What Laptop to Buy for Maximum Reliability + Good?

drillvoice on 13/11/2016 - 10:45
Last edited 13/11/2016 - 10:50

My girlfriend is in the market for a new laptop. She won't be using it for much - basically web browsing, word processing, watching the odd movie or TV show. But she'd like it to be powerful enough that it isn't frustrating to use. Generally she'd like it to just work, to be reliable, and to not need replacing for a bunch of years. And have good speakers.

With this in mind she is leaning towards a MacBook, esp. as she also has an iPhone. But given her budget (up to $600), she is looking at second hand MacBooks from around 2009. Would these still be reliable and likely to keep working for more years? Or is there a good windows laptop that might be a better option?

EDIT: I've been looking at this as a potential option - http://www.reboot-it.com.au/near-new-lenovo-thinkpad-yoga-11…

Computing Computer Laptop

Comments

  • scrimshaw on 13/11/2016 - 10:55

    2009 Macbook would be very old now, that's a Core 2 Duo series which will not be very power efficient, and also slow. You'd probably want an SSD in the laptop too, as that's usually the slowest part of a laptop.

    BEtter off checking the Dell Outlet for latitude series laptop
    http://www1.ap.dell.com/content/topics/segtopic.aspx/product…

    The DFO-3743924LT would be a decent choice:
    Latitude 14 3000 Series - i5-6200U
    128GB 2.5 inch SATA Solid State Drive
    8GB (1x8GB) 1600MHz DDR3L
    14.0 inch Non-Touch HD (1366x768) Anti-Glare LCD
    $619

    Latitude laptops are NOT multimedia laptops. They are business machines built for reliability, so don't expect the best of speakers.

    • drillvoice on 13/11/2016 - 17:09

      Thanks for the ideas.

  • Apple96 on 13/11/2016 - 11:29

    I use a 2011 MacBook Pro. which I got second hand for around $600, just up the ram to 8gb and you won't have any problem.

  • bjdchwr on 13/11/2016 - 11:46

    2009 MacBook is just way too old unless she is happy to stay with the old OS.

    In this case I would suggest a PC giving the fact that your GF is running on a low budget. The ideal candidate would be an i5-4/5/6xxxU + 8GB RAM+ 128GB SSD but I doubt you can find it :-(

    If there is any chance, put a SSD in even if it is a low-end machine - you will notice the difference.

    • scrimshaw on 13/11/2016 - 14:16

      It's possible to get a 2014 MB if you know where to look, for around 700.

      OCAU forums for E. G but definitely not reboot-it, these guys are overpriced.

      I was looking for one for Swift development but I turned down the MB offer and got myself a much better deal, a Haswell i7 HP elitebook folio 940m (8g ram, 180gb ssd, backlit keyboard, 900p display) for an amazing price of just 350.

      This is as close as it gets to MB pro, just with a crappy display but I'm loving it's performance to dollar ratio.

  • Allan on 13/11/2016 - 12:11

    Sounds like an iPad would be better -> long battery life and meets most requirements. Reliable and lasts many years. Holds value well if you want to sell down the track too.

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