Compaq 2590 vs Dell 5100

I've been looking for a good inexpensive laptop for about 2 months now. CompUsa has the Compaq 2590 (Intel Pentium 4 Processor, 2.3GHz, 256MB RAM, 40GB Hard Drive, 15-inch XGA TFT Display, DVD / CD-RW Combo Drive, Windows XP Home Edition) for $799 after rebates and the Dell 5100 is about $950 after rebates and shipping. My question is.....is Dell that much better than Compaq that I should spend the extra $150 or will the Compaq hold up? I will be using it mostly for data entry, photo editing, and some gaming. I also have found some refurbished Dell Laptops in their outlet and was wanting to know if anyone has bought one of the before and what condition it was in. Any suggestions would be appreciated. Looking to spend under $1,000

 

I'd recommend avoiding low-end Compaq notebooks that have been on the market for some time. Compaq support, or rather HPs support for the old Compaq line of products, has been getting bad ratings of late. With Dell you can at least up the warranty and know they'll be supporting the product in the next two years. So yes, I would pay the extra $150 so I could configure it online to your desired specs.

If you're looking to save money, a refurb is an okay way to go as long as you don't mind a product that has been used before. Dell offers the same support and backup their refurbs as being like new so if you want to save cash, go for it.