Yes, I think everything you said was correct. I have no idea if it is going to work out, but it was there and it seemed like to fit the bill. The usual Best Buy price for a new G505 is about $330, so it wasn't as good of a deal as I would have liked. The battery will be a bit worn from use on the floor. After tax I paid $302.77. I also think that Best Buy just finished a sale on 8/22 where it was going for only $300. I do think all of those prices are pretty good, though. Mike On Mon, 26 Aug 2013, whjwhj wrote: > Wow that's some aggressive pricing! What a deal. > > I'm not very familiar with the G series machines. I've stuck with the T > and X series which appear to be more directly descended from the > legendary IBM product lines which Lenovo bought back in 2005. I like > those high resolution matte displays. Not at all sure but I think the G > series is likely more of a regular Chinese "Lenovo" machine. Less IBM, > more Lenovo. > > $286 for a brand new laptop seems like a heck of a bargain though. 500gb > and a big 15.6 inch display. Hope it serves him well. > > Lenovo must be doing something right as they're pretty much the only PC > manufacturer outside of Apple that's actually growing their market > share. > > whj > > On 08/26/2013 10:59 AM, Mike Miller wrote: >> 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 >>>> >>> >> >> >> _______________________________________________ >> 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 >