The Dude Posted March 25, 2016 Share Posted March 25, 2016 I am looking at a new lap top. As my current one is over 7 years old. It just doesn't have the processing power I would like. I am thinking of upgrading. I have looked around at big box stores, Best Buy, NFM. They both offer a good deal on laptops with 15.5" screens. One has an ADM processor (a5 I believe) for $250.00. The one at NFM has a Intel I3 for $400. Is the I3 worth the extra $150.00. I will be using it for basic home work and net surfing, along with music play back. My goal is to get my media server up and running, so I do not need a lot of hard drive space. All recommendations are appreciated. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The History Kid Posted March 25, 2016 Share Posted March 25, 2016 I will always prefer an intel processor over AMD's. They used AMD processors for computers at Maryville, and I always found myself having to bring my own computer because it just wouldn't process crap. Not to mention there was never a shortage of computers being "serviced" because they just weren't being kept up to speed. Buy an i3. Intel has plenty of experience making a quality product that doesn't stink, and the i3's are absolutely awesome. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mattSER Posted March 25, 2016 Share Posted March 25, 2016 I would also spend extra for Intel Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shodrewken Posted March 25, 2016 Share Posted March 25, 2016 I would go with Intel as well. Back in the Athlon/FX64 days I'd would of said AMD, but ever since then they have just been playing catchup. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dude Posted March 25, 2016 Author Share Posted March 25, 2016 What are your guy's thoughts on refurbished from newegg? Sent from my SM-N920P using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jason str Posted March 25, 2016 Share Posted March 25, 2016 Use this to get a better idea of processor speeds, value and other great information as well. PassMark 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toolz Posted March 25, 2016 Share Posted March 25, 2016 Good info. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tromprof Posted March 25, 2016 Share Posted March 25, 2016 I bought a couple of refurbished Lenovos for both my son and myself from Newegg. They came with i5 processors and I swapped out the HD for solid state drives. Total spent on each was under $250 and the machines are super fast. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dude Posted March 25, 2016 Author Share Posted March 25, 2016 I bought a couple of refurbished Lenovos for both my son and myself from Newegg. They came with i5 processors and I swapped out the HD for solid state drives. Total spent on each was under $250 and the machines are super fast.Thats what i like to hear. What brands are they? (i dont knowbif that really makes a difference)But it does bring up one of the two other questions i had. What should i look at for upgrade possibilities ? Is it possible to get 4 hours out of a charge? Sent from my SM-N920P using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tromprof Posted March 25, 2016 Share Posted March 25, 2016 I bought a couple of refurbished Lenovos for both my son and myself from Newegg. They came with i5 processors and I swapped out the HD for solid state drives. Total spent on each was under $250 and the machines are super fast.Thats what i like to hear. What brands are they? (i dont knowbif that really makes a difference)But it does bring up one of the two other questions i had. What should i look at for upgrade possibilities ? Is it possible to get 4 hours out of a charge? Sent from my SM-N920P using Tapatalk Lenovo has a very good reputation, and there are lots of refurbished business machines out there. Two hours plus is no problem, but it would require a different battery for 4 hours. I think I also bumped up the RAM as well. Microcenter is another good place to look. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Schu Posted March 25, 2016 Share Posted March 25, 2016 I personally hate lenovo... especially the budget units. Those units are made so terribly that it makes one want to scream and rip off their head while running naked thru the streets with their balls in a fruit pickers basket. But if saving money is your goal, I guess you could do worse. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigStewMan Posted March 25, 2016 Share Posted March 25, 2016 i know very little about computers; but, my MacBook Pro is going on three years of daily, heavy usage with zero problems. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wvu80 Posted March 25, 2016 Share Posted March 25, 2016 I bought a couple of refurbished Lenovos for both my son and myself from Newegg. They came with i5 processors and I swapped out the HD for solid state drives. Total spent on each was under $250 and the machines are super fast. The i5-xxxm (M stands for Mobile processor) typically list a standard speed like 2.6 Mhz which is good for long battery life and have a Turbo mode like 3.4 Mhz which is faster. The solid state drives have dropped in price and will make your i5 computer run like it's an i7 as the bottleneck is usually the low power but low speed HDD's which spin at 5400 rpm. As a bonus the SSD uses less power and goes MUCH faster. I don't know anything about Lenovo or buying a refurb unit. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigStewMan Posted March 25, 2016 Share Posted March 25, 2016 (edited) I bought a couple of refurbished Lenovos for both my son and myself from Newegg. They came with i5 processors and I swapped out the HD for solid state drives. Total spent on each was under $250 and the machines are super fast. The i5-xxxm (M stands for Mobile processor) typically list a standard speed like 2.6 Mhz which is good for long battery life and have a Turbo mode like 3.4 Mhz which is faster. The solid state drives have dropped in price and will make your i5 computer run like it's an i7 as the bottleneck is usually the low power but low speed HDD's which spin at 5400 rpm. As a bonus the SSD uses less power and goes MUCH faster. I don't know anything about Lenovo or buying a refurb unit. I think Dave & I may have to recuse ourselves...it was probably our computers that told us that WVU was going to go far in this year’s march madness. Steve Edited March 25, 2016 by BigStewMan 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WMcD Posted March 25, 2016 Share Posted March 25, 2016 (edited) I am a big fan of refurbished, being a cheap skate. I expect that some buyer gets buyer's remorse and turns the laptop back in to the retailer. Then it goes to some service where they reload software and gives the unit a look over. Then it goes to Microcenter (my fav) and gets sold at a hefty discount. I bought one HP laptop unit from BB John Hancock Center) in an emergency -- 17 inch screen. My old one was just too old and had mechanical problems. It was the cheapest on floor. A couple years later something got under one of the keys and in try to fix it, made things worse. A new keyboard on the 'net was super cheap. But taking it apart I discovered a "refurbished" sticker. Maybe I missed a notification at BB and on the box. But it is wonderful. I bought a sister for home. Sometime later I needed a laptop to travel because the 17 incher didn't fit in any of my travel bags. So I purchased a slightly smaller refurbished HP at Microcenter for $220 and tax. It had Win 8 which allowed the free upgrade to Win 10. It just takes some getting use to. BTW Microcenter is a bus ride away from me and the folks are informed.. - - - - - I really don't look for higher end processors. All I do is spreadsheets and word processing. Maybe speed does make a difference in your application. OTOH. It seems to me that in laptops, the faster processors get included in machines with more hardware features which may be important to you. For example. My $220 HP has a screen with no anti-reflection. The keyboard does not have a num-lock LED (it is a nuisance). The screen might not be the best as far as color, contrast, saturation, etc. If you go up in price you will get a faster processor (I think not too important), a somewhat better key board (important), and maybe a better screen (important). If you type in the dark a lighted keyboard is worthwhile -- I'll get a laptop with this when I'm a rock star. Overall. Refurbished is a great saving at any price point. Better processors are probably over rated except for gamers and video / photo manipulation. However, you are likely getting other features along with the better processor. You have to look into that aspect. WMcD Edited March 25, 2016 by WMcD Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MyOwn Posted March 25, 2016 Share Posted March 25, 2016 (edited) I can recommend this.... ASUS...I purchased an ASUS 13.3-inch Touchscreen Convertible Notebook last year with Windows 7 64bit OS 8 GB of ram and a 500GB HD. It had the latest 5th Gen Intel Broadwell Core i5-5200U processor.... I will say this, I wish I had gotten the 15 inch version, also, It came with all the crap ware, So I downloaded a Windows 10 ISO and did a complete OS install, Reformatted the HD and only installed the OS and drivers. This made a big difference in the speed at which it turns on and such. I bought my daughter the same one for college. Did the same exact thing to hers, installing a fresh OS. Then loaded an Office Suite for her. She loves it as it can be both a laptop and a tablet.... Always Always get the most bang for your buck....Shop everywhere and compare with Amazon for whatever your looking for. Bust Buy and NFM may not have the newest available as they are trying to get rid of stocked items... I have done refurbished before, not Lenovo and they can be great just watch the warranty,... I read an article a couple of weeks back about catastrophic SSD failure rates verses SATA drives...I cannot remember where I found it but SSD isn't good when it comes to catastrophic failure rates. Edited March 25, 2016 by Steve_S Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dude Posted March 26, 2016 Author Share Posted March 26, 2016 What do you guys think about these. http://www.microcenter.com/store/add_product.aspx http://www.microcenter.com/product/451304/Latitude_E6410_Windows_7_Professional_141_Laptop_Computer_Refurbished_-_Gray http://www.microcenter.com/store/add_product.aspx http://www.microcenter.com/product/444311/EliteBook_8460P_Windows_7_Professional_14_Laptop_Computer_Refurbished_-_Silver I chose these for price, but there may be better ones. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The History Kid Posted March 26, 2016 Share Posted March 26, 2016 Past experience tells me to stay away from all Dell products and all cheap HP products. I tend to lean towards Toshiba, Asus and Lenovoa personally. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dude Posted March 26, 2016 Author Share Posted March 26, 2016 Past experience tells me to stay away from all Dell products and all cheap HP products. I tend to lean towards Toshiba, Asus and Lenovoa personally. I have had decent luck with Dell, my work laptop is a Dell and is going on two years strong. I have heard Toshibas are junk. I guess it depends if your a Chevy guy or Ford guy. I was just looking at this Dell. I like how it has a 1 year warranty. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA4RR2573892 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The History Kid Posted March 26, 2016 Share Posted March 26, 2016 (edited) Cheap Toshibas are junk. The only Toshibas I've owned were lines in the $1,200 range. I wouldn't pay low on them. Basically, you will get what you pay for. Dell's...the only good Dell I've ever had was one that I had to gut several times updating parts because the ones Dell used were garbage. I don't know what they're like now, but I will never buy any of their products again. Terrible support, and at least previously half-arsed products. (I do know the support has not improved.) Edited March 26, 2016 by IbizaFlame 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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