I’ve had my current Gateway laptop for four or five years now, and it’s been running fine with few problems, but the battery has stopped holding a charge, so it has to be plugged in all the time, the keyboard is pretty worn out as far as being able to see what letters are there (a, s, and e are completely worn away), and then yesterday, the screen has started fading out, so it’s time to splurge.
So, any recommendations? It has to be Windows (10), it has to have an ethernet port (I don’t want to have to use up all of my wi-fi data every month, I’m a heavy data user and I already spend for the ethernet, so I might as well use it), and at least two USB ports for the printer and the wireless mouse.
I don’t want to spend A LOT. I saw an HP on Amazon for $251 and almost bought it, but I decided to run out to Fry’s and Staples to see just what they have on hand, but I’m ready to jump in, but I am looking for inputs.
I hate to question other people’s requirements but there seems to be a misunderstanding somewhere because “use up all of my Wi-Fi data” makes no sense. WiFi is a way to connect wirelessly to the network in your building. It shouldn’t cost any more than wired Ethernet. If you have an Ethernet jack that provides enough data, but your Wi-Fi is on a separate system, you just need a wireless router to connect to your Ethernet jack and convert it to Wi-Fi. Also, even if you must use wired Ethernet for some reason, a USB Ethernet adapter is widely available and cheap (<$15) so that shouldn’t be a constraint on your choice of laptop.
As for specific recommendations, I think we’d need to know what your priorities are - i.e. do you want the lightest and most portable one in your price range, or would prefer something with a larger screen (and don’t mind large & heavy), or just the cheapest thing that can run Office.
Most people have a preference based on what they have used (for example, for work I have had Thinkpad and HP and personally have owned several Dells).
I personally like the Dell, but my current Dell is an AMD and while I have generally not had a problem with AMD in the past, it is way too slow. It has 12 GB RAM, but takes forever to start a new program or bring up the browser. We got my college age daughter almost the exact same model but with an Intel i5 and it runs normally.
I would suggest Intel and either i3, i5, or i7 (i3, if you are trying to save money).
As with most things you get what you pay for.
When I have bought cheap laptops/PCs, I have usually regretted it.
I needed to replace my beloved Toshiba Satellite of 10 years (very disappointed they’re no longer serving the consumer laptop market, would have bought another Toshiba in a heartbeat), and the first thing I jumped at was a Lenovo that Staples had on sale for $250. I didn’t like it, it was slow, my Skyping kept hesitating, and worst of all, the keyboard didn’t have the usual Home-End-PgUp-PgDn keys, but instead, I need to press “Fn” plus one of the arrow keys to get that functionality. I, personally, couldn’t work like that. I returned it and spent a little more, getting an HP with an Intel Core i5 7th generation for $379.
I would recommend trying out the keyboard of the laptop that has your eye in the store before buying it. And don’t go ultra-cheap, but mid-range cheap should be fine. I’m liking my $379 HP.
I don’t want to have to change my setup. I don’t want to have to get a wifi router and spend money for another provider. I have the providers I need. My current wifi suffices for my phone and the games I play on it. But I need a PC that lets me get on the internet, watch YouTube videos, occasionally use Office or similar programs, and play games like Crusader Kings and Civilization.
Youd buy a wifi router, thats all, you would not change providers nor pay the provider any more money
That is not WIFI, that is Cellular Wireless.
2 different things, and you phone could actually use the WIFI as well, without using any of your cellular data
Any PC will let you get on the internet.
Most still have ethernet adapters
Dont know about your games hardware requirements, if they are graphics heavy, you will want something with nvidia or radon(amd) graphics most likely
Just FYI, what you’re calling “WiFi” is mobile data (cellular data).
WiFi is a local wireless network, typically set up separately in each house. If you already have an internet provider, there’s no need to get another one. You just need to buy a wireless router, connect it to your cable modem (or whatever equivalent you have) and set it up; after that, you can use WiFi anywhere in your house. Your phone will be able to use the connection as well. And any internet-enabled devices you might buy in the future.
Of course if you don’t need that capability, you can keep using a wired connection to your laptop. Just explaining for your future reference…
A WiFi hotspot is means that your phone can be used to allow other devices to connect to your phone and then use the phone to connect to the internet, but this uses your phone’s data plan. It sounds like you really don’t need or want to do this.
Your phone can connect to the internet using it’s data plan, or it can connect to an existing WiFi connection and not use the phone’s data plan at all. I try to use this as often as possible. While connected to the home WiFi I can use my phone to surf all day and never use a second of my data plan.
The internet comes into your home through that little hole in the wall that you plug your Ethernet cable into. You are currently using this to attach a cord from that hole in your wall to the back of your laptop to enable your laptop to connect to the internet. This is just fine and in no way uses your phone’s data plan.
You could instead just plug the end of the cord that normally goes into the back of your laptop into a wireless modem/router. The Ethernet cord doesn’t know what it is connected to and it won’t change your expense at all (other than buying the WiFi modem/router… a one time expense and relatively cheap). The WiFi modem/router will then convert things into a radio signal that goes out to anything with WiFi that is allowed to connect to it.
Once the cord is plugged into the WiFi modem/router your laptop can use it’s WiFi connection to get to the internet. There will no longer be any cord to the wall that restricts you from moving freely around your house. Your phone can also connect to the same WiFi modem/router to also access the internet and will not use it’s data plan. You can play games all day and night and not worry about paying anything for your phone’s data plan.
My phone can also be used as a WiFi hotspot but I have never needed to do so.
Some mobile providers do not like you using the wi-fi hotspot function of the phone (they prefer you to get a tablet or mi-fi device instead). Just to make you aware.
As for the OPs question, do not spend less than about $350. You will regret it, since the lower end laptops have abysmal CPUs that barely work well enough for Office and general browsing. Definitely get an intel core i3 processor or above, as well as 8GB RAM and a decent storage media (500GB+ recommended in either HDD or SSD format, depending on your budget). Oh, and Windows 10 - as Windows 7 is fast approaching EOL and Windows 8/8.1 is no good to anyone.