Emergency Laptop replacement!

[Mordy]

Ok- I thought I posted this earlier today, but it looks like it never went up...

I need some help here, guys.
I've had a great laptop (touch-screen convertible tablet with 2Ghz Core 2 Duo) for the last 2 years that I recently found out was not water proof... the hard way.
I removed the battery and let it dry under some moderate heat lamps for nearly a day, but it just won't boot. So, its about time for a new one anyway I suppose-
But here's the problem: It couldn't have happened at a worse time for me. Before Rosh Hashana, I'm trying to make sure I don't owe anyone any money from earlier in the year, and it turns out I have a lot less money left than I thought now. But I rely on having a laptop from time to time, and my wife's netbook isn't nearly powerful enough for what I need to do (a lot of video encoding).

So, I'm wondering if anyone out here can help me find a CHEAP laptop with at least a 2.0Ghz core2? The RAM and HD aren't as important to me- I need the raw CPU speed for the work I'm doing more than anything else. Of course, ram and a nice HD wouldn't hurt, but since I'm trying to be as budget conscious as possible, I can cut back on anything but the CPU.

Any suggestions?

[Dan]

What's your budget?
Size Preference?

[Mordy]

What's your budget?
Size Preference?

Honestly, the budget is kind of non-existent at the moment (such bad timing), so I'm going to have to be creative in how I pay for it...

If I can find something for around $500, that would be ideal, but obviously the less the better.

Ideally, whatever I'm going to spend money on now would have to at least be comparable in spec if not better than what I had- Most importantly, the CPU.
My old machine had a core 2 duo 2.0Ghz, 15.4" screen, 2GB Ram and 80GB HD. This was plenty for encoding video off an external HD. I actually don't care if I ditch the touch-screen tablet part of it- I actually broke the pen 6 months ago and found I didn't even use it enough to care.
(Touch screens are totally overrated in my opinion).

Oh, and I should add that I paid about $600 for that machine nearly 2 years ago when this was considered seriously high end. So, that's the sort of deal I'm used to. I know, beggars can't be choosers, but I figured its worth a try to see what's out there.

[Dan]

Handpicked for you Mordy:
http://www.dansdeals.com/archives/5475

[Mordy]

thanks, dan!

I was a little too late reading your follow up- but no matter, they were good deals but still outside my budget until after all the holidays now.

I ended up getting a more powerful machine for far less on the dell outlet:
Studio 15 (love the super bright display and 720p HDMI output option)
Core 2 Duo T6500 (2.1Ghz) - this is the single most important part of the configuration for me
4 GB Ram
320GB HD
2.0Mpix webcam
DVDRW
Vista 64 (Ok, not a Vista fan, but I need a 64bit OS if I'm going to use all 4 Gig. Apparently I'll be able to upgrade to Win7 free as well).

The price?
$479
Free shipping.

Awesome.

[Dan]

Great price indeed, but I'm not a fan of refurb Dell's and you don't get credit card protection on a refurb...hope you have better luck than I did!

[Mordy]

Yeah, that was a concern of mine as well.
However, the first time I bought from them, it was a "scratch and dent" desktop to replace an HP almost 3 years ago- and I'm still using it as my primary desktop today (bli ayin hara). Only thing I found possibly wrong with it, is that the DVD drive wasn't screwed in all the way (so when you push the eject button, it actually moves inward a little). Not a big deal at all. I asked a friend of mine who bought a lattitude laptop from the outlet if it was ok- also had good results.

Could be we were the only two odd positive stories, but I haven't really heard any bad ones yet honestly, so I'm going to try my luck. It comes with the same warranty from Dell that a new machine does, so I'm protected in all the same ways. Only advantage would be the credit card protection I suppose, but I think anything major that happens now will be covered under the first year from Dell anyway.
And after a year if something isn't going right, maybe I'll want to upgrade anyway. At this price, I can afford to more often!