look for new laptop

Laptops, Notebooks, PDA's, MP3 Players, Cell Phones
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reno
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look for new laptop

Post by reno »

my old unit about to give out . the hinges are breaking and the screens pulling apart ?
like to stay in the $500 -$700 range like a 17 inch screen -wont be used for gaming so don't need a killer unit .
just asking for brands that seem to hold up !
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FlyingPenguin
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Re: look for new laptop

Post by FlyingPenguin »

Lots of good reviews here: https://www.theverge.com/laptop-review

The problem is that models change year to year, and there's quite a difference in quality even within the same manufacturer.

You certainly don't need a Core i7 unless you find a deal on one - Core i5 is adequate. Don't short change yourself on a weak Core i3. I don't really know the equivalent in AMD CPUs for laptops. No sense going with less than 6 - 8GB nowadays.

You don't NEED a touch screen. Honestly, it's a waste on a regular laptop (although I do love it on my 2-in-1 tablet/laptops). Unless they're throwing in a touch screen at a good price already, usually the models without touch screens tend to cost less.

My wife has a 17" HP Envy that's a few years old that's held up nicely. Dunno how the HP Envy line is holding up lately though.

Probably the biggest issue is the keyboard. To me anyway - there's just no way I can tell if I'll like the keyboard without actually trying it in the store. Laptop keyboards a trade-off. I've always liked the Acer keyboards. They've felt better to me, so my last two laptops have been Acers. Although my last Acer is now going on 5 years old. Except for service work I almost never use it. I pretty much use my 2-in-1 tablet/notebooks now (one's a Dell and the other is a Surface Pro).

The worst issue with buying a laptop is crappy return policies. I prefer buying local in order to exchange or return easy, but most places have a 15 day return policy. A few notable exceptions:

Target has a 30 day return policy on computers.

If you have a Sams Club or Costco card, they have a VERY generous 90 day return policy. I try to buy my electronics from Sams Club for that reason. Keep in mind while they may have limited stock at the store, they usually have a great selection online, and you can return/exchange online orders at any store.
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Genom
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Re: look for new laptop

Post by Genom »

I have had good experiences with the Dell Inspirons or the Lenovo Y900. I like the keyboard on the Lenovo more, but it's a couple hundred bucks more than the 5-600 Dell
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wvjohn
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Re: look for new laptop

Post by wvjohn »

I bought my daughter a Dell inspiron for school - was about 600 with 3 yr warranty, it had a funky wireless chip, and they upgraded her to an HDMI display for free. Laptop = always get long warranty IMO. Sometimes you can find decent stuff in dent and scratch. I have a cheapy Lenovo that I got for about 300 a while back on closeout. Screen got funky after about 14 months - put it in the garage for a year or so - and it started working. who knows. my dad bought a higher end lenovo a while back and they were awful to deal with when it went south after about a year.
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Executioner
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Re: look for new laptop

Post by Executioner »

Ditto on the Lenovo's keyboard. The Lenovo's seem to me to be a better quality built laptop - Thinkpad models. I was lucky to purchase some used ones: T510's that were in excellent condition for $125 each. I simply wiped them and used the windows 7 sticker that came with the laptops to reinstall the OS from scratch.
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Genom
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Re: look for new laptop

Post by Genom »

Yeah the KB on the thinkpads is excellent. The Ideapad isnt quite as nice, but it's got the 17" screen and is cheaper. If you can get a used Thinkpad for the right price it's a very solid machine.
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psypher
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Re: look for new laptop

Post by psypher »

FlyingPenguin wrote:My wife has a 17" HP Envy that's a few years old that's held up nicely. Dunno how the HP Envy line is holding up lately though.
Same, I have a 2-3 year old Envy that has help up. Really nice too. It is an i7 with 8GB of memory. The first thing I did when I got it was replace the hard drive with a Samsung Pro SSD. Unless something major happens to it, like the Video dieing like it did on my previous Sony, I see it lasting me a good 2-3 more years if not more. I may even be able to get Windows 10 running on it and then who knows when I'll retire it.
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FlyingPenguin
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Re: look for new laptop

Post by FlyingPenguin »

That's something else I was going to mention Reno. Nothing makes a laptop seem like it's running faster than lightning like an SSD or hybrid drive. If the laptop doesn't come with one it's usually cheaper to install your own anyway.

Whatever laptop you're looking at, check for a service manual (Dell is real good about providing service manuals online) or just see if you can find a YouTube video showing how to swap the drive.

Sometimes it's easy; like pop off a back cover, and sometimes you have to completely dismantle the laptop which is no fun.
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reno
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Re: look for new laptop

Post by reno »

I went with a Dell Inspiron 15 - 5565 Windows 10 Home 64bit English scratch and dent -7th Generation AMD A12-9700P Quad-Core Processor with Radeon™ R7 Graphic, 15.6-inch FHD (1920 x 1080) Anti-glare LED-Backlit Display, Non-touch, 8GB, DDR4, 2400MHz ,1TB 5400 rpm Hard Drive. thanks guys did a scratch and dent to save a $100 bucks but was given a 2 year warranty . like to had a 4 cell or better battery but only a 3 cell avail.
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reno
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Re: look for new laptop

Post by reno »

new unit arrived today . still doing window 10 updates on stage 3 at like 83 % as we type this . loving this machine back lit key pad ! still need to add window shell and hit man pro plus melwarebytes on it. have to wait till updates are done first do.
so far not seeing any junk ware but im sure it show up after i install window shell and setup the screen from windows tiles .not looked at the window tiles yets im sure there a bunch installed by dell. right now the only icon on the home screen is the recycle bin. did add chrome that's been it and posted this . :D
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psypher
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Re: look for new laptop

Post by psypher »

reno wrote:loving this machine back lit key pad !
No laptap should be without a backlit key pad. I'll never go back to not having it.
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FlyingPenguin
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Re: look for new laptop

Post by FlyingPenguin »

Ditto.
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