Laptop recommendations wanted

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dramatic

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#214720 25-May-2017 13:07

We're hunting for ex-lease laptop(s) to replace dead/dying technology. Price range under $400

Requirements:

Windows 7, DVD player, not too heavy, good battery life, 4GB+RAM, 250GB+ HDD

recommendations? brands to avoid?

timmmay

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#1788090 25-May-2017 13:11

You'll get bad luck stories with every brand. With those requirements you probably have to take whatever you can find.

Dell and Toshiba have been good for me. Asus not bad but failed and had a problem getting it fixed. Surface Pro out of your price range, and a bit quirky.

rb99

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#1788091 25-May-2017 13:13

No idea, but PBTech has a couple of HP's on their 24th birthday sale, unless you've looked already

“The modern conservative is engaged in one of man's oldest exercises in moral philosophy; that is, the search for a superior moral justification for selfishness.” -John Kenneth Galbraith

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CYaBro

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#1788110 25-May-2017 13:39

HP Probook would be my recommendation.

We got an ex-lease one from PB Tech a few years ago for about $350 I think.

We chucked an SSD into it and installed Windows 10 Pro and hasn't missed a beat.

It gets used all day every day.

Opinions are my own and not the views of my employer.

1101

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#1788173 25-May-2017 15:44

Good batt life , on a used laptop

Time to get realistic.
Factor in the price of a replacement batt .
Who knows, you may get a good batt, chances are its not . Its not new after all.

Also, laptops can get a hard life. You take the chance of having some issues ,and may have had some rough treatment, factor that into the equation.
Its up 4 sale because someone decided its past its useful, economic life .

My used lappy works great, batt life is not so good .

xpd

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#1788174 25-May-2017 15:48

The Dell 6300/6400 series are generally good laptops, we had oodles of them well out of warranty at my last employers, and they kept going even after the hardlife the staff gave them.

But do factor in (as mentioned above) battery and maybe swap out to an SSD. Weight wise, for under $400 you're still looking at a "full size" system.

XPD / Gavin

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dramatic

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#1791551 30-May-2017 10:00

We ended up getting a Lenovo (V11o IIRC) - which was listed in the ex-lease dept but was actually brand new on clearance ($393), being last year's model. Windows 10 :-/ A bit plasticy and fairly entry-level CPU and graphics-wise, but will do for business. Biggest drawback for my touch-typing wife is half-sized right-hand shift key - the payoff for having a real numeric keypad.