Any refurbed business-class laptops that are Win11 compatible striking anyone's fancy?

britechguy

britechguy

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All appearances are that after a long and happy life that my primary laptop is on its way out, and since I've had it since 2017 and it is a consumer grade machine, I've definitely gotten a reasonable functional life out of it.

I never really need "the latest and greatest" for the kind of work I do, but I definitely want something that, even if it comes with Win10, that can be promptly upgraded to Windows 11.

I know that many in the cohort "shop around" just for amusement and may stumble upon something that "looks really good, if I needed one now." Well, I will be needing one so if you do stumble upon same please mention it here.
 
I don't like laptops going out used because they tend to not save any money after you do a battery swap to ensure it stays out.

That being said, any of the business grade lines that are generation 8 or younger fit the bill, and plenty in that category are getting rather cheap. But these units started hitting the shelf in Aug of 2017. 6 year old laptops regardless of build quality show their age!

So instead what I do is encourage users to get M365, put their data in it, and once they're properly in the cloud and understand its use they're free to purchase $300-$400 junk machines new from wherever, and simply replace them when they break. It's a lower over all TCO, better and more consistent user experience.

Rarely, I'll get something that's exceptional from the vendors I use that move used equipment. But again largely the used market is better for desktops because those can be repaired and maintained more readily.
 
Define business class, if you don't mind. What's the difference between business and consumer? Is it the software or the hardware that makes the distinction?
 
ThatPlace928 said:
Is it the software or the hardware that makes the distinction?
Click to expand...

Hardware, more so than software, though Windows 11 Pro should also come as "standard equipment" on a business class machine.

I really don't like replacing machines often, so while I don't go "absolute top of the line" I prefer to avoid the truly disposable garbage that is out there.
 
britechguy said:
Hardware, more so than software, though Windows 11 Pro should also come as "standard equipment" on a business class machine.

I really don't like replacing machines often, so while I don't go "absolute top of the line" I prefer to avoid the truly disposable garbage that is out there.
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What are your personal requirements for a business class, as opposed to one built for a consumer? I'm curious because, until I joined this forum, I'd never heard the term "business-class".
 
Actually, that's a very good question, and one I cannot answer precisely. Definitely "more sturdily built" (and, as a result, generally weighing more) for starters.

This would be a good launching point for a "definition fest" for "business class," as I'm sure while there is a core component to it there will be different edges in the form of must haves versus must not haves. I'd be curious to see this laid out by the cohort myself.

That being said, most of the major makers have lines that are targeted at business users versus home users, and you can get a sense by looking at makers like Dell, Lenovo, HP, etc., on their "shopping pages" as far as what lines they consider to be their business class lines.
 
britechguy said:
Actually, that's a very good question, and one I cannot answer precisely. Definitely "more sturdily built" (and, as a result, generally weighing more) for starters.

This would be a good launching point for a "definition fest" for "business class," as I'm sure while there is a core component to it there will be different edges in the form of must haves versus must not haves. I'd be curious to see this laid out by the cohort myself.
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That does actually answer my question. Seems there is no hard and fast rule. All the laptops I refurbish and sell are upgraded to 8gb of RAM, as opposed to what they came with. They all have the last version of Windows Home Premium or Pro, updates installed up to the day they're purchased and, if the BIOS or firmware have never been upgraded, I make sure to do it. I also run Driver Pack to make sure the drivers are as up to date as possible, in case the updates missed anything. At the end of the refurbish, they are all good, solid laptops ready to use.

I have a Dell Latitude 7480 that wasn't on the list of Windows 11 upgradable laptops but is on Windows 11 and running with no issues. It's not my personal laptop but, if I were to change mine out, it would be for that one. I put 12gb of RAM in it but it's upgradable to 32gb. It was already fast, with only 8gb. I would recommend it to anyone who needs a lightning fast computer.
 
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There are substantial build quality differences. In Dell speak it's the gap between Inspiron and Latitude.

Dell also provides tools that can handle bios and driver updates for the platform that are easily integrated with management tools for the business class equipment. These tools don't exist for consumer equipment.

But all lines have their lemons, as well as their gems. It's very possible to get an Inspiron that's superior to Latitude in build quality. What you will never get with Inspiron is Dell Command Update. Which is a deal breaker for me, I won't support Dells without that tool!

Lenovo and the rest all have similar situations.


My personal laptop is an ASUS. I'd NEVER sell an ASUS, but they work wonderfully for me.
 
Sky-Knight said:
There are substantial build quality differences. In Dell speak it's the gap between Inspiron and Latitude.
Click to expand...
Sorry, I had to edit my post. The one I was talking about is a Latitude 7480, not an Inspiron. I buy and refurbish both and I haven't noticed any substantial difference between the two.
 
Here are some of the business class pages for various makers for laptops, specifically:


www.dell.com

Dell Latitude Laptop Computers & 2-in-1 PCs | Dell USA

Discover Dell Latitude laptops – the world’s most intelligent PCs with built-in AI & intelligent collaboration features.
www.dell.com www.dell.com

Laptops | Shop Laptops, 2 in 1s, & More

Check out our wide range of laptops, perfect for any need. From gaming laptops and business laptops to Ultrabooks and Chromebooks, we have the right one for you.
www.lenovo.com
 
ThatPlace928 said:
I buy and refurbish both and I haven't noticed any substantial difference between the two.
Click to expand...

I can say the same thing when it comes to some makers and some lines. At the moment I'm typing from an HP Envy that dates from around 2014, and it had been "through the wars at schools" before I ever laid my hands on it. It took terrible lickings and kept on ticking, and I ended up rescuing it from a hinge break (which happened several years after it became my backup laptop). The thing is built like a tank, relatively speaking, and had I been its initial owner it would probably not have had some of the problems it had.

It is a very well-built consumer class machine that took way more than its share of abuse, and because I was willing to "revive it from the dead" as far as its "final blow" case damage went after the client bought a new computer, it's still here. But an i7-4th gen, while it meets my immediate needs, really doesn't have much more life left in it from a practical standpoint. I'm actually running Windows 11 on this laptop (which doesn't officially support it) as I am on the other laptop that's in the early stages of dying.
 
britechguy said:
Here are some of the business class pages for various makers for laptops, specifically:
Click to expand...
Nice list. Lately, I've been bringing 2 in 1s and there is one in particular I really like. It's the Dell Inspiron 11-3168. The worst part of this model is they built it with 3 different motherboards. I bought 2 that are 32gb onboard and onboard RAM, some with 2gb and some with 4gb. They come in a few colors but all are identical to each other and there's no way of telling which motherboard it is, until after I buy it.

I'm in the process of replacing the N3050 motherboards with N3710s. The N3050 is extremely limited with everything being onboard. The N3710 has a SATA connection and RAM slots. I'll let you know how it goes, after swapping everything out.... I am pretty optimistic about the outcome.

How I ended up with one of these to begin with is someone donated it to me. No SATA connection but it has a 500gb onboard drive with RAM slots. I was able to upgrade to 8gb and it runs beautifully. Now, I want them all to be this way....... lol
 
britechguy said:
I can say the same thing when it comes to some makers and some lines. At the moment I'm typing from an HP Envy that dates from around 2014, and it had been "through the wars at schools" before I ever laid my hands on it. It took terrible lickings and kept on ticking, and I ended up rescuing it from a hinge break (which happened several years after it became my backup laptop). The thing is built like a tank, relatively speaking, and had I been its initial owner it would probably not have had some of the problems it had.

It is a very well-built consumer class machine that took way more than its share of abuse, and because I was willing to "revive it from the dead" as far as its "final blow" case damage went after the client bought a new computer, it's still here. But an i7-4th gen, while it meets my immediate needs, really doesn't have much more life left in it from a practical standpoint. I'm actually running Windows 11 on this laptop (which doesn't officially support it) as I am on the other laptop that's in the early stages of dying.
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Mine is an HP, as well. Probably originally from around the same time period as yours and I bought it about 6 years ago. It has everything I need and I upgraded the RAM to 12gb, making it move along a bit faster. Paid a little over $450 on eBay as a refurbished. It's purple [eggplant, actually] ad I love it. :)
 
ThatPlace928 said:
What are your personal requirements for a business class, as opposed to one built for a consumer? I'm curious because, until I joined this forum, I'd never heard the term "business-class".
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Just look at how many OEM's treat "consumer" models vs "business" models. For years business grade machines, desktop or laptop, the default warranty was 3 years. Never been for consumer models. But the default of three years as almost gone away during the last few years. Most likely as a cost control measure. You're likely to encounter inferior component offerings for "base" models in consumer land. Low RAM, 5400 spindles, Celeron class processors.
 
Porthos said:
A computer with Win 11 on unsupported hardware will not receive the yearly Feature update without workarounds and it would not be fair to a client to charge to do it for them.
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I don't charge my customers for updates, if they buy it from me. To clarify, I DO charge if they want a different version of Windows, just not for updates of the version it's on.
 
ThatPlace928 said:
I don't charge my customers for updates, if they buy it from me. To clarify, I DO charge if they want a different version of Windows, just not for updates of the version it's on.
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Feature updates are technically a new version of Win 11.
You are doing the clients a disservice by installing Win 11 on unsupported machines. It is a time bomb waiting to happen.
If the user does not know what they purchased and never calls you, you have locked them into a computer that when that version of 11 (for example 22h2) goes unsupported they will not even get security updates without being able to update to 23h2 without your assistance.
 
Porthos said:
A computer with Win 11 on unsupported hardware will not receive the yearly Feature update without workarounds and it would not be fair to a client to charge to do it for them.
Click to expand...

This is not to start an argument, but because of Microsoft's own history with these threats, I'll believe that when it occurs. Until 23H2 comes out I really don't know whether the feature update will occur on its own if you already have Windows 11 running on a given piece of unsupported hardware or not. I was not "supposed to" be able to do even that.

MS has had so many paper tigers over the last 10 years and what they actually do versus what they actually say will be allowed is often at significant variance.

I'm reserving judgment about what will or will not occur until the first one does occur and we have real behavioral data points, not simple assertions of intent from MS.
 
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