Topic Wiki

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 3212251 times)

Offline TorontoGuy

  • Dansdeals Platinum Elite
  • ****
  • Join Date: Mar 2015
  • Posts: 319
  • Total likes: 0
  • DansDeals.com Hat Tips 0
    • View Profile
  • Location: Toronto
Re: Laptop Deals Master Thread
« Reply #9240 on: December 22, 2015, 03:21:31 PM »
Some people are uncomfortable opening their computers. That's why i suggested he ask someone in the store to do it. It's a one minute procedure.
Good luck finding a store that will install a RAM for under $75 service charge...

Offline cf

  • Dansdeals Gold Elite
  • ***
  • Join Date: Jul 2013
  • Posts: 179
  • Total likes: 2
  • DansDeals.com Hat Tips 2
    • View Profile
Re: Laptop Deals Master Thread
« Reply #9241 on: December 22, 2015, 03:37:03 PM »
I never walked into a store to buy ram
Where do you order it? What do i need to look for, any specific company?

Offline avromie7

  • Dansdeals Lifetime Presidential Platinum Elite
  • *********
  • Join Date: Feb 2014
  • Posts: 8302
  • Total likes: 2745
  • DansDeals.com Hat Tips 6
    • View Profile
  • Location: Lakewood
Re: Laptop Deals Master Thread
« Reply #9242 on: December 22, 2015, 03:42:47 PM »
Where do you order it? What do i need to look for, any specific company?
The simplest is to use crucial.com and you can use the scanner, they also guarantee that it's compatible
I wonder what people who type "u" instead of "you" do with all their free time.

Offline cf

  • Dansdeals Gold Elite
  • ***
  • Join Date: Jul 2013
  • Posts: 179
  • Total likes: 2
  • DansDeals.com Hat Tips 2
    • View Profile
Re: Laptop Deals Master Thread
« Reply #9243 on: December 22, 2015, 03:44:55 PM »
The simplest is to use crucial.com and you can use the scanner, they also guarantee that it's compatible
Thanks! I'll check it out.

Offline Yehuda25

  • Dansdeals Lifetime Presidential Platinum Elite
  • *********
  • Join Date: Dec 2013
  • Posts: 6091
  • Total likes: 78
  • DansDeals.com Hat Tips 9
    • View Profile
Re: Laptop Deals Master Thread
« Reply #9244 on: December 23, 2015, 07:13:21 PM »
HP Pavilion 17 Laptop: Core i5-4210U, 17.3" 1600x900 LED, 4GB DDR3, 1TB HDD, Win 10 $350 + Free Shipping


Specs:
Intel Core i5-4210U (1.7GHz) Processor
17.3" 1600x900 LED Display
4GB DDR3L Memory
1TB Hard Drive
Intel HD Graphics 4400
DVDRW
WiFi N
4-Cell Battery
Windows 10


http://www.bestbuy.com/site/hp-pavilion-17-3-laptop-intel-core-i5-4gb-memory-1tb-hard-drive-silver/4606403.p?
“To avoid criticism say nothing, do nothing, be nothing.”


― Aristotle

Offline Zevi16

  • Dansdeals Lifetime Platinum Elite
  • *******
  • Join Date: Mar 2015
  • Posts: 2161
  • Total likes: 78
  • DansDeals.com Hat Tips 0
    • View Profile
Re: Laptop Deals Master Thread
« Reply #9245 on: December 24, 2015, 10:51:37 AM »
Office Depot have some stuff in sale

Offline cf

  • Dansdeals Gold Elite
  • ***
  • Join Date: Jul 2013
  • Posts: 179
  • Total likes: 2
  • DansDeals.com Hat Tips 2
    • View Profile
Re: Laptop Deals Master Thread
« Reply #9246 on: December 24, 2015, 11:14:14 AM »

Offline avromie7

  • Dansdeals Lifetime Presidential Platinum Elite
  • *********
  • Join Date: Feb 2014
  • Posts: 8302
  • Total likes: 2745
  • DansDeals.com Hat Tips 6
    • View Profile
  • Location: Lakewood
I wonder what people who type "u" instead of "you" do with all their free time.

Offline jackofall

  • Dansdeals Platinum Elite + Lifetime Gold Elite
  • ******
  • Join Date: Nov 2012
  • Posts: 775
  • Total likes: 45
  • DansDeals.com Hat Tips 2
  • Gender: Male
    • View Profile
If you focus on being a boss, you will never be a leader. Leaders lead people to growth and improvement.

Offline avromie7

  • Dansdeals Lifetime Presidential Platinum Elite
  • *********
  • Join Date: Feb 2014
  • Posts: 8302
  • Total likes: 2745
  • DansDeals.com Hat Tips 6
    • View Profile
  • Location: Lakewood
Re: Laptop Deals Master Thread
« Reply #9249 on: December 24, 2015, 12:02:04 PM »
I wonder what people who type "u" instead of "you" do with all their free time.

Offline moko

  • Dansdeals Presidential Platinum Elite
  • ********
  • Join Date: Jul 2011
  • Posts: 4705
  • Total likes: 1567
  • DansDeals.com Hat Tips 2
    • View Profile
  • Location: BOS
Re: Laptop Deals Master Thread
« Reply #9250 on: December 25, 2015, 12:29:45 AM »
1.
ASUS Transformer Book Flip TP550LA-UH51T Signature Edition 2 in 1 PC
15.6-inch HD touchscreen
Intel i5 5th Gen
4GB memory/500GB HDD
Windows 10
Now $349.00
was $599.00

Vs.
Toshiba Satellite C55-C5380
Intel® Core™ i5-4210U Processor
15.6” diagonal widescreen TruBrite® TFT display at 1366 x 768 native resolution (HD)
8GB DDR3L 1600MHz
750GB (5400 RPM) Serial ATA hard disk drive
DVD SuperMulti drive supporting 11 formats
Windows 10 operating system
Built-in stereo speakers
HD webcam with TruTalk™ dual microphones
Wi-Fi® Wireless networking (802.11b/g/n)
Bluetooth Compatibility
Now $399
Was $649

The Toshiba price is including a $100 trade in (any windows 7 or above that can boot up, with power cable)
There is also a Staples coupon (expiring 12/24) for $100 off any computer regularly priced $499 or higher (this one qualifies)
I checked in store and both these arc tuft f2f te stack able effectively bringing down the price to $299 with a trade in.
I don't have a trade in but would like an opinion if it's worth it to go for the t Toshiba for an extra $50 since it has 8gb ram factory installed.   
Any recommendations?
I plan on spending $80 on a 256gb ssd
in the end I went with the ASUS Transformer Book Flip TP550LA and added theSamsung 850 EVO 250GB ($81.6) and added Crucial Ballistix Sport 8GB DDR3-1866 SODIMM ($36.99)(for a total of 12 GB- total overkill)
Now I have a very solid 2 in 1 for under $500
Something weird I noticed when adding the ram was that there was no removable ram when I opened the machine is it normal for ram to be integrated into the build or am I missing something?
« Last Edit: December 25, 2015, 12:34:45 AM by moko »

Offline avromie7

  • Dansdeals Lifetime Presidential Platinum Elite
  • *********
  • Join Date: Feb 2014
  • Posts: 8302
  • Total likes: 2745
  • DansDeals.com Hat Tips 6
    • View Profile
  • Location: Lakewood
Re: Laptop Deals Master Thread
« Reply #9251 on: December 25, 2015, 12:41:28 AM »
in the end I went with the ASUS Transformer Book Flip TP550LA and added theSamsung 850 EVO 250GB ($81.6) and added Crucial Ballistix Sport 8GB DDR3-1866 SODIMM ($36.99)(for a total of 12 GB- total overkill)
Now I have a very solid 2 in 1 for under $500
Something weird I noticed when adding the ram was that there was no removable ram when I opened the machine is it normal for ram to be integrated into the build or am I missing something?
I don't think i've seen it but i know it exists.
I wonder what people who type "u" instead of "you" do with all their free time.

Offline thaber

  • Dansdeals Presidential Platinum Elite
  • ********
  • Join Date: May 2008
  • Posts: 3915
  • Total likes: 467
  • DansDeals.com Hat Tips 4
    • View Profile
Re: Laptop Deals Master Thread
« Reply #9252 on: December 25, 2015, 11:08:23 AM »


is it normal for ram to be integrated into the build

On Asus yes.  Pain in the neck

Offline Yisroel Tech

  • Dansdeals Lifetime Platinum Elite
  • *******
  • Join Date: Dec 2015
  • Posts: 2162
  • Total likes: 365
  • DansDeals.com Hat Tips 2
  • Gender: Male
    • View Profile
  • Location: Monsey, NY
Re: Laptop Deals Master Thread
« Reply #9253 on: December 25, 2015, 11:11:20 AM »
Something weird I noticed when adding the ram was that there was no removable ram when I opened the machine is it normal for ram to be integrated into the build or am I missing something?
I remember seeing it on some older Dell laptops. But they aren't really "intergrated" just placed at a location where it's hard to got to, and not the usual location which you can got to easy.

Offline thaber

  • Dansdeals Presidential Platinum Elite
  • ********
  • Join Date: May 2008
  • Posts: 3915
  • Total likes: 467
  • DansDeals.com Hat Tips 4
    • View Profile
Re: Laptop Deals Master Thread
« Reply #9254 on: December 25, 2015, 11:35:52 AM »
I remember seeing it on some older Dell laptops. But they aren't really "intergrated" just placed at a location where it's hard to got to, and not the usual location which you can got to easy.
Asus solders it onto the motherboard on some of their laptops

Offline moko

  • Dansdeals Presidential Platinum Elite
  • ********
  • Join Date: Jul 2011
  • Posts: 4705
  • Total likes: 1567
  • DansDeals.com Hat Tips 2
    • View Profile
  • Location: BOS
Re: Laptop Deals Master Thread
« Reply #9255 on: December 25, 2015, 12:23:39 PM »

On Asus yes.  Pain in the neck
why is it a pain in  neck ? There is still a regular bay for  adding up to 8GB for a total of 12 gb. I assume for most people that's more than enough.

Offline thaber

  • Dansdeals Presidential Platinum Elite
  • ********
  • Join Date: May 2008
  • Posts: 3915
  • Total likes: 467
  • DansDeals.com Hat Tips 4
    • View Profile
Re: Laptop Deals Master Thread
« Reply #9256 on: December 25, 2015, 12:25:21 PM »
why is it a pain in  neck ? There is still a regular bay for  adding up to 8GB for a total of 12 gb. I assume for most people that's more than enough.
The one I had this with had no extra bays and came with 4gb. It was an expensive ultra book (purchased by someone else) that is effectively garbage

Offline zh cohen

  • Dansdeals Lifetime Platinum Elite
  • *******
  • Join Date: Dec 2013
  • Posts: 1715
  • Total likes: 1685
  • DansDeals.com Hat Tips 1
  • Gender: Male
    • View Profile
  • Location: 412
Re: Laptop Deals Master Thread
« Reply #9257 on: December 26, 2015, 10:41:58 PM »
http://www.microsoftstore.com/store/msusa/en_US/pdp/productID.328071000
15.6-inch HD touchscreen
Intel Core i5-5200U
4GB memory/500GB HDD
For $349

VS

http://www.microsoftstore.com/store/msusa/en_US/pdp/productID.326892400
15.6-inch HD touchscreen
Intel Core i5-5200U
6GB memory/500GB HDD
For $399 (bought on cyber monday)

Offline avromie7

  • Dansdeals Lifetime Presidential Platinum Elite
  • *********
  • Join Date: Feb 2014
  • Posts: 8302
  • Total likes: 2745
  • DansDeals.com Hat Tips 6
    • View Profile
  • Location: Lakewood
Re: Laptop Deals Master Thread
« Reply #9258 on: December 26, 2015, 11:12:52 PM »
http://www.microsoftstore.com/store/msusa/en_US/pdp/productID.328071000
15.6-inch HD touchscreen
Intel Core i5-5200U
4GB memory/500GB HDD
For $349

VS

http://www.microsoftstore.com/store/msusa/en_US/pdp/productID.326892400
15.6-inch HD touchscreen
Intel Core i5-5200U
6GB memory/500GB HDD
For $399 (bought on cyber monday)
$349 and add 4gb of ram

It's lighter, has an extra usb 3.0 powered port, and better wireless
I wonder what people who type "u" instead of "you" do with all their free time.

Offline moko

  • Dansdeals Presidential Platinum Elite
  • ********
  • Join Date: Jul 2011
  • Posts: 4705
  • Total likes: 1567
  • DansDeals.com Hat Tips 2
    • View Profile
  • Location: BOS
Re: Laptop Deals Master Thread
« Reply #9259 on: December 27, 2015, 12:08:43 AM »
in the end I went with the ASUS Transformer Book Flip TP550LA and added theSamsung 850 EVO 250GB ($81.6) and added Crucial Ballistix Sport 8GB DDR3-1866 SODIMM ($36.99)(for a total of 12 GB- total overkill)
Now I have a very solid 2 in 1 for under $500
Something weird I noticed when adding the ram was that there was no removable ram when I opened the machine is it normal for ram to be integrated into the build or am I missing something?
update: after the upgrades, it boots up in under 30 seconds and never has a problem with multiple publisher files, Photoshop tasks,  and 10 -15 tabs of Edge running at once.
Also, if you want you can get a caddy for the original hdd and install it in place of the optical drive for more storage. Just make sure to configure your settings properly. You basically only want to store music, videos , and files there but want all programs and windows itself on the ssd for a quick boot. In regards to the extra hdd either it will have the same drive letter (eg: d/ ) as the optical drive or you can rename it.