suggestions for college laptop?

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Homerboy

Homerboy

Lifer
Mar 1, 2000
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Sadly, the chrome book isn't cutting it anymore for my son (2nd year college). So I need to find him a reasonably priced laptop. Used is fine, but there are just sooo many options/makes/models out there I have no idea what is "good"
Basically he needs nothing more than a something to run windows, SSD with nominal space, 8GB RAM, decent screen size, solid WiFi. It'd be nice if it wasn't a tank, but doesn't have to be super slim/light either.

Any suggestions? Or anyone have anything for sale???
 
QuietDad

QuietDad

Senior member
Dec 18, 2005
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I am an absolute fan of the Lenovo T4XX (T410,T420, ect_) Thinpad laptops for general use like this. Even thought they are "older", you can find then used all over the internet (eBay, Amazon, ect for $200 and under and they come with I5 and I7 processors. The are tanks
 
Homerboy

Homerboy

Lifer
Mar 1, 2000
30,890
5,001
126
QuietDad said:
I am an absolute fan of the Lenovo T4XX (T410,T420, ect_) Thinpad laptops for general use like this. Even thought they are "older", you can find then used all over the internet (eBay, Amazon, ect for $200 and under and they come with I5 and I7 processors. The are tanks
Click to expand...
Yeah I've purchased ThinkPad T410 (I think) for my mom in the past.
 
T

Tech Junky

Diamond Member
Jan 27, 2022
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Clevo / Sager will do the job at a cheaper price.

Search by the CPU for a minimum of W11 you need a 9-sereies like 9750H

www.wepc.com

Windows 11 CPU List Released

www.wepc.com www.wepc.com

There's a search box. I see my prior 8700K listed but when I went to install W11 it wouldn't pass the checks or install.

Anything with a i3 / i5 /i7 -9xxx or 10xxx or 11xxx should work just fine though.
 
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JTsyo

JTsyo

Lifer
Nov 18, 2007
11,975
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Slickdeals send me a link to Mircosoft who has a pretty solid ASUS for $650.

  • 15.6" 1080p OLED 400 nits Display, 600 nits Peak, 100% DCI-P3, HDR600
  • Intel Core i5-1135G7 2.4 GHz (4.2 GHz Turbo, 8MB Cache)
  • Intel Iris Xe Graphics (80 EU)
  • 16GB (8GB soldered + 8GB DIMM) DDR4 3200 MHz Ram
  • 1TB M.2 PCIe NVMe Solid State Drive
 
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Homerboy

Homerboy

Lifer
Mar 1, 2000
30,890
5,001
126
JTsyo said:
Slickdeals send me a link to Mircosoft who has a pretty solid ASUS for $650.

  • 15.6" 1080p OLED 400 nits Display, 600 nits Peak, 100% DCI-P3, HDR600
  • Intel Core i5-1135G7 2.4 GHz (4.2 GHz Turbo, 8MB Cache)
  • Intel Iris Xe Graphics (80 EU)
  • 16GB (8GB soldered + 8GB DIMM) DDR4 3200 MHz Ram
  • 1TB M.2 PCIe NVMe Solid State Drive
Click to expand...
That's a pretty good deal no doubt , but he doesn't need anything that nice. I was hoping to spend $400 max
Dell had some decent refurbs...
 
Scarpozzi

Scarpozzi

Lifer
Jun 13, 2000
26,391
1,780
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My current laptop is a Dell Inspiron 15 3000 series. You can find deals on them at around $329 and they are pretty upgradable, but require a screwdriver to disassemble. M.2 slot and good ram upgrades available.

My gripe is the charger stopped working. Was reporting the wrong wattage....then the battery stopped charging. I think because the charger wasn't triggering the battery to charge, it got too low and is now throwing a critical error and won't even try to charge. This is likely to keep the li-ions from exploding, but it makes me mad because the replacement charger and batteries are pricey.... Otherwise, it's a decent enough laptop since most of them are junky after a few years anyways.
 
Homerboy

Homerboy

Lifer
Mar 1, 2000
30,890
5,001
126
Scarpozzi said:
My current laptop is a Dell Inspiron 15 3000 series. You can find deals on them at around $329 and they are pretty upgradable, but require a screwdriver to disassemble. M.2 slot and good ram upgrades available.

My gripe is the charger stopped working. Was reporting the wrong wattage....then the battery stopped charging. I think because the charger wasn't triggering the battery to charge, it got too low and is now throwing a critical error and won't even try to charge. This is likely to keep the li-ions from exploding, but it makes me mad because the replacement charger and batteries are pricey.... Otherwise, it's a decent enough laptop since most of them are junky after a few years anyways.
Click to expand...

Funny you mention that model I was just looking at (and strongly considering) one the other day.
You can get i3-1115G4 Processor, 8GB RAM and 128GB PCIe for $380. Can save $50 and just get 4GB RAM too...
 
Homerboy

Homerboy

Lifer
Mar 1, 2000
30,890
5,001
126
FWIW, I ended up getting my hands on an older Dell Latitude 3450 (i5, 4GB) for free. Tossed in a $20 SSD and shipped it off to him. It will more than suffice I think.
And a good (cheap!) test bed to see how much he uses it and takes care of it etc etc

Thanks for all the suggestions!
 
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