"Sovande" (sovande)
04/28/2020 at 08:20 • Filed to: None
0
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"Sovande" (sovande)
04/28/2020 at 08:20 • Filed to: None | 0
| 9 |
I am hoping the bright computer minds in here can lend a hand. I currently don’t have a computer. I would like to get a laptop or Surface or similar in order to tune my Holley Sniper and do some actual computing - nothing heavy duty, no games, no folding (whatever that is), just the basics - internet, spreadsheets and probably the occasional movie.
My requirements are as follows: used or refurbished, must run Windows (10 would be best), can be a Windows tablet, must have a USB input, must no t be so slow that it’s hard to use. This will likely be used for tuning about 90% of the time.
I would like to spend no money at all on this purchase. However, I am a realist and so my budget is somewhere in the $30o range.
For the last two years I have used a Surface Pro and it has been great. Easy to use, portable, plenty of power, okay battery life, etc. The problem is that they are very spendy.
Does anyone have any experience with the Surface 3? It seems to tick all the boxes. Or is there a better option? I literally know as little as possible about computers so even reading the descriptions is an exercise in confusion.
Any good sites to browse for cheap laptops?
Phyrxes once again has a wagon!
> Sovande
04/28/2020 at 08:52 |
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Microcenter in Fairfax (Vienna?) off Nutely Street is my go place as they will have whatever PC component that I need NOW and can’t wait to get from Amazon. They routinely have sales and refurbished items.
Full of the sound of the Gran Fury, signifying nothing.
> Sovande
04/28/2020 at 09:02 |
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My two go-to sources for cheap laptops have been Craigslist and pawn shops. Most CL sellers have intact computers that are priced accordingly, but sometimes you find deals. I bought a nice Dell i3 from someone for $20 that was locked with a BIOS password, but thankfully the password I needed was right on the wrist rest. I bought an HP 17” i5 for $50 that needed a new battery and a replacement hard drive. The Windows key was on the machine, I had a spare SSD and I don’t care about the battery, so I had this up and running in just a few hours.
The pawn shop finds were $20 and $25 and were found in their markdown area. Like the HP, one needed a HD. The other one just needed an OS reinstall - the hardware checked out fine. I sold those two for $100 and $200 respectively and made they buyers feel good by tossing in junk I had laying around like wireless mice, HDMI cables and an old monitor.
Nom De Plume
> Phyrxes once again has a wagon!
04/28/2020 at 09:14 |
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Avoid refurbished computers at MC like you are avoiding this pandemic.
Sovande, this is just my imaginative view on the situation. You find yourself increasingly being locked into one of these increasingly expansive ecosystems. Where they attempt to make you blind to all other choices by diverting you with something shiny and rewarding.
There are literally, I do mean physically present in this very real world, millions of unused laptops lying unused that would fulfill your needs with a fresh SSD and single language version of W10 installed. With just a little initiative you could strip that copy of W10 down much further into a sleek fast running machine where this tuning software and spreadsheets are concerned.
Net cost: Easily under $50 for a low miles and idle time (fooking Apple diptarts) laptop. $3 for W10 Pro license. Anywhere from $20 for a generic SSD at MC to whatever you can find a used Samsung for (always always always get a CrystalDisk screenshot). From there it’s whatever a couple hours of your time are worth to load Windows and a couple free programs + your tuning and spreadsheet programs.
Or buy a Surface.
Jb boin
> Sovande
04/28/2020 at 09:25 |
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Definitely dont buy a tablet to use it as a computer, the keyboard doesnt weight much and is making it way more usable, durable
and most Windows
apps are not well thought to be used with only a touchscreen
(not to mention the OS itself)
.
A
12-14"
notebook
around 1.5Kg (
2.2Lbs) is the sweet spot if you need something easy to use to tune a car or to move it around just holding it on one hand
.
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Sovande
> Nom De Plume
04/28/2020 at 09:44 |
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I appreciate the advice. My main problem is that I don’t know a single thing about computers and that is about as deep into learning about them as I want to go. I’d like a machine that I can grab and go. I’d like the battery last 4 hours. I’d like to press one button one time to start the thing up. That’s it. That’s all I want. Unfortunately, I don’t have the interest in building something, I just want to run this tuning software and reply to emails from my mom.
If someone could build this for me for cheaper than I can buy it, that would be amazing. I'm not going to be tackling that project, however.
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Nom De Plume
> Sovande
04/28/2020 at 09:50 |
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Best of luck.
Textured Soy Protein
> Sovande
04/28/2020 at 10:45 |
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This is a crappy screen and small amounts of RAM and SSD but might do the trick.
https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1513058-REG/acer_nx_gzraa_011_spin_3_2_in_1_i3_8130u.html
phenotyp
> Sovande
04/28/2020 at 11:22 |
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I went through three Surface3 Pros. Serious QC issues on those. That said, Surface Books have, in my experience, been impeccable. Both gen 1 and 2.
Dead_Elvis, Inc.
> Sovande
07/01/2020 at 15:49 |
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No experience with the Surface, but I had an Acer Aspire 5 that cost me all of $350 new 3.5 years ago. (Its recent demise was due to a fall onto concrete & subsequent impact from a couple cases of wine, not through any fault of its own.) Your stated purposes line up pretty closely with how I was using it.
This iteration is also $350, but has an SSD (mine had a 1 TB HDD). I’m sure the more tech-snooty may crap all over this, but for what you’re talking about, it should be fine. It had an amazing battery life (8+ hours, easy), and wasn’t loaded with bloatware. I’d do it again if I needed a cheapo laptop, and live with the smallish SSD since I’ve got external storage.