Decent laptop for school--sub $1500

[Stealth22]

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When I posted the OP, I was under the impression that the i5 was dual core and i7 quad core. I have since learned that both can be quad core and it is the hyper threading that is the main difference in the i7. Would a newer i5 be better than an older i7?

You can find dual core i7 chips too. Depending on how old it is, a newer i5 can be better than an older i7, but it also depends on what it's going to be used for. The newer Core i5 chips are so efficient, they rival the i7's in many cases, and compared to i7's of the same generation, the i5 CPU's offer much more bang for your buck. You don't pay nearly as much, and you only lose a little bit of power.

For instance, my surveillance cameras record to Blue Iris, a Windows-based recording software. The software is quite CPU-intensive, especially if you have a lot of HD cameras. My older desktop, an i7-2600K, was sitting around 40~45% CPU usage. I replaced it with the Lenovo I mentioned in my last post, which has an i5-4570, if I'm not mistaken. Newer architecture, and better Intel graphics acceleration...CPU usage on that guy is like, 25%, with the same software and cameras.

If you want to compare CPU's, cpubenchmark.net is a great resource. In the case of the T470p quote I posted, the Core i5 chip wasn't as powerful, but it wasn't THAT far off. For most everyday tasks, you won't notice the difference. For CAD/SketchUp, maybe, but the graphics and RAM probably matter more than the CPU for that.

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As for adding memory and an SSD, I would need help with those (I've added RAM and hard drives to desktops, never a laptop), and that is something I could do as needed in the future, keeping initial costs down.

Both are easy, especially in a ThinkPad. The 'Hardware Maintenance Manual', as Lenovo calls it, details every single step for you, with diagrams/pictures.

As I write this, I was looking at the maintenance manual and the user guide for the T470p.

As Seth1968 just said, it definitely is a little tougher than it used to be, but it's not that bad.

The hardest part is removing the cover, but thankfully, it doesn't look like there are any ribbon cables, lol...I had that problem with my Asus!!

Once you get all the screws and pull the cover off, you just slide the drive cage out of the connector, pull it up, remove the bracket from the drive, attach it to the new one, and put it back together. From the diagrams, it looks like there are no screws on the drive, it's just a flexible bracket, which I've seen in other Lenovos. They are super easy to remove and install.

The memory is pretty easy...you have to open the cover (maybe do the RAM and SSD at the same time!!), slide the metal tabs aside, and pull the chip out.

If you want 8GB of RAM off the hop and don't want to do it yourself, you can pay Lenovo to do it...they charge $95, and I'm pretty sure getting a second 4GB DIMM from Mem Ex would be like, $50, so it's not a huge difference. You'll see more savings in doing the SSD yourself, or if you want more than 8GB of RAM. 4GB is "enough", but I'd recommend getting at least 8GB, especially if you're doing CAD, and want to keep the laptop for a long time.

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Of course, whichever laptop I choose, I think more than anything, reliability is the most important consideration.

I have heard good things about the XPS 13/15 and Latitude series from Dell (Inspirons are crap though). But, while admitting full bias, when I think of the words 'laptop' and 'reliability', I think 'Thinkpad'.

I wonder if I could ask Lenovo for a commission...

[Stealth22]

@duaner I found a T430s on eBay that may interest you.

http://www.ebay.ca/itm/Lenovo-ThinkP...-/222595263460

I have the same model, and it's very light and easy to carry...replacing the hard drive on this model will be way easier than the newer T470. Seller is based out of Toronto, and has several of them, so read the descriptions to find the one that's in the best condition. Most of them seem to have the NVIDIA NVS 5200M card, so that will help for your CAD needs.

You can remove the DVD drive, and put the 320GB in the Ultrabay as a secondary drive...if you decide to go this route, I can send you the link to the HDD caddy I bought (it's the favourite pick of r/thinkpad, and it was only about $25)

It comes with Windows 7, but he has slightly higher priced ones with Windows 10...you should be able to upgrade the W7 to 10 anyway though.

The only drawback is 1600x900 screen instead of 1080p, and the CPU is a dual core, not a quad, so it's not nearly as powerful as the newer T470.

https://www.cpubenchmark.net/compare.php?cmp[]=817&cmp[]=2962

That price though...

[Crazyjoker77]

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I know I just said that weight wasn't an issue in the past with lugging around a 17" workstation, but forgot that now I will have books too.

When I posted the OP, I was under the impression that the i5 was dual core and i7 quad core. I have since learned that both can be quad core and it is the hyper threading that is the main difference in the i7. Would a newer i5 be better than an older i7?

Thanks for the suggestions.

Depends How old your talking. There hasn't been a lot of improvement in the last 4 generations which is probably where your gonna be shopping so the I7 will always perform better.

Kabylake(7xxx)>Skylake(6xxx)>Haswell(4xxx)>Ivybridge(3xxx)>Sandybridge(2xxx)


Drawing programs will use as much resources as they need and are completely dependent on the model. The better system you have the more complex models you will be able to work with. Autocad will tend to favor more CPU power and sketchup most definitely requires a dedicated GPU if you want to model anything more than a rubiks cube. I work with both frequently and even find at times my overclocked 6700k and gtx1080 aren't enough but for most users you can get by with a lesser setup.


Having 2 of asus's high end laptops(g73 and g750) I would recommend staying away from them. I've had to replace the battery on both of them the screen on the g73 and both had their optical drives not work right out of the box. Dealing with warranty was a nightmare. Also no thought was put into servicing them and they require a complete teardown to do simple tasks like replace the thermal paste or clean the fans. took me almost 4hours to upgrade the ram. Unacceptable for a 3k+ laptop and I imagine the 15" versions would only be more challenging.

My MSI laptop(gt series) has been pretty bulletproof and just this weekend I replaced the thermal paste in all my laptops. Took 20mins to do the MSI(which was my first time opening this laptop) The asus's took over 2 hours each and that was having previous experience opening them from the ram upgrades.

[Mitsu3000gt]

This for $991 (see prime deal in "other offers") is an excellent deal right now:

https://www.amazon.ca/HP-Spectre-Not...rds=hp+spectre

[Mitsu3000gt]

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Having 2 of asus's high end laptops(g73 and g750) I would recommend staying away from them. I've had to replace the battery on both of them the screen on the g73 and both had their optical drives not work right out of the box. Dealing with warranty was a nightmare. Also no thought was put into servicing them and they require a complete teardown to do simple tasks like replace the thermal paste or clean the fans. took me almost 4hours to upgrade the ram. Unacceptable for a 3k+ laptop and I imagine the 15" versions would only be more challenging.

Myself, my brother, and 2 of my friends all bought the same Asus Zenbook back in 2012 but with different spec configurations. They are all still in use today with zero issues. Battery is still around 85% of brand new. Quality and reliability have been phenomenal, however I have not owned any of the gaming laptops. Another friend of mine bought an Asus Gaming laptop to use for all of University plus gaming, and she had no issues (still uses it today many many years later). The Zenbooks are pretty bulletproof, which is probably more what the OP is looking at.

[duaner]

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It's normally a PITA to replace the hard on newer laptops. Back in the day, it was simple, but most of the time now it's a ton of screws, then carefully prying off the top cover. The scary part is the ribbon cables attached to the motherboard and top cover. They're very short, and very fragile. Trying to get them back in on assembly will turn you into an Atheist Duaner

Ha ha! Oh, I've been there plenty of times, almost always due to software issues.

[duaner]

So, just this morning I Googled "refurbished lenovo canada" (feeling the pressure for Lenovo lol), and came across this site:

https://ca.refurb.io

Anyone ever purchased from there? They have some systems of interest:

https://ca.refurb.io/collections/jus...-ram-128gb-ssd

https://ca.refurb.io/collections/lap...-window-10-pro (even configureable to 16GB RAM and 256 SSD, for a few more bucks; interesting review: https://www.notebookcheck.net/Review....108229.0.html)

[Stealth22]

Never bought from them, I always found them to be overpriced.

The T540 only has a 1366x768 display, and no discrete graphics.

Other one isn't so bad, but I've never liked HP, mostly because any HP product I've owned as been a piece of crap. And it says mobile workstation, which probably means it's comparable to the Lenovo W and P series. Not bad, but they aren't exactly lightweight.

[FixedGear]

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So, just this morning I Googled "refurbished lenovo canada" (feeling the pressure for Lenovo lol), and came across this site:

https://ca.refurb.io

Anyone ever purchased from there? They have some systems of interest:

https://ca.refurb.io/collections/jus...-ram-128gb-ssd

https://ca.refurb.io/collections/lap...-window-10-pro (even configureable to 16GB RAM and 256 SSD, for a few more bucks; interesting review: https://www.notebookcheck.net/Review....108229.0.html)

Hey man, I've never ordered from that site but if you are serious about a ThinkPad, I would go over to Reddit and go to the ThinkPad subreddit and ask there. They are a awesome group of folks and they will be able to point you in the right direction in terms of what you should look for, what kind of price you should expect to pay, and where are reliable vendors.

In my reading of posts there, it seems like eBay is a common way to go. But I would recommend doing a bit of asking around there as people will be able to tell you if you're getting a good deal or not. I have seen several recent post there where people have overpaid for their laptops.

[FixedGear]

Hey, I should also point out that if you search on the Thinkpad subreddit, you can find an EEP code which can save you a substantial amount on a new Thinkpad (like 30-40% off the list price). One thing any Thinkpad insider will tell you is to never pay full price for one.

There is also the Lenovo outlet where you can find some good deals. This is for US, I'm not sure if these ship to Canada or if there is a Canadian outlet. http://www3.lenovo.com/us/en/outletus/

[Prelude_dude]

I just bought the Lenovo Y520 Legion Gaming Laptop. Can tackle all games no problem and anything else I throw at it. Other than the keyboard glowing red and has red accent colours, you would never know its a "gaming" laptop.

My only gripes with it is the keyboard layout, and the buttons for the touch pad are not the greatest.

Here are my specs,

Legion Y520 - 80WK00MTCF
Configuration Details
● Processor: 7th Generation Intel® Core™ i7-7700HQ Processor (2.80GHz 6MB)
● Operating System: Windows 10 Home 64
● Display Type: 15.6" FHD IPS AntiGlare LED Backlight (1920x1080) with integrated camera
● Memory: 16.0GB DDR4 2400 MHz
● Hard Drive: 1TB 5400RPM + 128GB PCIe SSD
● Optical Drive: No Optical Disc Drive
● Warranty: One year
● Graphics: NVIDIA GTX 1050 Ti 4GB
● Battery: 3 Cell 45 Watt Hour Li-Polymer
● Bluetooth: Bluetooth Version 4.1
● Keyboard: Backlit English-French Keyboard
● Wireless: Lenovo AC Wireless

Came in at $1274 with one year onsite upgrade. There are some good sales on the Lenovo website right now; you can get my exact laptop but with a GTX 1060 in it now for around the same price. Sign up for their mailing list and you can get another $50 bucks off; and if you go onto their live chat you can probably get some more discounts or like the onsite upgrade thrown in. I believe i got like $100 dollars knocked off altogether on top of the sale just by chatting with the live chat people.

[Seth1968]

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Ha ha! Oh, I've been there plenty of times, almost always due to software issues.

Why would you have to open a laptop for software issues?

[Stealth22]

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Hey, I should also point out that if you search on the Thinkpad subreddit, you can find an EEP code which can save you a substantial amount on a new Thinkpad (like 30-40% off the list price). One thing any Thinkpad insider will tell you is to never pay full price for one.

I completely forgot about this...
@duaner remember that T470p I configured for you last week? I didn't get the 30-40% that FixedGear is talking about, but with the EPP code I found, it's $150 cheaper.

[duaner]

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Never bought from them, I always found them to be overpriced.

The T540 only has a 1366x768 display, and no discrete graphics.

Other one isn't so bad, but I've never liked HP, mostly because any HP product I've owned as been a piece of crap. And it says mobile workstation, which probably means it's comparable to the Lenovo W and P series. Not bad, but they aren't exactly lightweight.

Yeah, I had noticed the display on the Lenovo and in reading reviews on HP products, they seem to be decent other than heat issues, but that one is a bit too much of a beast. I would only get the HP if I was desperate.

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Why would you have to open a laptop for software issues?

I wouldn't. lol It was more in reference to being turned into an atheist due to computer issues in general.



To all,

Thanks for all the info and suggestions. It has helped me narrow things down and at least reduced the chances of buying a problematic machine (like an Inspirion). I mentioned to my brother yesterday that I am looking for a laptop and he said he has a couple with dead hard drives. Of course, that means he has to buy a drive to get it up and running. He thinks one might be a Latitude e6540, which might be decent based on reviews and depending on specific specs. Hopefully I can get him to check tonight and confirm as Memory Express has a decent sale on SSDs right now.

Would it be dumb to buy a Samsung 850 EVO 500GB just to get a laptop up and running (sale ends tomorrow)? Ha ha! I'm certain that being SATA III it will work with many used laptops but I don't want to just waste $215 at this point. I just need him to let me know what machine he has.

[Stealth22]

I'd rather get a 250GB SSD, and get a 1 or 2TB drive for data, provided that the system can handle multiple drives.

Most can accommodate a second hard drive in the optical bay, if the system has one.

[The_Penguin]

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So, just this morning I Googled "refurbished lenovo canada" (feeling the pressure for Lenovo lol), and came across this site:

https://ca.refurb.io

Anyone ever purchased from there? They have some systems of interest:

Thanks for the link. Hadn't heard of them before. I've been wanting to upgrade my mom's Memex special core2duo WinXP box. Motherboard/cpu/ram and a Win10 license would be over $400.
They have a decent looking Dell Optiplex 9020. i5 with 8GB Ram, SSD, Win10 pro for $399. Seems like a no-brainer.
Ordered Monday, order still not processed yet. Glad I'm not in a hurry.

[duaner]

Is it worth the risk with two darker spots on the screen? There seems to be no consensus online about what could cause those spots. Perhaps too much pressure on the screen at those points. No idea if it is something that could spread.

http://www.ebay.ca/itm/Dell-Precisio...IAAOSw6ShZXYKx

[The_Penguin]

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Thanks for the link. Hadn't heard of them before. I've been wanting to upgrade my mom's Memex special core2duo WinXP box. Motherboard/cpu/ram and a Win10 license would be over $400.
They have a decent looking Dell Optiplex 9020. i5 with 8GB Ram, SSD, Win10 pro for $399. Seems like a no-brainer.
Ordered Monday, order still not processed yet. Glad I'm not in a hurry.

Yeah, so ordered on the 19th, took my money fast enough. On the 25th, get an email saying, "uh yeah, the rest of the stock on this model is physically damaged, can't fulfill. Sorry. Can give you this equivalent HP, worth more..." Me: "Yeah, not a big HP fan. How about I take this other Dell model you have in stock, and you can refund me the difference."
Them: "We're refunding you, you can place a new order for the other Dell"
Hmm my employer is about to retire 3 of those "other" Dells, bet I can buy one for about $100.00 less than refurb.io....

So, not writing them off just yet, but a company that will take your money, and takes several days to figure out they can't produce, loses a few points.

[duaner]

Just to update.

I ended up getting an HP Zbook 15 G2 at the end beginning of September from some guy here in town. It was a bit too good to be true considering I paid $790 and similar systems were going for $1500, iirc. 32GB RAM, 256GB SSD, 750GB HD, Quadro K2100M video card, i7-4810MQ, Windows 10 Pro. Great condition.

The only thing was that he gave me an 18.5V, 65W power supply when the manual says 19.5V at either 150W (under the battery says this as well) or 200W. I used the 65W for a bit the first night but that thing got hot. Took the adapter back to him but the best he had were a box full of 18.5V, 120W supplies. A bit sketchy. So I ordered a 19.5V, 200W adapter that came from China for $100. Took a while to get here but got it in time three weeks ago to get a paper done.

So, $890 all in for a 7-8lb beast. Brought it to school once and thought I was going to break my backpack. lol