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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 3151637 times)

Offline eli1571

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Re: Laptop Deals Master Thread
« Reply #13240 on: November 29, 2021, 05:58:34 PM »
From Dell chat --  I see that the laptop in your cart has windows in S mode

Windows 11 in S Mode is a more limited, locked-down Windows operating system. In S Mode, you can only install apps from the Store, and you can only browse the web with Microsoft Edge.

The Windows S mode does not support Chrome browser, Microsoft Applications or Zoom application would windows S mode be fine with you

IS this true ??? all of the laptops up to $400 are s mode

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Re: Laptop Deals Master Thread
« Reply #13241 on: November 29, 2021, 06:14:32 PM »
From Dell chat --  I see that the laptop in your cart has windows in S mode

Windows 11 in S Mode is a more limited, locked-down Windows operating system. In S Mode, you can only install apps from the Store, and you can only browse the web with Microsoft Edge.

The Windows S mode does not support Chrome browser, Microsoft Applications or Zoom application would windows S mode be fine with you

IS this true ??? all of the laptops up to $400 are s mode

You can opt out of S.
Save your time, I don't answer PM. Post it in the forum and a dedicated DDF'er will get back to you as soon as possible.

Offline eli1571

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Re: Laptop Deals Master Thread
« Reply #13242 on: November 29, 2021, 06:16:02 PM »

Offline Yisroel Tech

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Re: Laptop Deals Master Thread
« Reply #13243 on: November 29, 2021, 06:30:19 PM »
how ?
It's an option in the Microsoft Store.

See https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/windows-10-and-windows-11-in-s-mode-faq-851057d6-1ee9-b9e5-c30b-93baebeebc85 How do I switch out of S mode?.

(Most devices can switch out, but I think there are some [maybe the ARM based CPU devices] that you cannot switch out.)

Offline eli1571

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Re: Laptop Deals Master Thread
« Reply #13244 on: November 29, 2021, 06:36:45 PM »
Oh wow thanx for that, Dell rep told me no way to change it.

Offline Yisroel Tech

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Re: Laptop Deals Master Thread
« Reply #13245 on: November 29, 2021, 06:39:06 PM »
Oh wow thanx for that, Dell rep told me no way to change it.
>:(

If it's a regular Intel/AMD CPU there is no question you can switch out.

(But TBH, S Mode is a good indicator which laptops not to buy since they're underpowered devices that will be slow.)

Offline eli1571

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Re: Laptop Deals Master Thread
« Reply #13246 on: November 29, 2021, 06:42:06 PM »
>:(

If it's a regular Intel/AMD CPU there is no question you can switch out.

(But TBH, S Mode is a good indicator which laptops not to buy since they're underpowered devices that will be slow.)
This one https://www.dell.com/en-us/shop/dell-laptops/new-inspiron-15-3000-laptop/spd/inspiron-15-3511-laptop/nn3511eyxsh

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Re: Laptop Deals Master Thread
« Reply #13247 on: November 29, 2021, 06:47:31 PM »
This one https://www.dell.com/en-us/shop/dell-laptops/new-inspiron-15-3000-laptop/spd/inspiron-15-3511-laptop/nn3511eyxsh
i3 and 4 GB of RAM? No thanks!

Pay the few bucks more and get a normal device (let's say i5/8GB of RAM for $399 etc.)

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Re: Laptop Deals Master Thread
« Reply #13248 on: November 29, 2021, 07:17:10 PM »
i3 and 4 GB of RAM? No thanks!

Pay the few bucks more and get a normal device (let's say i5/8GB of RAM for $399 etc.)
It is a 8 GB ram.
Where is there a i5 Dell for 400

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Re: Laptop Deals Master Thread
« Reply #13251 on: November 29, 2021, 07:25:09 PM »
Save your time, I don't answer PM. Post it in the forum and a dedicated DDF'er will get back to you as soon as possible.

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Re: Laptop Deals Master Thread
« Reply #13252 on: November 29, 2021, 07:28:08 PM »

Offline eli1571

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Re: Laptop Deals Master Thread
« Reply #13253 on: November 29, 2021, 07:29:08 PM »
Is i3 that bad for basic use ?
Is Celeron better ?

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Re: Laptop Deals Master Thread
« Reply #13254 on: November 29, 2021, 07:36:13 PM »
Is i3 that bad for basic use ?
Is Celeron better ?
i3 is ok for basic use and is better than celery. 128GB is pretty small though.
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