Where's a good place to get a used higher end laptop? Or new under 1K?

[Beamin]

So I need:
Windows a lit keyboard:

Touch screen

Ability to mess with visual setting :turn off on high contrast with hot keys on the key board

USB ports for plugging in raspberri pi and SDRmost importantly

Use it mainly for internet MSword

But want things light flight aware an SLdigi ham software to work


Size should be a 1920X1080 screen, its not big but not small. Not sure if this is a standard form factor but I would call it the medium of the three typical lap top sizes you see. 14" maybe


The one I'm trying for 14 days in a Lenovo flex 14; I kind of picked it at random, for around 650 it's OK but doubt I will be keeping it. As it has a lot of annoying stuff like MacAfee that keeps poping up the aorst virus software that slows your machine more then most virusus.


Metal case is a huge plus and I'm a big fan on thin or not much unused bevel space. I deally would be a used high end lap top from lat yer if I could find a good seller for when I speend 1k I want it to work and not have issues.


This lenovo feels cheap compared to my last Dell which was surprisingly good quality for it being a deal. If I could get the computer in White that would be a huge plus. But its been so long I have no idea whats good anymore. Best would be using all kinds of SDRs and othe HAM related thing like the data cable to my scanner and not have to spend tons of time fighting it to get the com ports to work.


I'll go new for a lesser machine if it fits the bill but used is better but I cant get ripped off 1K right now as I would be really fucked.


I don't even know what brands are stil good. Most stores around me have a really limited selection I bought this at staples today for an emergency.

The size weight/ think ness of this one is good.

Intel Core i5 8250u 1.6 ghz 1.8ghz
8 g ram
SSD 242921 mb So 242GB?


I use my lap top 10 hours a day and keep for a few years until it breaks so I want to get a good one but feel lost as I haven't been a computer geek in so long.


Before I buy anything online I have to play with it for at least a day before I like so maybe buying new might be the best option unless I can find a used one that is still being sold in stores. Normally I would never buy Dell but got stuck with my last one and it was doing really well up to the end. I'm still going to fix it but I need another computer to order parts. Help me OB1 you are my only hope! I trust you guys more then most idiots on the net and most reviews are just cringe worthy marketing wank.

[BrianHG]

Amazon allows quick returns.  Just don't make it a habit.

Buy something new.  Check amazon for features and pricing, then:
I hate to say it, but, search Youtube Linus tech tips and laptop model type you found on amazon.  He delivers a ton of useful good info the manufacturers wont tell you, including true battery life tests under multiple conditions & how quickly the laptop may begin to overheat and throttle and how truly bright and legible the screen is & keyboard usability.  As you will quickly see within 2 or 3 videos, if you don't watch him, you will end up with a random piece of crap, or, maybe you might just hit the lottery and end up with the perfect laptop by chance.

1K$ is a little high today for a good laptop unless you want to pay the Apple Tax.

[Beamin]

Well I learned Lenovo is shit. Today I opened it and it disabled the PIN log in the fingerprint sent me to a website to recover the password that didn't work and I got in just by chance remember the password to one of those 900 accounts and emails it wants you to set up that you will never use. They set it up like this is the first computer you have ever owned and you don't have email. Plus I don't want to give me phone number out to the world. Don't forget how every 15 it wants you to buy MacAfee the only antivirus program that's worse then the virus. Also you have to turn on everything like the light up key board every time you start using it. I have no idea why it had me set up pin and finger print just to disable them without notice. I have a feeling this is a shit brand. Linus tech tips does give honest reviews but I always thought they did high end computers not your average ones. Store have a really small selection and half were out of stock (staples) maybe best buy then go buy it off amazon after I test it?


Did you know they still make lap tops without touch screens? In 2018 I would think they all had that. Even more expensive models didn't have touch screens.

[BrianHG]

HINT: when searching Linus tech tips for laptops, search for:
'Linus 800$ laptop'
'Linus laptop for college'
'Linus laptop for students'

He does review more affordable units and compares them to higher end laptops and some of the high end ones arent even as good.

He recently did a review of a 800$ gaming laptop with lit keyboard which ran circles around the competition for much more expensive devices, the only flaws were short battery life and no touch screen.  And by the way, even he said the first thing you do when powering up before anything else is UNINSTALL Norton Antivirus.

Yes, Amazon has free returns and swaps, they will pay the shipping.  I've done this with video projectors until I found one which actually was the best...

[ANTALIFE]

>Using Linus for reviews, absolute mad man

If you want a proper review have a look at https://www.notebookcheck.net/
They go through many models and do a very very thorough review for most

As for Lenovo being shit, guess it depends what model you got. My ThinkPad X260 has been awesome, has x2 batteries plus is beefy enough to do a bit of Altium & SolidWorks when I am away from desktop

[BrianHG]

>Using Linus for reviews, absolute mad man

[deadlylover]

I usually prefer business-class laptops because they are a step above most consumer lines in terms of build quality and serviceability.

Look into Dell's Latitude line up (example 7490 or 5490) and Lenovo's Thinkpad X/T/P line (T480, T480S). I prefer the ThinkPad keyboards FWIW, and they are a bit more common in the used market here so it's cheaper to get spare parts in a few years time.

While eBay is the 'best' place to get the most value, you have to be very careful to buy a laptop with the right configuration especially if you are buying an older generation machine, in particular pay attention to the screen option as it's very common for businesses to buy craptastic 768p TN panels in droves.

A level up from eBay would be a local computer refurbisher, sometimes they practically give away older machines if you need a secondary older laptop to leave in the garage for example. (as an aside, it's a great place to pick up excellent old Dell Ultrasharp monitors for like 20% of the cost new)

Now if you need support from the manufacturers, then their respective outlets are the place to go. Dell Outlet or Lenovo Outlet are where they sell refurbished or 'as new' machines, I'm not from the US so I can't give specific details but make sure you look for coupons before purchasing for a significant discount.

Again, make sure you buy a model with a touchscreen, they come in lots of configurations! (Backlit keyboards are an option too!)

[Beamin]

My issues with this Lenovo flex14 core i5 has been:
Some keys stick, that's not a good sign one day out of the box drives me mad 
The rest has been software: it disabled the finger print no reason I could see and I was almost perminatly locked out since the outlook account password I wrote down luckily and found it but had no plans to use it ever again thought it was just part of them trying to get you to switch.
Has mcAfee and other bloatware I'm going to have to remove. I used only windows defender for the last two years along with being mindful on my internet habits and had no problems. Hopefully someone will  tell me if this is acceptable or if I was just an extreamly luckly idiot.


This computer is OK but I want a lap top that I really like since I literally use it 10 hours a day.


YouTube videos now come up in 4k(2046?) resolution, does this mean this screen is 4k? I looked at the settings but couldn't find anything that said 4k. 4k is something I definitely want to have as clearer/higher resolution screens greatly help with my eye sight. I used a cheap dell the otherday and the resolution was so low I got a head ache after 10 mintues.



One thing I'm a total sucker for buying is things that are thin. I love my iPhone 6 because its so thin. If I had a lap top where each half was just a little thinker that would be ideal. I also hate wasted bezel space around the screen. This one has about 3/8th which is good.

The other thing is I like white computers or real aluminum cases like the iphone6.

Battery life isn't a huge issue as I usually plug it in or I am around an out let.
. I also didn't realize how much faster the i5 was over my last core i3. I don't do games but the SDR uses a lot processor when you turn the bandwidth up. Well I do have Kerbal on my last machine but the text is impossible to read and there is no way to make it or the screen bigger. Haven't tried the SDR on this one yet as I know setting up the com ports is difficult(for me).


This computer was bought because I needed a computer that afternoon, there was an ACER for the same price but 150$ off with the same specs that I saw but not in stock. ACER is still a crap brand correct? I used to always buy ASUS but 3 years ago the one in my price range was shit for some reason or had this awful gold mesh on it. I think I will go to best buy next as staples doesn't have much in stock anyways but was on the way home that day.


Do the battery meters lie on purpose or have to learn your habits? This one said 7 hours so I ran one youtube tab and tested it on performance mode. It was more like 3 hours with it dropping over an hour every 30 minutes. The fan came on only once so this was really a light load with one program running.


In summery:
Has to be:
PC
Thin (white or aluminum case preferred)
Lit keyboard
Touch screen
4k/high resolution (Or what ever spec this one is still trying to figure out if this is 4k)
SSD because for this price range why would I want a HDD that uses more battery or breaks if I drop it which will happen at least once every 10 months.
I HAVE TO TOUCH IT/ TRY IT BEFORE I BUY IT. I have seen some online that I liked, got to the store and found that I just didn't like/hated the keys or the size or other things, so I will buy at a store and keep or return an order online.
Prefer:
-i5 since it seems to make a big difference I didn't realize I was missing out on
-Longer battery life but will make a sacrifice for it being thin since it literally sit on my lap all day
-Less bloatware but I can take the stuff off if I have to. I never buy software at the store or package deals as I just run older copies of software




I appreciate all the suggestions this has given me a really good starting off point!!!!

[Beamin]

In summery:
Has to be:
PC
Thin (white or aluminum case preferred)
Lit keyboard
Touch screen
4k/high resolution (Or what ever spec this one is still trying to figure out if this is 4k)
SSD because for this price range why would I want a HDD that uses more battery or breaks if I drop it which will happen at least once every 10 months.
I HAVE TO TOUCH IT/ TRY IT BEFORE I BUY IT. I have seen some online that I liked, got to the store and found that I just didn't like/hated the keys or the size or other things, so I will buy at a store and keep or return an order online.

HP Spectre or Macbook clones from Xiaomi or Huawei, if you want a full body aluminum, thin and light machine.

Every premium laptop these days has lit keyboard and SSD, and most have touch screen (rest of Apple and some Lenovo).

If you need a trial period, then Xiaomi is out of the scope. Huawei has its US subsidiary called Huawei Devices USA, they can offer free trial. HP Spectre can be found everywhere.

I will not consider 4k if you use it with external monitors other than 8k. Multiple scaling factor coexistence on Windows sucks.

I have a 1920*1200 24" monitor used with my 2560*1440 14" built-in monitor. The experience is not good at all.

[Beamin]

In summery:
Has to be:
PC
Thin (white or aluminum case preferred)
Lit keyboard
Touch screen
4k/high resolution (Or what ever spec this one is still trying to figure out if this is 4k)
SSD because for this price range why would I want a HDD that uses more battery or breaks if I drop it which will happen at least once every 10 months.
I HAVE TO TOUCH IT/ TRY IT BEFORE I BUY IT. I have seen some online that I liked, got to the store and found that I just didn't like/hated the keys or the size or other things, so I will buy at a store and keep or return an order online.

HP Spectre or Macbook clones from Xiaomi or Huawei, if you want a full body aluminum, thin and light machine.

Every premium laptop these days has lit keyboard and SSD, and most have touch screen (rest of Apple and some Lenovo).

If you need a trial period, then Xiaomi is out of the scope. Huawei has its US subsidiary called Huawei Devices USA, they can offer free trial. HP Spectre can be found everywhere.

I will not consider 4k if you use it with external monitors other than 8k. Multiple scaling factor coexistence on Windows sucks.

I have a 1920*1200 24" monitor used with my 2560*1440 14" built-in monitor. The experience is not good at all.

Switch over to mac would be a nightmare right now especially that you can't plug anything into it without buying a $100 adapter. Plus all the ham radio/sdr software is Linux or PC not to mention all all my other programs. At one point I was sick of windows and going to switch then apple started making all their products proprietary and taking away head phone jacks. I hate charging head phones I just want my shit to work. Anyways...

When you say "Clones" does that mean counterfeit or knock off? I have never seen those brands in stores here. I have a growing distaste for cheap counterfeit electronics, hatred really. I almost never buy things that I want to last or cost more then $50-100 from china as you are stuck with it if it doesn't work or have to wait ages for shipping. Lots of DOA that would suck to get burned when you can only afford one laptop.


What do you mean with your 4k comment? An 8k monitor? I don't even know what comes in 8k and plugging 4k into 8k would just = 4k? I don't plug in external monitors. I NEED a lap top because I have a back injury and spend my off time in bed. So it had to be comfortable sitting on my legs or bed. Are you saying Huawei a brand they sell in stores, or one of those knock off companies? I like how in china you can anything electronic, but it seems like if you want a real name brand that can be hard to find or over priced.

[nctnico]

4k resolution on a laptop is going to be a waste of money. I recommend not going for the looks but buying a for-business laptop from HP or Dell. Those are solid work horses and the price reflects that as well.

[Beamin]

Switch over to mac would be a nightmare right now especially that you can't plug anything into it without buying a $100 adapter. Plus all the ham radio/sdr software is Linux or PC not to mention all all my other programs. At one point I was sick of windows and going to switch then apple started making all their products proprietary and taking away head phone jacks. I hate charging head phones I just want my shit to work. Anyways...

Virtual machines run fine on a Mac, and you get near-native performance unless you do heavy 3D stuff.

Why would I go through the trouble/expense of buying a mac paying extra then running a virtual machine on it to make it back into a windows machine? Then doing the same with the adapters to make them back into regular plugs? You lost me.

When you say "Clones" does that mean counterfeit or knock off? I have never seen those brands in stores here. I have a growing distaste for cheap counterfeit electronics, hatred really. I almost never buy things that I want to last or cost more then $50-100 from china as you are stuck with it if it doesn't work or have to wait ages for shipping. Lots of DOA that would suck to get burned when you can only afford one laptop.

They are not counterfeits. They copy the aesthetic design elements from Apple (not to the extent of Razor, but not far from that), and all hardware and details are engineered in-house.
They are engineered to be PCs, just with unibody clam shell aluminum cases.

Would rather just have the real thing I guess unless they are substantially cheaper but since PC's are not that much to begin with... I would actually be embarrassed if some said "Oh is that the new MacBook? No it's a fake, but it looks real" People that buy those things do it as a status symbol and pretending to have money when I can only afford a knock off would just feel like I'm living a lie. Difference in culture I guess. I once saw a video where in China you can buy a counterfeit car. Not like how Hyundai makes the xjs instead of the jaguar xj that looks like it, but a totally FAKE car!! they had BMW or MB badges and looked just like the real thing but when you popped the hood it had some cheap engine and the leather wasn't real and looked really cheap when you looked up close. They drove the car in the video and it was slow handled terribly and was bumpy. I couldn't imagine wanting to impresses people that badly

Windows doesn't scale legacy apps well. If your app is not designed with WPF, Windows will have a hard time scaling it without causing blurs.
Ideally, running monitor at 100% scaling is the best, but at ~14", 4K with 100% scaling means unreadable tiny fonts.
Therefore, scaling is a must. With scaling, if you only have one monitor, then it's fine. If you have two or more with different scaling factors, then Windows will preference the main monitor, and other monitors may see blurred text.
And yes, there's an 8K monitor, Dell UP3218K. I had one, but it runs extremely hot and I ended up returning it.

Are you saying Huawei a brand they sell in stores, or one of those knock off companies? I like how in china you can anything electronic, but it seems like if you want a real name brand that can be hard to find or over priced.

Huawei is a genuine company, but it doesn't sell its laptops in stores outside China. It sells its phones through BesyBuy, but not its computers.
It's the world's No. 1 telecom infrastructure manufacturer by covered population, and No. 2 by revenue, only next to Cisco.
However, its main profit nowadays come from selling terminals (phones, laptops, etc.).
It's one of the only three cellphone companies that make their own CPU chips (along with Apple and Samsung), ranging from $100 "enough to make phone calls" crap to $2000 luxury, Porsche designed flagship models.
FYI, it's also the world's first company to sell devices with 7nm process chips (in collaboration with TSMC).
[/quote]



So is there a way to find out if your monitor is 4k? The reason I thought this new lap top was; I had a youtube video come up with the 4k option and a new setting about 1080i came up I believe 2064 or something and seemed really clear. I had never seen that before. The video player plug in should autodetect your setting otherwise you would have the distortions; hence the reason it gives you 30 seconds to confirm changes to the resolution.

[stmdude]

My issues with this Lenovo flex14 core i5 has been:

Yea, Lenovo (as all manufacturers) make some machines that are price optimized, and some that are real workhorses. The Flex 14 is a cheap consumer-grade laptop, so please don't dismiss all Lenovo laptops because of it.

I'd actually recommend looking at a used business-grade Lenovo, such as a X1C 3rd generation or newer. Possibly a T4xxS if you're okay with "thin" and not "razor thin".

[Technobabble_]

I personally recommend MobileTechReviews instead. Lisa provides better, up-to-the-point information than Linus.

[bd139]

Please don’t buy a MacBook. I’ve got one and I have to say the keyboard layout and the key switches on it are just fucking horrible now and the OS is a shit sandwich of abandonment. Buy a thinkpad X or T series.