to avoid being the victim of such a thing, make sure you buy the computer from the manufacturer itself or from an authorized refurbished shop (such as CompUSA).  Also try to check more deals from different shops in order to get the best out of your money. Maybe the same laptop model is even cheaper in another shop. Another important thing is to carefully check the warranty and see if it suits you. Also read the return policy very careful so you don’t end up with any unpleasant surprises.



The process before buying a refurbished laptop is pretty much the same as the one before buying a new one. You have to check some reviews which are available all over the internet and see which model suits you best. It actually depends on what you are going to use the laptop for. The less picky you are and the more basic you computer needs and demands are, the more money you will save. If you don’t plan on playing any top of the line games, don’t buy a laptop with a strong graphics card because it’s a useless investment for you.  There are different websites that will allow you to compare different laptop models. This means that you get to see which laptop has better specs for the money you have. You can always buy a cheaper laptop and upgrade the specs later. Most laptops offer easy access to the upgradeable components as they have panels on the bottom which are easy to remove. This means it’s not always necessary to call a specialist every time you want to add some extra RAM as you can remove a couple of screws and do this by yourself.



If all you need a laptop for is to surf the internet, write e-mails and work with some documents, a netbook might be an ever better choice. They are cheaper and smaller than laptops because they are called ultraportables, made especially for people that have to travel frequently and even for students that are in need of a small computer with good battery life to help them take notes in class. If you ask a couple of friends around you may find out there are a lot of people that buy refurbished laptop. Some of them are even companies that run to this solution because they have to buy a large number of units. Some manufacturers will let you get an extended warranty if you pay extra. Even if you do, it will still be cheaper than a brand new laptop.



I hope we made you reconsider the idea that used or refurbished laptops are junk. First of all, they are not even the same thing. Used means you’re buying it with no warranty and refurbished means the manufacturer has solved all the problems and errors and will offer you half the warranty of the original brand new unit. Search the internet for some refurbished laptop stores and compare the specs and priced to get the best deal possible.

This article is a bit different than the other we’ve written before. It’s more general and not so technical as the others. When people buy a laptop in our days, they pay a lot of attention to how the laptop looks. And I don’t mean they are seeking durability. They are looking for laptops with special models and imprints on the lid. The more colored the laptop is, the better. They say that every zodiac sign has a specific color. And every person has their favorite color which normally reflects their personality. In this article we have looked into some colored laptops that you may enjoy having around.
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Green is a color associated with nature, with trees and purity. It gives you the feeling that you are connected with the environment. When you say some is “green” you don’t necessarily think it has that specific color because to be green also means to be environmental friendly. For a laptop to be green in both ways, it has to pass different stages. The level of power consumption is important.

These laptops should have a processor that saves up electricity when the owner is not using it and giving it any commands. Another important aspect is the life of the battery. These batteries should last longer so they can save up energy as well (meaning you don’t have to keep them plugged in for charging all the time). Not only so these things protect the environment, but they also save you some money on the electric bills. A manufacturer that makes green laptops (among 7 other different colors) is Dell. Dell really knows that different colors for the lid mean a bigger number of happy customers. So, how about it? Do you want a green laptop or a green-green laptop?



Another very important category of colored laptops and probably one that sells out the most is the pink laptop. Pink is a combination of red and white and this is why it is also knows as a “less violent” red (you could even say it’s red’s softer side). Even if this is a feminine color, I see a trend in the boys t-shirt. Some of the guys look good in pink as well. If the laptop of your dreams in available in pink, why not buy it, girl? The truth is, the market is filled with pink laptops from all sorts of manufacturers like Dell, Sony or even Asus. For example, the pink Sony VAIO is more than a laptop, it has become an accessory because using it in public makes you look good and feel even better. This laptop is bound to turn some heads around so you are definitely going to be the center of attention in the coffee shop. And if the pink Sony VAIO is too expensive for you (although you know that beauty has its price), you could go with a cheaper laptop such as the pink Acer Aspire One. The baby pink of this laptop is so cute, it actually got m craving for some cotton candy. I recommend you take this mini laptop to class. Not only is it going to make you more popular (I bet the girls are already talking about you at the cafeteria) but it’s also practical if you want to write down some notes of what your professor says in class.



If you ask me, blue is my favorite color. I think it is both serious and fun and it has a deeper meaning. Blue is the color of rest and relaxation, the color of the sea and the sky. Too much blue can be depressing but if you paint your room in the right amount of blue, it will definitely bring a calming sensation. However, when I thought of the words “blue laptop” the first word that came to my mind was… Alienware! Yes, this is a laptop that wears this marine blue coat which makes it stand out in any laptop store. The whole “UFO” and outer-space look is definitely appealing to the eye and glossy blue surface lead us thinking about performance. Blue is also the color for men, and men are a symbol of power. The m7700 Aurora by Alienware is definitely a laptop with an imposing design and that blue touch definitely makes it very special (and besides, have you seen the specs of this monster?!).



I have to admit, I don’t see too many red laptops on the market today. Maybe it’s because red is associated with passion and, let’s face it, there is nothing too passionate about your relationship with your laptop. Res used to be a very feminine color but today it mostly represents courage and passion so men have started using it as well. As far as red laptops go, except for Dell which, of course, covers this color as well with its Inspiron series, we also have a red Sony VAIO. Actually the Sony VAIO laptops come in different shades of this color, like raspberry red, sangria red or even candy apple red. Either way, they make an elegant accessory that to the beautiful color and they also make a powerful gadget because Sony always tries to put the best parts in their laptops. If you are a fully grown woman with a powerful personality then one of these red laptops is suitable for you. And it matches the color of you lipstick and your new shoes. Speaking of red laptop, do you remember the article we wrote about the HP Mini 10 Vivienne Tam Edition? The one about those red laptops with flower imprint finish? Now that’s a fashion statement!



So, no matter what your zodiac sign is and what kind of temper you have, you can choose between different manufacturers that make colored laptop which can help you complete somehow your personality. I mean, if people try to express feelings by using clothes with certain color, why shouldn’t they be able to do the same with their electronic gadgets. There are colored iPods out there, aren’t there?

When laptops first appeared, they were these cool gadgets that were expensive and I'm sure that most of you though (just like I did) that only business men are the ones that can afford them. If a student or a child wanted one it was considered to be more of a caprice rather than a necessity. Today, in my opinion, everyone should have a laptop because they are becoming cheaper and more useful than ever. In most cases, students that have laptops have an Ace up their sleeves because it's much easier to take notes and if the library allows it, you can even take it with you when you are working on school projects.  It is not hard to find cheap school laptops. In fact, here are some examples.
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The Asus K50IJ-RX05 is a $500 laptop that offers extremely good value for money. It has a 4 star rating out of a possible 5 and almost all the user reviews I came across were positive. It has a 2.0 GHz Intel Pentium T4200 processor and 3 GB of RAM with the possibility to upgrade to a maximum 4 GB. The hard drive has a storage capacity of 320 GB which should be more than enough to keep just about anything. Students don't have to worry with hard drive space filling up to quickly and they can store they pictures, documents, school projects, movies, music, games and other application with no problems. They have a DVD burner in case they want to make any back-up copies of their files. The Intel GMA 4500 Dynamic Video Memory Technology 5.0 video card has nothing impressive to offer so you can't play any new and demanding games on this laptop. Either than that, there are no flaws, at least nothing that would determine you not to buy the laptop. If you want to stay in touch with your friends (or your parents who are surely worried that you lost some weight because you are not eating properly on campus) there is a 1.3 mega pixel built-in webcam which you can use to let your friends see you. The 15.6 inch display has a maximum resolution of 1366 x 768. You also have a numeric keyboard which is very useful if you have any kind of calculus project (I think it's useful for playing Worms with another friend too). This laptop has 4 USB ports, 1 Ethernet port, one VGA out, a 3-in-1 card reader plus the usual headphone and microphone jack.

For $429 you can buy the Dell i1545-012B which is a 15 inch laptop with similar specs like the Asus K50IJ-RX05. Even if it sounds cheap, it does not look cheap. To me, it's kind of boring because of the monochromatic look but I guess that matte black of this laptop may be appealing to most users. I would have imagined student laptops a bit more colorful. The keyboard tray is a fingerprint magnet. One thing we didn't like about this laptop is the fact that it's quite heavy so you probably won't be carrying with you to class every day but if you plan to keep it in your campus dorm that would be a much wiser choice. It does not have a webcam and this is something that students look forward to finding in a laptop. Not to mention that similarly priced laptops have this feature. This laptop has the 2.0GHz Intel Pentium Dual Core T4200 processor and 2 GB of RAM. This means that the Asus K50IJ-RX05 is doing better so far at both the specs chapter and the features chapter. The graphics card available on this system is the integrated Intel GMA 4500MHD and as far as hard disk space goes, the Dell i1545-012B offers 160 of HDD. You have 3 USB 2.0 (remember that the Asus has 4), an SD card reader, an Express Card slot, an Ethernet port, a VGA out (no HDMI available on this unit) plus the stereo speakers and headphones and microphone jacks. This is a good mainstream laptop and it would have probably been better if we didn't have the Asus K50IJ-RX05 to compare it with. The Asus is by way better that the Dell in this cheap school laptops battle.



We are going to show you one more laptop, a bit more expensive but with really nice specs. You can buy the Toshiba Satellite A505-S6960 for as low as $650 and you will have solid performance for your money, along with good battery life. The 16 inch laptop hides a 2.1GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T6500 processor, 4 GB of DDR2 RAM, another 320 GB of available disk space and an integrated Intel GMA 4500MHD graphics card. I would give it a minus for the glossy surfaces but either than that I really like what this laptop has to offer. You have both the VGA and the HDMI ports available on this unit, along with 3 USB ports, another eSATA and USB combo port, an Express Card slot, an Ethernet port, a multi format card reader and the regular headphones and microphone jack.



You also have a DVD burner. The 12-cell battery is bound to make the laptop quite heavy but it is the perfect solution for students that are looking to use this laptop in class because it provides good battery life even if you are away from a power outlet. The laptop will shut down after 4 hours and 30 minutes of continuous video playback on a fully charged battery so if you use it just to type in a document and lower some of that display brightness, you care bound to get about 6 hours of battery life.



I think all laptops are pretty good even if I am more of a Toshiba fan myself. We have to admit that out of all three laptops, the Toshiba is the best even if it's a bit more expensive and a bit heavier that the other. If you plan to use it in the campus dorm it will be a great desktop replacement but don't be afraid to take it to class from time to time. You have enough battery life to help you get thing done with no hurry.

We know that most of you have confronted themselves at least once with the situation where you wanted a really expensive thing for half the price if it were possible. Whether it was a new dress or a new car, we have all wanted something that we couldn't buy because it was too expensive. With laptops it's pretty much the same situation. There are lots of people that want a certain kind of laptop but don't have the money to pay for it. Well, there is an alternative. We know most of you will reject the idea from the beginning but... how about buying a cheap used laptop?
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You have to keep something really important in mind. Just because someone sells a second-hand laptop does not necessarily mean it's broken or there's something wrong with it. And the fact that you don't get a warranty for this product is actually a good thing because the lack of warranty lowers the price. Since there is no warranty for the system, you can always remove the chassis and do some tech work yourself, maybe upgrade some components. Before you buy a cheap used laptop, you have to keep in mind what you are going to sue it for. If you are a heavy gamer or someone who work in the design business and needs some graphic applications then you will have to focus on a good laptop with powerful components. If all you usually do with a laptop is browse around the internet, read and write e-mail and so office work like edit documents or spreadsheets, you don't need anything too fancy. The storage capacity should not be that big either. My guess is about 40 GB of disk space will do.

Just to make sure you don't buy any piece of junk, there are some tricks that help you figure out if there has ever been something wrong with that computer. By carefully looking at the chassis you should see if there are signs of impact. This will suggest if the laptop has ever been dropped (look at the corners as well). If it has that does not mean the laptop is not going to function any more but probably some parts inside it may have "moved around" and this will cause future problems. Also pay big attention to the screen. Ask the person who is selling it to turn it on. Now you must check if there are any dead pixels. This is not that big of a problem, I have seen laptops that work just fine even if there is a black dot on the display. You should be careful though with flickering displays as this probably means there is loose connection somewhere. Remember to check the hinges as they are the keys elements that keep the display firmly in place. The screen must not be loose so do some opening and closing exercises before purchasing the unit.



Another thing you should test is the battery. Ask the seller to perform a quick test. Keep the laptop plugged in until it's fully charge and the remove the power jack and the laptop will tell you how much battery life you have left. Be careful though, these things are tricky and the battery may die on you sooner than mentioned. Also make sure there are no problems with the power jack and that the laptop actually charges with no interruptions when you plug it in to a power outlet.  You can also do a quick check-up of the cooling system. See if the fan makes any excessive noise or heat when you plug it in. Most laptops heat up a lot when connected to a power outlet because the battery charges and produces high temperatures as well. If the bottom of the laptop gets too hot within a matter of minutes, we suggest you don't buy it. Overheating is a problem that can shorten the life of the components inside the laptop.



You can also try to type a few words in a Word document, just to make sure there are no problems with the keys. Some of my friends have had some trouble with loose keys even after 4 months of purchasing a brand new laptop. One of the keys simply popped out when typing and now it's loose and won't stay in place. Also test the other features like the optical drive or the wireless feature. It's important to get a good signal on the wireless connection even if you are a couple of feet away. If the unit you are looking at does not have an optical drive, this is not a reason to walk away from it. External optical drives are not that expensive and you can but a new one for a good price. Just attach it to one of the USB ports and there you go. You see, it's not that hard to figure out what cheap used laptop is good for purchase. Even if laptops are definitely something you had no clue about, just follow the steps we mentioned above and you should end up with a pretty good computer.



This whole used laptop deal has some nice benefits if you think about the fact that you can buy a laptop that was sold for $3000 on the market two years ago and now you are buying it for $1000. Remember that just because the price difference is so big it does not mean that computer is trash. Because technology has evolved so fast, better and better laptops are coming out on the market every day. Think of these used laptops like dresses from a collection from three years ago. If we still have not convinced you of the benefits of buying such a laptop, try looking into some refurbished laptops. There are plenty of stored that allow you to make online purchases. Refurbished laptops are laptops that users have returned to the manufacturer and after they have been checked for error and every problem was solved, they are resold on the market for a lower price. And yes, they have warranties.

If you are a person that cares a lot about the weight of a laptop, in this article you are going to read a couple of reviews for laptops under 4 lbs. We know that one of the most important things when you are looking to buy a laptop is the portability factor. Unless you are looking for a desktop replacement which is regularly huge and heavy, laptops and notebooks should be light and easy to carry around.
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For instance, for less than $1000, you can buy the Asus UL30A-A1 which is a 13 inch laptop, both thin and light and with very good specs. The combination of black and silver make this laptop look very elegant and it will offer you a business-look. The processor is a 1.3 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo SU7300 which is very good news considering the fact that laptops under $1000 usually have Intel Atom processors which are weak and slow (these processor are often found in netbooks).  4 GB of RAM means you will need to use either Windows Vista or Windows 7 operating systems to get the best out of your laptop. The graphics card is somewhat disappointing because the Mobile Intel GM45 Express is not exactly top of the line material but we kind of saw it coming. Better video cards are found on powerful gaming laptops which are also twice as expensive. There is not much to complain about the design as this laptop does not look like cheap and the chassis is very solid. However, the keyboard tends to have a rather discomforting flex which is a common problem with these thin and light laptops. The battery is located behind the keyboard, between the two hinges that hold the screen in place.

Above the keyboard you will find the power button and another button that launches an Express Gate quick start environment which contains a web browser, a music player, a program for viewing photos and an online gaming portal. This application will open faster than it takes for Vista to launch.  The touchpad seems to respond well to multitouch commands. The page scroll works just fine and will be very useful for reading long documents and web pages, especially since the screen is not that big. On the bottom of the laptop, in the front area, there are 2 speakers located which produce decent sound even if we are against speakers places on the bottom of the laptop which normally sound horrible (by horrible we mean that they are not loud at all). You have 3 USB ports, one SD card reader, the HDMI and VGA out, the regular Ethernet port plus the stereo speakers and headphone plus microphone jacks. The unpleasant surprise was that there is no optical drive built-into this laptop. This is one of the things that makes this laptop lighter and you can always attach and external DVD burner to your USB ports. Another thing you might miss in ExpressCard slot but other than this, there are no major flaws with this laptop. One thing that will surely amaze you just like it amazed us is the battery life. Using video playback to drain the battery, the laptop worked for an astonishing period of 6 hours and 40 minutes. This is awesome considering that video playback is some that really wears out the battery. If you use this laptop for regular web surfing and reading or editing documents, you should get a couple of more hours of life out of the 8-cell battery.



We believe that the champion of laptops under 4 lbs. is by far the one and only Apple MacBook Air. It looks amazing, feels amazing, works amazing and it will make you look good whenever you take it out of your bag at the coffee shop. It weighs around 3 lbs. and it is the thinnest laptop alive. It operated with an Intel Core 2 Duo P7500 1.6GHz processor and 2 GB of RAM. You have 80 GB of available disk space and an Intel GMA X3100 graphics card. This specs are those of the unit reviewed, there are different models which are available even with nVidia GeForce video cards. Even if it looks so slim and fragile, the Apple MacBook Air is not exactly very "breakable". The 13.3 inch display offers good viewing angles. The keyboard dreamy and when you type on it there is a danger of falling in love and never wanting to replace this keyboard ever again. At first it may seem difficult to get used to the layout and to the spacing between the keys but in time you will find typing a real pleasure. The keyboard illuminates in the dark so you can type without problems and without having to turn on the light. The touchpad is a lot larger than what you would expect to find on a 13.1 inch laptop. The multitouch functions work just fine. You shall have no complaints about the speed of this laptop as it operates faster than you could have imagined when you first took a look at the specs.



If you use the wireless function to surf the internet and keep the display brightness at a low level, you should get about 4 hours and 20 minutes of battery life which is quite ok considering that some similar laptops offer a maximum of 3 hours. Unfortunately, the integrated battery means that you cannot have a spare battery that you can change if the original one dies on you when you are travelling. This is a huge problem for people who care a lot about portability and we hope Apple will find a way to fix this problem. The good thing is that this laptop works ok under Windows Vista which is a nice aspect if you are used to Windows operating system platforms. It's amazing how this laptop can be very solid even if it is so thin and light. One nasty thins is the fact that this laptop has overheating problems and if may even get a bit too hot to hold in your lap. The number and ports and connections is not sufficient for a 13 inch laptop and another thing we have to add is that the battery charges kind of slow so if you have to get out of the house with your laptop, we recommend you leave it plugged in for the night.