A good used laptop?

[axlastro]

Hi guys. I'm going to buy a laptop for my wife and it ought to be :
1. Cheap
2. Great battery life
3. Good keyboard and display
4. Fairly compact and light (under 14" and under 1.5kg)
5. Ability to take an SSD at some point

I was recommended a good used Lenovo X201, and I'm also considering a HP Elite book of the same age or a Dell Vostro 1330, or some Dell Lattitude

There are companies here that ofer refurbished / used notebooks for good prices. Most are beat up, but there are some in very good condition.

What do you think - what would be the best portable notebook made 3-5 years ago that I can purchase for a good price now and rely on it?

 

[JWade]

I have a dell latitude e6420 and have been eyeing the latitude e6220/e6230 as well as the e6320/e6330. I think the are built pretty solid, I get around 3.5 hours of battery on my e6420 and would expect the same on the e62xx and e63xx series.

dell financial services has them for decent prices.

 

[Meghan54]

Have you considered browsing Lenovo's outlet? You can find some decent deals there, if you're quick and up early enough in the morning.

I bought a T540p there a few weeks ago.....i5 4300m processor, 8GB memory, 500GB 7200 rpm hd (which is getting replaced with a cheapie SSD), 15.6" 1920x1080 LED screen, Intel Centrino wireless....$450.

I've purchased from Lenovo's outlet quite a few times over the last few years and have yet to receive anything that wasn't in excellent condition, despite being labeled "refurb'd". Decent warranty, too, typically 1 year standard.

http://outlet.lenovo.com/outlet_us/

 

[chubbyfatazn]

What's cheap to you (aka "what's your budget")?

When I used my X220 I could make it last the majority of a typical 8-hour workday. I probably could've stretched it a bit longer but I never needed to.

X201: one HDD/SSD, up to 1440x900 resolution on up to an AFFS+ panel
X220/X230: one mSATA + one HDD/SSD, 1366x768 resolution on up to an IPS panel

I love my X220, just wish it had a higher-res panel.

I'm a Thinkpad guy, I can help you out if your focus shifts to them. I've got/had an X200t, X201, X201t, X220, and X230

 

[axlastro]

I don't live in the us.
My budget is 200 euro (250-300 usd)
The laptop is for my wife.
I was looking at HP Elitebook 2540 but I don't know if it's reliable.
I found a dell vostro 1330 (I hope I'm not wrong) with some minor LCD defects for 170 euro.
The x201 can be purchased off ebay but it seems too manly to me.