Need a new laptop... have no idea | GTAMotorcycle.com

Need a new laptop... have no idea

shanekingsley

Curry - so nice it burns you twice
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So one of our laptops has finally bit the dust. It's an old HP Elitebook - very fancy.

Staying with Windows and would like to keep it under $500.

This will be used as a simple work/home laptop with Miocrosoft Office, some web stuff, some netflix and storage of pics. No gaming or power user here.

I want something that has a good battery life, about a 14" screen, and at least 500GB / 8GBRam. We would keep this for a while, so something that doesn't have a planned lifespan of 2yrs would be good

Suggestions for the best bang for $ or special deals you would recommend right now?

Thanks!
 
can't think of a sub $500 new PC that is not likely to be in the trash in < 2 years
for new with a decent build quality I figure you'd be ~800
the HP, Acer, Asus, Lenovo etc. budget units are pure garbage these days

would recommend a refurb thinkpad, newegg.ca or bestbuy
they are not pretty, but dead reliable
 
My sons, who are much more techy than I, just picked this out for their mother. They went with the AMD A4, 500GB & 4GBRam. Came out to $399 with that config. It is a Lenovo so hopefully last a while for her as she has the same usage patterns that you describe.

https://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?item=N82E16834332741
 
My sons, who are much more techy than I, just picked this out for their mother. They went with the AMD A4, 500GB & 4GBRam. Came out to $399 with that config. It is a Lenovo so hopefully last a while for her as she has the same usage patterns that you describe.

https://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?item=N82E16834332741

I have had nothing but aggravation with AMD chips in laptops. I don't know if it's the chip, the other components, or everything combined, but I simply won't buy one again - the computer always runs sluggish despite the theoretically positive specs. I've had good luck with Intel i5 (and i7) chips, so will likely stick with Intel.
 
Thanks for the info so far. Never used a SSD before and we would be fine either way.
Because we don't use them that intensely, we aren't that picky about speed issues, unless it's constantly freezing or something like that.
I don't care much about it being pretty, but she might.
 
is it actually needed to be actively mobile or just around the house? If speed isn't a big issue, I go with a bigger drive than smaller SSD. Prefer more storage than outright speed. No gaming here. I tend to stick with Intel mostly too. I do have an older laptop with AMD, and it's alright.

Didn't know Stapled sold referbs. The one linked by Java looks alright. Or save $60 and drop the RAM to 8...
https://www.staples.ca/en/Lenovo-Re...3-Windows-10-Pro/product_2448653_1-CA_1_20001
 
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My go to places for computer deals, the best of the best.

- Microsoft Store Canada (great quality hardware from various manufacturers and with their buying power, they always have great black friday and christmas sales).

- Tiger Direct Canada and Newegg Canada. Great and large computer-specialized retailers.

- Amazon. Some great deals, but be careful as some of it will be old stock.

Computer manufacturers themselves. They have some great sales from time to time direct. Check out HP, Asus, Lenovo, Acer, MSI, etc.



EDIT
Searching my first suggestion, Microsoft Store Canada shows two options that pretty much meet your specific wants. Probably more out there in the other links.

https://www.microsoft.com/en-ca/sto...8wfkrz8dbsjr/5zfg?activetab=pivot:overviewtab

https://www.microsoft.com/en-ca/sto...8nbfhswr9m07/0s98?activetab=pivot:overviewtab
 
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T430 is getting old (2012), but they are damn nice computers. Lenovo includes things like keyboard drains to mitigate accidents, 2 batteries to let you hot swap one etc. I have used a T450s for years and have no plans to replace it anytime soon.
 
I can't really suggest what to get, but I would watch out for these specs.

- SSD drive, this is probably the single biggest speed difference you will find. Everything just becomes faster and smoother.
- 8gb or more RAM, similar to the SSD, massive speed difference.
- Decent screen. This is where most cheap laptops save money. A nice, high DPI, screen makes using a computer a much more enjoyable experience.
- Decent keyboard and trackpad. Makes things so much nicer to use.

Most if not all of the usual tech companies make pretty damn good top end machines and bottom of the barrel junk, somewhere in between is usually the sweet spot. Probably about $800-1000 for a pc

Edit:
Two more things; battery life and reasonably compact and light. At some point you'll want to use it outside of home or work. Something light with decent battery will make everything better.
 
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Dell left a bad taste for me. Though half my PCs are Dell desktops and most of the laptops are HP. Anything modern is HP though.
 
Dell is imperfect for sure (with lots of proprietary components in my experience). Most manufacturers are imperfect in some way though and Dell is often great value (especially with that discount). That HP link for only $30 more gets rid of the Dell concerns and is comparable to the OP's wanted specs and to the Dell. I think a few other options are out there in my other links if people want to search them.

I found the best value last year in my experience at a total cost of under $800 with tax last year to my door. Got me a Lenovo Flex3-1480 signature edition with a 6th Gen I7 CPU and a Geforce video card. It's been great. Think this for the low $700's. https://www.microsoft.com/en-ca/sto...1-pc/8pj5db9g8s1r?activetab=pivot:overviewtab

Still, there are some good quality computers that spec out lower but still for what the OP listed as wants... and at his budget of $500. A few examples were posted.
 
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Dell is imperfect for sure (with lots of proprietary components in my experience). Most manufacturers are imperfect in some way though and Dell is often great value (especially with that discount). That HP link for only $30 more gets rid of the Dell concerns and is comparable to the OP's wanted specs and to the Dell. I think a few other options are out there in my other links if people want to search them.

I found the best value last year in my experience at a total cost of under $800 with tax last year to my door. Got me a Lenovo Flex3-1480 signature edition with a 6th Gen I7 CPU and a Geforce video card. It's been great. Think this for the low $700's. https://www.microsoft.com/en-ca/sto...1-pc/8pj5db9g8s1r?activetab=pivot:overviewtab

Still, there are some good quality computers that spec out lower but still for what the OP listed as wants... and at his budget of $500. A few examples were posted.

I bought a Dell XPS13 laptop this summer, it's pretty good so far.
 
All good points and thank you.
I should have mentioned, used or refurb is also fine, as long as it's a solid unit. This might make staying under budget more feasible.
That one posted by JavaFan looks pretty much on par with what she would need. https://www.staples.ca/en/lenovo-re...m-windows-10-pro/product_2711252_1-CA_1_20001

Here's a Thinkpad T430 - https://www.kijiji.ca/v-laptops/cit...16/1315663354?enableSearchNavigationFlag=true

or this Thinkpad t430 with 240GB SSD: https://www.kijiji.ca/v-laptops/cit...op/1315499861?enableSearchNavigationFlag=true
 
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Buy a Mac, make it dual boot, then you will have the best hardware available and still be able to blow tons of money on useless win software if you still think you need to. Either way you need to save up more money, you can have good or you can have cheap but you can't have good and cheap.

Problem with used laptops is, they have used batteries.
 
I have a Mac - use it for music only.
New laptop is for my wife, but she only wants a PC.
My current laptop is an HP6930p Elitebook which came out in 2009 and I paid $250 for it 6 years ago as an off-lease. It has gotten me through 6 years of posting on GTAM and it still works just as the day I bought it... and I own a V-Strom... so yes, you can have good and cheap!
 
the majority of the refurb thinkpads are going to be off lease units
they are the PC of choice for Enterprise as they are rugged as fok
IT dept's at large companies love them as they are so trouble free

they have some unique features, like mentioned a KB drain so a spill doesn't kill them
they are bulky and a bit heavy because they have an internal metalic chassis that
the MB and peripherals are attached to, keeps things from twisting and breaking connections
lid has metal hinges

these things can be tossed around in and out of brief cases and backpacks and always turn on
buttons don't fall off, screens don't die, and software support is top notch from lenovo

last one I got rid of was 10 years old, everything still worked, no buttons missing
only thing I needed to do in that time was replace a battery, which is external, no tools
without any trouble I got $200 for it, because it's a thinkpad
 
The Lenovo T 430 and T 510 are old computers with the T 430 from before Windows 10. No HDMI, no HD/LED/touch display. Older generation processors and RAM so CPU clock speeds on the newer I3's are comparable to the older I5's. Computers evolve very quickly, much faster than most other products. The Microsoft store is nice in that they keep their stock consistent with newer computers; that Dell inspiron 5378 and HP is fairly current with all the tech including a 7th gen CPU processor and newer generation RAM (all of which improves computer speeds). It's always worth diving into the details as well as looking at various retailers.
 
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