It turns out that a 15-inch HP 630 can be yours for less than €300 and this dual core Celeron B800 based notebook sells for €279. This is not the price that gets you Windows preinstalled, but this dual 1.5GHz notebook with 2GB of RAM and 320GB of hard drive seems to be a good starting point for many.
Despite the fact that Celeron B800 is more than a year old it is based on Sandy Bridge 32nm core and its maximal power consumption, something that we call TDP (Thermal Design Power) sticks at 35W.
The HP 630 comes with a 15.6-inch non glare LED TFT with an unimpressive 1366x768 resolution, but since this is really the cheapest notebook with a decent dual-core we could find, there have to be some compromises.
A six cell battery is a part of this 2.5kg package and HP will offer a 12-month warranty on this inexpensive notebook. The same machine packed with Windows 7 Home premium 64 bit will start from €309 but at press time we could not find one in stock. The HP 630 with Windows can be found listed here.
Even with shipping costs included, the HP 630 with preinstalled Linux can be yours for €283.99. We believe that this might be a good deal for someone that is on a tight budget and wants a new notebook. Cash strapped students and kids come to mind.
It is listed here.