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An exchange student here wants to take his Dad a laptop back to Brazil. They cost about 2.5 times as much there. He has to pay 27% duty for anything over $500.
He had an Acer picked out at Wal-Mart with 1 GB RAM, 120 HD and a DVD burner. I don't know the screen size for $700, I believe.
His Dad is a banker and that's all I know about what his needs might be.
What do y'all recommend these days between $500 and $1000?
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Get a refurbished MacBook - that's the ticket... Do not let him take nary 'Doze machine back!
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There are going to be quite a few laptops on Black Friday for under $500. It might be worth scrimping on the features to avoid the duty (if $499.99 not including tax qualifies). The BF deals all seem to have AMD processors from a quick look.
For something around $800, I would try to get a Core 2 Duo, DVD-RW, and make sure it can take 4 GB of RAM.
I will bet he could make money selling Apple refurbs if there is such a premium for computers. It might be tough getting warranty coverage though.
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He doesn't want to consider a Mac.
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[quote Dennis S]He doesn't want to consider a Mac.
Dennis, Dennis, do a little evangelizing, man...
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Best laptop on the PC side is still the ThinkPad IMHO. I abuse a TP all day at work and they just don't quit, plus they have the best KB, bar none (again, IMHO). You might find a nice used one around $500 that could meet his needs - or not. Can't tell what he needs from your description.
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olnacl has it right, I work on all the major brands and the ThinkPad is king, they are built like tanks have legendary reliability. There is a reason the major companies with large numbers of laptops to support choose the ThinkPad line.
