Despite still loving my (2013) Dell E6540. Next upgrade?

[GoodEnough]

I love this $1200 laptop.
I scored a $500 deal on it a few years ago.

I'm using it daily at work. (Non-gaming, just office stuff)

• Win7
• 8GB RAM
• 256GB SSD
• HDMI out (I use this a lot)
• 15.6" screen.
• I strongly prefer "full sized" keyboards like this has.

If it breaks, I want to be prepared.
What are great killer laptops today? Specs?
If this broke, what would be a cost effective upgrade? Stick with Dell?
Would like to hear some general options for great laptops these days.

 

[GoodEnough]

https://www.cnet.com/products/dell-...q-8-gb-ram-500-gb-hybrid-drive-english/specs/
https://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2422970,00.asp

 

[VirtualLarry]

My daily-driver laptop, is a Lenovo with similar specs. (Quad-core AMD APU, 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD, Windows 7 Pro)

I think that once you reach that level, there's not that much better out there, other than a FHD IPS screen, and a full-sized keyboard.

 

[GoodEnough]

So, office caliber laptop technology has not really moved forward in the last 5 years?
Or was the E6540 just that loaded and future proof?

 

[GoodEnough]

Is Lenovo still considered the bomb?
Dell or Lenovo? Who's got the uppper hand?

 

[kodygarner]

I love this $1200 laptop.
I scored a $500 deal on it a few years ago.

I'm using it daily at work. (Non-gaming, just office stuff)

• Win7
• 8GB RAM
• 256GB SSD
• HDMI out (I use this a lot)
• 15.6" screen.
• I strongly prefer "full sized" keyboards like this has.

If it breaks, I want to be prepared.
What are great killer laptops today? Specs?
If this broke, what would be a cost effective upgrade? Stick with Dell?
Would like to hear some general options for great laptops these days.

Dells suck bro, I wouldn’t buy a Dell or Acer to save my life. Also $1200 for any brand laptop with those specs is wayyy too much. Sorry to tell you that. Some people just don’t know about pricing sadly the stores know this and overcharge.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[GoodEnough]

This Dell is killer for me. Total workhorse, and dead nuts bulletproof.
And I paid $500 for mine (corporate surplus, never used)
Sick laptop, sick deal.

What laptop do you have, bro?

 

[dave_the_nerd]

Is Lenovo still considered the bomb?
Dell or Lenovo? Who's got the uppper hand?

Yes, yes, and yes.

 

[dave_the_nerd]

If it breaks, I want to be prepared.

Do you have backups?

What are great killer laptops today? Specs?

There are upgraded versions of the Latitude series that are basically the same laptop with updated components. (Better CPUs, cheaper/faster storage, etc.) That's the easy choice anyway.

If this broke, what would be a cost effective upgrade? Stick with Dell?

Sure. Or anybody else. If you don't mind buying used, Dell's refurb store sometimes has good deals.

Would like to hear some general options for great laptops these days.

Dell, Lenovo and HP all make excellent business-class notebooks. ASUS and Razer have some slimmer gaming laptops that are kinda similar too, and also excellent.

 

[dave_the_nerd]

Dells suck bro, I wouldn’t buy a Dell or Acer to save my life. Also $1200 for any brand laptop with those specs is wayyy too much. Sorry to tell you that. Some people just don’t know about pricing sadly the stores know this and overcharge.

Those are the specs of his old laptop that he paid $500 for several years ago.

 

[kodygarner]

Those are the specs of his old laptop that he paid $500 for several years ago.

I was saying it would have normally been 1200, that’s that’s crazy, I could get a digital storm for that much.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[bbhaag]

IMO steer clear of the Lenovo Ideapad line. It's more consumer oriented then their Thinkpad line of laptops. I bought my wife an Ideapad 510 series a little over a year ago and it has not held up well at all. The specs were great for the price but between the cheap plastic body cracking and the two burned out HHDs I don't think I would consider another Lenovo geared toward the consumer end. Their Thinkpad line gets rave reviews but your gonna pay a premium for them.
Hell my sons Asus Asus F555LA that I bought him when he started high school has help up much better than the Lenovo and it was cheaper.

Anyway just thought I'd give you my two cents and experience with a Lenovo lappy.

 

[GoodEnough]

If I want to change things up, what is the equiv. Lenovo/Thinkpad line?


I think I will stick with Dell Latitude (business class)

I can see the upgrade model sequence here
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dell_Latitude

I like the 15.6" screen.

E5550
E5570
E5580

I can look on Ebay, as well

 

[bbhaag]

If you're still looking to change things up take a look at HPs line of Elitebooks. They get decent reviews for a business oriented line of laptops. I have an older 8460P with a few upgrades (ssd and cpu) and it works pretty good considering its age. I haven't looked at the line closely in a few years but one thing to consider is the screen resolution and keyboard. HP had a tendency to cheap out on the screen and keyboard but that may have changed over the years. It was also very dependent on the model even in the same generation of laptops.

 

[GoodEnough]

I just ordered 2x8GB RAM upgrade for $130.
That should tide me over for a while

 

[bbhaag]

I just ordered 2x8GB RAM upgrade for $130.
That should tide me over for a while

Sounds good man. Don't discount a cpu upgrade either or a larger ssd. SSD's are getting crazy cheap right now.
Also your OP didn't mention what cpu you have but keep an eye out on Ebay for the right deal. I was able to upgrade the cpu on my 8460P to an i7-2820QM for stupid cheap by just watching the auctions and timing it right.

EDIT: Just seen you have it listed in your sig. An i5-4310m is pretty good but if you time it right you might be able to move into an i7 MQ or HQ pretty cheap.

 

[GoodEnough]

I have never upgraded a laptop CPU, so it was not on my radar.

Can you post some links of possible CPU upgrades?
How do you know what is compatible with my MB?
Curious of ballpark price, it's for work, so I don't need the best perfect steal deal.

 

[bbhaag]

I have never upgraded a laptop CPU, so it was not on my radar.

Can you post some links of possible CPU upgrades?
How do you know what is compatible with my MB?
Curious of ballpark price, it's for work, so I don't need the best perfect steal deal.

Yeah sure man. So I googled your model number and it looks like the most mainstream i7 that came in the E6540 was the i7-4800mq. So I headed over to Ebay and searched around for a few minutes and found this listing. i7-4800QM $90 shipped. Like I said that was just a quick search if you keep an eye out for the i7 you could probably find it cheaper.

Also here is the Dell Latitude E6540 Owner's Manual. It has a nice picture on how to replace the cpu on your laptop.

 

[GoodEnough]

Thanks. Excellent tutorial by DELL. I don't mind dropping $90. This is a nice laptop.

Is a CPU upgrade seamless? If I just replace it with the i7, does the OS just pick it up with no issues?

Going to read how to quantify the performance diff.
Is the i7 a legit step up from i5 ?
Best metric?

http://cpuboss.com/cpus/Intel-Core-i7-4800MQ-vs-Intel-Core-i5-4310M
http://www.cpu-world.com/Compare/92...-4310M_vs_Intel_Core_i7_Mobile_i7-4800MQ.html
https://www.game-debate.com/cpu/ind...-4310m-2-7ghz-vs-core-i7-4800mq-4-core-2-7ghz

 

[bbhaag]

Thanks. Excellent tutorial by DELL. I don't mind dropping $90. This is a nice laptop.

Is a CPU upgrade seamless? If I just replace it with the i7, does the OS just pick it up with no issues?

Going to read how to quantify the performance diff.
Is the i7 a legit step up from i5 ?
Best metric?

http://cpuboss.com/cpus/Intel-Core-i7-4800MQ-vs-Intel-Core-i5-4310M
http://www.cpu-world.com/Compare/92...-4310M_vs_Intel_Core_i7_Mobile_i7-4800MQ.html
https://www.game-debate.com/cpu/ind...-4310m-2-7ghz-vs-core-i7-4800mq-4-core-2-7ghz

It was on my 8460P but that is an HP not a Dell. All I did was remove the battery, took off the back cover and removed the old cpu dropped in the new one then added some tim and put the heatsink back on. All in all it took less than 20 minutes to do and it booted right up.

As far as whether or not it's worth it to upgrade the cpu that is probably up to you to decide. I like to tinker with my computers so finding a good deal on the i7-2820qm was just an excuse for me to play around.haha

 

[GoodEnough]

Totally hear you. Clearly, I am looking for an excuse to upgrade and drop a few bucks for fun. So, I think I will look for a CPU and just do it. You think that i7 you posted is the best bang for the buck? I want to stick to known specs, so I don't end up with a CPU I can't use.

 

[bbhaag]

Totally hear you. Clearly, I am looking for an excuse to upgrade and drop a few bucks for fun. So, I think I will look for a CPU and just do it. You think that i7 you posted is the best bang for the buck? I want to stick to known specs, so I don't end up with a CPU I can't use.

That link was with just a quick search on Ebay. Here's another listing though from a good seller and it's cheaper. If you want to stick with known working specs then yes the i7-4800mq would be best because it originally shipped with that cpu from Dell.
i7 4800MQ $20 cheaper They even have a make offer option so you could low ball them at say $55 or $60 and see if they bite.

 

[GoodEnough]

Thanks man. I noticed the MSRP for these CPUs new was like $500
Is that really the cost? If half the cost of these laptops just the CPU???

https://www.amazon.com/Intel-i7-4800MQ-2-70GHz-Processor-BX80647I74800MQ/dp/B00D60060K

 

[bbhaag]

Unlikely. That is for the retail boxed version and prices may have gone up due to the fact that it is an older cpu that Intel has stopped manufacturing. Most OEMs pay considerably less for tray pricing because they are buying in bulk. I see the Ark page still has that cpu listed as launched but I'm guessing that does not apply to the retail boxed version most likely it is just for trayed bulk orders but that is just an educated guess on my part I don't have any evidence to back it up.

 

[GoodEnough]

Just Made Offer and won it for $35/shipped.
Good deal?

These $100 asking prices seem nuts,
considering you can get a whole laptop for like $300