Cheap Netbooks Under 100
You can find cheap netbooks under $100 along with affordable netbook accessories and we can show you where to look. I bet you think $100 seems too low, and you are wondering what kind of device you can get for this price. Actually, it is a pretty good starting point to get hold of an affordable netbook that adequately fulfills your computing needs. By the time you finish reading this guide, you will know how to evaluate the options through a step-by-step process and find the best netbooks under $100. It will be simple and easy, and as long as you follow the instructions, you will end up with a value buy – an affordable netbook worth a lot more than what you paid for it.
Consumers tend to want the latest model as soon as it hits the market, but that may not always be a practical approach. There are good reasons why you should hold back or look for better netbooks. Allow me to explain. New netbook models based on the latest technology often have hardware issues and bugs, because manufacturers rush to launch a product before the competition. Less time is spent on testing and feedback, and the hurried launch in effect turns early adopters into beta testers. When they release a second edition of the same model after a year or so, all the problems are eliminated and it usually costs less.
But even this may not be the right solution. While a shiny new netbook would be nice to have, that’s not going to be possible on a budget. For example, students use netbooks to take notes in class, post Facebook updates, join Q & A info-sessions or even to do and turn in their homework. The netbook gets rough treatment, banged around in a backpack, moving from home to school, bounced on the bus, and thrown on the floor. The lifespan of a typical student’s netbook is probably half that of what it would be under normal circumstances. You do not want to spend $500 on a netbook for school, when it is only going to last 12-18 months max. You’d be better off buying cheap netbooks under $100. Think about it – go for affordable netbooks under $100, and you could have a different netbook each year of high school and it would still be cheaper all put together than buying one brand new netbook.
Ah, now the light dawns and I can see that you think there might be some merits to this cheap netbook purchase idea. So let’s move on and learn how to find these bad puppies. You basically have three major options to buy cheap netbooks under $100.
Cheap Netbooks Under $100 Option #1:
You can find new netbooks under $100, but this is not like your typical shopping spree at a local retail store. Of course, it doesn’t hurt to try. Ask the sales people if there are any floor models available. Sometimes you can get a great deal by buying the floor samples, because right about the time when new models come out, retail stores swap out older floor sample models. You could give one of the sales reps your contact info and ask them to contact you when new floor samples come up for sale. Another option is to look for clearance deals or going-out-of-business sales. When Best Buy was going out of business, my local store was offering huge discounts at over 50% off and in some cases more than 70% off. For a $250 netbook you would only pay $75 plus tax at 70% off. The third option is to open a credit card at the retail store. Many times you can get a discount of up to 25% off on your purchase if you open a store credit card. Just make sure they don’t exclude electronics in the deal. That said, despite these options, finding a netbook under $100 at your local retail store is going to be difficult. Sometimes you will find netbooks sold at a significant discount from online retailers such as frys.com or newegg.com.
To encourage people to purchase goods online, many retail stores offer online only discounts that are not available at their retail shops. They do this for several reasons, but mostly it is because it reduces overheads and removes geographical boundaries. The best online sales can typically be found on special dates, such as Black-Friday or Cyber-Monday.
On eBay you can find cheap netbooks under $100 from various online resellers. Typically, these are Chinese products – cheap knock-offs shipped through Hong Kong or Singapore. First, they are never as good as the original brand and there will be serious issues with these netbooks. They use brand-names without any authority to do so, and use inferior parts while they’re at it. These cheap components will fry and cook the netbook the first time you push it really hard. It certainly won’t be able to bear hard knocks or a bumpy ride in a backpack. Some may even have Chinese software instead of the authentic English one that you thought would be in it. A defective or unusable netbook like this is hardly a value buy. Also, you can hardly expect to send back something you’re not satisfied with to an overseas supplier.
The better alternative is to buy a netbook from an American or European supplier after it has gone through a quality refurbishing process, from a seller with high ratings. At the very least you can return defective products or have a better chance at disputing it with an online retailer from the US or UK. In a future post, we may teach you how to order an overseas netbook from dropshippers safely and end up happy about the purchase.
Cheap Netbooks Under $100 Option #2:
This brings us to the second option, which is refurbished netbooks under $100. A refurbished netbook goes through a rigorous process of cleaning and testing to make sure it meets the company’s quality and performance standards. Netbook manufacturers take back a lot of netbooks under a 30-day return policy, fix whatever needs fixing, clean it up and put it back out as a refurbished netbook. You can find these refurbished netbooks directly from the manufacturer, or at amazon.com or ebay.com and sometimes even on craigslist.com. If you can find a box-packed refurbished netbook, this is probably your best bet to buy a “new netbook” while still keeping it a value buy. Keep an eye out for a post where I review some popular refurbished netbook retailers and give you my recommendations.
Cheap Netbooks Under $100 Option #3:
The third and clearly the most versatile option is to buy used cheap netbooks under $100. With a refurbished notebook you are more likely to be buying from a manufacturer or a reputable online wholesaler of refurbished netbooks. They buy large quantities of netbooks such as retail store returns or at university auctions, refurbish the products and sell it at an acceptable margin. You pay less than what a new model would cost, and have nothing much to worry about because it’s been comprehensively “refurbished” by the seller. But with a used netbook, you will need to be more informed about what you are looking for. You will be buying from individuals that are looking to get rid of a used netbook, for whatever reason. Of course, it could be they need the money or do not need a netbook anymore, or they want to upgrade to something different.
Sometimes, unfortunately, you will find people trying to sell their netbooks when it starts to show signs of a problem. This is an attempt to get some value out of ther netbook before it falls apart. You want to avoid these types of sellers. Also, a used netbook is never properly evaluated or cleaned the way refurbished netbooks are, so even if the seller is completely honest, they may be unaware of potential problems. This is why it is critically important to exercise due diligence when buying a used netbook.
You will find an easy to download used netbook evaluation checklist here, or on the resources page. You can use this checklist when you meet with the seller to evaluate their used netbook, assuming the seller is local. With a used netbook, you could either score a fantastic deal from someone just looking to get rid of a slightly used netbook or you could get ripped off if you are not careful and do not know what to look out for. Check back with us as we venture out and evaluate real used netbooks and show you how we go through the checklist in an upcoming post or video.
Now, before you go buying yourself a new netbook, I strongly recommend you evaluate what features you need and more specifically what you do not need. With expensive netbooks, you are paying more for less weight, a powerful processor, more memory and hard drive storage space, a high-res screen, state of the art surround sound stereo speakers, a card reader, multiple USB ports, a solid warranty, pre-installed software, and other bells and whistles. You need to decide what is important to you and since you are looking for an affordable option, you are going to have to sacrifice some of the functionality.
For example, if you are looking for a netbook to easily project PowerPoint presentations during business meetings, then you are going to definitely need a VGA output, but you do not need a high-end graphics card because you are projecting it on the screen through a projector. In addition, you probably will not need a card reader or high-quality speakers. In fact, you probably do not need a high-resolution screen or any of the other fancy features listed above. If you are a student and your main goal is to have a netbook to simply type notes in class or to check your e-mail, then again you do not need any of the optional features. In another post we will discuss what features are important for specific netbook functions to give you a better idea of what you need, but most importantly, what you do not need in a netbook. Keep an eye out on the resources page for that update.
In addition to helping you find inexpensive netbooks under $100, I want this to be a well-rounded resource for all of your netbook needs. I have a section in the works that will help you to tweak your recently purchased netbook so you can boost its performance. For example, every netbook on the market today comes with a full scale package of useless software, trialware, and bloatware that sucks up a lot of the limited resources. I am going to show you how to remove all that stuff safely and make your machine run fast and more efficiently. Make sure to bookmark this website and check back for new features, new resources, netbook model reviews, and innovative tips and tricks to improve the user experience. If you have any questions or concerns, feel free to contact me using the contact page. I am always open for suggestions and improvements.
Good luck and happy netbooking!