Need notebook recommendations!

[Irrelevant]

Which laptop to buy?

Hi all, need advise on a notebook, mostly using programmes like excel, word, etc.. for business course in uni.

No gaming, solely for school.

Don’t need an overkill laptop, anything decent that won’t too laggy and hang can already

Tight budget below $1000, thanks!

 

[findinglaserprinter]

You should have bought during pc show... laptop prices were much cheaper then. If can tahan wait till next show which is in september.

 

[Irrelevant]

You should have bought during pc show... laptop prices were much cheaper then. If can tahan wait till next show which is in september.

Hi bro, don’t think able to wait till that long, only received acceptance letter just recently, not long before commencement.

Read up a thread , someone recommended thinkpads. Is the V330 any good?

 

[Ark Law]

Tight budget below $1k and want something robust? I'd be looking at used T/X200 series Thinkpads or E6000/E7000 series Latitudes.

If you value function over form and don't mind standing out from the sea of Macbooks/Asus Zenbooks, an X230 with self upgraded RAM/SSD and a new battery can be had for under $500.

 

[findinglaserprinter]

Hi bro, don’t think able to wait till that long, only received acceptance letter just recently, not long before commencement.

Read up a thread , someone recommended thinkpads. Is the V330 any good?

Just took a look. V330 only has 4GB of ram which is really too little. It also uses last gen processors. If you're going with Thinkpad you have to go with used.

You could try Acer swift 3, retails just slightly above 1k but price can be pushed to 1k. Otherwise, look for something with at least 8gb of ram, 256gb of storage, intel i5 processor and a 1080p display. Anything less will make your life difficult. Try in person before you buy.

 

[Irrelevant]

Tight budget below $1k and want something robust? I'd be looking at used T/X200 series Thinkpads or E6000/E7000 series Latitudes.

If you value function over form and don't mind standing out from the sea of Macbooks/Asus Zenbooks, an X230 with self upgraded RAM/SSD and a new battery can be had for under $500.

Hi bro, I’m the ultimate idiot when it comes to computers, is a second hand laptop durable enough for 3 years of studies? And how do I determine if it’s in good working condition? Any good second hand laptop shops to recommend?

For me, appearance is not an issue, most importantly is that it gets the job done and not fail on me during crucial moments

 

[Irrelevant]

Just took a look. V330 only has 4GB of ram which is really too little. It also uses last gen processors. If you're going with Thinkpad you have to go with used.

You could try Acer swift 3, retails just slightly above 1k but price can be pushed to 1k. Otherwise, look for something with at least 8gb of ram, 256gb of storage, intel i5 processor and a 1080p display. Anything less will make your life difficult. Try in person before you buy.

Ok thanks a lot bro, will browse around on the specs given.

Anyways, is it true that only Lenovo and Dell laptops are worth the money spent? Seen a few negative feedbacks around Asus, acer, Hp etc...


Edit:
Bro what do u think of Dell’s Inspiron 15 3000 (3576) at $1249? Also including 3 years onsite support and office 365 personal card.

http://m.dell.com/mt/www.dell.com/s...6915149sgw10&model_id=inspiron-15-3576-laptop

 

[iseedogface]

Hi bro, don’t think able to wait till that long, only received acceptance letter just recently, not long before commencement.

Read up a thread , someone recommended thinkpads. Is the V330 any good?

TS get a thinkpad bro. I believe the thread u read is my 'search' fr help too. BTW which uni u going?

 

[findinglaserprinter]

Ok thanks a lot bro, will browse around on the specs given.

Anyways, is it true that only Lenovo and Dell laptops are worth the money spent? Seen a few negative feedbacks around Asus, acer, Hp etc...


Edit:
Bro what do u think of Dell’s Inspiron 15 3000 (3576) at $1249? Also including 3 years onsite support and office 365 personal card.

http://m.dell.com/mt/www.dell.com/s...6915149sgw10&model_id=inspiron-15-3576-laptop

Lenovo and Dell are known for their business line build and support. They also have consumer line products that have terrible quality. Basically, what you pay is what you get. Same with other manufacturers.

You don't need office 365. All uni comes with office 365 education account, which gives you free office 365 proplus subscription. Spec wise is ok on paper, but you should also take note of the weight and battery life.

 

[Irrelevant]

Lenovo and Dell are known for their business line build and support. They also have consumer line products that have terrible quality. Basically, what you pay is what you get. Same with other manufacturers.

You don't need office 365. All uni comes with office 365 education account, which gives you free office 365 proplus subscription. Spec wise is ok on paper, but you should also take note of the weight and battery life.

At this point now, I’m so lost with all the data, spent the whole evening researching on laptops, seems like at least 1.5k is the bare minimum.

The dell 3000 seems good, but the 15.6” seems to be too big for me, but they have a 14” model but don’t have the 256gb ssd option..

Headache

 

[Irrelevant]

TS get a thinkpad bro. I believe the thread u read is my 'search' fr help too. BTW which uni u going?

Thanks bro will consider!!

 

[findinglaserprinter]

At this point now, I’m so lost with all the data, spent the whole evening researching on laptops, seems like at least 1.5k is the bare minimum. At the price range maybe abit more, it’s seems better to just replace my faulty MacBook Air with a new MBA, been using it through poly years, but read articles that mba have issues with excel....

The dell 3000 seems good, but the 15.6” seems to be too big for me, but they have a 14” model but don’t have the 256gb ssd option..

Headache

Don't buy macs now, haven't been refreshed in 1yr+. Will probably be outdated in a few months.

Since you have been using mba you should be looking for 13 inch ultrabooks. Some options include dell xps 13, lg gram 13, asus zenbook, hp envy, acer swift 3. Most are in the 1.3k-2k range. Then again, if you are looking to save money, maybe borrow someones laptop and wait for the next fair in sep. I saved $200 on my hp envy when I bought it at pc show, as compared to the current price of $1499.

 

[Irrelevant]

Don't buy macs now, haven't been refreshed in 1yr+. Will probably be outdated in a few months.

Since you have been using mba you should be looking for 13 inch ultrabooks. Some options include dell xps 13, lg gram 13, asus zenbook, hp envy, acer swift 3. Most are in the 1.3k-2k range. Then again, if you are looking to save money, maybe borrow someones laptop and wait for the next fair in sep. I saved $200 on my hp envy when I bought it at pc show, as compared to the current price of $1499.

Yeah bro, thanks a lot for all the advice. Appreciated! Will spend somemore time to read up on those laptops u suggested. Thanks bro!

 

[Ark Law]

Don't buy macs now, haven't been refreshed in 1yr+. Will probably be outdated in a few months.

Since you have been using mba you should be looking for 13 inch ultrabooks. Some options include dell xps 13, lg gram 13, asus zenbook, hp envy, acer swift 3. Most are in the 1.3k-2k range. Then again, if you are looking to save money, maybe borrow someones laptop and wait for the next fair in sep. I saved $200 on my hp envy when I bought it at pc show, as compared to the current price of $1499.

For near $2k range, TS should be looking at Latitude 73x0/74x0 and Thinkpad T4x0 ranges. Also check out school offerings which sometimes have decent offerings, mine had Thinkpad X1C5 for $1.9k.

Personally would recommend TS sticking to enterprise models (Elitebook/Zbook/Latitude/Precision/Thinkpad) instead of the consumer models (Spectre/Envy/XPS/Inspiron/Ideapad)

$300-$400: 2nd to 3rd gen laptops. Occasionally some sellers have upgraded RAM/SSD. These may be old, but as most of them are 35W CPUs, they can be just as good as a 7th gen Ultrabook CPU

$400-$500: As above, but additional money spent on a brand new original battery from Unicell

$350++: 4th gen and upwards.

If it wasn't for the fact that my eyes are now accustomed to 14" screen for daily work, the X230 ($300 + $90 new battery) could've been my daily driver for uni use.

Used enterprise laptops are such a great value proposition yet most budget constrained people (I mean relatives) would rather spend $999 at an IT show having been sweet talked by a salesboy than listen to proper advice, then return to me asking why their machine is slow etc.

 

[koktsing]

Asus brand is ok. $1000 should have a quite a number choices, since you are not looking for gaming laptop.

make sure never go for Acer, personally to me it is not a stable one.

Just step in to Challengers, Best denki, see what offer they have.

The thing to look out is:
RAM - at least 8GB.
Processor - go for Intel
Screen size - depend your preference, may be at least 13", 14"?
Weight - Ideally not too heavy if you need to always carry it around.
Harddisk - it will be a plus point if the set come with normal harddisk + SSD.
But it is still ok even without SSD.

 

[lewissac]

Asus brand is ok. $1000 should have a quite a number choices, since you are not looking for gaming laptop.

make sure never go for Acer, personally to me it is not a stable one.

Just step in to Challengers, Best denki, see what offer they have.

The thing to look out is:
RAM - at least 8GB.
Processor - go for Intel
Screen size - depend your preference, may be at least 13", 14"?
Weight - Ideally not too heavy if you need to always carry it around.
Harddisk - it will be a plus point if the set come with normal harddisk + SSD.
But it is still ok even without SSD.

Why go for Intel Processor? You boycott AMD ah? lol

 

[Ark Law]

Asus brand is ok. $1000 should have a quite a number choices, since you are not looking for gaming laptop.

Weight - Ideally not too heavy if you need to always carry it around.
Harddisk - it will be a plus point if the set come with normal harddisk + SSD.
But it is still ok even without SSD.

Meh, 2018 still want to stick with HDD meh? With the large number of small files everywhere and Win10's broken indexing, it will cause laptop to lag in no time.

Sub $1k want to get HDD+proper SSD is quite rare. Usually it's HDD + some bullsh*t 16GB SSD cache. More practical to just get a $799 laptop, spend <$150 on a 256GB Samsung 860 Evo, and swap out the stock HDD.

Example:
Dell Inspiron 3476
i5 8250U
4GB RAM
1TB HDD
$750

Warranty extension options:
3yrs w/ ADP - $288
4yrs - $200
4yrs w/ ADP - $414

Post-purchase upgrades:
Samsung SSD 256GB - $130
4GB RAM (total to 8GB) - $65
or 8GB RAM (total to 12GB) - $115

$1145 nett for a basic Inspiron with 4yrs standard onsite service. Laptop pricing from Dell direct, could probably get for cheaper from VARs.

 

[Irrelevant]

For near $2k range, TS should be looking at Latitude 73x0/74x0 and Thinkpad T4x0 ranges. Also check out school offerings which sometimes have decent offerings, mine had Thinkpad X1C5 for $1.9k.

Personally would recommend TS sticking to enterprise models (Elitebook/Zbook/Latitude/Precision/Thinkpad) instead of the consumer models (Spectre/Envy/XPS/Inspiron/Ideapad)

$300-$400: 2nd to 3rd gen laptops. Occasionally some sellers have upgraded RAM/SSD. These may be old, but as most of them are 35W CPUs, they can be just as good as a 7th gen Ultrabook CPU

$400-$500: As above, but additional money spent on a brand new original battery from Unicell

$350++: 4th gen and upwards.

If it wasn't for the fact that my eyes are now accustomed to 14" screen for daily work, the X230 ($300 + $90 new battery) could've been my daily driver for uni use.

Used enterprise laptops are such a great value proposition yet most budget constrained people (I mean relatives) would rather spend $999 at an IT show having been sweet talked by a salesboy than listen to proper advice, then return to me asking why their machine is slow etc.

Bro can recommend me your trusted store that sells these used enterprise laptop? And for the upgrade for ram and battery? Sorry for spoonfeed really don’t know where to begin looking for those..

Edit:

Saw a few on carousell, they have the 8Gb ram option but usually most in HDD....
Anyways is it recommended to just focus on x230? As seen x240 and x250...

 

[Irrelevant]

Asus brand is ok. $1000 should have a quite a number choices, since you are not looking for gaming laptop.

make sure never go for Acer, personally to me it is not a stable one.

Just step in to Challengers, Best denki, see what offer they have.

The thing to look out is:
RAM - at least 8GB.
Processor - go for Intel
Screen size - depend your preference, may be at least 13", 14"?
Weight - Ideally not too heavy if you need to always carry it around.
Harddisk - it will be a plus point if the set come with normal harddisk + SSD.
But it is still ok even without SSD.

Ok thanks a lot for advice will consider and take a look, very likely will get a dell or a Lenovo..

 

[Ark Law]

For physical "store", you can try heading over to LaptopHouse at upper weld road (near SLT). If you have a specific model in mind just ask as sometimes they don't store it in the front store. For those with multiple units of the same model, be sure to go through each one, as they can vary in terms of cosmetic condition or even keyboard layouts (Thai, European, etc.)

This is just one of the several recyclers who obtain enterprise laptops from businesses when they do tech refresh.

The X230 I bought is from this guy. It was equipped with a Samsung PM830 SSD 128GB which is tremendous value compared to buying it from other places which only include HDD. It's located at an industrial store so you'd need to message and schedule a meetup time to take a look.

For battery, head for Unicell at SLS #02-40. They carry both originals and copies/OEM. In my experience, they've been cheaper than other battery shops on 4th & 5th floors.

If you want to buy the Dell Inspiron new and upgrade the RAM+SSD yet feel apprehensive about DIY, I'd recommend you head over to bro Nigel at SLS #02-32. I'm sure he can obtain the parts for you (I believe he will match PC Theme's pricing) and do the OS cloning, all for a reasonable labour fee without overcharging unlike other shop.