ok tech nerds help me out :p

as i see in the add banners my wife wants a tablet/notebook/laptop/kindle fire - like thing for the holidays.

uses are for reading ebooks, internet/facebook, facetime talky thing, and i want to use it for streaming to my TV. the playstation3 is just too slow when you go to the movie streaming sites. ( project free tv, 1channel etc... ) TV streaming is big for me and my 5 yo. I got her hooked on 80's cartoons :)

have been seeing anything from $100 on up but trying to stay ~ $400.

what type of system should i be looking for?

Im no tech nerd so should probably not comment but anyway..

I bought a sony vaio (core2duo thing with 4g memory) 4 years ago for about $900 and it can do all of that with ease.
I think practically all new laptops should be able to do those things without a hitch so no need to spend more than a couple hundred dollars?

I dont know about tablets and things like that though.

http://www.newegg.com/...aspx?Item=N82E16834216046

crappy processor but good display adapter.

http://www.newegg.com/...aspx?Item=N82E16834215578

bit better processor but also bit worse da.

if you want with bigger screen then refurbished like these:

http://www.newegg.com/...aspx?Item=N82E16834215537

http://www.newegg.com/...aspx?Item=N82E16834158243

wife has a kindle fire HD loves it...

son has a nook HD tablet thingy and he loves that

if u want streaming, ive been seeing my friends with them things that project to the tv...hulu..netflix..web browser. They look like little boxes andd they connect to ure internet and u can use them on almost any TV.

any laptop with 3gb ram, and over 2 ghz processor will do what you want seamlessly. also dont get win8 :P

luck with finding 2ghz processor on 400 bucks laptop.

some have but those are pentium-machines or have 2gb memory.

on refurbished there are many with 2ghz+ corei3/i5 but then needs to satisfy to 15.6" screen, all 17.3" screens are on pentium/turion-based laptops.

you dont know how to shop.

http://www.newegg.com/...tebooks/SubCategory/ID-32

just a few from that list.
http://www.newegg.com/...aspx?Item=N82E16834230571
http://www.newegg.com/...aspx?Item=N82E16834216265
http://www.newegg.com/...aspx?Item=N82E16834215389

asus x53 with corei3 is refurbished so not valid point.

toshiba c655 refurbished so not valid point either.

acer same thing most likely (newegg is slow now) so not valid point either.

zip: 400 bucks budget.

me: no 2ghz+ processor laptops in that price range (besides antiqued models) except on refurbished category.

littleitaly lost.

they didnt have refurb in the head line.

reguardless

http://www.newegg.com/...aspx?Item=N82E16834246872

http://www.newegg.com/...aspx?Item=N82E16834215389

and plenty of lower CPUs over 2 ghz over 3gb ram for under 400. So I win.

Here's an idea talk to your wife and figure it out yourself!

just an FYI, many newer hdtv's are capable of networking and streaming video as stand alone devices

just saying, you might not need another device for the vidro streaming, not sure about the interface though, some of the TVs make you go through proprietary portals.

u must not be married...

not everyone can afford a Smart TV, in which case this is what i was talking..there are other brands too

http://www.roku.com/...NfF5qj067MCFStgMgodHxgA5g

Any tablet, pc, smart phone can do everything you asked for. Look up xbox glass, or something like that. You just need an xbox, which by itself can do basically everything you ask.

li: 1st has 2gb memory which is way too little nowadays, 2nd is over 400 bucks.

no win for you.

I agree with LittleItaly.
Any i5 or i3 processor with 4gig RAM should be fine. I bought a $450 HP i3 with 2g RAM about 2 years ago and I still use it for streaming/etc. My girlfriend uses it for school most of the time.
For an extra ~$35, you can pop in another 2gig RAM easily.

Recently, I have seen some i5's (better than i3) that are < $500.00

Good luck.

399 bucks laptop + 35 bucks ram rises price to close to better models.

refurbished has some nice models.