I was visiting my son in Madison yesterday when we happened to see a 
Lenovo G505 for $286 at Best Buy.  It was the floor model, but we bought 
it.  It seems to fit the bill: 4GB RAM, 500GB HDD, HDMI, USB 3.0., DVD±RW 
but no Bluetooth.  It comes with Windows 8 and I guess it can run Linux 
really well.

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/15.6%22+Laptop+-+4GB+Memory+-+500GB+Hard+Drive/9130065.p

Thanks for recommending Lenovo.  Now I just hope the battery is still 
really good.  It looked like it was in perfect condition.

Mike


On Fri, 23 Aug 2013, Mike Miller wrote:

> Thanks for this advice.  I mostly don't like the machines at Costco, either. 
> But two years ago I bought a little Acer laptop for my daughter, then four 
> years old, with 4GB RAM, 500GB HDD and very long battery life for only $250. 
> She has been using it all the time since then.  It still works great.  I 
> bought three Seagate 3TB external USB3 drives at Costco last year for $100 
> each.  When they have a good deal, it's hard to beat.
>
> The thing that concerns me with buying used laptops is that the batteries 
> often don't work well, so then I need a battery and they are expensive. We'd 
> like to get a machine that has HDMI out, but the Lenovo T500 seems to have 
> some other kind of HD output that needs an adaptor to get HDMI, but it 
> doesn't carry the audio.  I'll still be considering the T500, so thanks!
>
> Mike
>
>
> On Thu, 22 Aug 2013, whjwhj wrote:
>
>> I've played around with the machines I've seen at Costco and many of them 
>> seem cheap. Particularly the keyboards. Soft, bouncy, squishy keyboards. 
>> Also, I keep my eye on screen resolution, particularly on the least 
>> expensive machines. They might have what appears to be a nice 14" or 15" 
>> display but then the resolution maxes out at 1380x768 or so. They can do so 
>> much better. 1400x900 and up is good. I personally can not stand the glossy 
>> reflective displays which so many of the machines have these days 
>> (including, alas, Apple).
>> 
>> My last three Linux machine purchases have all been used Lenovo Thinkpad 
>> machines and I've been absolutely delighted with them. It's clear Lenovo 
>> (formerly IBM) is very much focused on durability, particularly on their 
>> business class machines. And the keyboards are excellent.
>> 
>> They all run Linux just fine for me and appear to be a popular choice for 
>> Linux users in general.
>> 
>> Lenovo has an outlet store with some good deals:
>> 
>> http://outlet.lenovo.com/
>> 
>> I've gotten all three of mine from Craigslist and they've all been fine 
>> performers. I bought a new battery for one and I've been upgrading RAM and 
>> installing SSD drives periodically to give them a little extra bump.
>> 
>> e.g., This machine here looks very nice. Good screen resolution at 
>> 1680x1050. Add more RAM perhaps and maybe an SSD or a larger HDD to replace 
>> the 160GB that's in there and you're set. (Although this machine might be a 
>> bit heavy for a student's backpack.)
>> 
>> http://minneapolis.craigslist.org/ram/sys/4000943841.html
>> 
>> I'm fond of the T series and X series machines. I own an X200 and a T420s. 
>> Both these machines are light and portable while offering ample performance 
>> and features for my needs. The T43 I own is a bit heavier and very old and 
>> past it's prime. It still runs perfectly however and I use it regularly for 
>> light duty stuff.
>> 
>> whj
>> 
>> On 08/22/2013 11:14 AM, Mike Miller wrote:
>>> Now is the Back To School season, so maybe it is a bad time to buy.  Is
>>> it better after maybe September 15?  Do we often see sales?
>>> 
>>> I've noticed that when Costco has a good deal, it's a really good deal.
>>> So are any of these good machines?  I'm really interested in the cheaper
>>> ones.  I didn't really like the HP Pavilion I bought last year -- very
>>> weak WiFi, I thought.
>>> 
>>> http://tinyurl.com/l7ywqhx  [costco.com]
>>> 
>>> Are some brands especially good for Linux and some not so good?
>>> 
>>> Mike
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> TCLUG Mailing List - Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota
>>> tclug-list at mn-linux.org
>>> http://mailman.mn-linux.org/mailman/listinfo/tclug-list
>> _______________________________________________
>> TCLUG Mailing List - Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota
>> tclug-list at mn-linux.org
>> http://mailman.mn-linux.org/mailman/listinfo/tclug-list
>> 
>