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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
Warning: most of the wiki that follows was written a very long time ago and the information on it can be outdated.

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 3660853 times)

Offline Chuchum Ainer

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Re: Laptop Deals Master Thread
« Reply #14340 on: January 23, 2024, 11:16:19 PM »
Okay, now I really know my head is flying. I didn't see it was refurb...  :-[ No, it is not better. At least I don't think so, even from the manufacturer.
I'm pretty sure the listing showed New when you posted it.
There's some funny business going on, and I don't know what it is.
On lenovo it says New for this laptop at that $688 price, but also says "outlet price." The model number doesn't come up at psref.lenovo.com, and from what I'm reading (you know where) the X in the model number means refurbished. https://www.lenovo.com/us/outletus/en/p/laptops/thinkpad/thinkpadx1/thinkpad-x1-yoga-gen-7-(14-inch-intel)/21cex50400

I would hope this isn't a refurb as they are a reputable seller.
I think something similar happened here (HP, via antononline), went from refurb to new or something.

Offline mevinyavin

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Re: Laptop Deals Master Thread
« Reply #14341 on: January 24, 2024, 04:25:32 AM »
Quote from: ExGingi
Echo chambers are boring and don't contribute much to deeper thinking and understanding!

Offline mevinyavin

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Quote from: ExGingi
Echo chambers are boring and don't contribute much to deeper thinking and understanding!

Offline Yo ssi

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Re: Laptop Deals Master Thread
« Reply #14343 on: January 24, 2024, 12:45:34 PM »
https://www.costco.com/.product.4000214181.html

Am I missing something or is this a crazy deal?
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Offline Shmiel s

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Re: Laptop Deals Master Thread
« Reply #14344 on: January 24, 2024, 02:39:42 PM »
https://www.costco.com/.product.4000214181.html

Am I missing something or is this a crazy deal?
Might not be a good brand. The body might be cheap plastic and might affect the mouse pad

Offline baron

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« Last Edit: January 24, 2024, 04:20:36 PM by baron »

Offline etech0

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Workflowy. You won't know what you're missing until you try it.

Offline baron

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Re: Laptop Deals Master Thread
« Reply #14347 on: January 24, 2024, 04:09:44 PM »

Offline etech0

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Re: Laptop Deals Master Thread
« Reply #14348 on: January 24, 2024, 04:11:24 PM »
I3 vs Ryzen 5?
That's my question. How do they compare?
Workflowy. You won't know what you're missing until you try it.

Offline baron

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Re: Laptop Deals Master Thread
« Reply #14349 on: January 24, 2024, 04:14:02 PM »
That's my question. How do they compare?
No mumche thought it was Pashut the 5 but look at the base prices and don’t forget the 10% discount if you do it.

Offline etech0

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Re: Laptop Deals Master Thread
« Reply #14350 on: January 24, 2024, 04:16:36 PM »
No mumche but look at the base prices and don’t forget the 10% discount if you do it.
I don't see base prices, but looking at "Which operating system is right for you?" makes it seem like Ryzen 5 corresponds with i5.
Workflowy. You won't know what you're missing until you try it.

Offline baron

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Re: Laptop Deals Master Thread
« Reply #14351 on: January 24, 2024, 04:18:55 PM »
makes it seem like Ryzen 5 corresponds with i5.
I always did 3=3 5=5 etc without getting nitty gritty @mevinyavin will probably slaughter me for this.

Offline etech0

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Re: Laptop Deals Master Thread
« Reply #14352 on: January 24, 2024, 04:22:23 PM »
Workflowy. You won't know what you're missing until you try it.

Offline baron

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Re: Laptop Deals Master Thread
« Reply #14353 on: January 24, 2024, 04:27:45 PM »
Intel

AMD

The AMD is on flash sale the intel was same price last week and even week before iirc just 512 instead of 256 so they aren’t even calling it the sale for intel option. The 449 on the Ryzen 5 is what I referred to above as base price

Offline etech0

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Re: Laptop Deals Master Thread
« Reply #14354 on: January 24, 2024, 04:31:10 PM »
Interesting, the Base Price thing doesn't show for me. Thanks!
Workflowy. You won't know what you're missing until you try it.

Offline baron

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Re: Laptop Deals Master Thread
« Reply #14355 on: January 24, 2024, 07:57:35 PM »

Offline Yo ssi

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Re: Laptop Deals Master Thread
« Reply #14356 on: January 24, 2024, 08:28:07 PM »
Might not be a good brand. The body might be cheap plastic and might affect the mouse pad
Might?

Nonetheless..
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Offline mevinyavin

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Re: Laptop Deals Master Thread
« Reply #14357 on: January 25, 2024, 12:28:57 AM »
https://www.cpubenchmark.net/compare/4141vs4754/AMD-Ryzen-5-5500U-vs-Intel-i3-1215U

Looks like the AMD might be better
You won't see the difference in real life performance (for regular computing). The R5 should be better in most metrics (but not all). I would think the efficiency advantage (aka battery life if they have equal battery sizes) of the AMD should clinch it, though.
Quote from: ExGingi
Echo chambers are boring and don't contribute much to deeper thinking and understanding!

Offline etech0

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Re: Laptop Deals Master Thread
« Reply #14358 on: January 25, 2024, 08:43:44 AM »
You won't see the difference in real life performance (for regular computing). The R5 should be better in most metrics (but not all). I would think the efficiency advantage (aka battery life if they have equal battery sizes) of the AMD should clinch it, though.
Thanks!
Workflowy. You won't know what you're missing until you try it.

Offline mevinyavin

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Re: Laptop Deals Master Thread
« Reply #14359 on: January 25, 2024, 10:14:22 AM »
MSI Stealth 14 with i7-13620H, RTX 4060 for $1000 at Best Buy. Has a very fast but not high-res screen. Highly portable for the power it has but the battery life probably isn't that great. (This is a good price for a 4060 in any package, but a chiddush in a portable package.)
https://www.bestbuy.com/site/msi-stealth-14-ai-14-165hz-fhd-ultra-thin-gaming-laptop-intel-core-i7-13620hwith-16gb-memory-rtx-4060-1tb-ssd-star-blue/6534580.p?skuId=6534580
Quote from: ExGingi
Echo chambers are boring and don't contribute much to deeper thinking and understanding!