Laptop buying advice

Kinja'd!!! "MarquetteLa" (marquettela)
08/19/2019 at 15:55 • Filed to: laptoppositelock

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Hello Oppo, I find myself in the market for a cheap laptop. Here is my list of needs:

at least a 1080p screen

ability to play back 1080p video from a GoPro

built-in SD card reader

runs Windows

costs less than $400

I hit the local Best Buy yesterday to get my hands on some models and try out the keyboards. I generally liked the HP keyboards, but couldn’t get a sense for how their specs really line up with what’s available today. What do you think, Oppo?


DISCUSSION (48)


Kinja'd!!! RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht > MarquetteLa
08/19/2019 at 16:04

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I last bought a laptop ten years ago. An HP Compaq, which branding has now been defunct for six years.

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Strangely, it more or less met your specs back then and was all of $460. This shouldn’t be too hard.


Kinja'd!!! OPPOsaurus WRX > MarquetteLa
08/19/2019 at 16:04

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i’m finding myself in need of a new laptop despite mine running fine but Microsoft is ending support for the operating system so i don’ t want to become a hackers/virus magnet.  


Kinja'd!!! farscythe - makin da cawfee! > MarquetteLa
08/19/2019 at 16:05

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i think you should be able to get what you need for that price

but have no real usefull input other than.... i had a really really bad experience with toshiba.. maybe not pick those (keys stopped working... one fell off before i even unboxed it... then the screen stopped working randomly (fixed itself just as randomly) ...and eventually the hardrive asploded

i probably just got really unlucky with that one...but thats my 2 cents


Kinja'd!!! If only EssExTee could be so grossly incandescent > MarquetteLa
08/19/2019 at 16:08

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THINK PAD THINKPAD THINKPAD THINKPAD

Not a new one obviously but you can get a few year old one on Ebay for a reasonable price


Kinja'd!!! Chariotoflove > MarquetteLa
08/19/2019 at 16:10

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I’m a Mac guy, but when I have ever needed to go to a Win machine, I have generally looked at Dell, Lenovo, or Acer for decent reliability and value. I believe most of those brands are manufactured under license in Taiwan or perhaps China these days. That probably means they use the same suppliers and so are going to serve you equally well.

I have had a couple of HP laptops come with scientific equipment I bought for my department.  The displays on those died after several years.  I don’t like that, but I must admit, I plugged them in to external monitors, and they kept on working.


Kinja'd!!! TheTurbochargedSquirrel > OPPOsaurus WRX
08/19/2019 at 16:11

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I believe there are still plenty of loopholes for getting an upgrade to Windows 10 despite that program officially ending about 3 years ago.


Kinja'd!!! Nibby > MarquetteLa
08/19/2019 at 16:18

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don’t buy anything new. any new laptop under $800 is gonna be a turd.

b u y a t h i n k p a d T 4 6 0 o r e l i t e b o o k 8 4 0 G 3 w i t h F H D s c r e e n . . . t h o s e a r e s o l i d . i c a n h e lp you find one later


Kinja'd!!! vicali > MarquetteLa
08/19/2019 at 16:19

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Just bought a Asus Zenbook from Costco to replace our 10 year old Toshiba Satellite. Both of those are laptops.

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Good luck in your search.


Kinja'd!!! MarquetteLa > Nibby
08/19/2019 at 16:28

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I don’t need this laptop to do anything fancy. I have a desktop machine for heavy lifting . This would be doing iPad-type things but I much prefer having a full computer instead of a tablet.


Kinja'd!!! diplodicus forgot his password > MarquetteLa
08/19/2019 at 16:30

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Do you really need a laptop? At that price point performance wise I think your better off with something like an intel nuc

https://www.amazon.com/Intel-mini-NUC7i5BNK-Core-version/dp/B01N4EP1N0?th=1

You would still need a hard drive, ram, display, mouse/keyboard but you would have an 7 th gen i5 instead of a pentium or celeron processor.


Kinja'd!!! MarquetteLa > diplodicus forgot his password
08/19/2019 at 16:33

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The idea is to bring this with me to autocross events to review video footage between runs.


Kinja'd!!! C62030 > Nibby
08/19/2019 at 16:33

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Seconding the Elitebook. HP’s cheap laptops are mostly junk but the Elitebook line are generally very solid and reliable. I used an old one for school that still felt very snappy and well-made.


Kinja'd!!! promoted by the color red > MarquetteLa
08/19/2019 at 16:36

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Pre-owned ThinkPad with at least a 2nd-gen i5 or i7 , Samsung SSD, another stick of RAM, and a fresh tube of thermal paste. Maybe a new battery. 


Kinja'd!!! Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > MarquetteLa
08/19/2019 at 16:36

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Does it have to be brand new? I just bought a killer used Dell for $450 that absolutely rocks.


Kinja'd!!! Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > Nibby
08/19/2019 at 16:36

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Tell her to buy a used Dell.


Kinja'd!!! Tripper > MarquetteLa
08/19/2019 at 16:37

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$400 is gonna get ya a piece of poop if you’re buying new. Get something used with at least the following:

8gb ram

solid state drive (can get away with 128gb unless you’re stashing those video files on there, in which case get an external).

Dual core Intel processor (It doesn’t have to be Intel, I’m sure AMD is fine but I won’t buy one.)

Acer or Asus are my favorite “budget” brands.


Kinja'd!!! Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > Chariotoflove
08/19/2019 at 16:37

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Dell because support.


Kinja'd!!! TheRealBicycleBuck > diplodicus forgot his password
08/19/2019 at 16:40

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I hate marketing crap like this. What the hell does NUC stand for? Is it on the Amazon ad? No. Is it on Intel’s site? No. I have to search for it and wikipedia is where I find the answer?!? What the hell?

What does Next Unit of Computing (NUC) mean anyway? Pure marketing garbage.


Kinja'd!!! Nibby > C62030
08/19/2019 at 16:40

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i j u s t u s e e l i t e b o o k s p r i m arily now for years... l e n o v o ’ s d o i n g w e i r d s h i t t o t h e t h i n k p a d s a n d l a t i t u d e s h a v e a l l s o r t s o f q u a l i t y i s s u e s


Kinja'd!!! Nibby > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo
08/19/2019 at 16:40

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e h h l a t i t u d e s a r e n ’ t w h a t p r e c i s i o n s a r e


Kinja'd!!! Nibby > MarquetteLa
08/19/2019 at 16:44

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w e l l t h e s e c a n b e h a d f o r a r o u n d $ 3 0 0

https://www.ebay.com/itm/LOADED-HP-ELITEBOOK-840-G3-14-i5-6300U-2-40GHz-8GB-256GB-WINDOWS-10-FULL-HD/123822663291?hash=item1cd467e67b%3Ag%3ABekAAOSw78NdHCmk&LH_BIN=1#viTabs_0

https://www.ebay.com/itm/HP-ELITEBOOK-840-G3-14-FHD-CORE-I5-6300U-256GB-M-2-SSD-8GB-DDR4-SDRAM-NO-O-S/273934432834?hash=item3fc7c3ba42%3Ag%3ACwEAAOSwsbVdCn~5&LH_BIN=1


Kinja'd!!! MarquetteLa > Nibby
08/19/2019 at 16:52

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But do I really want to buy a used computer whose description was written in Comic Sans?

Thanks very much for the advice, I’ll probably end up picking one of these up.


Kinja'd!!! Textured Soy Protein > MarquetteLa
08/19/2019 at 16:53

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What do you need Windows for? Finding a Windows laptop with a 1080p screen for under $400 is difficult, most of them will be 1366x768. But there are plenty of 1080p Chromebooks at $400 or less.


Kinja'd!!! Nibby > MarquetteLa
08/19/2019 at 16:57

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reputable sellers, shouldn’t have any issues with them honestly

a n d d o a f r e s h i n s t a l l o f w i n d o ws 10 1903 when you get it!


Kinja'd!!! Chariotoflove > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo
08/19/2019 at 16:59

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I would agree.  At least on past experience.  It’s been several years.


Kinja'd!!! phenotyp > MarquetteLa
08/19/2019 at 17:08

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$400 is a hard cutoff. What do you actually need to do with it?


Kinja'd!!! MarquetteLa > phenotyp
08/19/2019 at 17:11

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Playback 1080p video, general odds and ends. I just don’t want to lock myself into a Chromebook and kick myself for doing so in a few months when I find I want to do things with it that a Chromebook can’t do. I have a desktop Mac, so it would be handy to have a Windows machine on hand to do Windows things when they pop up (like flash new firmware to my Fanatec steering wheel for example).


Kinja'd!!! MarquetteLa > Textured Soy Protein
08/19/2019 at 17:13

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I just don’t want to lock myself into a Chromebook and kick myself for doing so in a few months when I find I want to do things with it that a Chromebook can’t do. I have a desktop Mac, so it would be handy to have a Windows machine on hand to do Windows things when they pop up (like flash new firmware to my Fanatec steering wheel for example).


Kinja'd!!! phenotyp > MarquetteLa
08/19/2019 at 17:15

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Honestly? I’d look for a first-gen Surface Book. Or even a Surface Pro 4 or later. (Don’t go SP3-- I had three of them crap out on me). But the Surface Book? Best machines I’ve ever owned. You can probably find some pretty cheap. It’s serious hardware.


Kinja'd!!! If only EssExTee could be so grossly incandescent > TheTurbochargedSquirrel
08/19/2019 at 17:17

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Can confirm, I just pulled the upgrade loophole on my Mom’s laptop two days ago.


Kinja'd!!! If only EssExTee could be so grossly incandescent > OPPOsaurus WRX
08/19/2019 at 17:18

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I might be selling mine soon. What are you looking for in a machine?


Kinja'd!!! MarquetteLa > phenotyp
08/19/2019 at 17:26

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Last I heard about Microsoft Surface was when it was a computer stuffed into a big coffee table. I’ll have to check out these Surface Books /Pros, thanks.


Kinja'd!!! OPPOsaurus WRX > If only EssExTee could be so grossly incandescent
08/19/2019 at 17:48

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Bigger the screen the better. 17" at least. Something good for SketchUp CAD photoshop


Kinja'd!!! If only EssExTee could be so grossly incandescent > OPPOsaurus WRX
08/19/2019 at 18:00

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That’s a big masheen. Mine’s just 15.6"


Kinja'd!!! phenotyp > MarquetteLa
08/19/2019 at 18:13

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I’ve had 2 Surface Books as my primaries for 3 years now. First was a gen1 (13"), handled photoshop. illustrator, solidworks, and keyshot simultaneously driving 3 monitors. No problem. Then I bought a 2nd gen 15" for me, and it’s the best machine I’ve ever had. Drivers can be a PITA, but a 15" digital sketchbook is like all I’ve ever wanted. And it handles photoshop, illustrator, solidworks, and keyshot simultaneously.

Can’t beat it. You can probably find some pretty cheap.


Kinja'd!!! OPPOsaurus WRX > If only EssExTee could be so grossly incandescent
08/19/2019 at 19:17

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Yea... I'd really like a desktop setup but sometimes I do need to be mobile and I do t have a good place to set up.  Right now I use the dining room table.  I need the big screen for the drafting


Kinja'd!!! If only EssExTee could be so grossly incandescent > OPPOsaurus WRX
08/19/2019 at 19:32

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How about a fully specced Thinkpad P72 for $8,900?

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Kinja'd!!! Textured Soy Protein > MarquetteLa
08/19/2019 at 21:36

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Makes sense, I have a Mac laptop and my wife has a Chromebook. The only stuff I do with the Mac that I can’t do on a Chromebook is Photoshop and running a Plex server. My car tuner i s   an Android app so I just have my phone for that. But I suppose if I needed Windows for something car-related I could try to use my Surface Pro from work...IT won't complain about that, right? 


Kinja'd!!! functionoverfashion > MarquetteLa
08/19/2019 at 21:42

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My work cycles computers out after about 4 years, right now the ones coming out are Windows 10 Dell laptops with 1080p screens, 256gb SSDs and I think 8gb of RAM. Definitely enough to do what you’d want. Maybe there’s somewhere near you that does something like that? We don’t advertise, and people are always surprised to hear about it. I think the cost is under $200 though, it’s a great deal for these machines with SSDs


Kinja'd!!! MarquetteLa > functionoverfashion
08/19/2019 at 21:53

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Under $200 is a ludicrous price for that! “We don’t advertise”... are you the one selling them? Can I just buy one from you?


Kinja'd!!! functionoverfashion > MarquetteLa
08/20/2019 at 08:36

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It is a good price; it’s a public institution and I guess trying to make money is less important than getting rid of the machines, it’s hundreds of them every year. In the past with old hardware, the machines were nothing special by the time 4 years was up. But now w e may actually extend the life cycle to 5 years because SSDs make such a difference. It’s been discussed but not made official.

I’m not positive how the university would feel about re-selling, but so long as I don’t make any money I don’t see why they’d have a problem with me helping move the items. I don’t suppose you’re local to NH. 

Let’s take this to email - stepper459 at gmail.


Kinja'd!!! functionoverfashion > MarquetteLa
08/20/2019 at 08:59

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Still email me, but at this moment, the remaining laptops are 1600x900 for $150 - the only 1920x1080 was sold. I thought there were several, but the big stack of like, 10 of them, they’re all 1600x900. Still 256gb SSD, 8gb DDR3 1600mhz ram, Core i5 4300 / 1.9ghz, NVIDIA GEForce GT 720M 2gb graphics. 

More will come up no doubt. Anyway, email me. Cheers


Kinja'd!!! MarquetteLa > functionoverfashion
08/20/2019 at 10:08

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Emailed, thank you!


Kinja'd!!! Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > Nibby
08/20/2019 at 17:50

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I wasn’t suggesting Latitude, necessarily. Just that even with a Latitude, you can buy a lot more laptop for the same money as some piece-of-doo-doo new thing at Best Buy with its keys falling off.


Kinja'd!!! Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > MarquetteLa
08/20/2019 at 17:51

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Comic Sans just doesn’t g et any respect. It’s only words, right?


Kinja'd!!! Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > Chariotoflove
08/20/2019 at 17:52

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Though they haven’t done a great job supporting the older machines for Windows 10. But I’d much rather spend my laptop dollars on something 3-5 years old that was a dynamo in its time.


Kinja'd!!! MarquetteLa > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo
08/21/2019 at 08:48

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One of the reasons I’m interested in typography is that, while a written word has a strict meaning derived from a dictionary, it also carries meaning in the ~way ~ i t was written. Fascinating stuff. 


Kinja'd!!! Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > MarquetteLa
08/21/2019 at 12:59

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I am with you. Comic Sans is not intended to be taken seriously. My comment I intended to be tongue-in-cheek.