Not for Woman

The Fujitsu Siemens T5450 is not a particularly attractive laptop, but it is well proportioned with plenty of power. Notable here is the hard drive, which offers 250gb of storage. That’s big enough to store some massive MP3 or jpg collections. Overall the specs seem real strong. Good for man. 

This model has an interesting button dedicated to controlling the on-board fan. This doesn’t turn the fan off, but rather realigns the CPU settings and initiates ’software cooling.’ That will help keep the computer quiet and preserve the battery. Not too sure what all that’s about, but I love extra buttons.

At the time of writing, the Seller had sold 36 of these within the last 30 days and had a garden of good-feedback flowers to show for it.

A Fujitsu Siemens Laptop – 3000rmb

If you just need a good, speedy laptop at the cheapest possible price, this is the one for you. These are originally ‘04 Fujitsu models, but the specs are totally decent even today. It’s got a 100gb hard drive and a 2.4Ghz processor. That’s much better than what I’m running. The tradeoff here is the size: 3.1kilos. That’s heavy. But the price and the power are right, so this is definately a good laptop for the price. 

This bad boy has been reoutfitted to suit today’s discriminating yet impoverished consumer. Besides the big hard drive and speedy processor, it is reported to have internal wireless internet capabilities  Upon purchase of this laptop, you will also be the distinguished owner of a 3.5-inch floppy drive. 

It’s cheap. But is it a good deal?

The proof is in the popularity. At the time of writing, 161 people had bought this model in the last 30 days. That included 66 feedbacks, all positive, with many people prasing the shop’s good attitude. 

A Cheap Laptop – 1400rmb

Turn a Dell into a MacBook 

MacBooks are awesome, but the thought of forking over more than 10,000rmb for the low-end model is just too depressing. But with a little hacking, you can DIY your own ‘hackintosh’ out of a 3,000rmb Dell ultraportable laptop.

What is a hackintosh? It means installing Mac OS on a non-Apple machine. Only certain PC models’ hardware are compatible with Mac OS, and the Dell Mini 9 is reported to be ideal for the conversion. There is a step-by-step tutorial to handling the Mini 9 conversion via Gizmodo. And here is some more info on it. These guides say that the steps to convert the machine are simple and easy to follow. 

First off, these things are tiny. Aesthetically, this little laptop is very similar to something in the MacBook line;  it’s got a nice glossy case. But it is much smaller than anything Apple offers and should be excellent as an ultraportable option. They come in black and white, so be sure to make your preference clear to the Taobao Seller before you buy. Hard drives are also small, at 4, 8, or 16gb. You will need 16gb for the hack to work.

There are several Sellers on Taobao who offer the seven-day unconditional refund guarantee on the Mini 9. I think this is a good idea, as it will give you an easy out if anything just doesn’t feel right. When you get it, test the hell out of it. You won’t have to worry about coverage past 7 days. Because once you hack the OS, you probably forgo any extended warranty. 

Dell Mini 9 – as low as 2900rmb

(link goes to search page, results may vary over time)