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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 3196535 times)

Offline Essen est zich

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Re: Laptop Deals Master Thread
« Reply #11080 on: July 30, 2017, 01:11:02 PM »
Here are two new great Dell ultrabook deals from bestbuy:

1. $649 w/ student rebate: link
Dell - Inspiron 2-in-1 13.3" Touch-Screen Laptop - Intel Core i7 - 12GB Memory - 256GB Solid State Drive - Silver

2. $529 w/ student rebate: link
Dell - Inspiron 2-in-1 13.3" Touch-Screen Laptop - Intel Core i5 - 8GB Memory - 256GB Solid State Drive - Silver

There are more new deals available, especially @ 15.6", but these are two that look pretty sweet to me.
How often do the best buy student deals refresh?
Shloffen Shloft Zich

Offline EJB

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Re: Laptop Deals Master Thread
« Reply #11081 on: July 30, 2017, 01:38:44 PM »
How often do the best buy student deals refresh?
Month or so

Offline EJB

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Re: Laptop Deals Master Thread
« Reply #11082 on: July 30, 2017, 02:12:56 PM »
If anyone wants an old $125 off coupon (expires august 5), I think I still have one, though it may have been used.  PM me if interested.

Offline mmgfarb

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Re: Laptop Deals Master Thread
« Reply #11083 on: July 30, 2017, 07:14:29 PM »
If anyone wants an old $125 off coupon (expires august 5), I think I still have one, though it may have been used.  PM me if interested.
Taken I assume by this point?
"JS [is] a fetid cesspool of unvarnished linguistic manure, with lots of useless drivel and post-padding." -Moishebatchy

Offline EJB

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Re: Laptop Deals Master Thread
« Reply #11084 on: July 30, 2017, 07:16:51 PM »

Offline stooges44

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Re: Laptop Deals Master Thread
« Reply #11085 on: August 08, 2017, 09:26:05 AM »
If it's not free shipping it's not worth it.

Offline yandmk

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Offline yandmk

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Offline Yisroel Tech

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Re: Laptop Deals Master Thread
« Reply #11088 on: August 09, 2017, 05:29:52 PM »
Both are decent  deals (though not once-in-a-lifetime kind).

To consider is the not so good monitor (only HD and not FHD) and no SSD.

Offline yandmk

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Re: Laptop Deals Master Thread
« Reply #11089 on: August 09, 2017, 05:40:44 PM »
Both are decent  deals (though not once-in-a-lifetime kind).

To consider is the not so good monitor (only HD and not FHD) and no SSD.
Thanks. What is the difference between HD and FHD? And what is the benefit of a SSD over a Hard drive?
(I mainly need speed. Not as much storage. I don't store that much pics/videos on my laptop)

Offline Dan

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Re: Laptop Deals Master Thread
« Reply #11090 on: August 09, 2017, 05:49:49 PM »
SSD=speed.
FHD=Good screen.
Save your time, I don't answer PM. Post it in the forum and a dedicated DDF'er will get back to you as soon as possible.

Offline David Smith

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Re: Laptop Deals Master Thread
« Reply #11091 on: August 09, 2017, 06:10:07 PM »
Who do you think you are fooling? You think you are going to pull a quick one on your Creator? Good luck with that.
JTZ

Offline yandmk

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Re: Laptop Deals Master Thread
« Reply #11092 on: August 09, 2017, 06:17:06 PM »
SSD=speed.

Isn't that what RAM is all about?

Offline yandmk

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Re: Laptop Deals Master Thread
« Reply #11093 on: August 09, 2017, 06:18:53 PM »

Offline Yisroel Tech

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Re: Laptop Deals Master Thread
« Reply #11094 on: August 09, 2017, 06:27:54 PM »
According to the description on Amazon it is FHD. How can I know which is correct?
https://www.amazon.com/HP-15-BS038DX-Touch-Screen-Laptop/dp/B073SCPMRP?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=B073SCPMRP&pd_rd_r=F6F3CVKZN0HW1H1MKZ96&pd_rd_w=SEZ9J&pd_rd_wg=Pftve&psc=1
It is HD, the Amazon description also says that "typical 1366 x 768 HD resolution". Only the picture says FHD which is wrong.

Offline David Smith

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Re: Laptop Deals Master Thread
« Reply #11095 on: August 09, 2017, 06:30:28 PM »
According to the description on Amazon it is FHD. How can I know which is correct?
https://www.amazon.com/HP-15-BS038DX-Touch-Screen-Laptop/dp/B073SCPMRP?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=B073SCPMRP&pd_rd_r=F6F3CVKZN0HW1H1MKZ96&pd_rd_w=SEZ9J&pd_rd_wg=Pftve&psc=1
The Amazon listing is described as 768x1366 in the specs too (not FHD). Look for 1080x1920 resolution. That Amazon listing is confused altogether. The stock picture describes it as FHD and DDR3L RAM, while it's really a 768 screen and DDR4 RAM.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B06ZZTHW9W/

This Amazon listing is FHD (although it also doesn't have an SSD). For the same price as the bestbuy listing, I'd faster take that.
ETA: never mind, it's refurbished.
Who do you think you are fooling? You think you are going to pull a quick one on your Creator? Good luck with that.
JTZ

Offline Yisroel Tech

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Re: Laptop Deals Master Thread
« Reply #11096 on: August 09, 2017, 06:33:44 PM »
Isn't that what RAM is all about?
Everything is about the speed at the end of the day...a better CPU, more RAM, and the type of hard drive.

CPU is how fast things are actually processed, RAM is like a super fast hard drive close to the CPU which has on it the files the CPU is currently working on so that the CPU can get them super fast. And then there's the hard drive where the files (and system files) are stored permanently and when a file system or program is opened (before it is in the RAM) it needs to be pulled off the hard drive which depends on the speed of the drive how fast this can be done.

If you don't need a lot of storage I'd recommend you to try to find a system with a 256GB SSD instead of the typical 1TB HDD.

Offline Yisroel Tech

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Re: Laptop Deals Master Thread
« Reply #11097 on: August 09, 2017, 06:37:10 PM »
If touch isn't important, I'd faster buy this. Use coupon INSP300 to bring price to $430.
1+

Your link doesn't work for me, though I found it here http://www.dell.com/en-us/work/shop/productdetails/inspiron-15-5566-laptop/cai155w10p7b012c2?prg=1&VEN1=11410577-600263-&AID=600263&dgc=CJ&DGSeg=DHS&c=us&s=dhs&cid=198375&lid=45846&acd=12309198375458460&VEN3=112203605424576753

This is with an SSD (though still no FHD, that isn't something that matters for speed...)

Offline yandmk

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Re: Laptop Deals Master Thread
« Reply #11098 on: August 09, 2017, 06:43:40 PM »
Everything is about the speed at the end of the day...a better CPU, more RAM, and the type of hard drive.

CPU is how fast things are actually processed, RAM is like a super fast hard drive close to the CPU which has on it the files the CPU is currently working on so that the CPU can get them super fast. And then there's the hard drive where the files (and system files) are stored permanently and when a file system or program is opened (before it is in the RAM) it needs to be pulled off the hard drive which depends on the speed of the drive how fast this can be done.

If you don't need a lot of storage I'd recommend you to try to find a system with a 256GB SSD instead of the typical 1TB HDD.
Thanks for your amazing explanation. So if I understand correctly, if I mainly need high internet speed with many tabs at once, the SSD shouldn't be such a necessity, because I'm not pulling data from the system storage?

Offline yandmk

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Re: Laptop Deals Master Thread
« Reply #11099 on: August 09, 2017, 06:44:40 PM »
1+

Your link doesn't work for me, though I found it here http://www.dell.com/en-us/work/shop/productdetails/inspiron-15-5566-laptop/cai155w10p7b012c2?prg=1&VEN1=11410577-600263-&AID=600263&dgc=CJ&DGSeg=DHS&c=us&s=dhs&cid=198375&lid=45846&acd=12309198375458460&VEN3=112203605424576753

This is with an SSD (though still no FHD, that isn't something that matters for speed...)
But touch is on the top of my list of specs