If You Had $300 To Spend On A Laptop...

The things are going to a Mexican friend. The family does not speak a word of English. Also the $600 limit applies $300 each. This is sounding like it's a little over my head - non replaceable batteries. A 300 dollar laptop costs 550 dollars down here. Well at least I am happy with an old Gateway :)
A neat external disk got me addicted to an HBO British series "called Strike Back". (3rd season?). Wish there was more. The Gateway is chock full of Data Sheets, White Papers, formulae, schematics, and lazy tools for calculations. But in a year amd a half the hard drive filled 8.7 Gb. Lots of room left even though storage capacity is 1.7 Gb. Only 2 Gb.3

RoyB wrote:

RLS7201 wrote:
One caveat about HP & Dell LTs is there 3 wire power supply. You can NOT use an aftermarket power supply with them. I like running a after market DC-DC power supply in the MH. With a HP or Dell, you'll need to fire up an inverter when off grid.

Richard

My DC requirement for my DELL INSPIRON 17R5737 is 19.5VDC @ 3.3A and uses a standard round DC connector with center pin on the DC output cable that plugs into the laptop.

The DELL 6TM1C external Transformer does have a three wire connection to 120VAC which I assume is two 120VAC wires and a ground connection... The DC output from this transformer uses a long cable with a standard size round DC connector that plugs into the laptop.

To run from an external DC Power Supply would only require the round standard DC connector plug and a +19.5VDC @ 3.34DC Amps capacity????

I don't see any problem running this laptop using an external DC power supply that would have 19.5VDC @ 3.34A capacity available.

I don't think I understand your comment about the three wire connection...

Roy Ken

Look closely, at the DC connector, there is a outer shell and inner shell that carries the power to the LT. HP/Dell LTs look for a coded signal on the small pin in the center. When the coded signal is not present, the LT will function but the battery will not charge. Now you know.


Richard

look at refurbs, like the ones in the PM I sent you. Best bang for the buck as long as you aren't looking for cutting edge tech.

RLS7201 Richard... Thanks for the info... I will check that out... First glance just looks like one of the standard round DC Connectors...

I'm all setup with Power Inverters for charging things when off grid but nice to know how things really works....

Thanks again for the info...

Roy Ken

I "inherited" a low end HP laptop. It only had 4GB of memory, so I upgraded it to 8 GB (which is the max). I also upgraded Win 8 to Win 10. The thing is a DOG and I don't do much more than "surf the web" and email.

If you are on a tight budget, find a 2 or 3 year old used machine and install Linux Mint.

I bought a $200. Dell laptop: THIS ONE from the NewEgg Outlet Store
The outlet deals come and go. The Dell I bought was a good competent machine for a 12-year-old.
(Actually, I could have used it myself and was a little bit envious.)
The price was actually $179. or so (I forgot exactly)
It was "refurbished". On close inspection the only sign of use was some very light small scratches near the USB outlet on it.

NewEgg is a good store. I've bought from them for years. Hope that they ship to Mehheco.

As for "gaming" - I'd bet that the kids use "free" games - just no money for the really good games that demand high-end computers.

Yeah..x2 on the game's

With that modem connection at the store, the kids are not going to be playing
Call of duty, Warcraft etc..

Laptops, notebooks etc... Are going to be used on the table etc..
And not carried around and dropped like what might happen with a tablet
Also play games with a mouse, not finger taps on the screen

How old are these grandsons?

That is also a factor in choice

RLS7201 wrote:
One caveat about HP & Dell LTs is there 3 wire power supply. You can NOT use an aftermarket power supply with them. I like running a after market DC-DC power supply in the MH. With a HP or Dell, you'll need to fire up an inverter when off grid.

Richard

I've had 3 HP laptops and 2 Dells that all had the ability to run off a 12V power supply that was available. same plug as the HP, just a 12V input to the charger instead of 120V. In fact two of the HP's had chargers that accepted either 12V or 120V inputs.

RLS7201 wrote:

RoyB wrote:

RLS7201 wrote:
One caveat about HP & Dell LTs is there 3 wire power supply. You can NOT use an aftermarket power supply with them. I like running a after market DC-DC power supply in the MH. With a HP or Dell, you'll need to fire up an inverter when off grid.

Richard

My DC requirement for my DELL INSPIRON 17R5737 is 19.5VDC @ 3.3A and uses a standard round DC connector with center pin on the DC output cable that plugs into the laptop.

The DELL 6TM1C external Transformer does have a three wire connection to 120VAC which I assume is two 120VAC wires and a ground connection... The DC output from this transformer uses a long cable with a standard size round DC connector that plugs into the laptop.

To run from an external DC Power Supply would only require the round standard DC connector plug and a +19.5VDC @ 3.34DC Amps capacity????

I don't see any problem running this laptop using an external DC power supply that would have 19.5VDC @ 3.34A capacity available.

I don't think I understand your comment about the three wire connection...

Roy Ken

Look closely, at the DC connector, there is a outer shell and inner shell that carries the power to the LT. HP/Dell LTs look for a coded signal on the small pin in the center. When the coded signal is not present, the LT will function but the battery will not charge. Now you know.


Richard

my current two HP's and one Lenova have the connector your talking about and I have 12V aftermarket power supplies for all of them that work great. Charges battery, runs the laptop. Just make sure the unit is spec'd for the laptop you have. I've bought all the 12V chargers off amazon.

ktmrfs wrote:

RLS7201 wrote:
One caveat about HP & Dell LTs is there 3 wire power supply. You can NOT use an aftermarket power supply with them. I like running a after market DC-DC power supply in the MH. With a HP or Dell, you'll need to fire up an inverter when off grid.

Richard

I've had 3 HP laptops and 2 Dells that all had the ability to run off a 12V power supply that was available. same plug as the HP, just a 12V input to the charger instead of 120V. In fact two of the HP's had chargers that accepted either 12V or 120V inputs.

I sit corrected. It was only Dells that had the unique power supply
See LINK.

Richard