i7-7700HQ thinkpad or i3-1115G4 ideapad 3

pawn_king

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So for about the same budget ($800+), would you take a new ideapad or a refurb/used thinkpad P series?
For office work, standard office apps.

ideapad with 8gb ram, 256ssd, 1yr warranty
thinkpad with 16gb ram, 500 HDD (will upgrade to ssd), discrete graphics

how do the CPUs stand? geekbench says i3 11gen stronger, but other websites say otherwise.

Slightly inclined towards refurb thinkpad if quality can outlast new ideapad.
 

ckctam

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I would think i3 will have a better battery life bc it is the later generation. I wouldn't worry about performance if you are only doing office work.

Just have to check whether the IdeaPad can upgrade to 16gb. You can get away with 8 but 16 will be better.
 

pawn_king

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ya i'm not concerned about performance as much. Neither battery life as it will predominantly be stationed at the work table.

screen, keyboard and durability will be the primary considerations?
ideapad 3 upgraded to IPS panel. thinkpad probably wins the keyboard and durability part.

ideapad 3 can only be configured up to 8gb (4gb on board) on the website. Probably stick to 4gb and self upgrade +8gb.
 

ckctam

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ya i'm not concerned about performance as much. Neither battery life as it will predominantly be stationed at the work table.

screen, keyboard and durability will be the primary considerations?
ideapad 3 upgraded to IPS panel. thinkpad probably wins the keyboard and durability part.

ideapad 3 can only be configured up to 8gb (4gb on board) on the website. Probably stick to 4gb and self upgrade +8gb.
If keyboard is a concern and you are using it is stationed, can you use a keyboard? That's the first thing I would get bc laptop keyboard sucks.

If that's the case and if you want thinkpad (for better quality), then get it. Does the refurbished has warranty? I assume not more than a month. So that's the risk you are taking.
 

yusoffb01

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15w dual core 11th gen is slightly slower than 45w quad core 7th gen, but has better gpu
qNG3oAJ.jpg


$800 is a ripoff for 5 year old thinkpad. you can buy 6 core ryzen 5500u in thinkpad e14 gen 3 for less than $1000
 

pawn_king

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the thinkpad p71 is a 17" with quadro P3000 (~gtx1060), listed 3k euros 3+ yrs ago. If I can get 5yrs use out of it, I would be satisfied.

other than ideapad 3 17, any recommendations for 17" laptop under 1k?
 

watzup_ken

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the thinkpad p71 is a 17" with quadro P3000 (~gtx1060), listed 3k euros 3+ yrs ago. If I can get 5yrs use out of it, I would be satisfied.

other than ideapad 3 17, any recommendations for 17" laptop under 1k?
Ideally if the laptop can last that long, then I think it is not too bad in value. But there is no certainty in terms of longevity of the laptop, so you are taking a risk going without warranty.
 

pawn_king

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true, but the ideapad is like entry-level consumer laptop, I don't have confidence on it's longevity outside of its warranty. The thinkpad should easily last 5-10 years when new.

current laptop is a 12yr 18.4" vaio which I bought refurb from overseas. Usage of 10hr/day, still working beautifully but the LCD is going and likely not worth replacing. Also have another 7yr vaio ultraportable, working like day 1 except for drop in battery life.

Sadly all these companies making durable stuff are going out of business, and we have come to expect electronics/gadgets to expire once their warranties are up.
 
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