Looking for a laptop on a $400 budget

[ghost_recon88]

Alright my bros laptop took a spill over the weekend and he has $400 to use on one now. I don't plan on buying new as I can get a much better deal on a used one then on some $400 Best Buy special.

I plan on running Win 7 RC for a while with only 2GB of RAM, then installing the final release of Win 7 as well as upgrading to 4GB of RAM at that point.

So what I'm looking for is a model with a 15" or smaller display, Intel C2D based, 5 lbs or less, based on the 965M chipset, 160GB HDD, and preferably with integrated video (he's not much, if at all of a gamer).

I've been thinking about the Dell Latitude D430, or Latitude D830. Any other models I should look in that fit the 15"/C2D/5lbs/965 chipset requirement?

[Know Nuttin]

Alright my bros laptop took a spill over the weekend and he has $400 to use on one now. I don't plan on buying new as I can get a much better deal on a used one then on some $400 Best Buy special.

I plan on running Win 7 RC for a while with only 2GB of RAM, then installing the final release of Win 7 as well as upgrading to 4GB of RAM at that point.

So what I'm looking for is a model with a 15" or smaller display, Intel C2D based, 5 lbs or less, based on the 965M chipset, 160GB HDD, and preferably with integrated video (he's not much, if at all of a gamer).

I've been thinking about the Dell Latitude D430, or Latitude D830. Any other models I should look in that fit the 15"/C2D/5lbs/965 chipset requirement?

D430 uses 945PM chipset, and 1.8" HDD's. Doesn't match what you say you want.

You might end up looking in the Dell outlet? they should ha ve some that will meet what you want.

15"/5lb isn't all that common though. 14" and 5lb, not a problem though.

[ou_phidelt]

It looks like I may need to send my notebook in for repair and have been looking into the same price bracket for a temp while its gone. After a bit of looking around the HP NC6400 can be had for dirt cheap on ebay. You can get a C2D, 1GB RAM, WIFI G, Bluetooth, and Gigabit for less than $400. Looking at a few reviews the build quality seems to be quite solid which is to be expected as a business model. I am a Dell fan but this guy is more for the money than the used 6X0s offer.

[Know Nuttin]

It looks like I may need to send my notebook in for repair and have been looking into the same price bracket for a temp while its gone. After a bit of looking around the HP NC6400 can be had for dirt cheap on ebay. You can get a C2D, 1GB RAM, WIFI G, Bluetooth, and Gigabit for less than $400. Looking at a few reviews the build quality seems to be quite solid which is to be expected as a business model. I am a Dell fan but this guy is more for the money than the used 6X0s offer.

The Dell 630 is a better buy still, price notwithstanding. You can swap out wireless NIC if you so desire without having to search for one specifically for HP (bios locked). You also get the 965 chipset which can support 8gb of ram. 945 can't do the full 4GB regardless of OS, it's a chipset limitation, you'll get 3.5 approx. This HP is more comparable to the 620, hardware wise. Build quality, is different, both are solid, depends on the finish you prefer.