Cheap laptop for MS word and coding

[MajorTomServo]

As the title says, I'm looking for a small, cheap laptop or tablet (with a physical keyboard. I can't stand typing anything longer than a text on a virtual one). My only requirements are that it can run (or preferably comes with) MS Word* and the ability to do some light coding (for the CS minor I start in a few weeks).

I just want something that I can toss in my bag and take to class to type up notes on. I have a behemoth of a desktop at home, so I'll do all my gaming and web browsing there. I just need something reliable and cheap, preferably in the $300 or less range.


*It MUST be MS Word, as I'm a psychology major and all my papers have to follow strict APA formatting. When I switch an OpenOffice file over to .doc, it often causes formatting glitches which can lower my grade.

 

[Hairless Mammoth]

Dell has some 14" Insperon laptops for sale between $200 and $350. Office can be added on, but the permanent license is $140-$150. On MS's site, it says you could qualify for a free license [https://products.office.com/en-us/student/office-in-education] of the Office 365 education edition. I was going to say you can also buy an old disc of Office off ebay for cheap, but then you would need to find a way to get it on one of those laptops, since none of them have an optical drive. (Got a USB DVD reader? Or, just network your main PC's drive temporarily.)

HP also has some for around $300, but I hate HP, even more than Dell. (They even have the gall to charge $20 for the recovery discs. Dell will send them to you for free, if your PC is still in warranty.) Office still needs to be added to the price.

You can try searching Amazon and Newegg for "laptop with Office" or "laptop with Office Home and Student" and see if some good candidates show up. I would recommend scrutinizing (or coming back to the forums here for more advice) the really cheap models on those sites.

Lastly, you can try to find a used notebook, either locally, or on ebay. Even if a warranty was added to the deal, that option has the greater risk of parts breaking when you need them most, though.

 

[DoPo]

*It MUST be MS Word, as I'm a psychology major and all my papers have to follow strict APA formatting. When I switch an OpenOffice file over to .doc, it often causes formatting glitches which can lower my grade.

Just a quick note - what if you convert the document to PDF? The formatting would be preserved in that case. It wouldn't work if the submissions require .doc/.docx, but otherwise it should be fine.

 

[Albino Boo]

If your are doing a CS minor check with the department to see if they are on the dreamSpark program. Dreamspark gets you virtually all the MS products and as is well worth doing if it is available. https://www.dreamspark.com/

 

[Frezzato]

...I hate HP, even more than Dell. (They even have the gall to charge $20 for the recovery discs. Dell will send them to you for free, if your PC is still in warranty.) Office still needs to be added to the price...

To add insult to injury, you can't perform Windows repairs using those discs. They're for full re-install only (I think). I suspect there's a way to make a disc for repair, but the methods seem sketchy as I've seen them on Amazon, and customers have reviewed them as working, but clearly bootlegged.