Obviously I don't expect the performance of new laptop in an old laptop. However, I want to make sure that the laptop is usable and has At least the following:
- 8GB RAM
- beyond 7th generation CPU (intel) and similar products for amd(its generation is named differently afaik)
- 2.5'' sata SSD
- battery life is always preferred to be great(For me anything with beyond 3hrs is a great battery life specially in an used laptop). The original batteries(or at least the functioning batteries) should be available in Indian shops so that I can replace whenever its battery dies.
Footnotes:
In the past I have used dell inspiron 15 5567 laptop with i5 7th generation cpu. The things I hated about it are as follows:
- poor battery life
- non-existent replacement batteries. Only WDX0R batteries were available which really were the worst of a kind. Worst.
- the build quality was like trash.
If you're in the US, you can get great great deals on eBay, especially all the business-class laptops (Dell Latitude, HP EliteBook, Lenovo .. Thinkpad I think?)
For longevity-purposes (ie, Windows 11 compatibility) the bare minimum CPU-spec I would consider is Intel 8th gen or later, but really I would be looking at Tiger Lake (11th-gen). Those CPUs were the sweet spot, both on a mature design and process node (think Intel 6th-gen Skylake). They were made in 2020 and still have decent performance. For AMD, I wouldn't get older than Ryzen 4000 series (Zen2) but really I'd recommend 5000-series and later (Zen3) as their battery life is supposedly much better.
For memory, I personally will not get less than 16GB these days. I got an 8GB used Ultrabook in 2020 and I regretted the memory choice, so I def won't go back to that world! But I was using that as my primary laptop, so I had a lot of Chrome tabs open and occasionally other stuff, so if you're just using yours for remote work, you can definitely get by with 8GB.
As far as costs go, again if you're in the US, you can grab a 16GB Ultrabook (like one of those brands listed above) for anywhere between $150-$250. If you're considering 8GB, probably $100-$150. I wouldn't spend more than $300, though! I love touchscreens and I love the 2-in-1 convertibles so those are what I buy for myself, and for others. But they cost a bit more, so if that's not important to you, you can get similarly-equipped laptops for cheaper than those numbers above.
And finally, for those relatively low prices, I wouldn't get a consumer-oriented brand like Pavilion or Inspiron. The build quality of the Business laptops are so much nicer IMO. Afterall, they were laptops that were MSRP'd to businesses for a ridiculously inflated price, like $2k+, etc.
**Edit - I just noticed your comment about poor experience with Inspiron. Case in point
. The Latitude line is much more premium-quality (rubber-ish Lid top, better plastics, aluminum, etc, etc). My ~2021 HP EliteBook x360 build quality is amazing, and it's a very compact 13" convertible too! The sizes have reversed and gone back up in size the past four years, sadly.
P.S. - Here's a list of used Laptops i've bought on E-Bay the last 5 years:
- $600 HP EliteBook 1030 x360, circa ~2019: 13" convertible w/Core i5 8th gen, 4c8t, 8GB ram, and special 120hz screen
- $250 HP EliteBook 1030 x360, circa ~2021: 13" convertible w/Core i5 11th gen, 4c8t, 16GB ram (my current laptop)
- $250 Dell Latitude 7420 2-in-1, circa ~2021 - 14" convertible w/Core i5 11th gen, 4c8t, 16GB ram (for my cousin)
- $700 HP Omnibook Flip (x360), circa ~2025 - 14" convertible w/Core Ultra 226V, 8c8t, 16GB ram (for my cousin)
- I got a bit burnt on this one. At the time, this was a great price that I found on E-bay, and it was New. But then, during the past couple of weeks here in August, Best Buy had this on sale for $530, a great great price. I ended up buying one from Best Buy, but I ended up never picking it up because I decided to go a different route and buy an ARM Snapdragon 2-in-1 convertible instead, which brings me to my last purchase:
- $350 Lenovo IdeaPad 5 2-in-1, circa ~2024 - 14" convertible w/Snapdragon X Plus, 8c8t, 16GB ram, OLED screen (for me)
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