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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 3213029 times)

Offline SrulyS

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Re: Laptop Deals Master Thread
« Reply #9260 on: December 27, 2015, 04:49:19 AM »
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 think you meant the $399 as it has all those features that you mentioned, not the $349.

The difference in weight ($399=4.79 lbs, $349=5.6 lbs) would be the biggest reason to keep the $399 IMHO.
I just bought the $349 and it's pretty heavy. (Overall, I am pretty happy with it, with perhaps an upgrade to 12 GB ram in the future.)

Offline avromie7

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Re: Laptop Deals Master Thread
« Reply #9261 on: December 27, 2015, 06:27:03 AM »
I think you meant the $399 as it has all those features that you mentioned, not the $349.

The difference in weight ($399=4.79 lbs, $349=5.6 lbs) would be the biggest reason to keep the $399 IMHO.
I just bought the $349 and it's pretty heavy. (Overall, I am pretty happy with it, with perhaps an upgrade to 12 GB ram in the future.)
Oops thanks for the correction, as far as ram I would leave it at 6gb and if necessary you can always upgrade
I wonder what people who type "u" instead of "you" do with all their free time.

Offline moko

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Re: Laptop Deals Master Thread
« Reply #9262 on: December 27, 2015, 08:36:17 PM »
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.
it actually boots in under 10 seconds. I've never seen anything like this. Publisher also opens in a few seconds.
I didn't know what I was missing until now.

Offline Zalc

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Re: Laptop Deals Master Thread
« Reply #9263 on: December 27, 2015, 08:41:24 PM »
it actually boots in under 10 seconds. I've never seen anything like this. Publisher also opens in a few seconds.
I didn't know what I was missing until now.
Welcome to life with a SSD, where your computer boots faster than your phone...

Offline dovy2

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Offline Yisroel Tech

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Re: Laptop Deals Master Thread
« Reply #9265 on: December 28, 2015, 09:38:25 AM »
HP ENVY 15.6" Touch-Screen Laptop Core i5-5200U, 6GB,1TB $450
http://www.ebay.com/itm/191747512283?rmvSB=true
or
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/hp-envy-15-6-touch-screen-laptop-intel-core-i5-6gb-memory-1tb-hard-drive-natural-silver/4583913.p?id=1219773218106&skuId=4583913
Exact same thing, from the same store (on eBay it's also from Best Buy.)
With eBay you could earn $9 in eBay bucks.

Offline dovy2

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Re: Laptop Deals Master Thread
« Reply #9266 on: December 28, 2015, 09:54:41 AM »
Exact same thing, from the same store (on eBay it's also from Best Buy.)
With eBay you could earn $9 in eBay bucks.
I know it's the same, some people would rather buy from a store than on eBay, and some still have amex offers, or bb gc's

Offline Sammy82

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Offline Work-for-ur-muny

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Re: Laptop Deals Master Thread
« Reply #9268 on: December 28, 2015, 07:26:56 PM »

Offline Sammy82

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Offline Work-for-ur-muny

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Re: Laptop Deals Master Thread
« Reply #9270 on: December 28, 2015, 07:37:18 PM »
Try this (non-mobile version) http://www.costco.com/.product.100233127.html?cm_sp=RichRelevance-_-categorypageHorizontalTop-_-CategoryTopProducts&cm_vc=categorypageHorizontalTop|CategoryTopProducts
Not bad at all for a 13.3" HD with an SSD. It also has $50 credit in windows store.
Beware: No internal optical drive. So that's kinda a downside.

Offline Sammy82

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Re: Laptop Deals Master Thread
« Reply #9271 on: December 28, 2015, 08:27:31 PM »
Not bad at all for a 13.3" HD with an SSD. It also has $50 credit in windows store.
Beware: No internal optical drive. So that's kinda a downside.
Thank you. Are you a pro in this area or just well versed (like me)?

Offline Work-for-ur-muny

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Re: Laptop Deals Master Thread
« Reply #9272 on: December 28, 2015, 08:31:02 PM »
Thank you. Are you a pro in this area or just well versed (like me)?
Can't consider myself a pro, but I know what to look out for basically.

Offline Sammy82

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Re: Laptop Deals Master Thread
« Reply #9273 on: December 28, 2015, 09:03:44 PM »
Can't consider myself a pro, but I know what to look out for basically.
ok. Thank you again.
Is Yehuda 25 (or is it 7?) around? Or one of the other geeks? I just want to hear what they have to say before I buy it (if possible).

Offline TorontoGuy

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Re: Laptop Deals Master Thread
« Reply #9274 on: December 28, 2015, 09:10:00 PM »
ok. Thank you again.
Is Yehuda 25 (or is it 7?) around? Or one of the other geeks? I just want to hear what they have to say before I buy it (if possible).
Most people would consider me a geek. What's the question?

Offline Iz

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Re: Laptop Deals Master Thread
« Reply #9275 on: December 28, 2015, 09:14:40 PM »
Most people would consider me a geek. What's the question?
Yep, certified! ;)

Offline TorontoGuy

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Re: Laptop Deals Master Thread
« Reply #9276 on: December 28, 2015, 09:19:54 PM »
Yep, certified! ;)
Actually, not yet. I'm going for my A+ soon.

Offline Work-for-ur-muny

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Re: Laptop Deals Master Thread
« Reply #9277 on: December 28, 2015, 09:20:34 PM »
Most people would consider me a geek. What's the question?
Is that a shoe size or what..?  :P

Offline grodnoking

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Re: Laptop Deals Master Thread
« Reply #9278 on: December 28, 2015, 09:22:36 PM »
ok. Thank you again.
Is Yehuda 25 (or is it 7?) around? Or one of the other geeks? I just want to hear what they have to say before I buy it (if possible).
Pcgeek and avromie7.
I'm not who you think I am.

Offline Work-for-ur-muny

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Re: Laptop Deals Master Thread
« Reply #9279 on: December 28, 2015, 09:35:22 PM »
Am I a geek? I think so...  ;)

If you are looking for a small convertible this is a great product with a price lower than these toys usually go for.

(If you have a Chase Freedom card, we still have 10-11 Points Per Dollar At Amazon. So your total will be way less if you buy this same device from Amazon, here is it.)
High-end electronics should always be bought with an amex.