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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 3211064 times)

Offline Sam Finkelstein

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Re: Laptop Deals Master Thread
« Reply #12320 on: May 06, 2020, 12:07:02 PM »
For DW get overkill, in case she ever needs it. Just saying it's a 14 inch not a 15.6 like you have.
My DW doesn't like the backlight keyboard on hers at all. I guess it's up to the person.

In theory I would look for a 15" but not as portable and couch/bed-friendly. She's never had touch or backlit keyboard, but those have made such a difference to me.
Formula for success: rise early, work hard, strike oil. –J. Paul Getty

Offline Sam Finkelstein

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Re: Laptop Deals Master Thread
« Reply #12321 on: May 06, 2020, 12:10:06 PM »
Formula for success: rise early, work hard, strike oil. –J. Paul Getty

Offline sysg1

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Re: Laptop Deals Master Thread
« Reply #12322 on: May 06, 2020, 12:12:14 PM »
In theory I would look for a 15" but not as portable and couch/bed-friendly. She's never had touch or backlit keyboard, but those have made such a difference to me.
so then touch shouldnt make an issue, but the backlit keyboard might be a good upgrade

Offline sysg1

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Re: Laptop Deals Master Thread
« Reply #12323 on: May 06, 2020, 12:17:09 PM »

Offline Sam Finkelstein

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Re: Laptop Deals Master Thread
« Reply #12324 on: May 06, 2020, 12:21:32 PM »
not as good specs as the previous ones, this AMD is pretty close to a 8th gen i5, https://cpu.userbenchmark.com/Compare/Intel-Core-i5-8265U-vs-AMD-Ryzen-5-3500U/m566107vsm760067 is a comparison to a regular laptop 8th gen i5

Inspirons are just lower-end machines, but it's got decent RAM, SSD, plus touch and backlit keyboard.
Formula for success: rise early, work hard, strike oil. –J. Paul Getty

Offline Sam Finkelstein

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Offline Sam Finkelstein

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Re: Laptop Deals Master Thread
« Reply #12327 on: May 06, 2020, 12:55:02 PM »
Much better

Too bad it's not a Lenovo. I've historically been underwhelmed by Dell, but for this price you can't go wrong. Thanks for your help here.
Formula for success: rise early, work hard, strike oil. –J. Paul Getty

Offline TAVI

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Offline sysg1

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Re: Laptop Deals Master Thread
« Reply #12329 on: May 06, 2020, 01:09:09 PM »
Too bad it's not a Lenovo. I've historically been underwhelmed by Dell, but for this price you can't go wrong. Thanks for your help here.
Dell depending on the series can make a huge difference, desktops I usually stick with optiplex or XPS. Laptops I try for XPS or vostro. Haven't had complaints about the vostro.

Offline Sam Finkelstein

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Re: Laptop Deals Master Thread
« Reply #12330 on: May 06, 2020, 01:11:08 PM »
sorry, can you clarify what promos you are referring to to get it to $400?

Amex Biz Plat $200 off + 10%; you can also find 5% off coupons through AICPA etc.
Formula for success: rise early, work hard, strike oil. –J. Paul Getty

Offline TAVI

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Re: Laptop Deals Master Thread
« Reply #12331 on: May 06, 2020, 01:19:22 PM »
Amex Biz Plat $200 off + 10%; you can also find 5% off coupons through AICPA etc.

Thanks for the prompt reply

Offline pointer

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Re: Laptop Deals Master Thread
« Reply #12332 on: May 06, 2020, 03:03:54 PM »
Dell depending on the series can make a huge difference, desktops I usually stick with optiplex or XPS. Laptops I try for XPS or vostro. Haven't had complaints about the vostro.
Why would it matter what series it is, isn't it all about the specs?

Offline sysg1

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Re: Laptop Deals Master Thread
« Reply #12333 on: May 06, 2020, 03:14:00 PM »
Why would it matter what series it is, isn't it all about the specs?
specs can sound the same but if you look carefully would be better on the higher classes. also build, case, motherboard, upgrade-able are all different on different levels.
for example, an inspiron might have the same specs as a XPS, but little details will be different. also one thing i found, is for higher specs, higher level have better pricing.

sorry if i'm not explaining well, i will update this soon with an example.

Offline etech0

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Re: Laptop Deals Master Thread
« Reply #12334 on: May 06, 2020, 03:18:07 PM »
Would the build quality also be better on higher end series?
Workflowy. You won't know what you're missing until you try it.

Offline sysg1

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Re: Laptop Deals Master Thread
« Reply #12335 on: May 06, 2020, 03:18:57 PM »
Would the build quality also be better on higher end series?
Yes

Offline Iz

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Re: Laptop Deals Master Thread
« Reply #12336 on: May 07, 2020, 09:32:31 PM »

Offline mikaelrap

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Re: Laptop Deals Master Thread
« Reply #12337 on: May 07, 2020, 10:04:51 PM »
What is the best deals out there on MacBook Pro 13inch

Offline sysg1

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Re: Laptop Deals Master Thread
« Reply #12338 on: May 07, 2020, 10:36:05 PM »
https://forums.dansdeals.com/index.php?topic=116324.msg2246512#msg2246512
What do you think of this?

More powerful processor, newer wifi chip, and pretty much the same specs otherwise (biggest difference is 16 instead of 32gb ram) for around $1600
https://store.hp.com/us/en/ConfigureView?langId=-1&storeId=10151&catalogId=10051&catEntryId=3074457345619587323&urlLangId=&quantity=1

The main thing he has better is that it's available now, not in a month.