in the market for a new laptop

[pjtoledo]

I don't do gaming, if that matters any.
from the Best Buy site , shoot it or salute it?

https://www.bestbuy.com/product/samsung-galaxy-book4-15-6-fhd-laptop-intel-core-7-16gb-memory-512gb-ssd-silver/J3ZYG2TPS5/sku/6572184

 

[bobbywalter]

get me one too.

 

[broncc]

The best value laptop is last year's Thinkpads. Consumer laptops are built like garbage to hit a certain price. You can pick up a used Thinkpad off ebay for the same price with better specs and higher build quality. Lots of companies have a mandatory laptop refresh policy that generates great deals.

Make sure whatever you buy still has a hard drive with a valid OS installed.

THESE ARE EXAMPLES DO NOT TAKE THIS AS BUY ADVICE

Lenovo ThinkPad T15 15.6" i7-10610 32GB RAM 512gb NVME WIN 11 Pro Laptop Cam | eBay

Built with military grade specs in mind, this T15 is great for users whom need to compute on the go with no compromise. Headphone / Microphone Combo Jack: 1. USB 3.1 Gen 1 Ports: 2 (one always on). ONE YEAR WARRANTY.

www.ebay.com

Lenovo ThinkPad L15 RYZEN 5 PRO 5650U gen 2 15.6" 16GB 512GB Wifi BT Win 11 Pro | eBay

Model Number Ryzen 5 Pro L15 gen 2 5650U. Processor AMD Ryzen 5 Pro 2.3 GHz. Make Lenovo ThinkPad. Features Bluetooth, Built in microphone, Wifi, Webcam. Connectivity HDMI, Ethernet, USB 3.2. All queries will be replied to within 24 hours.

www.ebay.com

Lenovo ThinkPad T14 14" Intel Core i7 4.8GHz 32GB 512GB SSD Win11 * READ | eBay

HD 720p with ThinkPad Webcam Privacy Shutter. 512 GB PCIe SSD. Authentic Lenovo Adapter. One Year Warranty. One Year Full System Coverage.

www.ebay.com

Lenovo ThinkPad T480 14" FHD i5 8250u 32GB 512gb NVME WIFI CAM WIN 11 PRO laptop | eBay

Enhance your work with the Lenovo ThinkPad T480, featuring a 14" FHD display, 32GB RAM, 512GB SSD, and Windows 11 Pro. Perfect for professionals.

www.ebay.com

 

[pacstud]

I am not an apple guy. That being said...

I went to iPhone 3.5 years ago and am happy. I had no problem with my androids, but I like the apple better.

My school computer went to an iMac 9 months ago. Elated. I had been on HP or Lenovo for a decade plus, WinOS. I still have a pretty solid MSI at home, I haven't touched it since I got my iMac.

I was fine with it, but the mac is simply better in every way. It's an M4 macbook air, I know they cost more, worth it.

Battery, vastly superior. That was the big one for me. Light yet strong. Ergonomic is much better. I even got an imouse, wow. It mimics the trackpad! (swiping, squeezing, etc). Also a massive battery (I've charged it twice in six months).

Screen is very clean, so when I use for video it's nice. I had to learn it, obviously, but it wasn't that bad and just so many good features it's worth it. I hadn't been a regular macOS user since the early 2000s, my first job lol, but the learning curve wasn't bad at all.

Dongles aren't an issue for me. I haven't used an HDMI in a long time (they got us a USB/HDMI dongle, I used the USB once in the last year, I'd guess it costs less than $20). There is an audio port, which I do use.

Just making a pitch. Good luck.

 

[pentode]

I'll make the cheapskate argument: if your current laptop has an Intel core-anything CPU, especially anything from the last 10 years, consider giving a lightweight Linux a try. If course, if it's broke, please ignore my unsolicited advice.

As far as buying new, my 2 cents is that pretty much anything will be fine in terms of performance, it's really down to durability/longevity. I'm a total Thinkpad guy because as broncc pointed out, they're tanks and they're built to be upgraded and repaired. I also admit that the new MacBooks are pretty great in their own way, but whether the price for what you get is worth it... Personal decision I guess.

 

[pacstud]

I also admit that the new MacBooks are pretty great in their own way, but whether the price for what you get is worth it... Personal decision I guess.

I must admit I probably would not have a macbook if it wasn't "free".

That being said, now that I've used it, idk, might pay the extra if it was left to me. It'd be close though.

 

[mr_manny]

Huge fan of the unibody 13" macbook pros (2009-2012).
Replace the primary sata drive for SSD, as well as swap out the dvd for a sata hard disk for additional storage.

Quality hardware without the apple tax, and get to run Linux to boot.

Win Win

 

[Shran]

We sell a ton of Dell and Lenovo laptops at work. Both have been very good except for the Dell XPS laptop line, I really do not care for those. HP has historically been very frustrating to work with and I would avoid those. Apple is good. I can't really comment on other brands since I rarely see them.

That one you posted should be fine. I would consider a 512GB SSD and 16GB RAM to be the absolute minimum for a new PC. The i7/Ultra 7 CPU line is good, i5/Ultra 5 is what I would consider the minimum there - don't waste your time with an i3 or other cheapo's.

A lot of PC's do not have upgradable RAM these days so if you can spend the extra on a 32GB right off the bat, do it, you may regret it later when you need it and can't upgrade it.

 

[oldgeek]

Thinkpad has been a recommendation here, a good one. Some get confused with the cheaper line of Ideapad.

 

[Ab_Reed]

The best value laptop is last year's Thinkpads. Consumer laptops are built like garbage to hit a certain price. You can pick up a used Thinkpad off ebay for the same price with better specs and higher build quality. Lots of companies have a mandatory laptop refresh policy that generates great deals.

Make sure whatever you buy still has a hard drive with a valid OS installed.

THESE ARE EXAMPLES DO NOT TAKE THIS AS BUY ADVICE

Lenovo ThinkPad T15 15.6" i7-10610 32GB RAM 512gb NVME WIN 11 Pro Laptop Cam | eBay

Built with military grade specs in mind, this T15 is great for users whom need to compute on the go with no compromise. Headphone / Microphone Combo Jack: 1. USB 3.1 Gen 1 Ports: 2 (one always on). ONE YEAR WARRANTY.

www.ebay.com

Lenovo ThinkPad L15 RYZEN 5 PRO 5650U gen 2 15.6" 16GB 512GB Wifi BT Win 11 Pro | eBay

Model Number Ryzen 5 Pro L15 gen 2 5650U. Processor AMD Ryzen 5 Pro 2.3 GHz. Make Lenovo ThinkPad. Features Bluetooth, Built in microphone, Wifi, Webcam. Connectivity HDMI, Ethernet, USB 3.2. All queries will be replied to within 24 hours.

www.ebay.com

Lenovo ThinkPad T14 14" Intel Core i7 4.8GHz 32GB 512GB SSD Win11 * READ | eBay

HD 720p with ThinkPad Webcam Privacy Shutter. 512 GB PCIe SSD. Authentic Lenovo Adapter. One Year Warranty. One Year Full System Coverage.

www.ebay.com

Lenovo ThinkPad T480 14" FHD i5 8250u 32GB 512gb NVME WIFI CAM WIN 11 PRO laptop | eBay

Enhance your work with the Lenovo ThinkPad T480, featuring a 14" FHD display, 32GB RAM, 512GB SSD, and Windows 11 Pro. Perfect for professionals.

www.ebay.com

Ive had nothing but problems with my think pad. I had a Dell that was about 5 years old "engineering laptop" battery was a little weak towards the end. Company "upgraded to think pads. Its about to have its 3rd keyboard replacement in under 2 years. They have a ton of keyboard recalls. Ive used the laptop keyboard maybe 6 times a year at this point. Everytime the computer updates something stops working, last update the camera and mic didnt work. Time before that it couldnt do dual screens.


for home use i think a 2-3 year old macbook would be the move.

 

[pacstud]

The used market for macs is really good, that's a great avenue as well.

 

[sgtsandman]

If it is your daily computer, and you plan to stick with Windows, I would get the best upper end computer you can afford. The price up front will suck but it will pay off in the computers you don't buy in the future because you bought higher end now. You can always upgrade the RAM and hard drive later, if you need too.

For a utility computer that will only be used for traveling or working on vehicles, you can get by with a cheaper computer. They will take longer to boot and get worse as time goes on, but if they get damaged or stolen, you won't care as much. Just keep the important stuff you don't want to lose on an external drive.

In my case, I am an extreme example because I use a Linux operating system. I bought a gaming computer and threw Linux on it. I got about 15 years out of the thing before there started to be hardware failures that could take out the computer at any time. It worked so well, I bought another gaming computer in hopes that it will be another 15 years or so before I have to replace it.

 

[pjtoledo]

I though I was the only one here with a 15 year old computer.

it's an HP Envy x360, Intel core i5

8gb ram

 

[sgtsandman]

I though I was the only one here with a 15 year old computer.

it's an HP Envy x360, Intel core i5

8gb ram

I still have it in the closet but it's throwing codes for some failures that show the motherboard is starting to fail. Being that laptops are so proprietary, it probably can't get fixed and there probably isn't a motherboard out there that would fit properly. That is one thing I do miss about having a tower. I just don't have room for a tower anymore and I would have to buy a monitor.

 

[pentode]

I though I was the only one here with a 15 year old computer.

it's an HP Envy x360, Intel core i5

8gb ram

Both my daily driver Thinkpad T430 and my travel laptop X230t are from 2012. Both upgraded to 16 gigs of RAM and 1 gig SSDs (the T430 has 2 of them). I also have a Surface pro 4 - battery died after about 3 years. I'd replace it but the whole machine is glued together and I just can't be bothered.

Edit: Envy x360 is a nice rig, I looked very seriously at those when they came out but got the Surface for free through work.