New / Second Hand Laptop Help Please

couchy on 09/11/2021 - 19:02

Hi, so I’m going to come across as really dumb I am sure, however, I’m looking to buy a laptop either new or secondhand. The confusing part for me is the processor. I’ve used Macs for years and the last time I bought anything with a Pentium it was kind of easy as they had Pentium 2,3,4. Now with the Pentium and to add AMD I’m kind of confused. Not looking for anything to play games, mainly internet, email, streaming etc and will last me a few years. I’m not looking for something that slows up after installing a few applications either.

Any suggestions would be great, sub $1000, but the cheaper the better…. Over to the experts. Please!!!

Computing Computer Laptop

Comments

  • Drakesy on 09/11/2021 - 19:19
    +5

    refurbished Lenovo Carbon X1 from ebay/marketplace/gumtree

    Best in class keyboard
    lightweight
    good battery life
    durable.

    Anything from the past 4 years should be fine with an i5/i7.

  • scrimshaw on 09/11/2021 - 20:31
    +1

    M1 Macbook Air not in your shopping list?

    You should be fine with any processor in the last few years, so long as it's not a Atom / Celeron.

    $1099 with free shipping (MSI Modern 15, Ryzen 5 5500um, 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD)
    https://www.centrecom.com.au/msi-modern-15-a5m-156-fhd-60hz-…

    There are also some Thinkpads on sale for sub $1k on Lenovo's Click Frenzy sale, as well as a upsized 10% cashback that you can combine. The Thinkpad e14 Gen2 with 8GB RAM / 256GB Storage for example is $949 (+ 10% cashback).

  • couchy on 09/11/2021 - 21:32

    Thanks! How do I compare the intel chips with the AMD ones?

    • scrimshaw on 09/11/2021 - 21:46

      The processor is probably not the biggest concern for you. What you might want to look into is likely the display size, resolution, weight and battery life, plus storage. Good source of reviews is https://www.notebookcheck.net/

      Not looking for anything to play games, mainly internet, email, streaming etc and will last me a few years.

      hypothetically speaking even if you bought a quad core i5-10210U Intel CPU instead of a 6-core Ryzen 5 5500U, you will not feel the difference in everyday computing (from my experience, even I can't tell the difference).

      the performance difference doesn't come into play until you decide to use it to play games or start a video editing project.

      You don't need a high end, power hungry processor if all the laptop is being used for is light work

  • knightslay2 on 09/11/2021 - 21:43

    I think a Lenovo thinkpad series, Dell Latitude would suffice for you. I would suggest to look for something with an i5/ i7 processor, also an SSD (tends to be 128gb, 256gb,512gb sizes but they are quick) and 8gb or 16gb ram (id suggest to find a laptop with a second ram slots to allow ram to be upgraded).

    Edit: there can be good savings buying used Lenovo Thinkpads if you wish for a used model with warranty remaining

  • Daabido on 09/11/2021 - 22:28

    If you are coming from Mac, there are a couple of things to consider. I use both at work and prefer my Mac.

    If you are a trackpad user, check the trackpad of the machine you are considering. Generally your Mac trackpad will be a lot better than the sandpaper/swamp feeling you get from a PC one.

    Have you used Windows 10? I find it OK, but any time I've used Windows, I feel like I'm working for it, rather than the other way around. Now I know others simply hate MacOS, but it's something to consider before making the switch.

    Apple has extended return policies for products bought now, meaning you can return up until January 8 I think. Consider a base M1 Macbook Air.

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