Verified answer

Just buy a netbook, best money for the bang. the Asus eee pc is awesome, but jsut check cnet under netbooks.

There are decent netbook class PC's from all the major manufacturers. You can pick one up used or as a scratch and dent for less than the average $250.

Try talking to store managers at big box stores like Best Buy, Staples, Office Depot et cetera for discontinued, display, or scratch and dent laptops.

Try talking to the IT department at schools to see if they are upgrading and disposing of their old laptops.

You can also find people in your area on Craigslist who rebuild laptops. If all you need to do is basic word processing and maybe some internet browsing anything made in the last 3-4 years will work for you.

I personally have sold laptops from $100-$500 successfully on the internet.

There are some models there between $200 -$300 in HP, ASUS and Acer...

Cheapest I could find $265

http://www.dell.com/us/en/home/desktops/desktop-in...