I want to buy a laptop. Pretty much just for email/internet, MS Office, and listening to music. Not gaming.

This seems to be the cheapest one:

http://www.bestbuy.ca/en-CA/product/lenovo-lenovo-15-6-laptop-featuring-amd-c-50-processor-438342u-black-english-438342u/10188457.aspx?path=46c9539eaa8823a457fed72e95513beeen02

Do you think I should spend more money? I don't know about computer specs anymore. I'm looking to spend $600 or less (preferably less!).

I dunno dude I don't think it'll run Crysis on Ultra. Try upping your price range?

The CPU in that thing is a piece of crap. I mean a total piece of crap. It's basically a netbook, which honestly I would never recommend.

I think that you should take a look at the low-end Idea/Think-Pads (especially if you're willing to sacrifice a little more screen size). The laptop that you've located will certainly do the things that you've indicated you're interested in. However, so would a $50 laptop on eBay.

Is this a low-end thinkpad? It's the cheapest one bestbuy carries, $1000 is a bit more than I really want to spend. http://www.bestbuy.ca/en-CA/product/lenovo-lenovo-thinkpad-15-6-laptop-featuring-intel-core-i5-2520m-processor-len-423946u-english-black-len-423946u/10173574.aspx?path=4babdce2e3e9d6a802d76ff6ced0ff64en02

What about this one? Is this any good? http://www.bestbuy.ca/en-CA/product/lenovo-lenovo-thinkpad-15-6-laptop-featuring-intel-core-i5-2520m-processor-len-423946u-english-black-len-423946u/10173574.aspx?path=4babdce2e3e9d6a802d76ff6ced0ff64en02

Yeah, man. I'm sure it could never handle running firefox and word at the same time.

Honestly, Tracer, I took an Acer Aspire One to Iraq and it served me perfectly well for all of these tasks (-internet surfing until I got home) until it eventually died probably mostly because of all the porn and me not taking care of it.

I have very similar requirements for a second laptop. I need something to play HD video (rather than edit it, which is what my beast laptop is for) and do business, word processing, and some other pseudo demanding stuff..

Big thing for me is I/O stuff fer printing and projection and hooking various hard drives up to it so that I can transfer data easily between clients and contractors and whatnot.

I will probably get another PC Laptops build unless there is some sort of tablet computer that actually functions as both a tablet and laptop, or something equally as multifunctional. But i have a feeling there isnt. Anyone know of a groundbreaking portable computer with incredibly precise and sensetive stylus support and supperior connectivity and compatibility?

I would suggest shooting for something with at least an i3 in it. 500 dollars is the least I would say you should spend on a laptop that you won't use much, and 900 for one that will get a lot of use.

Oops. Failed to notice your CA. Guess you probably wont have much interest in those links.

Since your willing to go a little higher in price, keep shopping for an i3 deal.

Wow i3s are dual core hyperthreaded.

Note that the CPU in the laptop posted in the OP is slower than a Celeron.

AMD isn't even trying at this point, are they?

AMD is trying but their push for 'fusion' sometimes creates odd spots in their lineup. Like at the extreme lowend no one really cares if C60 integrated graphics is better than Intel's HD graphics because you aren't playing intensive games on these systems anyway. I have seen some very strong AMD offerings around the $500 price point. But once you start getting into highend laptops those are going to require a discrete GPU, so AMD starts losing ground because their CPU isnt as good as Intel's.

I have a tough time relating to most laptop users tho, since I only use mine when I am going to be away from my desktop for an extended period, traveling. I have a Dell with a 1st Gen i3 cpu and I replaced the HDD with a SSD. I hate 5400rpm hard drives but 7200rpm drives are fairly rare in laptops these days.

I will look into this i3 business and report back.

Stay tuned as this week's installment of Q&A With My New Rig continues, after this.

...

Somebody say a commercial.

McDonalds... ba-da-ba-ba-ba i'm lovin' it

So is i5 better than i3? How many i's do you need?

i7 > i5 > i3

But i3 is my favorite recommendation for laptops, since your trying to balance performance with battery life. Especially in your case where none of the tasks seem processor intensive.

IMO, i5 for gamers and i7 for work related activities.

I have an i5 in my laptop, because I do things like run VMs and **** for school. An i3 will do you for almost all general tasks.