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Post by Mrs David Tennant on Aug 14, 2018 9:25:01 GMT -5
I'm in the market for a new laptop - my current one is 9 years old and makes a ton of noise, and is running through batteries & chargers about every 4 to 6 months. I've been looking online but I'm very confused as to what I should be looking for. I don't know what difference the processor speed makes, how much RAM I should get, Intel or other, etc., etc. I'm looking for a full size laptop with a number key pad on the keyboard. I'd like it to be fast but I don't do any gaming or anything; I just need it for internet browsing and streaming TV and movies. I'd prefer it not to be too heavy. My price range is up to $700 but would prefer in the $500 range.
So I'm taking recommendations for laptops, but also if you can tell me what I should be looking for as far as technical details, that would be good too.
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Post by The Sensational She-Hulk on Aug 14, 2018 9:42:04 GMT -5
I've always had good luck with HP laptops, as I use them for just about the same thing as you do. You can customize basic models at the website if you want, but they have a lot of options that would fit what you're looking for.
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Post by Mrs David Tennant on Aug 14, 2018 10:17:11 GMT -5
I've always had good luck with HP laptops, as I use them for just about the same thing as you do. You can customize basic models at the website if you want, but they have a lot of options that would fit what you're looking for. My current one is an HP, and I definitely got my money's worth with it - I think it was under $400. And I never even thought about looking at the website! |
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Post by Dr. Rumak on Aug 14, 2018 18:28:29 GMT -5
I generally buy either refurbished or open box (from Best Buy), and have had good success doing so (we even bought my wife a laptop from the Unclaimed Baggage Store in Scottsdale, Alabama). These will be cheaper for the same specs, or maybe get slightly better specs for the same price, but expect to use it a little longer. For example, my current laptop, which I bought a year and a half ago from Best Buy, I got 12 gig of ram and a Solid State Drive for about what 8 gig and mechanical drive would have cost new, and that's going to get it 1-2 extra years of use for me. Best Buy even lists their open boxed inventory online, and you can reserve it and pick it up, or go in and try it to make sure its what you really want.
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Crash Test Dumbass
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Post by Crash Test Dumbass on Aug 15, 2018 12:53:21 GMT -5
I also recommend Dr. Rumak's open-box policy above, and fiercely second his comment to go in and maybe try it out. Laptop keyboards differ in really strange ways, so you may want to play with a few to see what suits your fingers best, and if the trackpad has buttons in a weird place (or none at all), or other things like that. |
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Baron von Costume
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Post by Baron von Costume on Aug 15, 2018 13:57:05 GMT -5
Personally if you want to keep it to $500ish I would go for a refurb ThinkPad (either direct from lenovo during one of their sales or via a licensed refurb place) with a relatively recent core i5 processor. Thinkpads aren't the prettiest laptops but they've got great build quality (even if they aren't quite what they once were) and lots of businesses use them so you can get good bang for your buck on a refurb. Specific recommendations would probably depend on what kind of form factor you're looking for (really compact, normal, or laptop you generally leave at home so don't care how big it is.)
Unless you're spending a fair bit I probably wouldn't go for an HP as their cheaper range build quality is generally quite shit.
Laptop makers know that a lot of people have a $500 price tag for a new laptop/kids laptop/whatever and unfortunately tend to pump out a lot of garbage models/renamed old models with out of date components at that price point as a result.
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Post by Mrs David Tennant on Aug 15, 2018 14:23:44 GMT -5
Personally if you want to keep it to $500ish I would go for a refurb ThinkPad (either direct from lenovo during one of their sales or via a licensed refurb place) with a relatively recent core i5 processor. Thinkpads aren't the prettiest laptops but they've got great build quality (even if they aren't quite what they once were) and lots of businesses use them so you can get good bang for your buck on a refurb. Specific recommendations would probably depend on what kind of form factor you're looking for (really compact, normal, or laptop you generally leave at home so don't care how big it is.) Unless you're spending a fair bit I probably wouldn't go for an HP as their cheaper range build quality is generally quite shit. Laptop makers know that a lot of people have a $500 price tag for a new laptop/kids laptop/whatever and unfortunately tend to pump out a lot of garbage models/renamed old models with out of date components at that price point as a result. I'm a little leery of Lenovo - my chromebook-type thing is a Lenovo and I'm actually sending it back to them today because it completely stopped working and was super slow when it did work. I'm looking for around a 15" laptop - that's what mine currently is and it's fine. I'll still have the little baby computer to travel with (assuming they can fix it). |
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Post by Superb Owl 🦉 on Aug 16, 2021 18:46:23 GMT -5
I also need a new laptop. This will be the first time I’ve bought one for myself since college since I’ve always had a work provided laptop before and phone/tablet has covered most of my usual needs at home. My new job will reimburse me up to $1500 so I’d like to stay within that budget as much as possible, including having to pay for Office professional. I don’t foresee having to run much intense software beyond that and Zoom though. I just really don’t know what upgrades are worth the money or anything. Sounds like most of them are using Surfaces, but I’m free to get anything windows
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Post by nowimnothing on Sept 1, 2021 9:27:16 GMT -5
I also need a new laptop. This will be the first time I’ve bought one for myself since college since I’ve always had a work provided laptop before and phone/tablet has covered most of my usual needs at home. My new job will reimburse me up to $1500 so I’d like to stay within that budget as much as possible, including having to pay for Office professional. I don’t foresee having to run much intense software beyond that and Zoom though. I just really don’t know what upgrades are worth the money or anything. Sounds like most of them are using Surfaces, but I’m free to get anything windows $1500 should be more than enough to get you a decent work laptop. When my boss was looking for one last year, I just told him to find one around $1,000 that he liked. Anything in that price range should have everything you need hardware wise. Everything else is just personal preference, i.e. how big of a screen do you want, do you need a keypad, touchscreen, super lightweight, etc. The Surfaces are nice, but a little expensive IMO If you really want specs, I would recommend: Windows 10 Pro i5 or i7 processor SSD with at least 500gb minimum 8gb RAM Most everything in that price range will beat that, but sometimes they try to slip one in, so it helps to know what you are looking for. My personal price range is a bit lower, so I am probably going to get one like this for my wife's birthday: www.newegg.com/gray-acer-aspire-3-a315-56-594w/p/1TS-000X-028H7?Item=9SIAEYJC9E8836She is in grad school and I am sure it will handle anything she needs to do. |
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