About 10 years ago I bought a non-budget laptop that I could claim on my income tax. The audio and video were much better quality than the 2014 budget laptop I am using now. The real deal breaker to not fixing the older computer again was that I could only type on Skype. The other person could not see me and I could not talk.
The problem with computer reviews is that they are often on a different model of computer, and earlier version or a different configuration, like a higher speed CPU.
Computers seem to be priced by the RAM and the CPU. The cheapest ones have 2MB RAM or less and Celeron or Pentium processors.They tend to have 11 inch screens. I personally think 4MB should be the minimum allowed because the software uses up most of the 2MB RAM.
There were some good deals before Black Friday. An Acer Aspire E15 ES1 was $270 at Future Shop before Black Friday. There were a couple of $199 computers in Staples but I think they were reconditioned. Lenovo's pricing is all over the place and someone should keep track of them and others with a spread sheet.
For example a Dell doorbuster for Black Friday was $229 for a Inspiron 15 3000 series a $70 savings. The current Christmas sale says the regular price is $488 and the sale price is $429. The Inspiron 11 3000 series tablet was a $429 doorbuster at $70 dollars off. The Christmas sale has it at $479 for a $59 saving, and so on.
