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jonathan18

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#316265 30-Sep-2024 16:13
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In the next few months I’ll need to get my son a Windows laptop for high school. Given his history of device abuse, I’m looking only s/h and for something relatively robust - preference is for an Elitebook or Probook.

Also wanting it to be fairly modern and come with a decent warranty (and ideally a docking station). Budget is up to/around $1k.

What firms would people recommend I keep an eye on? There’s obviously PB Tech, but I imagine there are other websites or even potentially TM sellers that sell decent and modern equipment at an ok price.

Thanks for any recommendations.

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jonathan18

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  #3288677 1-Oct-2024 15:20
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Any thoughts and recommendations? Cheers!



GeekGuy
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  #3288681 1-Oct-2024 15:36
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Msg Beefholio he sometimes has some excellent deals going every so often.


jonathan18

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  #3288685 1-Oct-2024 15:42
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GeekGuy:

Msg Beefholio he sometimes has some excellent deals going every so often.



Thanks; yep, I made contact with him a few weeks back and will definitely be seeing what he has in the next few months - the ones I’ve been offered/seen were a bit older than I was hoping for, primarily as I want to increase the chance it’ll get my son through a few years! (Also he wants to use it for some lower-duty gaming.)



marpada
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  #3288694 1-Oct-2024 16:25
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Not sure there's a market for that, as for that budget it makes more sense to buy new. I would just buy a ex-lease for less than $400 and put a new battery.


caffynz
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  #3288695 1-Oct-2024 16:27
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I've bought ex-lease from PB Tech.

 

While I haven't bought laptop from JustLaptops - I note they do ex-lease too. 


jonathan18

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  #3288699 1-Oct-2024 16:38
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marpada:

Not sure there's a market for that, as for that budget it makes more sense to buy new. I would just buy a ex-lease for less than $400 and put a new battery.



The problem is my son wants to be able to do some gaming on it, and while that’s really low-intensity at the moment (primarily Minecraft!) it’s likely to become more demanding as he gets older.

My older son’s coped ok with the same Rzyen 5 4500U equipped laptop for nearly four years, using it for a range of games such as Valorant, and I’m hoping to provide something similar for the younger son - how well do the mid-aged (say 3-4 years) Intel laptops cope with games such as those?

jarledb
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  #3288700 1-Oct-2024 16:46
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caffynz:

 

I've bought ex-lease from PB Tech.

 

 

Me too, and that has worked well I think. And you can add extended warranty if you like as well.





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DjShadow
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  #3288701 1-Oct-2024 16:51
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Have a look at RemarkIT


  #3288702 1-Oct-2024 17:03
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caffynz:

 

While I haven't bought laptop from JustLaptops - I note they do ex-lease too. 

 

 

I've bought both new and ex-lease from JustLaptops - highly recommend Rex and the team.


jayemm
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  #3288790 1-Oct-2024 20:25
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Have you looked at NZ PC Clearance?   https://nzpcclearance.co.nz/


MaxineN
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  #3288791 1-Oct-2024 20:28
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https://www.nzlaptops.co.nz

 

 

 

Have bought a Zbook Firefly from these guys ex lease.

 

And some other bits and bots and hardware for the other laptops in my house (2 tablets, 2 laptops!)

 

 

 

Can recommend too.





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gabba
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  #3288807 1-Oct-2024 21:36
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Had a good experience with NZ PC clearance. Have bought lots of laptops from PB Tech but the last couple weren't quite as tidy as I'd hoped so now giving them a miss.

richms
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  #3288810 1-Oct-2024 22:12
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jonathan18: 

 

The problem is my son wants to be able to do some gaming on it, and while that’s really low-intensity at the moment (primarily Minecraft!) it’s likely to become more demanding as he gets older. 

 

Don't buy for the future, because what is 1500 used today will be $600 in a couple of years time, and if this one gets broken this year its all wasted.





Richard rich.ms

jonathan18

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  #3289878 2-Oct-2024 09:03
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Thanks, all, for the recommendations - that provides a good range to find something on.

 

Noting the post immediately above, I still need to assume it’ll last more than a year and ideally a few… it’s one of the reasons I’m prepared to go s/h to begin with, in that the main loss of value will have already occurred.

 

In terms of providing some level of acceptable basic gaming (for games that perform ok without a separate GPU, eg Valarant), should I be caring about the type of processor?

 

For example, I’ve seen this Elitebook with a Ryzen 7 4750U, which clearly out-performs my other son’s 5 4500U - https://nzpcclearance.co.nz/product/hp-elitebook-845-g7-ryzen-7/ - so how would this compare, say, with an Intel-based Elitebook of a similar age (late 2020)?


jonathan18

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  #3290466 3-Oct-2024 13:56
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Is anyone on here able to provide me with a steer on my question in the post directly above re gaming on AMD vs Intel middle-age laptops? Totally get we're still talking very limited abilities, but still looking for the least limited if that makes sense!

 

Many thanks.


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