Friend bought used 2010 laptop for $275 since new laptops are now junk ?!

[RU482]

lol, 3rd gen i3 wasn't even released until Q2-Q3 '12. This isn't a laptop from 2010!

 

[dave_the_nerd]

lol, 3rd gen i3 wasn't even released until Q2-Q3 '12. This isn't a laptop from 2010!

1) eBay ad says second gen, not third.

2) The first i3 CPUs were 2nd generation Core i-whatever. 32nm Westmere/Arrandale CPUs were a die shrink of the original 45nm Nehalem design. There's a link in the eBay ad to the relevant Intel Ark page.

2a) Third generation Core i-series CPUs (The Sandy Bridge i3-2xxx series) were released in early 2011.

3) It is most certainly a laptop from 2010.

 

[alkemyst]

I am now tempted to buy a used business class laptop.
Best Lenovo to buy? I will sell my Gateway to subsidize the purchase.
Best bang for buck in used laptops ONLY for internet/web/email (not games, not dev)

Lenovo T61p is a great bang for buck internet/web/email machine with great build quality and cheap on ebay.

 

[Capt Caveman]

Lenovo T61p is a great bang for buck internet/web/email machine with great build quality and cheap on ebay.

I have both a T60p and T61p that I use at home. Spent around $85/each on eBay.

 

[alkemyst]

I have both a T60p and T61p that I use at home. Spent around $85/each on eBay.

That's a great deal. Also T6x parts are cheap and plentiful out there. Pretty much any screw, screw cover, clip, etc that you can need.

Our 11 year old is using the old 14" T60 I used for programming my cars and diagnostics. Cheap enough that if it fell/broke/got stole off the seat I am not out much.

The trick is learn the options as getting the better CPU/GPU outright is usually a lot cheaper than upgrading later. I ended up adding the T7200 (2GHz Core2Duo). Going T7400 would have been nearly double (2.16Ghz) and the T7600 was nearly triple for 2.2GHz (not worth it at all).

I got the max 4GB RAM and the X1400 radeon. I could have gotten the V5x00 which can be soft-modded to a X1700 radeon, but it tends to overheat in real use.

 

[GoodEnough]

Lenovo T61p is a great bang for buck internet/web/email machine with great build quality and cheap on ebay.

T61p is from 2007.
That's a 7 year old laptop!
7 year old CPU. Way too old.
Might not even be able to run Win7 (2009)
2GB ram not enough. I need 4GB+
160GB is ok, since I'd use an SSD anyway.
15" screen is a bit small.

T61p is probably a decent value at $150, but I'd rather spend a little more and get a laptop that is much newer.
I don't think the T61p is the sweet spot I'm looking for.

Any others in a newer/costlier bracket? Like in the $300-$500 range?
Quad core? 4GB to 6GB RAM? Made after Win7?

 

[alkemyst]

T61p is from 2007.
That's a 7 year old laptop!
7 year old CPU. Way too old.
Might not even be able to run Win7 (2009)
2GB ram not enough. I need 4GB+
160GB is ok, since I'd use an SSD anyway.
15" screen is a bit small.

T61p is probably a decent value at $150, but I'd rather spend a little more and get a laptop that is much newer.
I don't think the T61p is the sweet spot I'm looking for. The T60 I have is limited to 4GB, the later T61/T61p can go officially to 4GB and unofficially to 8GB http://www.thinkwiki.org/wiki/Unofficial_maximum_memory_specs

Any others in a newer/costlier bracket? Like in the $300-$500 range?
Quad core? 4GB to 6GB RAM? Made after Win7?

The T6x's are probably the last of the really durable Thinkpads.

There are plenty of laptops in the $300-500 range. You can do a search on ebay by price and figure it out. They will all be roughly the same IMHO.

Being you want a 17", you are going to be very limited in your choices.

A 17" laptop is way to big to me. Give me a 14-15" with a docking station or just an external keyboard/monitor/mouse and that is a better machine to me.

On a plane a bag with a 17" laptop in it is hard to store under seat and the laptop is huge on the fold down tray.

You were talking email, internet/web. 4GB is plenty for that really. Quad Core is not needed.

 

[skriefal]

The T61p maxes out at 8GB, not 4GB as stated above. It should handle Windows 7 easily. But it does require DDR2 RAM which will cost more than DDR3.

 

[GoodEnough]

Actually, my current laptop is 14"
I am fine with 14"

So, Win7 with 4GB, Dual Core, and 14" is fine for me.
Pretty much what I am running now, 2009 Gateway NV44

But, I still do not want a 2007 laptop.
But, would like the cool factor of Lenovo/TP and the superior keyboard.

Any other ideas?

 

[alkemyst]

Actually, my current laptop is 14"
I am fine with 14"

So, Win7 with 4GB, Dual Core, and 14" is fine for me.
Pretty much what I am running now, 2009 Gateway NV44

But, I still do not want a 2007 laptop.
But, would like the cool factor of Lenovo/TP and the superior keyboard.

Any other ideas?

The lenovo keyboard also has failed in modern times.

I am not sure what your hold up is.

Search Lenovo used on ebay and price yourself in your budget.

To me right now it's seeming you want this laptop to do more than just email/internet/web.

 

[GoodEnough]

I am not sure what your hold up is.
Search Lenovo used on ebay and price yourself in your budget.

Hold up is that I could find 3 laptops that are all priced $400.
But, one might be 2004, another 2007, another 2011.
At some point, prices just flatten and converge for used things,
even if there is large disparity among them. Best to pick from the litter.
Like a $5k Honda Civic from 1994 and another one priced the same from 2006.
I want the 2006 one. But, these don't have years, just ...model numbers are all generic to me.
Which is why I am hoping for a specific series to look for.

 

[dave_the_nerd]

Hold up is that I could find 3 laptops that are all priced $400.
But, one might be 2004, another 2007, another 2011.
At some point, prices just flatten and converge for used things,
even if there is large disparity among them. Best to pick from the litter.
Like a $5k Honda Civic from 1994 and another one priced the same from 2006.
I want the 2006 one. But, these don't have years, just ...model numbers are all generic to me.
Which is why I am hoping for a specific series to look for.

Fine.

Start here, then narrow it down by CPU type and so on. Computers aren't sold by model year.

Once you have an idea of what models have the features you want, then you go hunting for the best price on that particular model.

 

[dave_the_nerd]

This one looks nice.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...9SIA4RR2289148

 

[Denly]

For around $300 I will start with 2nd gen i5(yes it is possible)
HP 8460p 14"
HP 8560p 15"
Dell E6520/E6420/E5420/E5520
Lenovo X220
Dell M6500 17" - awesome display

Just to name a few

 

[Remobz]

For around $300 I will start with 2nd gen i5(yes it is possible)
HP 8460p 14"
HP 8560p 15"
Dell E6520/E6420/E5420/E5520
Lenovo X220
Dell M6500 17" - awesome display

Just to name a few

Sweet.

 

[GoodEnough]

For some reason, I want a Lenovo.
Are replacement parts just as easy to get as Dell, HP, Gateway?
And can you get cheap aftermarket Ebay parts and stuff? (fan, LCD, video card, keyboard, aftermarket battery, etc)
Or is it like a BMW with costly factory parts only?
I just paid $5 for an internal video cable for an HP laptop.

X220 seems to sell for $350.
That might be just what I want.
This is a great start.

http://www.ebay.com/sch/Laptops-Net...Complete=1&LH_Sold=1&_nkw=x220+lenovo&_sop=16

 

[GoodEnough]

Thinkpad T410 is from 2010.
Lenovo X220 is from 2011.

Are they in the same ballpark?

 

[alkemyst]

Thinkpad T410 is from 2010.
Lenovo X220 is from 2011.

Are they in the same ballpark?

The X and T models are different worlds. You have to figure out what you need/want. X's are small.

Edit: Compare T420 (take a look at the T520 too) and X220.

 

[GoodEnough]

Co-worker has a T410 from Woot
http://www.woot.com/offers/lenovo-thinkpad-14-1-core-i5-laptop-1

SSD 160GB
8GB RAM
i5 Dual core
Win7

Seems like a solid laptop, and the right upgrade for my Gateway NV44 (180GB SSD, 4GB, Win7, Pentium T4500 2.30 GHz)
Better keyboard. Better build quality. DDR3 RAM, and more of it.

CPU's seem the same.
http://cpuboss.com/cpus/Intel-Pentium-T4500-vs-Intel-Core-i5-520M

 

[dave_the_nerd]

Co-worker has a T410 from Woot
http://www.woot.com/offers/lenovo-thinkpad-14-1-core-i5-laptop-1

SSD 160GB
8GB RAM
i5 Dual core
Win7

Seems like a solid laptop, and the right upgrade for my Gateway NV44 (180GB SSD, 4GB, Win7, Pentium T4500 2.30 GHz)
Better keyboard. Better build quality. DDR3 RAM, and more of it.

CPU's seem the same.
http://cpuboss.com/cpus/Intel-Pentium-T4500-vs-Intel-Core-i5-520M

Cpuboss is an automated ad-revenue generator, not an actual benchmark site. Its scores are scraped from other databases and the comparisons are made automatically. It's painfully obvious when you compare horribly mismatched CPUs:

http://cpuboss.com/cpus/Intel-Pentium-D-820-vs-Intel-Celeron-1037U

Reasons to consider the Intel Pentium D 820

Significantly higher clock speed 2.8 GHz vs 1.8 GHz More than 55% higher clock speed

I mean, come on. Really?

Closest similar CPUs in Anandtech Bench:

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/product/58?vs=407

The T4500 is similar to the E8200 - just a chunk slower (slightly lower clock, much less cache. AT doesn't bench a lot of mobile CPUs. You could argue that an E7xxx series would be a better comparison), and the i5-520M should be a bit faster than the G620T. (The G620T is a newer architecture, but the 520M is higher clocked and has hyperthreading.) The i5 won't burn your face off with how awesome it is, but it should be a noticeable upgrade, if you're currently CPU limited.

 

[GoodEnough]

Dave, I don't understand anything you posted. CPUBoss clearly shows that Celeron is the slower CPU. Site seems like it works fine.
No idea where you got the E8200 from. I am comparing the T410 with a NV44

 

[VirtualLarry]

Dave, I don't understand anything you posted. CPUBoss clearly shows that Celeron is the slower CPU. Site seems like it works fine.

Except, the Celeron 1037U is faster than a Pentium D.

 

[dave_the_nerd]

Dave, I don't understand anything you posted. CPUBoss clearly shows that Celeron is the slower CPU. Site seems like it works fine.
No idea where you got the E8200 from. I am comparing the T410 with a NV44

Really?

Okay.

You need to consult with somebody IRL. Like Geek Squad.

 

[GoodEnough]

Friend is very pleased with his purchase:

Man, this a pleasure. It makes it easier to type, overall, this luxury "studio" model has much nicer KB action and the back-lighting is subtle. The earlier, "Honda of computers" dell laptops had silver keys that were easier to see in low light as well as being built super tough, durable and as long as you didn't use a junkyard magnet on them, lasted forever. This last dell i got disgusted with was a bottom line model with a big screen, a gift from the in laws.

This is the nicest computer i've ever had, hands down. I have a feeling you're like me and find it difficult to "treat" yourself. The only reason I did this was because of the reinstall that was necessary, bringing to light the other glaring dissatisfaction I had with it; cheap feeling overall, literally creaky, lousy keyboard (aside from being invisible at night) and no dedicated buttons for anything. The base dell models in the past still had that rock solid build quality; i still have a working inspiron circa 2003 with a 17" screen; it's just heavy as a brick

 

[alkemyst]

You posted on the 9th you were going to get a T410, how did you get it and set up already?