Looking to pickup a cheap computer to run HPTuners, Microsoft Office, and generally just do stuff that is either super inconvenient or impossible to do on a tablet. I haven't actively shopped laptops or computers since I bought my Thinkpad for college like 9 years ago, just been getting by using a tablet exclusively the past several years since that laptop E36 M3 the bed, so I feel like I'm pretty out of touch with the current offerings. Tablet will still get used for general web surfing and such and I don't think my requirements will be very demanding, so just a basic, cheap machine is all I should need.
First question is laptop or Chromebook, and why? Seems like the buy in on a Chromebook starts about $100 cheaper (say $150-200 vs $250-300), but with the trade off of less hard drive capacity. Is this an accurate assessment, or are there other differences as well that I'm overlooking?
What's a good 'minimum spec' these days for things like processors, RAM, hard drive capacity, ect? Like I said, not asking much of the machine, just don't want to end up with something that is going to be frustratingly out of date in a year or two either.
Which brands should I look at or try to avoid? Durability is a big concern of mine, as I tend to be a bit of a klutz and that doesn't play well with electronics. My Thinkpad was great in this regard, survived a lot of abuse inflicted from riding around in a backpack full of text books all day every day wherever I went. I need something that won't explode into a million pieces the first time it gets dropped. I'd also be interested to know which retailer offer the best warranty/protection plans dollar for dollar.
I'm not opposed to going used or refurb either, provided the seller will stand behind their product if they give me a POS. Where is a good place to look for used or refurbished computers?
Furious_E wrote: First question is laptop or Chromebook, and why?
Unless HPtuners is an android/chrome app, you're looking at needing something with Windows on it, so that would rule out a chromebook.
Furious_E wrote: What's a good 'minimum spec' these days for things like processors, RAM, hard drive capacity, ect?
Something with a core i3, 8GB ram, and a 256GB SSD is a good starting point.
Furious_E wrote: Where is a good place to look for used or refurbished computers?
Amazon? Something like this Latitude is going to have way better specs than anything at the equivalent price new.
Dell Latitude E7440 Refurbished $379
That particular model has been a workhorse for my company. We have a few hundred, and I very rarely have to fix them - which is saying a lot considering some of my users.
In reply to red_stapler:
Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think you can get Chromebooks with Windows 10 now.
And thank you, that's great info!
You can get laptops with a similar/identical spec to a Chromebook that run Windows 10, but the name "Chromebook" is a trademark that refers specifically to portable computers that run Google's Chrome OS. So no, you cannot get a Chromebook with Windows 10, but you can get the same hardware as a Chromebook running Windows 10 as a slightly different SKU.
In general, I would agree with red_stapler's assessment - I bought a used 2-in-1 convertible laptop/tablet hybrid thingy on Craigslist for $100. For the price it's fine, but performance is not what you would call snappy, and that's even after I upgraded it to 4GB RAM.
Chromebook doesn't look like they'd be the right choice for your requirements - they're basically surf slabs first and foremost.
I'm particular to Thinkpads and IMHO the best deals tend to be off-lease ones if you don't need the latest and greatest ones. I usually get them on eBay, but I'm also pretty OK fixing computers.
Acer (I don't love them but at this price nothing is great) with an i3 at walmart for $350
wae
Dork
7/7/17 4:02 p.m.
I like the Dell refurbished store. We've bought a few off-lease laptops and desktops and it has worked out well. And cheap.
In reply to szeis4cookie:
Ahh OK, misuse of the nomenclature on my part.
In reply to wae:
Perfect, I'll check that out.
Well, just brought one of These home, it was actually $299 in store. Core i3 processor, 8gb of RAM, and 1tb of storage seems like a pretty good deal for the price. Wasn't seeing any refurb deals for significantly less money, plus it's brand new and I could bring it home today. Thanks for the input everyone!
