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Oak point clubs: we have plenty of room for your pictures and announcements! See Clubs for more information.

The other day I was talking to someone at the gym and we got on to computers, and traveling, and he said "We don't have a laptop". As the preceding conversation seemed to indicate that he would like to have a laptop computer, I asked "Why?"

He made the motion of rubbing imaginary money between his fingers.

Before I go any farther, yes, you certainly can spend a lot of money on a laptop. The one I am using right now runs about $2,400.00 and there are even more expensive models. But my business is computers, so I need a lot more in a machine than you probably do: you don't even need to spend $500.00 for a perfectly good, brand spanking new laptop today. And of course if you are willing to buy used, you can get down to a couple of hundred bucks - or get a pretty high quality machine for that $500 range.

For example, used IBM Thinkpads start under $500.00. These can be a really good deal.

For brand new machines, Dell has quite a few laptops under $600.00. Some are Linux based but even their low-end Windows is under $500.00.

Of course you can get even lower on Ebay. Here's a hint for getting the best deal there: look for auctions that are closing at around the same time as major sports events or when popular TV shows are on - there will be less people bidding, so you have more chance of winniing with a low bid.

If you can afford a computer at all, you can afford a laptop.