Max has recently started using the "family" clunker laptop ($~250 or so buy 4 or 5+ years ago, upgraded with SSD and RAM) to do a bunch of FreeCAD modeling and other stuff, and Christine has been using a Lenovo that I bought about last year heavily, so I think it's time for another either clunker or better machine to have on-hand and that I can primarily use. I wonder if I should get another Lenovo (at the time, screen size, touch screen, number pad, and backlit keyboard were the parameters for buying) - I think it was $550-600ish.
Any suggestions on specific make/model/types to look at? I could try to get a sister-machine Lenovo to later use as a parts machine if one starts to fail...
Yet-another-family laptop
Re: Yet-another-family laptop
Acer Aspire E5-576, and Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 5 16ABR8 are the currently deployed assets.
Re: Yet-another-family laptop
Looks like another IdeaPad Slim5 would start at about $550:
https://www.lenovo.com/us/en/p/laptops/ ... en101i0093
and a refurbished one - $360:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/155770983015?e ... UID37dylZA
and another refurbished - $450:
https://www.amazon.com/Lenovo-IdeaPad-T ... r=8-6&th=1
https://www.lenovo.com/us/en/p/laptops/ ... en101i0093
and a refurbished one - $360:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/155770983015?e ... UID37dylZA
and another refurbished - $450:
https://www.amazon.com/Lenovo-IdeaPad-T ... r=8-6&th=1
Last edited by rpaoness on Wed Aug 07, 2024 12:10 pm, edited 3 times in total.
Re: Yet-another-family laptop
Could spend $76 on this and then buy RAM and an SSD:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/335480079067?i ... R_q2z9ulZA
https://www.ebay.com/itm/335480079067?i ... R_q2z9ulZA
Re: Yet-another-family laptop
Run-of-the-mill Inspiron 15, $520 w/o touchscreen...
https://www.dell.com/en-us/shop/cty/pdp ... lsrc=aw.ds
https://www.dell.com/en-us/shop/cty/pdp ... lsrc=aw.ds
Re: Yet-another-family laptop
If I had to pick right now, I'm thinking either the $76 Acer carcass or the $360 used Lenovo would be the leading candidates.
Re: Yet-another-family laptop
I forgot - major disadvantage of something as old as the Acer is that it doesn't support the USB-C dock capability - so I think I'll rule it out for that reason.
Re: Yet-another-family laptop
Wow - this is a whole lot of bootleg software:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/326223740340?e ... R46V1eelZA
https://www.ebay.com/itm/326223740340?e ... R46V1eelZA
Re: Yet-another-family laptop
I don't know what I recommend but I did document my last two laptop purchase journeys.
Actually I don't have much for laptop purchase history. I milked that Sony Vaio until I waded into the Windows tablet world with the Asus Vivotab RT and then the MS Surface 2.
Perhaps the first true laptop I ever bought was the one I still have.
Roughly I think I used the Sony Vaio from maybe 2008 through Oct 2020 as a laptop.
Around Feb 2013 I bought the Asus tablet with keyboard thing. That was what I used for light computing tasks like browsing and some video. That lasted perhaps a shorter than average time until I bought the MS Surface 2 with touch keyboard less than 2 years later. I used that with the Vaio as my computing solution until Oct 2020 when I bought the MS Surface Laptop: viewtopic.php?p=22428#p22428
For just under $600 with tax and shipping it was a used MS Surface laptop from eBay with pretty decent specs. High end display with good resolution (13.5" 3:2 ratio @ 2256x1504), high gamut colors, with touch. A large track pad that supports precise scrolling and zoom before all the OEMs got their act together. Decent backlit keyboard. Pretty strong audio for a 2.75 lb laptop that is a 0.57" thick at the thickest point. Supports Windows Hello via camera which I use daily to log in. Very thin and light and metal case, with Alcantara surrounding the keyboard and track pad. 512GB SSD. 16GB. Intel Core i7 with Iris graphics (slightly better). It was a $2200 system in 2017 or something. I am still using this as my main laptop (I still have my Dell desktop from 2009 that has seen a few upgrades but original motherboard so it's a very old system).
Then in Jan 2021 we decided Jamie should have her own laptop. viewtopic.php?t=3598
This one actually runs a fancier quad core AMD chipset that is compatible with Windows 11, the only device in my house with the honor. This one was $400 shipped from eBay and she is still using it, as well. 256GB SSD and I upgraded the ram to 16 GB.
Personally I hate the 15-17" cheap laptop format as the entire system is usually cheap crap - bad specs, bad screens, flimsy plastic garbage. I prefer the ~13-14" class with higher res and lighter weight. YMMV but the Surface Laptop has zero user serviceable components and it's been totally fine - keyboard, trackpad, screen hinge, battery, all of it 100%. That said, when the time comes, I'll probably try to find something thin and light that you can still open up. We'll see but this probably has more years in it.
Actually I don't have much for laptop purchase history. I milked that Sony Vaio until I waded into the Windows tablet world with the Asus Vivotab RT and then the MS Surface 2.
Perhaps the first true laptop I ever bought was the one I still have.
Roughly I think I used the Sony Vaio from maybe 2008 through Oct 2020 as a laptop.
Around Feb 2013 I bought the Asus tablet with keyboard thing. That was what I used for light computing tasks like browsing and some video. That lasted perhaps a shorter than average time until I bought the MS Surface 2 with touch keyboard less than 2 years later. I used that with the Vaio as my computing solution until Oct 2020 when I bought the MS Surface Laptop: viewtopic.php?p=22428#p22428
For just under $600 with tax and shipping it was a used MS Surface laptop from eBay with pretty decent specs. High end display with good resolution (13.5" 3:2 ratio @ 2256x1504), high gamut colors, with touch. A large track pad that supports precise scrolling and zoom before all the OEMs got their act together. Decent backlit keyboard. Pretty strong audio for a 2.75 lb laptop that is a 0.57" thick at the thickest point. Supports Windows Hello via camera which I use daily to log in. Very thin and light and metal case, with Alcantara surrounding the keyboard and track pad. 512GB SSD. 16GB. Intel Core i7 with Iris graphics (slightly better). It was a $2200 system in 2017 or something. I am still using this as my main laptop (I still have my Dell desktop from 2009 that has seen a few upgrades but original motherboard so it's a very old system).
Then in Jan 2021 we decided Jamie should have her own laptop. viewtopic.php?t=3598
This one actually runs a fancier quad core AMD chipset that is compatible with Windows 11, the only device in my house with the honor. This one was $400 shipped from eBay and she is still using it, as well. 256GB SSD and I upgraded the ram to 16 GB.
Personally I hate the 15-17" cheap laptop format as the entire system is usually cheap crap - bad specs, bad screens, flimsy plastic garbage. I prefer the ~13-14" class with higher res and lighter weight. YMMV but the Surface Laptop has zero user serviceable components and it's been totally fine - keyboard, trackpad, screen hinge, battery, all of it 100%. That said, when the time comes, I'll probably try to find something thin and light that you can still open up. We'll see but this probably has more years in it.