The Money Mustache Community
Learning, Sharing, and Teaching => Ask a Mustachian => Topic started by: FLBiker on April 12, 2019, 06:21:41 AM
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I'm looking to replace an ~ 8 year old laptop. I typically spend about $400 on laptops, I need Windows because I occasionally use it for work. I've had good experience with Lenovo and Asus. Since I buy them so infrequently, though, I'm not up on the best places to get deals. Any recommendations? I was thinking 8 GB Ram and some sort of SSD drive (maybe 256G). I don't tend to do anything too resource intensive, but I do sometimes use Power BI and MS Office stuff. And I sometimes have to remote into my work PC to do database stuff. Thanks!
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I just got some recommendations from my IT guy at work and they're more in the $500 range. I can certainly spend that much if it would make a difference in terms of how long it would last. Thanks!
Here were his recommendations. I'm thinking I WON'T get a touchscreen, because the battery performance is worse (I think).
https://www.amazon.com/VivoBook-Powerful-Processor-Graphics-F441BA-DS94/dp/B079QZ5DD7/ref=sr_1_4?fst=as%3Aoff&keywords=ssd+laptop&qid=1555043286&refinements=p_89%3AASUS&rnid=2528832011&s=electronics&sr=1-4 AMD A9 CPU
https://www.amazon.com/Acer-Backlight-Computer-i3-7100U-Bluetooth/dp/B07CP37PT7/ref=sr_1_3?keywords=ssd+laptop&qid=1555043238&refinements=p_89%3AAcer&rnid=2528832011&s=electronics&sr=1-3 i3 CPU
https://www.amazon.com/Acer-Aspire-LED-Backlit-Intel-Processor/dp/B07JPKYPWB/ref=sr_1_2?keywords=ssd+laptop&qid=1555043238&refinements=p_89%3AAcer&rnid=2528832011&s=electronics&sr=1-2 i5 CPU
https://www.amazon.com/Dell-Inspiron-Touchscreen-Performance-Bluetooth/dp/B079ZJLMJN/ref=sr_1_10?keywords=ssd+laptop&qid=1555015879&s=electronics&sr=1-10 i5 CPU
https://www.amazon.com/Dell-Inspiron-Touch-Screen-Laptop/dp/B07KVFTVHX/ref=sr_1_9?keywords=ssd+laptop&qid=1555015879&s=electronics&sr=1-9 i3 CPU
https://www.amazon.com/HP-2019-14-Laptop-14-CF0014DX/dp/B07KNLVRJ2/ref=sr_1_8?keywords=ssd+laptop&qid=1555015879&s=electronics&sr=1-8 i3 CPU
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I was looking at Lenovo Thinkpads (L380, E485, E480) in the ~$450 range. I see an L380 refurb with a 256GB SSD and 16GB RAM for $500...
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If you belong to Costco, this Dell is reasonable at the $450 sale price plus $15 to ship. 1080p screen, current generation i5, backlit keyboard. No solid state drive, however. It is a touch screen, which I actually don't like. Something else to break.
https://www.costco.com/Dell-Inspiron-15-5000-Touchscreen-Laptop---Intel-Core-i5---1080p---Silver.product.100404627.html
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The SSD is the biggest upgrade you can give yourself. Don't settle for a spinning platter hard disk.
The cpu speed differences between the ix-4k series and the ix-7 or 8k series aren't as big as the performance difference by having 4 cores not 2 cores. At least some of the IT guy recs are only 2 core -> less power for more money. Hard pass.
I was looking at selling a ~2 year old razer blade 15" (before it got repurposed to the kid's computer). It was something of an experiment for gaming with their tb3 external enclosure. The experience wasn't fully satisfying. But when I was looking at pricing, ~500 was the right ballpark. The specs of the 2017 blade 15 (gtx 970, high end i7 quad core cpu, 16gb ram, 256 gig ssd disk, touchscreen, high res display (3200x1800 I think), fancy black brushed aluminum case, etc.
As for where? Craigslist?
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Thanks! I'm not a Costco member, but I'll keep the quadcore advice in mind.
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Thanks! I'm not a Costco member, but I'll keep the quadcore advice in mind.
Looking at the website, I don't think you have to be a member to order on-line. There is a similar Lenovo product on sale for the same price. I saw the Dell in the warehouse, haven't seen the Lenovo. I have zero expertise in computers, but have been looking for awhile for something to replace a 2011 HP laptop for traveling. The combination of features seems good for the price point in the current market.
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Something like this would be far better than any new laptop at that price: https://www.ebay.com/itm/Dell-Latitude-E7470-TouchScreen-QHD-14-Laptop-i7-6600u-CPU-8GB-RAM-256GB-SSD/143013852494?hash=item214c4a354e:g:920AAOSwV0Vb7MXO:sc:USPSPriority!60914!US!-1
Expensive as hell fancy professional business-grade laptops (like Dell's Latitude E7xxx series) from 2-3 years ago tend to be about the same price as crappy-to-meh brand new laptops. If you're not spending at least $700-800 on a new laptop, used will be far superior as a rule of thumb.
As others have said, SSD or bust. The one I linked to has a 6th gen i7, 8GB of memory, and a 256GB SSD. Regardless of what you end up with, those are probably specs to shoot for if you want a snappy system that will last.
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Ebay is an interesting idea. I was looking at refurbs through manufacture outlets. Thanks!
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I like to look at
www.tigerdirect.com
They have a "deal of the day", as well as a refurb of the week.
I prefer refurbs, since I can work on them if something goes wrong, and they are often 40-75% off.
here is todays refurb of the week:
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=6065273&cm_re=Homepage-_-Spot%2002-_-campaign_41702425
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Thanks all for the suggestions! I got a ThinkPad E485 refurb for $415, w/ 8GB RAM, a 4C processor and an SSD drive. And I got it from the Lenovo Outlet, so it has a year warranty. Thanks again for the tips!
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Thanks all for the suggestions! I got a ThinkPad E485 refurb for $415, w/ 8GB RAM, a 4C processor and an SSD drive. And I got it from the Lenovo Outlet, so it has a year warranty. Thanks again for the tips!
That's a hell of a deal. Lenovo's ThinkPad lineup is pretty solid so that should last you for years to come and I can only imagine the RAM is upgradable if you need to do so in the future.
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After asking this question here on the forums last year, I purchased a refurb lenovo thinkpad for my business and I've been happy with it. I also have a cheap acer chromebook for personal use- two thumbs up.
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i've had good luck buying refurbs on ebay from sellers with 99% feedback and lots of reviews. look for a seller with lots of the same laptop available so that if you have a problem with the one you bought, the seller can just ship an identical one right away.
newegg same.