Let them laugh at me harder and point at me more pointedly. I have the same pc, from Wal-Mart, and I bought it about 5 years ago. I added memory about a couple years ago, and I do everything in the OP, including games. (my husband is complaining that World of warcraft is sketchy sometimes. My daughter has no trouble with her games and programs.)
TruCelt, since you’re in the DC area, one other place to consider shopping is the chain of PCRetro/Computer Warehouse stores. They sell used computers and other hardware, generally off of business leases, at decent prices. I bought my aunt a computer there.
I have the first Toshiba you linked you (A665D). It’s kind of bulky and has poor battery life, but the keyboard is better than you find in most laptops and the display works well. I intended to use it mostly at home when I bought it, and it’s perfect for that. Now I’m using it at school as well, and it kind of sucks at that.
What about laptops, what is a good cheap laptop that will have decent reliability and all? I have an iMac that’s a few years old (Intel Core2Duo 2.5GHz, 4GB RAM, don’t remember bus speed) so I would want something with similar or better performance, and decent quality/reliability. I would like to buy a new Apple laptop but I can’t afford that.
I know desktops are cheaper, but with Wi-Fi everywhere these days (throughout the house, at the library, Starbucks, lots of places) a laptop just seems like it would be much more useful. And I already have a decent 20" widescreen LCD I picked up on Craigslist that I could use at home when I want a good-sized monitor. (And that means I don’t need a big screen on the laptop.)
Are refurb laptops a good idea?
Refurb laptops are not a good idea at all, IMHO.
If I were in the market for the nicest possible, highly portable laptop on a tight budget, I’d take a long, hard look into a Chromebook, myself. That is, only if you like/trust/appreciate the world of Google and their apps/services.