What cheap laptop Dell 2200 or another

G'day mates, I'm seeking advice on buying a cheap but reliable laptop-notebook (or palm?) PC...

I'm basically looking for an easily transportable unit that I can use away from home for e-mail and contacting web sites to download routine daily data (mostly fairly small text logs and records, and GIF charts). Weight is probably not a big issue as it will usually be transported by car. However, price *is* an issue!

I suspect I'll have to rely on dial-up most places as broadband won't be available. So a built-in modem would be very helpful.

I guess WinXP Home would be the normal O-S on a new machine now (but I wouldn't knock back the Pro version :). I think running XP will require at least 256 MB of RAM(?).

Any size HDD at or over 20 GB should be enough for present purposes; but, as with the O-S, I wouldn't say no to a better config.

A means of getting data etc. on and off implies at least a CD-RW drive, not just a CD-ROM.

One possibility seems to be the Dell Inspiration 2200 Notebook which is currently available for about AUD1050 with a decent warranty (2-year "Collect and Return").

This machine has an Intel Celeron M Processor 380 (1400 GHz, 1 MB cache, 400 MHz FSB). It comes with XP Home; 256 MB DDR2 SDRAM (shared with graphics); 60 GB HDD; and, I think, a 24X max CD-RW-DVD combo drive (the blurbs I've seen are a bit ambiguous on this point!). It has a 14.1" XGA TFT display.

Now, while all that may sound like Good Value, I'm left wondering why it is so cheap; especially when compared with most other advertised laptops-notebooks from Dell and others.

Does the 2200 have any serious reliability problems; or is it cheap just because it's a superceded model (if not superceded technology)?

What other brands-models should I consider? Would one of those "palm" machines be up to the task? (I suspect not, as I don't think they would have enough storage to cover longer trips away from home.)

Thanks for reading and TIA for any recommendations-opinions.

Cheers, Phred.

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