Thank you for this response!! Super helpful.
1. Build quality on Inspirons are not equal. It depends on the material use - the 3000s are mostly plastic with some exceptions (as I recently learned here). For that matter, neither are the Latitudes - there are 3000 series Latitudes that also are plastic. You are lechora not looking to match the Latitude 7000's build quality, so metal should be enough. Note that the 750 Inspiron you list has a metal build.
Good point. Though my Latitude 7420 appears to be 100% plastic but still feels much more solid than most cheaper consumer laptops that I've used (for example, I also have a metal Surface Go Laptop, which doesn't feel nearly as good as my plastic Latitude 7420). The hinge on the Latitude is much tighter, typing on the keyboard feels totally different as the keys feel more durable and have more travel (less clickety-clack sound than a cheaper build, for lack of a better description), and the trackpad feels better. I imagine it'll hold up better too- I've been using it for 8-10 hrs a day for over two years, and it still feels new. I'm not sure that would be the case with a cheaper consumer laptop, even if it was metal, no?
2. The 10310U is the last processor built on Intel 14nm. As such, it is significantly more ancient than the 11th gen, which was the first proper processor built on 10nm (the 10xxGx was a work in progress).
This is exactly why I wanted your professional opinion here (let's face it, I knew you were the one would would answer
). There's no way I'd know that myself!
Though I will say that I do not see any advantage of the CAD 580 Latitude versus this CAD 359 model with the same i5-8365U (virtually identical to the 10310U - take my word for it)
Now spending double on a new model which will be used for office work is a better question. I can see both options as good ones (359 and 750, not really seeing the other options).
Again, thank you for your expertise on those two processors! I did not know that, but now that you said that, I looked
here and the difference does seem negligible.
The 359 CAD option that you linked now seems to be 319 CAD, so maybe I'll just pull the trigger on that one. After Dell credits, my cost for that one would be 60 CAD (we have a 13% sales tax here), whereas my post-credit cost for the new Inspiron will be 547 CAD. The 487 CAD difference doesn't seem worthwhile. Worst case scenario, if the refurbished one doesn't work out, I can give it away and then probably find something perfectly adequate in the 600-700 CAD range once I'm looking at all manufacturers, so worst case scenario I'm only out $100-200 for trying the cheaper route. I think that makes sense, no?
Again, thanks so much for your help!
ETA: Now I see why you said $359 and not $319- I was looking at Grade B, and you were referring to Grade A. I assume the $50 is worthwhile to get Grade A...
