Laptop Deals Master Thread

[cozmohoot]

At what price?

Low 2s

[skyguy918]

Don't know if there's a better thread for this, but would is Chrome OS have good enough child controls on its own to leave a kid unsupervised on it? Thinking something along the lines of being able to limit the child's login to certain activities - ie Zoom, MS/Google Office apps, whitelist only sites, etc. - in a way that even most adults wouldn't be able to get around without guessing some passwords. And if yes, any suggestions for a good deal on a chromebook? Only requirements would be as cheap as possible with USB-C charging and ability to output to larger screens.

[cozmohoot]

Low 2s

And BTW , some ebay items come with a 1 year square trade warranty

[AsherO]

@biobook by destroyed you mean physical damage?

Maybe try to find a Panasonic toughbook or some other ruggedized laptop on eBay that can handle said damage more gracefully.

[biobook]

@biobook by destroyed you mean physical damage?

Maybe try to find a Panasonic toughbook or some other ruggedized laptop on eBay that can handle said damage more gracefully.

One fell on the floor, the other got inundated with chocolate syrup.  All by themselves. 
The toughbooks are rather heavy - 4-8 pounds.  What I want for traveling is something very lightweight.

[cozmohoot]

One fell on the floor, the other got inundated with chocolate syrup.  All by themselves. 
The toughbooks are rather heavy - 4-8 pounds.  What I want for traveling is something very lightweight.

IMHO, get a 7290 12.5inch for around $250.
Maybe buy 2 of them

[biobook]

I've bought a few 5490 14-in on eBay from a reputable seller and a couple 7290 12.5 in ,and have been very happy so far.
All were i5 8th with either 8gb ram or 16gb ram and of course an ssd.

That's 5 years old, so we're talking refurbished, right?  What are the concerns about that?  I have what some might call an extreme aversion to viruses and the like.

[cozmohoot]

Yes Refurbished, but Refurbished by Microsoft authorized Refurbisher that puts on a fresh copy of windows and tests all components. ITreplay is one of the sellers that I like .

It might be around 5 years old but I have plenty of users with 8th generation i5 and even i3 who still use the machine as daily workhorses.
For web browsing and ms office it is more than adequate.

[mevinyavin]

That's 5 years old, so we're talking refurbished, right?  What are the concerns about that?  I have what some might call an extreme aversion to viruses and the like.

Re: refurbs.
When buying from a legit source, there are two primary (potential) issues. First is no guarantee on the battery (unlike, for instance, theblakdavid's systems which are old but unused). If the company guarantees a brand-new battery, this is irrelevant.
Second is longevity of the computer. Primary reason a laptop dies is heat from the (now) stressed-out cooling system until something pops that shouldn't. Almost no one cleans out the inside from dust when reselling, and even if they do, this doesn't always help (or fully help) the wear and tear on cooling.
Indestructible computers like Latitudes last longer, but how much longer is a toss-up.

In your case, it does seem like the benefits outweigh the risks.

[mevinyavin]

https://www.lenovo.com/us/en/p/laptops/thinkpad/thinkpade/thinkpad-e14-gen-4-(14-inch-amd)/21eb0021us
$650 - Thinkpad E14 Gen 4, Ryzen 7 5825, 16GB RAM (8GB soldered, 8GB upgradeable), TB SSD
Don't forget the coupon code.
Highlights: 8 cores, 2 M2 slots (1 2242 and 1 2280), excellent battery life
Review here:
https://www.notebookcheck.net/Lenovo-ThinkPad-E14-G3-AMD-Laptop-Review-Affordable-Business-Notebook-with-Ryzen-Power.551070.0.html

[yfr bachur]

Don't know if there's a better thread for this, but would is Chrome OS have good enough child controls on its own to leave a kid unsupervised on it? Thinking something along the lines of being able to limit the child's login to certain activities - ie Zoom, MS/Google Office apps, whitelist only sites, etc. - in a way that even most adults wouldn't be able to get around without guessing some passwords. And if yes, any suggestions for a good deal on a chromebook? Only requirements would be as cheap as possible with USB-C charging and ability to output to larger screens.

TAG has a solution for chromebooks

[mevinyavin]

Back on sale this week, $200, in person only.

$200 in person only.
https://www.microcenter.com/product/663100/lenovo-ideapad-3-14-laptop-computer-platinum-grey?storeid=115

Lenovo Ideapad 3 14" 11th gen i3 for $250. Only in person at a Micro Center.
i3-1115G4/8GB RAM/256GB SSD

Should be great for office work. Easy to get into if you need to upgrade. (4GB RAM is soldered, and 4GB is replaceable.)

https://www.microcenter.com/product/663100/lenovo-ideapad-3-14-laptop-computer-grey?sku=540187&utm_source=20230213_Desktop_Notebook_R7492&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=R7492&MccGuid=66827EF8-22DA-480C-8A69-CA249D556EE5

[mevinyavin]

(@cozmohoot If you haven't bought anything yet)

A stellar deal on this Lenovo Slim 7 16, Arc A370 graphics, touch, 32GB RAM and TB SSD, for $1000: https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1763759-REG/lenovo_82vb0000us_16_ideapad_slim_7.html/specs

[Moshe26]

i dont know much about laptops, but is this a good home laptop, mainly for work. if not any other options recommended (from dell)

https://www.dell.com/en-us/shop/dell-laptops/inspiron-15-laptop/spd/inspiron-15-3520-laptop/nn3520ftech

[DealJew]

Whats a good laptop for Browsing the Web under $300? Cannot be too slow.

[Chuchum Ainer]

Whats a good laptop for Browsing the Web under $300? Cannot be too slow.

Is a chromebook an option?

[aygart]

All my docs are on flash drives, so needs usb port

Your flash drives don't get lost/ruined? Why don't you use a cloud based document storage?

[jameswacht]

Any good dell laptops in the $400-600 range?

[Chuchum Ainer]

I'm looking for a laptop for someone who has destroyed two of them in the past 3 years, and will use it for a few months of travel, so is also liable to lose it or have it stolen.  Instead of all sorts of wonderful features, I should probably be looking for the cheapest thing that will work and just be happy if it lasts for 4-5 months. 

Will be used for Word docs and internet, often multiple tabs of both open at once
All my docs are on flash drives, so needs usb port
Not more than 3 pounds, so it can be carried around all day
Smaller is better than larger

1. What are the concerns with buying used/ refurbished?  That it's liable to break or that it will have something undesirable installed on it?

2. Is there a tablet with a keyboard that would work?  What would be the disadvantages of that?

Thanks for any advice.

https://www.bestbuy.com/site/lenovo-yoga-6-13-3-wuxga-1920-x-1200-touch-2-in-1-laptop-ryzen-5-5500u-8gb-memory-256gb-ssd-dark-teal/6502221.p?skuId=6502221
Open box excellent for $366

If you want to go down the refurbished route, some interesting deals here:
https://www.backmarket.com/en-us/p/hp-elitebook-x360-1030-g4-133-inch-core-i5-8-gb-ssd-256-gb/ba2b7923-aa11-43b0-af25-f91fe10f2e0d#l=10 $300
https://www.backmarket.com/en-us/p/lenovo-thinkpad-l380-yoga-14-inch-i5-8350u-8-gb-ssd-256-gb/878c174c-3a2a-42c0-b674-806e817efc66#l=10 $295
https://www.backmarket.com/en-us/p/lenovo-thinkpad-x390-yoga-133-inch-core-i5-8-gb-ssd-256-gb/b1d95300-1bf0-4d6f-88cc-a106d44f661d#l=10 $300
https://www.backmarket.com/en-us/p/dell-latitude-7390-133-inch-2018-core-i7-8650u-16-gb-ssd-256-gb/2d8ac0df-5d2e-4e37-9a70-4fc83cd81ca0#l=10 $253

I think these one's might work for you. (note The info on the product pages is not very accurate.)
When it comes to refurbished, you can always reinstall windows yourself (not too difficult, and easier than usual as you don't need to save your personal data first), so I wouldn't worry about any viruses or wtvr.

The worry is that the battery or other components might already be nearing the end of their lifespan. So I'd only buy high-end models, which should anyways last really long. (Friend has a 10+ year old Lenovo yoga. Thin and still decently looking compared to today's laptops. The ssd died 2 years ago (8 years in), which was an easy $30 replacement (thankfully didn't store any important data on it) it's still going strong.)
These three linked are from the tougher product lines, and not too old, so should still have a few years left.

The other issue is that there have obviously been advancements in computer technology since the old laptops were made. That should again be ok as long as you get the high end ones. High end 2019 laptops might have the same good screens and thunderbolt ports as midrange 2023 machines.

So your use case seems relatively light, and you don't really plan on it lasting that long anyhow. These seem good.
Check the battery life, return if it's not enough for you.

All IMHO.

[mevinyavin]

A gut voch!
The original Samsung Galaxy Book Pro 15.6" with i5 11th gen, 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD, $500 at Walmart.
https://www.walmart.com/ip/SAMSUNG-Galaxy-Book-Pro-15-6-Laptop-Intel-Core-i5-8GB-Memory-256GB-SSD-Mystic-Silver/783473827
Buy this only if having a superlight 15.6" computer with decent battery life matters to you. Otherwise you can match the spec for $150 less, at least.
Review here: https://www.techradar.com/reviews/samsung-galaxy-book-pro