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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 3151690 times)

Offline El Capitan

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Re: Laptop Deals Master Thread
« Reply #12400 on: June 04, 2020, 04:27:51 PM »
Still looking for a good MS method :)

Offline justmeha

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Re: Laptop Deals Master Thread
« Reply #12401 on: June 04, 2020, 04:37:16 PM »
I am what?
I don’t mind making the trade off

Offline El Capitan

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Re: Laptop Deals Master Thread
« Reply #12402 on: June 04, 2020, 04:54:57 PM »
Any recommendations for a computer mainly for browsing. Need to be very quick and snappy. Preferably 14 inch. Willing to pay more if it’s for good value but looking to pay closer to $200-$300
https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1499523-REG
This should do the trick
Still looking for a good MS method :)


Offline El Capitan

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Still looking for a good MS method :)

Offline TheDroid

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Re: Laptop Deals Master Thread
« Reply #12405 on: June 04, 2020, 07:08:09 PM »
Any recommendations for a computer mainly for browsing. Need to be very quick and snappy. Preferably 14 inch. Willing to pay more if it’s for good value but looking to pay closer to $200-$300

Nothing at that price range will be very quick or snappy. But yes Chromebook is the way to go for value.
Try to get the most RAM as you can get. 4GB is probably the most at that price range. You can expect a functional laptop but don't expect any speed after several open tabs.
Even just browsing any laptop under $500 will not be fast. You get what you pay for.

A piece of advice. One of the most overlooked pitfall is the screen. Even the same 14 inch, most of the cheaper laptops will screw you with a "HD" screen which is really a trash 1366 x 768 screen. If there is one thing you should never trade off is the screen resolution. Always get at least "FULL HD" 1920 x 1080. You will thank me later.


Offline Thingywingy

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I am sometimes accused of overthinking things. I am still mulling over whether that accusation has merit.

Offline El Capitan

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Re: Laptop Deals Master Thread
« Reply #12407 on: June 04, 2020, 07:50:23 PM »


You get what you pay for.

+1MM. Although IME I've never convinced anyone to splurge on a PC. Maybe I'm just bad at it. Still baffles me how people spend close to 1K on a phone gladly but go cheap on a laptop. I find the logic twisted. Anyone with me on this?
Still looking for a good MS method :)

Offline AllEars

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Re: Laptop Deals Master Thread
« Reply #12408 on: June 04, 2020, 08:29:58 PM »
Yep, finding anything really worth your time under 500 is very difficult

Offline sol19

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Re: Laptop Deals Master Thread
« Reply #12409 on: June 04, 2020, 08:36:08 PM »
Dell Inspiron 14 5000 2-in-1 Laptop $399.99
8th Generation Intel Core i3-8145U Processor (4 MB Cache, up to 3.90 GHz)
Windows 10 Home S mode
Intel UHD Graphics 620 with shared graphics memory
14" HD (1366 x 768) LED-Backlit Touch Display
256GB M.2 PCIe NVMe SSD
8GB DDR4, 2666MHz

Offline El Capitan

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« Last Edit: June 04, 2020, 10:56:20 PM by El Capitan »
Still looking for a good MS method :)

Offline El Capitan

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Re: Laptop Deals Master Thread
« Reply #12411 on: June 04, 2020, 08:51:16 PM »
Dell Inspiron 14 5000 2-in-1 Laptop $399.99
8th Generation Intel Core i3-8145U Processor (4 MB Cache, up to 3.90 GHz)
Windows 10 Home S mode
Intel UHD Graphics 620 with shared graphics memory
14" HD (1366 x 768) LED-Backlit Touch Display
256GB M.2 PCIe NVMe SSD
8GB DDR4, 2666MHz

Wow not bad but definitely not snappy
And If this was in response to @justmeha request he asked for something between 250 and 300...
« Last Edit: June 04, 2020, 08:57:48 PM by El Capitan »
Still looking for a good MS method :)

Offline Yo ssi

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Re: Laptop Deals Master Thread
« Reply #12412 on: June 04, 2020, 09:00:45 PM »

+1MM. Although IME I've never convinced anyone to splurge on a PC. Maybe I'm just bad at it. Still baffles me how people spend close to 1K on a phone gladly but go cheap on a laptop. I find the logic twisted. Anyone with me on this?
Agreed to an extent, for a lot of users, phones are the most used device.
Generally you can find a perfectly capable desktop for under 500..
And in addition most people who have expensive phones aren't paying for them in one shot.
Only thing carbon has over this is weight...
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B086226DDB/?tag=cl03f-20%E2%88%A3=ATVPDKIKX0DER
I beg to differ, the build quality and longevity of a laptop matters. (Not to mention its running an Intel)
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Offline El Capitan

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Re: Laptop Deals Master Thread
« Reply #12413 on: June 04, 2020, 09:03:03 PM »


I beg to differ, the build quality and longevity of a laptop matters. (Not to mention its running an Intel)

Is the carbon built really so much better? and you clearly haven't made the switch over to team red yet...
Still looking for a good MS method :)

Offline justmeha

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Re: Laptop Deals Master Thread
« Reply #12414 on: June 04, 2020, 10:13:18 PM »
Dell Inspiron 14 5000 2-in-1 Laptop $399.99
8th Generation Intel Core i3-8145U Processor (4 MB Cache, up to 3.90 GHz)
Windows 10 Home S mode
Intel UHD Graphics 620 with shared graphics memory
14" HD (1366 x 768) LED-Backlit Touch Display
256GB M.2 PCIe NVMe SSD
8GB DDR4, 2666MHz

Sadly sold out

Offline Yo ssi

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Re: Laptop Deals Master Thread
« Reply #12415 on: June 04, 2020, 11:31:36 PM »

Is the carbon built really so much better? and you clearly haven't made the switch over to team red yet...
From my understanding, team red doesn't outperform in single core uses, which for me is what matters most, being that majority of programs don't have multiple core support.
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Offline El Capitan

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Re: Laptop Deals Master Thread
« Reply #12416 on: June 04, 2020, 11:37:15 PM »
From my understanding, team red doesn't outperform in single core uses, which for me is what matters most, being that majority of programs don't have multiple core support.
From what I've heard that was only true until about halfway through the third generation and now we're at the fourth generation we're supposedly they excel at it
Still looking for a good MS method :)

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Re: Laptop Deals Master Thread
« Reply #12417 on: June 05, 2020, 12:57:44 AM »
I'm pretty sure Pentium CPU is slightly better than Celeron CPU. But the reason I put a b&H deal is because if you use the b&H payboo card you don't have to pay sales tax
Celeron? The B&H has an AMD A4-9120C which is substantially worse than the Pentium, also has half the storage space.

Offline TheDroid

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Re: Laptop Deals Master Thread
« Reply #12418 on: June 05, 2020, 02:57:30 AM »
From what I've heard that was only true until about halfway through the third generation and now we're at the fourth generation we're supposedly they excel at it
From my understanding, team red doesn't outperform in single core uses, which for me is what matters most, being that majority of programs don't have multiple core support.

At this day and age for 99% of users doesn't even come close to using the full potential of the CPU even the top ones don't run at 100% all the time. Usage like browsing makes little difference to either color CPU. Better spent on RAM or for casual gamers, a graphics card.


+1MM. Although IME I've never convinced anyone to splurge on a PC. Maybe I'm just bad at it. Still baffles me how people spend close to 1K on a phone gladly but go cheap on a laptop. I find the logic twisted. Anyone with me on this?

Especially those Apple and Samsung suckers.
Use Android. I personally buy last year's flagship specs for no more than $500. My 2nd phone is a 2 year old flagship that lasted 3 years (essentially a 5 year phone) and still works fine without the updates and will cost no more than $250.

Same with CPU, most people never max out the full potential of the phone. It's the new updates that kills your old phone. Or most likely because you drop your phone and it breaks.

Offline El Capitan

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Re: Laptop Deals Master Thread
« Reply #12419 on: June 05, 2020, 07:46:49 AM »
Celeron? The B&H has an AMD A4-9120C which is substantially worse than the Pentium, also has half the storage space.
My bad I must've posted the wrong link.
this is the right one although it still has half the storage space and says coming soon...


Also, it's interesting you say that about the AMD one as I always remember hearing in the olden (pre ryzen) days that AMD was better for low end and Intel is better for high end
« Last Edit: June 05, 2020, 08:01:33 AM by El Capitan »
Still looking for a good MS method :)