Buying a Laptop in Covid Times

**PeachesNCream** · 09-14-2020, 02:57 PM

So my current laptop is toast and the timing couldn't have been worse. I was hoping I could wait out Covid but its not looking promising. I've read through the laptop threads on here but many of them are out of stock. Any recommendations on a Windows laptop that actually in stock and where to buy? Costco?

I don't need anything fancy but I want to buy something quality. "most bang for you buck" category most likely. Looking for a laptop that will last many years. Something that has a good battery life and is fairly portable (thin) and ~15inch screen. Not really interested in a tablet/laptop hybrid unless its a laptop first and a tablet second.

Anyone else have to buy during Covid?

**fleaches** · 09-14-2020, 03:04 PM

Just grabbed one of these for my lab https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produ...apad_5_14.html. Haven't gotten to play with it yet but seemed like a decent computer on paper.

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**MakersTeleMark** · 09-14-2020, 03:05 PM

Mine shit the bed at the end of April, and I ended up with this from Best Buy, which has been excellent so far:

ASUS - Zenbook Flip 15.6" 4K Ultra HD Touch-Screen Laptop - Intel Core i7 - 16GB Memory - NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 - 1TB SSD - Gun Gray

**galibier_numero_un** · 09-14-2020, 04:08 PM

Late to the party, I've finally come around to the Lenovo party.

I'm not sure of their budget offerings, however.

... Thom

**MyNameIsAugustWest** · 09-14-2020, 04:14 PM

I buy refurbs from Tiger Direct. Have probably bought a half dozen over the years and only one wasn't awesome. It was ok but not awesome.

They have good deals on Core I5s. The one I'm typing on is a Dell Lattitude E7450 Core I7 I bought for my wife and she promptly retired so I inherited it. It said it was a refurb, but there wasn't a mark on it. Touch screen, 8GB RAM, can't remember the hard drive but I know I paid under $500 3 years ago.

**RShea** · 09-15-2020, 12:09 AM

First off- any computer running Windows can be put into "tablet" mode, but without a touch screen, that really only gets you an on screen keyboard that can be used with a mouse. The laptops that are better at dual mode are the touch screen units that have the 180 degree screens so you can fold the keyboard under and just use the touch screen instead of a mouse or the keyboard touchpad and buttons for moving around the screen.

You stated you want thin- most of the time these days that means it will be an Ultrabook. No DVD drive included (have to go external USB if you REALLY need one of them- most do not even need them any more though as even software is either a download or can be loaded from a USB flash drive if the company is so old school that they sell a license and a copy of the installer instead of the download option.)

Here are a few options that should be available and in stock (not Chromebooks-Windows OS):

Lenovo ThinkPad E15 Gen 2-ARE 20T80005US 15.6" Notebook - Full HD - 1920 x 1080 - AMD Ryzen 5 4500U Hexa-core (6 Core) 2.30 GHz - 8 GB RAM - 256 GB SSD - Glossy Black ($700 or so price range)

or

Lenovo ThinkPad L15 Gen1 20U30022US 15.6" Notebook - Full HD - 1920 x 1080 - Intel Core i5 (10th Gen) i5-10210U Quad-core (4 Core) 1.60 GHz - 8 GB RAM - 256 GB SSD - Black (Price: $1000 or so)

There are a few refurbished deals out there, but prices are really pretty high right now as there is a pretty big shortage with all the WFH and School teaching/lessons via computer. Systems that 6 months ago sold as refurbished good quality (power adapter, tested and good battery and minimal scratches or wear on the system) were going for $250 to $300 are now many times 20 To 35% Higher right now.

**PeachesNCream** · 09-15-2020, 08:23 AM

Originally Posted by fleaches

Just grabbed one of these for my lab https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produ...apad_5_14.html. Haven't gotten to play with it yet but seemed like a decent computer on paper.

Sent from my Pixel XL using TGR Forums mobile app

Originally Posted by RShea

First off- any computer running Windows can be put into "tablet" mode, but without a touch screen, that really only gets you an on screen keyboard that can be used with a mouse. The laptops that are better at dual mode are the touch screen units that have the 180 degree screens so you can fold the keyboard under and just use the touch screen instead of a mouse or the keyboard touchpad and buttons for moving around the screen.

You stated you want thin- most of the time these days that means it will be an Ultrabook. No DVD drive included (have to go external USB if you REALLY need one of them- most do not even need them any more though as even software is either a download or can be loaded from a USB flash drive if the company is so old school that they sell a license and a copy of the installer instead of the download option.)

Here are a few options that should be available and in stock (not Chromebooks-Windows OS):

Lenovo ThinkPad E15 Gen 2-ARE 20T80005US 15.6" Notebook - Full HD - 1920 x 1080 - AMD Ryzen 5 4500U Hexa-core (6 Core) 2.30 GHz - 8 GB RAM - 256 GB SSD - Glossy Black ($700 or so price range)

or

Lenovo ThinkPad L15 Gen1 20U30022US 15.6" Notebook - Full HD - 1920 x 1080 - Intel Core i5 (10th Gen) i5-10210U Quad-core (4 Core) 1.60 GHz - 8 GB RAM - 256 GB SSD - Black (Price: $1000 or so)

There are a few refurbished deals out there, but prices are really pretty high right now as there is a pretty big shortage with all the WFH and School teaching/lessons via computer. Systems that 6 months ago sold as refurbished good quality (power adapter, tested and good battery and minimal scratches or wear on the system) were going for $250 to $300 are now many times 20 To 35% Higher right now.

My knowledge on laptops is almost zero. Seems like a lot of people are on the Lenovo train so I'll probably go that route. But why is the top laptop that fleaches suggested more expensive ($700) than the bold one RShea suggested ($740)? The fleaches one has more ram and storage, same size screen. Or is it just a better deal?

One other thing. If I put my price point at $500 would I be losing a lot of value? Didn't realize laptops had gotten so expensive these days. Not really interested in refurbished, seems too risky and not worth it with the price increase.

Thanks for all the input

**RShea** · 09-15-2020, 10:16 AM

Originally Posted by brundo

My knowledge on laptops is almost zero. Seems like a lot of people are on the Lenovo train so I'll probably go that route. But why is the top laptop that fleaches suggested more expensive ($700) than the bold one RShea suggested ($740)? The fleaches one has more ram and storage, same size screen. Or is it just a better deal?

One other thing. If I put my price point at $500 would I be losing a lot of value? Didn't realize laptops had gotten so expensive these days. Not really interested in refurbished, seems too risky and not worth it with the price increase.

Thanks for all the input

Very simple explanations. The Ideapad is Lenovo consumer level line and systems. Built cheaper for big box and lighter occasional use - case is cheaper plastic, screens side by side are going to be probably noticeably different in quality, warranty sometimes can even be different. The Think pad line from Lenovo is their business class units. Most have better cases, (not just plastic- molded with better materials), nicer keyboards- including some models that will handle a bit of liquid spills better due to their design of that, screens are most always matte (less glare) but that Ideapad states it also has a Matte finish screen but an IPS which many sub $500 laptops will not have.

Tough & durable
Durability tested to withstand the harshest environments, the ThinkPad E15 Gen 2 AMD is tested against 12 military-grade requirements and more than 200 quality checks to ensure it won’t let you down. Not only can it perform everywhere from the freezing cold to a hot desert, it can also handle accidental knocks, drops, and even spills.

is the description on the case and design of the business class unit. Most of those will not be mentioned on the Ideapad.

Maybe a difference in the Windows 10 (Home version probably on the Ideapad), and the Thinkpad can be ordered with either Home or Pro (business version again), but that has the Pro edition which is more costly.

That Ideapad is an Intel CPU quad core and the $700 one I linked is an AMD Ryzen 6 core CPU also- so like purchasing a car with a different engine in a sense and have to compare each and read the reviews.

I'd have to spend some time to compare each item for item. And while that unit was in stock last night when I wrote that, I now see it is backordered at my distributor, so just have to jump on the stock when it is available sometimes and not wait around.

As for your under $500- that probably will be a heavier and consumer level only unit, or a refurb unit in a better class laptop. You state refurb is not for you, and that is fine, just like some have no problem getting a pair of used skis that maybe have one set of holes drilled in them but have plenty of life and runs left in them if they were well taken care of and checked out vs only buying a new set of skis for of course much more money out of the pocket.

**caulfield** · 09-15-2020, 10:39 AM

Do you for sure need windows? I'm a chromebook proponent, but realize there are a few blocking use cases remaining. Something to consider at least

**HD333** · 09-15-2020, 10:41 AM

Any budget friendly laptop options for High School aged kids?

Looking for the ability to join Zoom calls or whatever service the school is using for remote stuff. Access Google classroom and Gmail. Good battery life.
Not interested in any gaming ability.

The school gave them all Chromebooks but they seem like pieces of shit.

I’d like something they can possibly transition into college with.

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**fleaches** · 09-15-2020, 11:08 AM

Would add that you should probably get a laptop with the most possible Ram if you want it to last a while. Storage drives are easy to replace with more capacity on most laptops, but many now solder the Ram in place so it can't be upgraded. IME computers most often become obsolete when newer, more resource hungry programs start to outstrip the memory available. And second that you should look at reviews for processors, just because one has a higher clock speed or more cores does not necessarily mean it will perform better (especially comparing between Intel and AMD). If you aren't gaming or running resource hungry applications in parallel you may not notice much of a difference anyways.

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**stuckathuntermtn** · 09-15-2020, 12:15 PM

I have an old $500 laptop. It was a dog till a put a solid state drive in. Consider your storage needs. Prices of SSD's have come way down, but a big one in a new system can be expensive.
Honestly, the Surface looks pretty nice.

I never really bother giving out specific model numbers because it changes so fast. And focusing on even the brand can be kinda pointless. Although I'd probably look at Lenovo and Dell first.

Costco for $700 isn't a bad idea. Especially if it's one that has been knocked down to that. Costco membership purchases come with some pretty good perks as far as support and warranty/returns, but typically they don't have any "steals".

Oh, and don't get less than an Intel i3 and 8GB of RAM. I5 and 16GB and a nice SSD if possible.
And yeah, be aware that you probably won't get a cupholder I mean cd drive.
Oh, and you probably wanna spring for a full HD 1080p display. I don't have that and kinda wish I did. My laptop isn't my primary computer though.

**RShea** · 09-15-2020, 12:58 PM

Originally Posted by fleaches

Would add that you should probably get a laptop with the most possible Ram if you want it to last a while. Storage drives are easy to replace with more capacity on most laptops, but many now solder the Ram in place so it can't be upgraded. IME computers most often become obsolete when newer, more resource hungry programs start to outstrip the memory available. And second that you should look at reviews for processors, just because one has a higher clock speed or more cores does not necessarily mean it will perform better (especially comparing between Intel and AMD). If you aren't gaming or running resource hungry applications in parallel you may not notice much of a difference anyways.

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RE- soldered memory- again that is MORE so on the cheaper consumer level devices, they may only have 1 slot or memory on board as a cost savings. Business class units usually can't get away with that as some can do OK with 8 Gig off memory, others need higher than even 16 Gig of Ram for their needs....

**RShea** · 09-15-2020, 01:04 PM

Originally Posted by HD333

Any budget friendly laptop options for High School aged kids?

Looking for the ability to join Zoom calls or whatever service the school is using for remote stuff. Access Google classroom and Gmail. Good battery life.
Not interested in any gaming ability.

The school gave them all Chromebooks but they seem like pieces of shit.

I’d like something they can possibly transition into college with.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Sounds like the description on the Chromebooks to a Tee... So the question is what do you not like about the school issued units? Low end entry level Chromebooks, beat up recycled from others and reissued or just a low end cheap unit? Nice Chromebooks are even harder to find now than Windows laptops- if for no other reason as every school district around was spending the summer trying to order and get thousands of them in to issue to students (and teachers too) for remote class efforts come the August or September start of virtual online classroom teaching.

**MyNameIsAugustWest** · 09-15-2020, 05:00 PM

Originally Posted by brundo

Not really interested in refurbished, seems too risky and not worth it with the price increase.

Do you know what percentage of "new" laptops get the full QC? Less than 10% (more like 1%). Do you know what percentage of refurbished laptops get the full QC treatment? 100%. It's an absolute requirement to be sold as a factory authorized refurb. You're far more likely to get a DOA laptop bought new than a refurb. I buy all of my audio and video components as refurbs because I know for sure they won't be bricks when they arrive at my doorstep. Do not fear the refurbs, they are your best bet. At a $500 price point on TigerDirect, you're going to get high-end components and a better processor than anything you can buy in that price point at a big box store.

**liv2ski** · 09-20-2020, 02:00 PM

Likely about 15 years ago we started buying Fujitsu computers from their on line clearance store and have had great luck with them lasting forever. None in the store for the last year, so I finally broke down and bought a 2 year old $2k+ one for $500 on ebay. So far a great decision.

**bodywhomper** · 09-20-2020, 03:22 PM

Our old family laptop just shit the bed. Ugh.

Uses:
-wife’s work: online stuff like zoom calls, working in online databases, and using google suite; use of MS office software
-teen and tween recreational gaming. The teen is diving deeper into it while using discord to hangout in this fucked quarantine world. The teen is also interested in video/audio editing at home (experience using schools resources). He’s not gentle with stuff.
-general family recreation stuff mostly invoking video streaming and mild photo editing.

We’re willing to buy refurbished.

What are the biz lines of the various brands? I see thinkpad is for levono.

It sounds like minimum 16GB RAM. What about processors and other components. Light and sleek is not necessary. Larger monitor is probably better for us than smaller.

We haven’t come up with a budget yet, but we’re typically of the ilk of spending more up front for something that’ll last and be usable longer than the opposite route. The HD problem of our old laptop just happened and I just went through the process to reseat it in case that solved the problem.

Thx

**RShea** · 09-20-2020, 06:32 PM

Originally Posted by bodywhomper

Our old family laptop just shit the bed. Ugh.

Uses:
-wife’s work: online stuff like zoom calls, working in online databases, and using google suite; use of MS office software
-teen and tween recreational gaming. The teen is diving deeper into it while using discord to hangout in this fucked quarantine world. The teen is also interested in video/audio editing at home (experience using schools resources). He’s not gentle with stuff.
-general family recreation stuff mostly invoking video streaming and mild photo editing.

We’re willing to buy refurbished.

What are the biz lines of the various brands? I see thinkpad is for levono.

It sounds like minimum 16GB RAM. What about processors and other components. Light and sleek is not necessary. Larger monitor is probably better for us than smaller.

We haven’t come up with a budget yet, but we’re typically of the ilk of spending more up front for something that’ll last and be usable longer than the opposite route. The HD problem of our old laptop just happened and I just went through the process to reseat it in case that solved the problem.

Thx

Business line for Dell is the Latitude and XPS for the convertible 2 in one (tablet and laptop modes) mostly. They claim Vostro and Inspiron for "small" business, but they as far as I am concerned closer to consumer level and sold in big box stores.

HP has their Elite series, Z series for high end, and Pro series. They also offer an Essentials for the small business or more "affordable" series.

Acer is the Travelmate mostly.

Lenovo is mostly Thinkpad, Yoga, and a few Thinkbooks.

Processors will be either the Intel iCore 5 or better (7 also if you want performance in video and gaming) or the AMD Ryzen 5 or better at a minimum.

You mention you got your other unit working with reseating or something on the existing hard drive. I would recommend getting an SSD drive and putting that in the unit. You have enough family that sharing one unit of course is not going to cut it. Sharing may not even work at all and need to have one unit for each member...

**fleaches** · 09-20-2020, 06:53 PM

Originally Posted by bodywhomper

Our old family laptop just shit the bed. Ugh.

Uses:
-wife’s work: online stuff like zoom calls, working in online databases, and using google suite; use of MS office software
-teen and tween recreational gaming. The teen is diving deeper into it while using discord to hangout in this fucked quarantine world. The teen is also interested in video/audio editing at home (experience using schools resources). He’s not gentle with stuff.
-general family recreation stuff mostly invoking video streaming and mild photo editing.

We’re willing to buy refurbished.

What are the biz lines of the various brands? I see thinkpad is for levono.

It sounds like minimum 16GB RAM. What about processors and other components. Light and sleek is not necessary. Larger monitor is probably better for us than smaller.

We haven’t come up with a budget yet, but we’re typically of the ilk of spending more up front for something that’ll last and be usable longer than the opposite route. The HD problem of our old laptop just happened and I just went through the process to reseat it in case that solved the problem.

Thx

For the kids might have them build a desktop? Could probably get a much more powerful computer that can smoothly handle gaming/video editing for a lot less. I would guess the demand for desktop components is a lot lower than for laptops right now. For gaming you also probably want a decent dedicated graphics card, which is harder to find on laptops that aren't made for gaming (and super expensive). If you have never done this before, just use pcpartpicker to check compatibility, order everything from your favorite vendor, and everything pretty much snaps together.

All the other stuff I'm sure most laptops can handle fine, even the cheaper ones.

Also if it's just a HD problem on the old computer why not try to fix it? New hard drives are cheap, and it might not even be the disk itself. I have had the cable fail on perfectly good drives, like a $10 replacement.

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**bodywhomper** · 09-20-2020, 08:53 PM

Thanks all for the info, recommendations, and food for thought.

It’s an Inspiron 15-3567

**gregorys** · 09-21-2020, 03:12 PM

This is def the "DIY" suggestion.

Ebay (with Gixen to bid-snipe) and get a Lenovo T540P or T560/T570
The 540's are the last of that "style" but are quite inexpensive. [Like sub $200 even with a FHD 1920x1080 display.]

T560's are thinner, and lighter. Probably in the range of $300-350. May well include a SSD. (I like the keyboard/pointing devices better on the T560s+]

Getting a 2.5" SSD and installing it yourself is pretty easy. Lots of ebay walk-throughs. 500G are $50-60, and 1TB are ~$100 - for good quality SSD's. (Crucial/Micron, Samsung, a few others.)

T560s can be had with touch-screen, though they're not "convertible" - where the display folds down so it's like a tablet.

In any of these cases, get at least 8G of RAM/Memory. IMO, that's pretty much a starting place for Windows 10. More is often better, but 8G is certainly fine for most people.

(You obviously won't get warranty - but I've done this with Business class - usually T series Thinkpads for probably 40-50 machines over the last 5-10 years - and I had a single failure. It happened in perhaps 6 months - and I just replaced it, rather than spend any time worrying about it. For what one saves, it's easily paid for itself and the reduced performance is of no consequence for any non-super-power-users.)

**adrenalated** · 09-21-2020, 03:46 PM

Originally Posted by bodywhomper

Our old family laptop just shit the bed. Ugh.

Uses:
-wife’s work: online stuff like zoom calls, working in online databases, and using google suite; use of MS office software
-teen and tween recreational gaming. The teen is diving deeper into it while using discord to hangout in this fucked quarantine world. The teen is also interested in video/audio editing at home (experience using schools resources). He’s not gentle with stuff.
-general family recreation stuff mostly invoking video streaming and mild photo editing.

We’re willing to buy refurbished.

What are the biz lines of the various brands? I see thinkpad is for levono.

It sounds like minimum 16GB RAM. What about processors and other components. Light and sleek is not necessary. Larger monitor is probably better for us than smaller.

We haven’t come up with a budget yet, but we’re typically of the ilk of spending more up front for something that’ll last and be usable longer than the opposite route. The HD problem of our old laptop just happened and I just went through the process to reseat it in case that solved the problem.

Thx

What fleaches said. Build a desktop for the kids (ie buy all the stuff and build it with them). You need a LOT of laptop to run most online multiplayer games these days, especially if you're running discord or other stuff simultaneously, and gaming and photo/video editing on a laptop sucks anyways. Think midrange processor, 16GB RAM, a discrete graphics card, and a decently sized SSD.

Go to https://pcpartpicker.com/guide/ and you can pretty much build either the "Entry Level Gaming Build" or "Modest Gaming Build" (AMD or Intel, doesn't matter) and they'll have a great system. Building a PC is easy, couple of good youtube tutorials out there and everything pretty much only fits together one way.

Then buy any $500 laptop for the other family stuff.

Basically you could buy a $1000-1500 laptop that would be just OK at everything, or spend the same amount and get both a desktop and a laptop that are better optimized for their actual uses.

Another advantage of this route is the desktop is future proof. You don't ever need to buy a whole new computer if you don't want to. Just buy parts as needed or when you want to upgrade.

**RShea** · 09-22-2020, 08:53 AM

Originally Posted by fleaches

For the kids might have them build a desktop? Could probably get a much more powerful computer that can smoothly handle gaming/video editing for a lot less. I would guess the demand for desktop components is a lot lower than for laptops right now. For gaming you also probably want a decent dedicated graphics card, which is harder to find on laptops that aren't made for gaming (and super expensive). If you have never done this before, just use pcpartpicker to check compatibility, order everything from your favorite vendor, and everything pretty much snaps together.

All the other stuff I'm sure most laptops can handle fine, even the cheaper ones.

Also if it's just a HD problem on the old computer why not try to fix it? New hard drives are cheap, and it might not even be the disk itself. I have had the cable fail on perfectly good drives, like a $10 replacement.

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Yes, serious gaming laptops are expensive and you would be much better off getting a Chromebook for portable occasional use and a nice custom desktop build or prebuilt from the major OEM's like Lenovo or Dell with high end CPU, graphics, etc for the gaming and video editing work. Desktops are not as constrained parts and supply wise as the portables...

If you decide to do a new drive - go SSD, do not even look at another hard drive for a laptop unless someone gives you one maybe for nothing and it is free, but the reloading effort will be the same as if you did an SSD and the SSD is better in most every respect for portable laptops.....

**Eluder** · 09-24-2020, 01:34 PM

Just found this, seems like a pretty good deal.

Price was 799.99, now is back up to 999.99

Ordered one at the lower price, coming from a tired Mac... fingers crossed..

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Lenovo-Thin...YAAOSwzxtfTRRM

Lenovo ThinkPad T490S 20NYS3NV00

**stuckathuntermtn** · 10-05-2020, 03:42 PM

Thinking about the future, not right now.

I like the idea of the Surface, but the 15" class is $2,000. Anything with the detachable action in the 15" realm for under a thousand? I don't need an i7 for filling out workorders.
Edit: maybe what I'm asking for is too new and that's why there's only 1 or 2 models out there and they're all high end? Also not opposed to a large Chrome tablet with Bluetooth keyboard/flip cover. Already have a Windows desktop.
Also pretty lame when the keyboard for the 15" is the same as the smaller ones and doesn't have a number row. It's 2020, come on. Also, I have big...hands...