Which brand of laptop has a very good quality but cheap in price?

Acer and Asus. (confusing, i know, but unrelated.)

Dell is the most dominant in the on-line market here (Australia) and has the best service and backup if you travel, but possibly dealing through a local computer specialist might be a better option if you remain local.

I don’t know whether they would have them in your vicinity, but we have outlets for “refurbished” ex government computers at very good prices. The Government renews their systems every two or three years.

I would have never guessed it but I am actually very pleased with my Gateway and I only paid $600 for 4GB memory 320GB hard drive.

Actually, if your dad really wants a Dell, I would buy a refurbished one through Discount Electronics in Austin, Texas. All the secondhanders I have bought through them have worked just fine, but my brand-spang new and expensive Dell Inspiron E1505 was a boat anchor from the beginning.

You’re not really going to go wrong with buying from one of the major players. Dell, HP, Gateway, etc. They’re all pretty much the same. You just have to search around for a deal.

Definitely re-furbished Dell. I got a $400 close-out Lenovo and it has a known glitch that can’t be fixed.

Compaq has worked out great for me.

I have an Acer mini netbook and I love it. It’s sooo portable and good quality. Hasn’t given me any trouble whatsoever and was inexpensive.

Acer makes pretty good budget notebooks. Just stay away from Gateway. They are crap.

@AstroChuck I wouldn’t be so sure of that, my Gateway is great.

You know, you should get whatever brand you want. A certain computer can be great for someone and terrible for another. AstroChuck says Acers are great and Gateways suck, well my Gateway is awesome and I’ve heard that Acers are crap. Kheredia is happy with her Compaq yet I always heard they weren’t very good. It all depends on what you choose, and how it works for you.

Anything has the potential to be crap, especially a production-line computer. I’ve seen both good and bad Dells, Gateways, HPs, etc., etc.

The reason I mentioned Acer and Asus is that their philosophy fits the OP’s initial requests, not because every machine they’ve ever made was flawless.

@pdworkin is exactly right, even the best computer could crap out on you. There is no such thing as a perfect brand.

Apple’s MacBooks are of excellent quality, and cheap in price, relative to the crap one gets from these other recommendations.

MacBooks are cheap? HA!

I’ve been buying (and servicing) laptop computers for family members and acquaintances for years, all around the $400 price range. From my experience, the Acer laptops look nice and work well, but the build quality isn’t quite so good; the keyboards and LCD have a bit of flex, the hinges are okay, not great, and they generally seem to break down quicker. The HP and Compaq laptops (same company, different imprint) tend to be of higher build quality, though more expensive by about $50—$100. For the extra year or two of service you’ll get from it, I think it’s worth the extra premium.

I haven’t purchased a Dell in years. Back when I used to buy them, they were of excellent quality, though reviews I’ve read online claim that the build quality has gone down significantly in the past few years.

Before buying any laptop, I would suggest trying to find the exact model you’re looking to purchase on http://notebookreview.com.

@pdworkin‘s answer! My old roommate got that new asus one. It was $900 and it’s uber sick. I was insanely envious.

I have an Asus. It’s almost 3 years old and I’ve never had any problems worth mentioning. Woot woot!

@frdelrosario Macbooks cheap? Really? I don’t think so, they wouldn’t have a macbook that’s in the price range of $600 to $700 do they? :/

@xTheDreamer You could check Craig’s List, but then it might have been stolen.

I recently purchased a Toshiba A355 Satellite laptop and it is excellent. I know it isn’t a mainstream computer brand name such as Dell or Gateway or Compaq or HP but I’ve owned Toshiba products for years and they have all been outstanding.

Toshibas have a reputation for being great notebooks but they aren’t that cheap in price; at least not compared to Acer or HP.

If you can stomach a little lack of response and lack of an optical drive, go with a netbook. Just about any flavor, they’re all sharing common parts now, you should be able to get for $300. For a father I can’t stress enough getting him a support contract. Takes the load off you if it goes bad, which they all do once in a while. I have a Lenovo S10e, but I have customers that love Asus netbooks. You can hook it up to any monitor, including the big screen TV. Toss in a wireless keyboard/rollerball and you have a couch-surfers dream. Mine even does video well to my 42” Samsung. I have a high tolerance for cobbling stuff together though :)

If he wants an all-in-one device I’d go Acer or Lenovo. I’ve sold both brands to family members and the 15” models come in a variety of flavors. Make sure to get Win 7 though, don’t get scammed.

quality and cheap are MUTUALLY EXCLUSIVE