Need to buy a laptop for my father's workplace

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kanishknishar

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Sep 13, 2019
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  • Budget (in USD):
    As cheap as possible but probably 300 USD. If something truly better then 400 USD. I am buying this in America so a direct link to the best option is appreciated.
  • Are you open to refurbs/used?
    List one refurb option just in case.
  • Priorities
    Performance. Battery life isn't that big of a consideration.
  • How important is weight and thinness to you?
    Not too much. As I understand it laptops aren't thick like they used to be 15 years ago.
  • Preferred screen size
    16/17" is preferred but 15 is fine too.
  • List which programs/games you desire to run.
    Primarily Tally ERP, Chrome, browsing the internet and Word.
  • Other information:
    Is it really good enough to have a dual core laptop? All options below 500 USD seem to be dual core and I want this laptop to last at least 5-7 years so I thought a quad core would be essential. Is that not the case?
 
VirtualLarry

VirtualLarry

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Aug 25, 2001
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walmart.com (USA) sometimes has brand-new "Gateway" laptops, with either a 3450U (AMD Zen 4C/8T) or Intel i5-1135G7 (Intel Tigerlake 11th-gen 4C/8T) with 8GB of DDR4 and a 256GB NVMe for $320-350.

You can also get decent refurbed business-class laptops (some 8th-gen 4C/8T units showing up for $300-400 these days) @ Newegg.com in their Marketplace.
 
K

kanishknishar

Member
Sep 13, 2019
43
6
41
VirtualLarry said:
walmart.com (USA) sometimes has brand-new "Gateway" laptops, with either a 3450U (AMD Zen 4C/8T) or Intel i5-1135G7 (Intel Tigerlake 11th-gen 4C/8T) with 8GB of DDR4 and a 256GB NVMe for $320-350.

You can also get decent refurbed business-class laptops (some 8th-gen 4C/8T units showing up for $300-400 these days) @ Newegg.com in their Marketplace.
Click to expand...
The issue with that would be that I am going back to India next month so warranty support would become problematic.
 
VirtualLarry

VirtualLarry

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Lenovo / Lenovo Outlet? I think that they might offer world-wide warranty support, might have to pay a little extra at purchase to get it.
 
VirtualLarry

VirtualLarry

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Aug 25, 2001
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New & Refurbished Laptops and 2-in-1s | Outlet

Check out our range of new and refurbished laptops now in stock at the Lenovo Outlet Store. Grab yourself a bargain, but hurry as stock is limited.
www.lenovo.com

IdeaPad Flex 5i Gen 7 (14″ Intel) | 14'' Intel®-powered 2-in-1 laptop | 82R7X012US

Learn more about the IdeaPad Flex 5i Gen 7 (14″ Intel), a stylish, portable 14” 2-in-1 laptop with an Intel® Core™ processor, and an optional Pen.
www.lenovo.com

12th-gen with 8GB of RAM for under $300.
Edit: Oh, that's a refurb. But a very good deal on a 6C laptop.
 
Last edited:
K

kanishknishar

Member
Sep 13, 2019
43
6
41
VirtualLarry said:
walmart.com (USA) sometimes has brand-new "Gateway" laptops, with either a 3450U (AMD Zen 4C/8T) or Intel i5-1135G7 (Intel Tigerlake 11th-gen 4C/8T) with 8GB of DDR4 and a 256GB NVMe for $320-350.

You can also get decent refurbed business-class laptops (some 8th-gen 4C/8T units showing up for $300-400 these days) @ Newegg.com in their Marketplace.
Click to expand...
Do you know the last time that was the case?
 
VirtualLarry

VirtualLarry

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Aug 25, 2001
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Last edited:
K

kanishknishar

Member
Sep 13, 2019
43
6
41
VirtualLarry said:

Search for "8th gen refurbished laptop" on newegg.com. That was the first one, i5-8350U 4C/8T, 16GB DDR4, 256GB SSD, $219. Now THAT's value for money right there. Shipped and Sold by Newegg themselves.
Click to expand...
That IS really good. Do you have any experience with refurbished laptops? My father's highly sceptical of buying things that have been "used" and may not work properly.
 
VirtualLarry

VirtualLarry

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kanishknishar said:
My father's highly sceptical of buying things that have been "used" and may not work properly.
Click to expand...
In my opinion, refurbished laptops and desktops "Shipped and Sold by Newegg" are really the gold standard for refurbished stuff from Newegg.
 
VirtualLarry

VirtualLarry

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I've bought a Dell laptop off of dellrefurbished.com ? (or was that delloutlet.com ?) Either way, it was like new.
 
K

kanishknishar

Member
Sep 13, 2019
43
6
41
VirtualLarry said:
I've bought a Dell laptop off of dellrefurbished.com ? (or was that delloutlet.com ?) Either way, it was like new.
Click to expand...
A more subjective question I know but does the resolution of 1366 x 768 really make a difference compared to 1920 x 1080 for a work user? Or are the differences in higher resolution only for gamers/graphic workers?
 
VirtualLarry

VirtualLarry

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Aug 25, 2001
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With the overall tech sales slowdown, there's a lot of really decent deals out there; esp. on refurbished.
 
K

kanishknishar

Member
Sep 13, 2019
43
6
41
VirtualLarry said:

Search for "8th gen refurbished laptop" on newegg.com. That was the first one, i5-8350U 4C/8T, 16GB DDR4, 256GB SSD, $219. Now THAT's value for money right there. Shipped and Sold by Newegg themselves.
Click to expand...
Is it? A 12th gen laptop could be had for 70 USD more. I imagine the performance is much better. Also side question: Do light users need quad core systems? I am worried about dual cores getting slow after a few years. If dual core can last a good 5 years for light users maybe getting refurbished dual core can be even cheaper.

Also newegg won't give me warranty in India right?
 
VirtualLarry

VirtualLarry

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Aug 25, 2001
56,570
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kanishknishar said:
I am worried about dual cores getting slow after a few years. If dual core can last a good 5 years for light users maybe getting refurbished dual core can be even cheaper.
Click to expand...
Not significantly cheaper, IMHO, and the sun is setting on dual-cores. They are still usable today, but in 5 years, will they still be able to browse the web?

Edit: For example, I am using a laptop with a Pentium 7405U, which is an 11th-gen 2C/4T. Sometimes it gets sluggish, in places that my i5-1135G7 11-gen i5 4C/8T does not.

kanishknishar said:
Also newegg won't give me warranty in India right?
Click to expand...
Newegg offers third-party "extended" warranties on things like laptops at check-out. Might find out if those are useful world-wide.
 
VirtualLarry

VirtualLarry

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kanishknishar said:
Could you please elaborate on why?
Click to expand...
At least, speaking from an ex-programmer perspective, screen real-estate was key. More things on-screen at once, more data / spreadsheet columns / more Word text, the more productive you could be.
 
Last edited:
K

kanishknishar

Member
Sep 13, 2019
43
6
41
VirtualLarry said:
At least, speaking from an ex-programmer perspective, screen real-estate was key. More things on-screen at once, more data / spreadsheet comns / more Word text, the more productive you could be.
Click to expand...
I thought that would be dependent on your screen size. For example I am currently using a 17' laptop 1920x1080 and the text is really tiny and except gaming I have to keep it at 125%:

1682653293526.png
 
K

kanishknishar

Member
Sep 13, 2019
43
6
41
VirtualLarry said:
www.walmart.com

Restored Gateway GWTN141-10BK 14.1" FHD i5-1135G7 2.4GHz Intel Iris Xe Graphics 16GB RAM 512GB SSD Win 10 Home Black (Refurbished) - Walmart.com

Buy Restored Gateway GWTN141-10BK 14.1" FHD i5-1135G7 2.4GHz Intel Iris Xe Graphics 16GB RAM 512GB SSD Win 10 Home Black (Refurbished) at Walmart.com
www.walmart.com

here's an i5-1135g7 / 16GB / 512GB NVMe, refurb Gateway for $244. Unfortunately, it's sold by Vipoutlet.
Click to expand...
Is Vipoutlet shady/bad?

Edit: For example, I am using a laptop with a Pentium 7405U, which is an 11th-gen 2C/4T. Sometimes it gets sluggish, in places that my i5-1135G7 11-gen i5 4C/8T does not.
Click to expand...
In what kind of workloads does it get slow? I am asking because I am wondering if my father would run into the same kind of slowdowns.
 
VirtualLarry

VirtualLarry

No Lifer
Aug 25, 2001
56,570
10,198
126
kanishknishar said:
I thought that would be dependent on your screen size. For example I am currently using a 17' laptop 1920x1080 and the text is really tiny and except gaming I have to keep it at 125%:
Click to expand...
It depends more on resolution, but combined with screen size, may depend on readability according to your vision acuity.

If your eyesight is not "the best", then 1366x768P may be an acceptable tradeoff to utilizing screen (resolution) scaling.
 
VirtualLarry

VirtualLarry

No Lifer
Aug 25, 2001
56,570
10,198
126
kanishknishar said:
Is Vipoutlet shady/bad?
Click to expand...
A few years ago, I would have said "yes", due to buying from them several times and not getting exactly what I ordered, but then I realized, they deal in such high volumes, sometimes their listings aren't always correct. They do offer a return guarantee, I believe.
 
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