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Please, when posting a link to a laptop listing, make sure to include the price at time of posting. It helps.
Requesting help with a purchase? Please post here: https://forums.dansdeals.com/index.php?topic=135662.msg2794782#msg2794782

Dell:
Precision - Very powerful desktop replacements - great warranty, ridiculously expensive - Usually overpriced or overkill

Latitude - Good Laptops - Great warranty! Highly recommended for any Business environment - Sometimes expensive.

Vostro  - Lower end Business Machines - Better Priced - still durable - Usually 1 Year warranty.

XPS - The nicer looking dell machines, Some are better than others...

Inspiron - YMMV Every model is different

(Plain) Insprion Series - Dells lowest end laptop
(R) Insprion Series - Perfect Home use, dependable, decent build quality, recommended
(Z) Insprion Series - A little slimmer than the R series, Some are Ultrabooks (Very often don't include Optical Drives)

HP:

Spectre - Top of the line personal (dragonfly is the top of the line for business) - lightest laptops, and beautiful!

Pavilion - YMMV (Some better than others)

Probook - Stable durable business systems - Usually a little on the heavy side.

Elitebook - Business Higher end systems, usually pretty expensive

ENVY - Used to be the HP sleek and nicer systems, they pretty much replaced most of the standard pavilions now and call them either ENVY or sleekbooks

Sleekbook - like it sounds slimmer line of laptops

Lenovo:

Thinkpad Series - Very Dependable Business Machine, Expensive (Not Pretty but Durable)

IdeaPad Series -

S Series
U Series - Usually the slimmer line Ultrabooks, Doesn't always include DVD Drive
Y Series - Nice machines with good specs and features (Cool Backlit Keyboards)
Z Series - Step up from the G Series, all around decent build, priced nicely, great home use laptop
G Series - Lower end

Samsung:

Series 3
Series 5
Series 7
Series 9 - The nicest, sleekest looking laptops I've seen in a long time - Can pass for a Macbook!!


HT: Dh Data Recovery & Name Changed


A great post by caliheat:
I believe that there are many factors when deciding what laptop to purchase.
1) What is your intended use and necessary features. e.g. light use vs. heavy use & optical drive, computer speed etc.
2) As mentioned several times in this thread, RAM itself is very easy to upgrade after you purchase.
3) Brand - IMHO this is pretty important as well - which do your prefer vs. which brand do people recommend.
4) Price - you should decide a price range that best suits your needs.
5) Operating System - Many people like myself prefer Windows 7 vs. 8.1, so this would be another consideration.
6) Warranty - does it include 1 year or more, cost for extending warranty.
7) Detailed Specs:
  Processor  - model and speed i3, i5, & i7 2.0 Ghz, 3.0 Ghz etc.
  RAM - This IMHO should be minimum 8GB, especially if running 8.1, however can be added easily.
  Hard Drive - SATA vs. SSD, the latter being much faster. SATA itself offers 5400 RPM vs. 7200 RPM again, the latter being faster.
  Screen Size - this is a personal preference as you can always attach a larger screen in an office setting.
  Battery & Weight - overall laptop weight preference & battery life.
  Graphics - Integrated graphics vs. dedicated graphics, e.g. Intel 4400 vs. Nvidia GTX etc.

In summary, you have to decide what are you priorities, what can be upgraded and what you are flexible on.



Excellent article about the differences between the Intel processor suffixes.

Excellent "Laptop Buying Guide" by @dailykasha, written for Black Friday 2021, updated for holidays 2023

Author Topic: Laptop Deals Master Thread  (Read 3241928 times)

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Re: Laptop Deals Master Thread
« Reply #14441 on: February 13, 2024, 02:36:42 PM »
You just thought yourself into a reason...
Honestly, as I said, for someone who for some reason needs 32GB of RAM, you'll come out ahead of most other options. Also very likely to get a much more solid build (ie the computers still functioning after all this time). Some options at the i3 level have soldered RAM. The other options go in and out of stock and also up and down in price.
IMHO it should have been $50 less. That would make it more compelling.
Why would you think more solid build?
And don't forget the possibility of a low res HD screen
(I'm happy you posted btw, it's very interesting)

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Re: Laptop Deals Master Thread
« Reply #14442 on: February 14, 2024, 04:49:13 AM »
Why would you think more solid build?
And don't forget the possibility of a low res HD screen
(I'm happy you posted btw, it's very interesting)
There's a reason that most five-year-old computers being sold are Thinkpads and Latitudes. They are tanks. They function like tanks and last practically forever. Can't compare the build-quality to a modern computer at that price range.
I'm not so impressed by low-res HD screens. I think the reviewers have been spoiled by better ones and can't appreciate bang-for-the-buck as much. Maybe it will matter on the largest options. (Not that the sale is still going.)
I don't always post Woot stuff, but I like to list pros and cons of anything and everything. It's the one Jew two opinions in me.
Speaking of: This is a halfway decent price for an Open Box Gram 16 2-in-1 ($636, maybe pay for the added warranty just in case)- https://sellout.woot.com/offers/lg-gram-16-wqxga-intel-12th-gen-laptop-open-box-12?ref=w_cnt_lnd_cat_pc_3_7

These are good prices for 5000 series 13" Latitudes, new with 1 yr warranty ($590 - $650 depending on model). https://computers.woot.com/offers/new-dell-latitude-5330-13-business-laptop-3?ref=w_cnt_lnd_cat_pc_3_20
The extra money for the i7 is a waste - the core count is indentical so the gains are marginal. Touch is worth it if that is your thing.

The Dell of the day: $400 for Ryzen 7 5700U, 16GB RAM, TB SSD, plastic. https://www.dell.com/en-us/shop/dell-laptops/inspiron-15-laptop/spd/inspiron-15-3525-laptop/nn3525ghhvs
The processor can keep up with much higher core counts (12th gen and 13th gen) in most usage scenarios at less power.
Quote from: ExGingi
Echo chambers are boring and don't contribute much to deeper thinking and understanding!

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Re: Laptop Deals Master Thread
« Reply #14445 on: February 14, 2024, 11:28:24 AM »
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BVDNQYXL
HP Pavilion Plus 14 inch Laptop, 2.8K OLED Display, 13th Generation Intel Core i7-1355U, 16 GB RAM, 1 TB SSD, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2050 Graphics
$799
Seems like a decent deal
$749 Direct from hp for the 256gb ssd config
https://www.hp.com/us-en/shop/pdp/hp-pavilion-plus-laptop-14t-eh100-14-7p3p5av-1

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Re: Laptop Deals Master Thread
« Reply #14446 on: February 14, 2024, 11:33:17 AM »
https://www.dell.com/en-us/shop/dell-laptops/inspiron-16-laptop/spd/inspiron-16-5630-laptop/usichbts5630ggjr
Is this another great Dell deal?
I would love touch, 2 in 1, and 13-14 inch range with decent battery. I would even pay extra for better build. Thanks in advance!

I thought you wanted 13-14?

Legufoy, looks good to me, but if doesn't need dell specifically, need to see how they compare to the ones in this post

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Re: Laptop Deals Master Thread
« Reply #14447 on: February 14, 2024, 11:36:18 AM »
These are good prices for 5000 series 13" Latitudes, new with 1 yr warranty ($590 - $650 depending on model). https://computers.woot.com/offers/new-dell-latitude-5330-13-business-laptop-3?ref=w_cnt_lnd_cat_pc_3_20
The extra money for the i7 is a waste - the core count is indentical so the gains are marginal. Touch is worth it if that is your thing.
@DaasTora
Quote from: ExGingi
Echo chambers are boring and don't contribute much to deeper thinking and understanding!

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Re: Laptop Deals Master Thread
« Reply #14448 on: February 14, 2024, 12:08:00 PM »
I thought you wanted 13-14?

Legufoy, looks good to me, but if doesn't need dell specifically, need to see how they compare to the ones in this post
I did want 13 inch but am not finding the price point and specs I wanted.
@DaasTora
I have Dell credits so I'm looking dor Dell.com specifically.
Thanks y'all!!

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Re: Laptop Deals Master Thread
« Reply #14450 on: February 17, 2024, 08:45:53 PM »

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Re: Laptop Deals Master Thread
« Reply #14451 on: February 17, 2024, 10:24:34 PM »

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Re: Laptop Deals Master Thread
« Reply #14452 on: February 18, 2024, 05:14:38 PM »

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Re: Laptop Deals Master Thread
« Reply #14453 on: February 19, 2024, 12:49:49 AM »
Finally this laptop has some kind of discount on it and there was an update that dropped it to $700, it's not in my hands yet but was wondering if anyone else has any other opinions on it given the pricing update ($100 drop):

https://www.bestbuy.com/site/asus-vivobook-16-laptop-amd-ryzen-9-7940hs-with-16gb-ram-1tb-ssd-cool-silver/6565526.p?skuId=6565526

Looks good? IGPU can game, rugged (based on reviews) built for travel, 1 tb storage space, NTSC like most laptops nowadays but when i got a 100% SRGB (the helios neo) I could not tell the difference because maybe an artist can tell the difference??? The color has slightly bit of punch to it but I did not notice a dramatic difference to it so NTSC is fine?, and it seems the chasis is aluminum which is better than plastic?

Someone said that they can get the Yoga or any other series laptop for $700 but the thing is the screen size is small it's not as immersive as a 16" screen and they only offer like 512 GB worth of space. I did see the Yoga on display but I did searched on the model and there's been reports of broken hinges. For this model (2023 and onwards) Asus claimed to revise their process so that the laptops are tougher and they claim to have tested opening and closing the hinges 20,000 times as well as other tests based on the 812 military grade standards.

I had the helios neo and I returned it because the quiet mode was way too noisy. You guys think I made the right choice in the end? I honestly cannot find this kind of iGPU in any other laptop models at this price range with these specs. I can still cancel everything if there has been a new deal so far that's released that's better but let me know and thanks in advance.
« Last Edit: February 19, 2024, 01:02:44 AM by searchingFire »

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Re: Laptop Deals Master Thread
« Reply #14455 on: February 19, 2024, 05:13:59 AM »
Finally this laptop has some kind of discount on it and there was an update that dropped it to $700, it's not in my hands yet but was wondering if anyone else has any other opinions on it given the pricing update ($100 drop):

https://www.bestbuy.com/site/asus-vivobook-16-laptop-amd-ryzen-9-7940hs-with-16gb-ram-1tb-ssd-cool-silver/6565526.p?skuId=6565526

Looks good? IGPU can game, rugged (based on reviews) built for travel, 1 tb storage space, NTSC like most laptops nowadays but when i got a 100% SRGB (the helios neo) I could not tell the difference because maybe an artist can tell the difference??? The color has slightly bit of punch to it but I did not notice a dramatic difference to it so NTSC is fine?, and it seems the chasis is aluminum which is better than plastic?

Someone said that they can get the Yoga or any other series laptop for $700 but the thing is the screen size is small it's not as immersive as a 16" screen and they only offer like 512 GB worth of space. I did see the Yoga on display but I did searched on the model and there's been reports of broken hinges. For this model (2023 and onwards) Asus claimed to revise their process so that the laptops are tougher and they claim to have tested opening and closing the hinges 20,000 times as well as other tests based on the 812 military grade standards.

I had the helios neo and I returned it because the quiet mode was way too noisy. You guys think I made the right choice in the end? I honestly cannot find this kind of iGPU in any other laptop models at this price range with these specs. I can still cancel everything if there has been a new deal so far that's released that's better but let me know and thanks in advance.
I have a M1650YA model in my house - it is made of plastic. Dunno how rugged plastic could possibly be. Unless M1605XA is a different build, though this seems unlikely. Searching online is inconclusive if you cannot trust nanoreview, which definitively says plastic. https://nanoreview.net/en/laptop/asus-vivobook-16-m1605?m=c.6_r.2
This guy seems to have gotten a lemon, poor fellow: https://www.reddit.com/r/ASUS/comments/18ecw91/what_a_terrible_experience_vivobook_16/
Also, when you say the IGPU can game, can you be more specific? The 780M is indeed wonderful but you are better off getting something with proper dedicated video rather than running the IGPU at full tilt all the time.
Quote from: ExGingi
Echo chambers are boring and don't contribute much to deeper thinking and understanding!

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Re: Laptop Deals Master Thread
« Reply #14457 on: February 19, 2024, 03:20:07 PM »
I have a M1650YA model in my house - it is made of plastic. Dunno how rugged plastic could possibly be. Unless M1605XA is a different build, though this seems unlikely. Searching online is inconclusive if you cannot trust nanoreview, which definitively says plastic. https://nanoreview.net/en/laptop/asus-vivobook-16-m1605?m=c.6_r.2
This guy seems to have gotten a lemon, poor fellow: https://www.reddit.com/r/ASUS/comments/18ecw91/what_a_terrible_experience_vivobook_16/
Also, when you say the IGPU can game, can you be more specific? The 780M is indeed wonderful but you are better off getting something with proper dedicated video rather than running the IGPU at full tilt all the time.
Laptop is not in my hands yet so I cannot test. BestBuy said it is made of aluminum while Asus says it is not. We will see when I get the laptop because it is conflicting information. I looked at your particular model and I believe it has a different CPU? Yours has the Vega 7 which does not have the significant improvements that the 780M has for gaming. I had a dGPU laptop before and it made so much noise. We are talking quiet mode, fans running 24-7 (low refrigerator whirl), and I could not stand it. I looked for gaming laptops that had the fans completely disabled on idle or web browsing but it was too hard to find at a great pricing point and 16" form. There are a bit of them but the fans are always running no matter what from reviews I read. They don't have 1 tb like this laptop. This laptop is basically stealth gaming on the go, it literally looks like a normal laptop. Here's Vega 7 vs 780m: https://youtu.be/mqo0g-rFw-A?si=U7A3-U8Ekbd3BpXh

The other issues are using the HDMI cable but I'm not sure I will be using an external monitor for my use case? Hardware acceleration has been an issue for all or some AMD CPUs it seems. This problem has been reported since 2022 and Windows themselves says it may not be compatible and if there are issues to disable it.

Any thoughts on my feedback so far? I have yet to try the model so I don't know the specifics yet.

Looking on Amazon there was someone really satisfied with it, here's their review:

"This thing has a powerhouse of a mobile CPU with the 7940HS and benchmarks quite well. It is very quiet under load by default, which comes with a reduction in performance, but can be switched into a performance cooling mode which is moderately loud but provides sufficient cooling to provide performance out of this processor that equals laptops at twice the price.

The memory can be upgraded, if necessary, up to 40GB. The stock SSD is shockingly fast and provides for an off to genuinely usable boot time of around 5 seconds. ASUS did NOT bottleneck this machine with slow components outside of the CPU. The wireless chip is modern with WIFI 6e standards, but throughput is capped at 1x1, so roughly 150mbit.

As a desktop replacement for web browsing, streaming, office tasks, this thing is extremely fast and smooth. The display is 1920x1200, but this works well at the given size and helps make up for the lack of a discrete GPU in most use cases. My biggest complaint is the touchpad clunkiness but this can be rectified with the use of a wireless mouse. The keyboard is okay, won't break easily, but isn't the best feeling. The keyboard layout is very acceptable for most tasks.

The integrated GPU is surprisingly powerful and can handle more than one would expect, but this isn't a gaming laptop by any means. Minecraft and other games that are CPU heavy run quite well. This would struggle to run more GPU heavy titles.

The physical hardware is cleverly designed, maintaining a rugged feel, but on a budget. On tear down, it is very clear where the cost savings has been. Nothing that is unnecessary is inside this thing and it has quite a lot of open space where more battery could have been added, but likely omitted due to cost.

The charger is a proprietary plug, not USB-C, however it can be charged via USB-C, but using the included charger has additional charging benefits. Battery life is great. The charger has a mode to enable protecting the battery if it will remain plugged into the wall for prolonged use.

Overall, I can't find another laptop with this amount of hardware performance, general usability, and responsiveness for anywhere close to this price." By Elizabeth Layton. Source: https://www.amazon.com/ASUS-VivoBook-Laptop-WUXGA-1920/dp/B0CJS18VMV&ved=2ahUKEwjXiPq_nLiEAxWKIUQIHe6YCVgQFnoECB4QAQ&usg=AOvVaw1DUHWucKmbcsGiTnqndxik

Seems the model is newly designed released around September of last year.


« Last Edit: February 19, 2024, 03:25:27 PM by searchingFire »

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Re: Laptop Deals Master Thread
« Reply #14458 on: February 19, 2024, 04:11:21 PM »

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Re: Laptop Deals Master Thread
« Reply #14459 on: February 19, 2024, 04:52:23 PM »
I'm not totally following what you want or why you want it. But maybe this helps
https://www.ebay.com/itm/126324621950
https://psref.lenovo.com/Detail/IdeaPad/IdeaPad_Pro_5_16IRH8?M=83AQ000PUS
$800
Ideapad 5 pro 16inch
I love it. That's something that I'd actually want. I did a quick search on the model and apparently the fans are pretty much always running given it has a dGPU unit inside of it. That is a major deal breaker for me unfortunately since I had a "quiet" gaming laptop called Acer Helios Neo 16 a while ago that also had a dGPU unit with a 24-7 fan that I could not just disable so I returned it. This appears to be a frequent problem with dGPU laptops. I have yet to find a laptop without this issue.

The Vivobook with the 7940HS that I am yet to received has yet to be reviewed (I should receive it soon) but I think it won't have the same problem. The last iGPU laptop that I had ran super silent where the fans did not turn on at all even while gaming (not even kidding or the noise was so low it was practically fanless).

The reason why I want a virtually fanless laptop at least in normal work load is coding and other tasks where focus is a primary concern.

I'll let you know what happens when I actually test the unit but I think operations will be fanless since it has an iGPU.