[SOLVED] Suggest a Laptop Around $450-$675

[Appletax]

Solution: customer bought an HP laptop that is not high quality, but is not cheap crap. Meets every desired spec. Nice price. Available today at my local Walmart. They purchased a 3-year extended warranty with accidental damage for $78 from Squaretrade.

HP Pavilion 15.6" FHD, AMD Ryzen 5-5500U, 8GB RAM, 512GB SSD, Horizon Blue, Windows 11,15-eh1052wm


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Customer wants a new laptop.

High build quality is essential (no cheap crap). Prefer Dell, Lenovo, HP business-class.

+ = or better.

Quad core+, 8GB RAM+, 15.6" 1080p with at least 300 nits+, 512GB SSD+, Windows 11 Home.

Using it for basic stuff like Word and web browsing. Wants something that is fast and will last a long time, hence the desire for better specs.

What do you recommend?

 

[frase]

Customer wants a new laptop.

High build quality is essential (no cheap crap). Prefer Dell, Lenovo, HP business-class.

+ = or better.

Quad core+, 8GB RAM+, 15.6" 1080p with at least 300 nits+, 512GB SSD+, Windows 11 Home.

Using it for basic stuff like Word and web browsing. Wants something that is fast and will last a long time, hence the desire for better specs.

What do you recommend?

You get what you pay for, you will get crap with that. Last a long time, fast though does not want to pay the $$$ for a decent laptop.

 

[frase]

Why the need for speed when just browsing or wording?

 

[Appletax]

It's no fun having a dual core processor in 2022 lol.

I think the Lenovo ThinkBook 15 Gen 3 AMD (15”) looks real nice and there's 10% Rakuten cashback.

I don't see it was being cheap junk. It's pretty decent.

 

[Porthos]

I think the Lenovo ThinkBook 15 Gen 3 AMD (15”) looks real nice

Personally, I would pass because of the Ryzen alone. Intel any day. But it is not for me.

 

[sapphirescales]

I don't see it was being cheap junk. It's pretty decent.

Yeah, sorry, that's cheap garbage. Unless it's a business class, it's cheap garbage these days. New you're looking at a minimum of $1,000. If you're okay with an off lease refurb then you can get something really nice within your budget. I'd recommend an HP Elitebook x360 G3. They're beautiful systems and very good quality.

 

[cypress]

Found this quickly while browsing the Dell Business website. I also had a client order a very similiar build as well. Has everything you need. Instead of Windows 11 Home it will have Windows 10 Pro but you can always upgrade to Windows 11 Pro of course at no cost.

Dell Inspiron 3511 Laptop | Dell USA

Shop 15.6-inch Inspiron 3000 series laptop with latest 11th generation Intel® Core™ processor options. A stylish aesthetic and thoughtful sustainable design, with essential features for daily use.

www.dell.com

 

[YeOldeStonecat]

"high Quality Build" and "Under $800" do not go together.

While I've been a big fan of Intel and avoiding cheaper CPUs for most of my 30+ year IT career, AMD hit a home run with the Ryzen. The Ryzen 5 runs circles around Intels i5, nearing the i7. And Ryzen 7 just kicks the arse of Intels i7. I did a lot of Ryzen biz class Lenovo Thinkpads and ThinkCentre Tinys over the past 2 years and they rock!

 

[Appletax]

Found this quickly while browsing the Dell Business website. I also had a client order a very similiar build as well. Has everything you need. Instead of Windows 11 Home it will have Windows 10 Pro but you can always upgrade to Windows 11 Pro of course at no cost.

Dell Inspiron 3511 Laptop | Dell USA

Shop 15.6-inch Inspiron 3000 series laptop with latest 11th generation Intel® Core™ processor options. A stylish aesthetic and thoughtful sustainable design, with essential features for daily use.

www.dell.com

The one thing I don't like about this laptop is that the display extends past the bottom of the laptop when it is open. It lifts the laptop up. Seems like a weakness.

 

[River Valley Computer]

The Dell Inspiron is a consumer grade and very low grade at that. I sold three to a customer for her 3 daughters for Christmas. Two have been brought in for problems. One had a bad screen and the other the keyboard was defective. Of course under warranty but less than 3 weeks old????

 

[sapphirescales]

@cypress That is NOT a business class laptop. Inspiron = home class, Latitude = business class. Be careful though. Dell also sells a "Latitude" laptop that's just a re-branded Inspiron. How do you know it's a home class? The warranty. If it only has a 1 year warranty I don't care what they call it, it's a garbage home class laptop.

Even their 3000 series Latitudes suck, and nowadays if you're going brand new, the 5000 series suck too. No. If you want a real business class Dell, you've got to go with a 7000 or 9000 series Latitude. They didn't used to have a 9000 series so if you go with an off lease refurb the 5000 series are still good.

 

[sapphirescales]

Of course under warranty but less than 3 weeks old????

Yeah, that's pretty normal nowadays. Home class stuff is literal garbage that's designed to go directly from factory to landfill. This includes expensive home class stuff like their Alienware desktops.

 

[Appletax]

I'm not a fan of HP, but our local Walmart has a really nice one in-stock with awesome specs for a great price. There's nowhere else to buy a laptop locally.

HP Pavilion 15.6" FHD, AMD Ryzen 5-5500U, 8GB RAM, 512GB SSD, Horizon Blue, Windows 11,15-eh1052wm

$549

 

[Sky-Knight]

@YeOldeStonecat I'm here to echo Stonecat's assertion...

"High quality" and "below $800" do not belong in the same sentence.

@sapphirescales is also correct about Dell's games, if it doesn't have a 5 year warranty option, it's not business class.

 

[Appletax]

The client is going to Walmart now to buy that HP laptop. Good enough. It's not high quality, but the specs are very nice and the price is right.

I really like setting clients up with gently used eBay Dell Latitudes/Precisions or Lenovo Thinkpads.

Windows 11's steep requirements means I gotta get ~2018 or newer laptops now, which are a lot more expensive

A few days ago, I bought a client a laptop off eBay that looks super clean and has great specs. It was almost $300.

Dell Inspiron 7573 2-in-1 i5-8250U 1.60GHz 8GB RAM 256GB SSD 15.6" FHD Win 10 Home

 

[YeOldeStonecat]

For clients on a super budget, I'll send them to Lenovo Factory Outlet. There's their best chance of getting a "still new" or at least "factor refurbished" nice Thinkpad X, T, or P series. For 50-80% the price of MSRP. Heck even the L series isn't too too bad.

I can't run away from HP laptops fast enough. Lenovo Think series, or Dell Latitude or Precision....or find someone else to punish with your laptop issues.

 

[Appletax]

For clients on a super budget, I'll send them to Lenovo Factory Outlet. There's their best chance of getting a "still new" or at least "factor refurbished" nice Thinkpad X, T, or P series. For 50-80% the price of MSRP. Heck even the L series isn't too too bad.

I can't run away from HP laptops fast enough. Lenovo Think series, or Dell Latitude or Precision....or find someone else to punish with your laptop issues.

I like using eBay for used stuff because I can see pictures of the actual item rather than a stock photo.

I am very picky about the cosmetics!

The client bought the HP laptop with 3 year extended warranty from Squaretrade that includes accidental damage.

 

[BT Computers]

Found this quickly while browsing the Dell Business website. I also had a client order a very similiar build as well. Has everything you need. Instead of Windows 11 Home it will have Windows 10 Pro but you can always upgrade to Windows 11 Pro of course at no cost.

Dell Inspiron 3511 Laptop | Dell USA

Shop 15.6-inch Inspiron 3000 series laptop with latest 11th generation Intel® Core™ processor options. A stylish aesthetic and thoughtful sustainable design, with essential features for daily use.

www.dell.com

What's bad to me is the customer finds that listed under for business even though it is consumer. I contacted my distributor to ask about laptop. My reply was Dell Inspiron is not sold thru distribution. The alternative they gave me was a Latitude for $2000 my cost.
Customer don't know what is consumer class and what is business class. I even forget at times. Customer will say Dell says it is for business.

 

[Porthos]

I like using eBay for used stuff because I can see pictures of the actual item rather than a stock photo.

I am very picky about the cosmetics!

Not always.

3 year extended warranty from Squaretrade that includes accidental damage.

Great if they do not have anything important on it without a current backup. Squaretrade does not fix $hit, They just send the user a check for the original purchase amount.

 

[sapphirescales]

It was almost $300.

Yeah the difference is that laptop is likely to still be alive in a year (or heck, in 5 years), whereas the cheapo HP will likely crap out right after the 1 year warranty ends.

I can't run away from HP laptops fast enough.

Their business models are okay. I still prefer Dell but HP's look a lot nicer so my clients who are coming from HP Envy's or MacBooks are more likely to go with business grade if I can get them something that looks fancy.

I am very picky about the cosmetics!

Then find a local company you can work with to get your refurbs. I'm EXTREMELY picky about the laptops I sell looking brand new. I charge an absolute premium for them, so they damned well better be nice. I can't sell some beat up piece of crap for $700+.

Customer will say Dell says it is for business.

And that's when you let them know that Dell is a big fat liar and that they're trying to trick people into buying a piece of junk because consumers are getting wise to the fact that consumer grade laptops are crap but they aren't able or willing to plunk down 2G's for a laptop, so Dell is resorting to trickery to get a sale. Then you offer them a REAL business class refurb for $700.

The client bought the HP laptop with 3 year extended warranty from Squaretrade that includes accidental damage.

Squaretrade is crap. Good luck getting them to pay out for anything.

Great if they do not have anything important on it without a current backup.

This is why I'm glad that I service the type of clients that I do. They usually buy $800+ laptops. It never occurs to them to buy $300 Walmart specials because as naïve as they are about computer stuff, they're smart enough to know that $300 buys you a piece of crap. And they all have important data on their computers so they don't treat their computer like a commodity that can just be replaced.