Looking for a laptop for my GF (general usage, probably no games)

[rezoacken]

Hello,

I'm currently looking for a laptop for my GF from 400 to 500$. She only uses it for movies (a lot) and university stuff so I think there should be good deals in this price range for that kind of usage.

However, I'm coming to you because I like to get any advice on the subject (I'm more of a desktop PC kind of guy so laptops is really not my field). I want something solid (as in not-cheap-plastic that breaks easy), something quite clean out of the box (no tons of garbage software already installed), on win7. I think you get the idea, I usually build my desktops myself and love to have something as clean as possible.

As for specs, she needs something decently fast for general usage (her current laptop takes 10min to boot and cannot run more than 2 basic applications at the same time without heavy lags) so I'll let you chose a CPU and would like 4G RAM at least.
She needs a large HDD (500G+) and a dvd-burner. A HDMI port and the computer should have no problem running two screens (laptop screen + TV screen with movie).
Since she doesn't play any games and dont want to invest too much money, a real GPU seems not needed.

17 inch would be pretty sick too :O

Thank you for any answers

[Jinto]

Look at the Dell or Lenovo Outlet. Dell Outlet has a 25% off coupon right now: SC1NP?80L4H6CG. Refurbs from both have full factory warranty and the vast majority of the time are unopened customer returns so you can get some amazing deals. I recently bought a Lenovo Thinkpad Edge 530 for $300 (i3 2.3Ghz, 4GB RAM, 320GB HDD) after tax shipped from the Lenovo outlet and has been quite happy with it. Easily powerful enough to fulfill your needs and the build quality is solid and it feels more durable (if I drop it etc) than my MacBook Pro which costs 8x the price -.-".

An example:

Doh someone bought this one already but the site restock periodically and there are others like it.

http://outlet.us.dell.com/ARBOnlineS...&puid=f3548e2a

Inspiron 17R - N7110 $429-25% = $322

Diamond Black
Processor: Intel Core 2nd Generation i5-2450M Processor (2.4GHz,3MB Cache)
Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium
Dell Outlet Inspiron 17R - N7110 Laptop
750 GB SATA Hard Drive (5400RPM)
6 GB DDR3 SDRAM 1333MHz (2 DIMMs)
8X DVD +/- RW Drive
Integrated Intel HD Graphics 3000 with up to 1.6 GB Dynamic Video Memory
17.3 inch High Definition (1600 x 900) LED Display with TrueLife
6 Cell Primary Battery, 48W
Intel Centrino Wireless-N 1030
Integrated Webcam
English keyboard
65W AC Adapter
125V Power Cord
Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64-Bit Operating System DVD
Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit Service Pack 1
Microsoft Office Starter – reduced functionality Word & Excel w/ads & no PowerPoint or Outlook

[rezoacken]

Thanks for the tip I'm looking into it, it ships to canada ?

[inux94]

You're going to have to use the Canadian site.

[Jinto]

Don't think Dell or Lenovo or any other large PC manufacturer has a Canada outlet sorry