[smiley04]

Hello,
I am looking for a relatively cheap laptop (<=$200) for a student. It has to be able to run Microsoft Word, some Instant Messengers, etc. I need an opinion on this laptop here on whether it will be acceptable for a university student:

COMPAQ ARMADA M300 LAPTOP NOTEBOOK
ULTRA-THIN 3LBS, 1"THICK
COMES WITH DOCKING STATION WITH
CD-ROM AND 1.44 FLOPPY DRIVE.
128Mb MEMORY , 6GB HARD DRIVE NO COVER
WINDOWS XP-PROFESSIONAL W/SP1 PRE-INSTALLED
INTEL PENTIUM-II 333MHZ CPU
SMALL BUT VERY NICE AND CLEAN SCREEN SVGA.
AC-ADAPTER INCLUDED
10/100 BUILT-IN ETHERNET FOR NETWORK OR HIGH SPEED INTERNET
PORTS: 2 USB, KEYBOARD,MOUSE,PRINTER, EXTERNAL MONITOR, ETC.

I can currently get this for $190.00. Is this a good deal?

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smiley.

Not sure why you are posting this in this forum so I don't know how to respond to this, because this is such a low-end machine that I am leary of saying yes.

The m300 was a good machine for it's time, and the equipment your getting makes this an acceptable deal and it will do some basic computering for you.

Heres' the problem...

Winxp professional on this machine will be PAINFUL.

I assume you neeed xp pro because of university requirements, as many universities require it for hooking into their networks. For a win98 machine, this would be adequate.

Those are the absolute, bare minimum specs for a windows xp machine--meaning the computer will run, but you will die waiting for it to boot up and load windows.

WinXp in the real world requires 256mb of ram and no less than a pII-450, and adding an extra 256mb of ram to that would be adviseable with that kind of machine.

And college students, despite what they say when they ask for a laptop, always end up playing games and requiring a lot more oomph.

I can tell you're on a tight budget and I appreciate that, but if Windows XP is the requirement, I would say you're going to have to pass.

[gerryf]

smiley.

Not sure why you are posting this in this forum so I don't know how to respond to this, because this is such a low-end machine that I am leary of saying yes.

The m300 was a good machine for it's time, and the equipment your getting makes this an acceptable deal and it will do some basic computering for you.

Heres' the problem...

Winxp professional on this machine will be PAINFUL.

I assume you neeed xp pro because of university requirements, as many universities require it for hooking into their networks. For a win98 machine, this would be adequate.

Those are the absolute, bare minimum specs for a windows xp machine--meaning the computer will run, but you will die waiting for it to boot up and load windows.

WinXp in the real world requires 256mb of ram and no less than a pII-450, and adding an extra 256mb of ram to that would be adviseable with that kind of machine.

And college students, despite what they say when they ask for a laptop, always end up playing games and requiring a lot more oomph.

I can tell you're on a tight budget and I appreciate that, but if Windows XP is the requirement, I would say you're going to have to pass.