[JLK85]

I know this site is designed for tech support, but I was hoping I could get some quick advice on buying a laptop.

I've found an eMachine EME2501915 laptop for $250 at electronic express. Are emachines good products? I only want it for very basic use, mainly surfing the web. The specs are:

10.1", 1.60GHz Intel® Atom™ N270, 1GB Ram, 160GB Hard Drive, Windows XP Home

Please, any help would be...um, very helpful. Thanks:)

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That is NOT a laptop. It is a netbook and whether netbooks are any good or not is up to personal preference. But I can tell you that virtually anyone looking to buy a cheap laptop generally is disappointed in the performance of netbooks.

Understand the term "laptop" and "notebook" essentially means the same thing but there is a low-key push to stop using the term "laptop" because they should never be used on your lap, or bed, rug, or any other soft surface that does not allow cooling air to flow underneath. And so notebook is the preferred term by many in the industry. But again, a netbook should not be confused with a notebook.

eMachines is the budget line from Gateway, which is now a division of Acer. eMachines don't have the best reliability record.

[Digerati]

That is NOT a laptop. It is a netbook and whether netbooks are any good or not is up to personal preference. But I can tell you that virtually anyone looking to buy a cheap laptop generally is disappointed in the performance of netbooks.

Understand the term "laptop" and "notebook" essentially means the same thing but there is a low-key push to stop using the term "laptop" because they should never be used on your lap, or bed, rug, or any other soft surface that does not allow cooling air to flow underneath. And so notebook is the preferred term by many in the industry. But again, a netbook should not be confused with a notebook.

eMachines is the budget line from Gateway, which is now a division of Acer. eMachines don't have the best reliability record.

[JLK85]

Um, right, this isn't a laptop. I was just doing some research while I was waiting for a reply and found that out. So, about netbooks; if the only function I want out of it is to surf the web, is it worth the money? I realize that's dependent on my expectations for it. I just want it to load webpages at a decent speed and to stream music and videos without any trouble. Is that feasible for a netbook?

[Digerati]

Load webpages? Yes. Stream music? Maybe. Stream video? I doubt it. Someone else with experience in that area will have to comment.