Need advice on SSD laptop options

[Megatron96]

So my laptop is dying. battery died a few weeks ago, and now it seems the fan is inop, so it runs for a couple three hours then locks up and shuts itself down.

Before things slide even further downhill, I figure I need to get a replacement, so I can at least transfer my data from one to the other. I have some options in mind, but I'm no computer guy, so I thought I'd ask CP if they had any recent experiences that might be helpful.

Looking for a laptop, at least a 14" screen (my eyes ain't so good), SSD because I'm now addicted to the speed. I don't play games, so don't need to have anything geared that way necessarily. But I do need it for work-related stuff, so the speed is helpful. Under $1,000. Under $700 would be ideal.



A couple option I'm going to look at are:

ASUS Vivobook 15

Lenovo FLex 5

Dell Inspiron 3000



Also, need a color printer, decently reliable, not expensive.

Thx in advance for any help.

[booger]

Originally Posted by blake5676

I have a somewhat related question I just thought of while reading the OP. My laptop from probably 15 years ago is still in my possession. It was an IBM Lenovo Thinkpad I believe (with the little red button in the middle of the keyboard) and was a beast. Anyhow, it died because the fan went out and I bought something new rather than fix it. That being said, I never trashed it bc I always wanted to get around to trying to get it turned on again and grab whatever old photos/files were on there.

Is there a way to do that without 1)replacing the fan or 2) taking it to some stranger to pull everything off the hard drive for me?

I don't know EXACTLY what's on it but the thought of a random stranger getting to snoop around my laptop from my 20's isn't appealing. Any advice from the technically savvy on here??

If it won’t turn on just buy the proper battery and battery charger replacement and buy it from a place that allows returns including the shipping. If it’s something else chances are it’s too expensive or not worth fixing. You can also just pull the hardrive and get a usb adapter to save the information. I have one but just wiped clear old laptop hardrives to use as backup storage. So I have not tried to recover anything like you are. I’m sure plenty of others on CP can give you more advice and suggestions my experience is limited

[Megatron96]

Thx guys, keep it coming. Going to check out some of these tomorrow morning.


Btw, what’s the story with Dell? Buddy says he’s had good luck with them.

[Coach]

Originally Posted by booger

Running into this issue with my phone. iPhone 8 Plus and I love the damn thing. Only problem it no longer supports updates for the OS. Now there’s some apps I can’t update or use. The last year they used the home button feature. I much prefer the thumbprint option over the facial recognition shit. So much so I’m considering a Samsung Galaxy 24 ultra. Or a iPhone 14 or 15 pro max and I will just have to get used to the facial recognition. I really really am used to the thumbprint and don’t want to switch. Bastard engineers need to bring the home button and thumbprint back to iPhone!!!

I believe you still can have the PIN option without needing to utilize the Face ID as long as the Face ID is shut off in Settings -> Face ID and Passcode.

[booger]

Originally Posted by Megatron96

Thx guys, keep it coming. Going to check out some of these tomorrow morning.


Btw, what’s the story with Dell? Buddy says he’s had good luck with them.

The link I posted in post #16 that seller uses model 7490 Dell exclusively. A few years ago when I was asking the seller information he said he chooses those because they were excellent business models he refurbished because of the quality of the specific model. Something about how they were manufactured. But you would need to contact the seller and get your questions answered directly and if it’s going to be used for gaming I would follow someone like htismaque or bearcats advice. That particular eBay seller doesn’t specialize in gaming laptops

[BlackOp]

Originally Posted by crispystl

I actually have a bunch of 2019 16inch Macbook pros for sale. I think most have the i7 though.

You should hook the OP up...there isn't that much performance difference between the i9 and i7.

I think these are the steals right now...the advent of the M1 chip sent the prices spiraling down...overnight. Still capable machines

[R8RFAN]

HP 17 Laptop, 17.3" FHD Display, 64GB RAM, 1TB SSD, AMD Ryzen 5 Processor(Beats i7-1165G7, Up to 4.3GHz), Webcam, Numeric Keypad, Long Battery Life, Windows 11 Home, Alpacatec Accessories, Silver

$559.00



https://www.amazon.com/HP-Processor-...07&sr=8-4&th=1

[booger]

Originally Posted by Coach

I believe you still can have the PIN option without needing to utilize the Face ID as long as the Face ID is shut off in Settings -> Face ID and Passcode.

Yeah I’ve heard that. For passwords though I’m so used to that thumbprint! Always had iPhone so I wonder if I would regret switching to a Samsung

[Balto]

I see your in North Phoenix. Go check out the Best Buy outlet place, off tatum I wanna say near PV. Basically returns in great shape. Can get a warranty still and probably even have Geek squad put everything from your old laptop onto the new one. Got my son a ASUS ROG laptop for a very good price.

[Coach]

Originally Posted by booger

Yeah I’ve heard that. For passwords though I’m so used to that thumbprint! Always had iPhone so I wonder if I would regret switching to a Samsung

Good point on the passwords part. Still think you can do the PIN and scroll and select the one you need though, but I'm not 100% positive on that.

As for regretting on switching, I can't answer that question. I always liked iPhone, always had. I did switch to Android one year, and I regretted it.

[booger]

Originally Posted by Coach

Good point on the passwords part. Still think you can do the PIN and scroll and select the one you need though, but I'm not 100% positive on that.

As for regretting on switching, I can't answer that question. I always liked iPhone, always had. I did switch to Android one year, and I regretted it.

So for passwords with the facial recognition is that just as easy for you as the thumbprint was? No glitches or anything?

[Coach]

Originally Posted by booger

So for passwords with the facial recognition is that just as easy for you as the thumbprint was? No glitches or anything?

Yeah, it's pretty simple. When you boot it up first time, it will ask you if you want to do Face ID in the process as well as a PIN when you're with the cellular tech at their store. Then just follow what it wants you to do.

Then when all done and you need your password, you're basically just doing a selfie to prove that it is you when it requests it (similar process on the thumb part). Just got to make sure the lighting is good and all that stuff.

Worst case, if it doesn't work, the back-up option is that it would ask you for your PIN, if it fails. I assume it's similar as how it worked during thumbprint option back then when it was unable to read your thumbprint, but it has been so long.

[Nickhead]

I just got a Vivo 17, 1tb, ssd. Quite like it. $1200 AUD

[htismaqe]

Originally Posted by rfaulk34

I thought it looked underpowered too but i haven't run into any probs yet. Pretty soon i'll put it under some stress and we'll see how she goes.

Good luck man, let us know how it goes. I'm not saying it's bad or anything and if you have a decent GPU it might do okay. It just performs about the same as an i7 that's three generations older.

[htismaqe]

Originally Posted by booger

Running into this issue with my phone. iPhone 8 Plus and I love the damn thing. Only problem it no longer supports updates for the OS. Now there’s some apps I can’t update or use. The last year they used the home button feature. I much prefer the thumbprint option over the facial recognition shit. So much so I’m considering a Samsung Galaxy 24 ultra. Or a iPhone 14 or 15 pro max and I will just have to get used to the facial recognition. I really really am used to the thumbprint and don’t want to switch. Bastard engineers need to bring the home button and thumbprint back to iPhone!!!

Yeah not sure what to tell you there. I'm pretty much separated from Apple after like 3 decades. The clincher for me was that they want $35 a month for 2TB of cloud storage. Google charges $10 a month and the devices are so much cheaper. Paid $300 less for my last phone and bought a nice high end Chromebook (that runs Android apps natively) for literally 1/8 of the cost of my last Mac.

[htismaqe]

Originally Posted by BlackOp

I have 6 macs...My 2 2019 laptops run Ventura and my 2019 production tower is staying on Catalina. It runs how I need it to run.

Mac OS updates arent going to be an issue for 98% of casual users...it'll be years before they are obsolete...and the newest OS is littered with AI shit I dont want.

All the M1/M2/M3/M4 models...with the exception of the tower has the SSD soldered to the motherboard...they also wont boot from an external anymore. So when the SSD dies...these units are essentially bricked.

There will no 2nd market for this silicone generation....they are disposable in 6-8 years by design. They want EVERYBODY tethered to AI...no thanks.

The intel MacBook Pro versions are great machines...way more power than your average consumer needs...unless you plan on serious gaming.

I have a 2012 MacBook pro that stills runs 95% of what my newer models do...for casual use it's perfectly fine. It'll run the 2022 version of all Adobe software.

For sure, if you can deal with forced obsolescence, your setup will work. My reason for ditching apple were financial. I just wasn't getting enough unique functionality for the price.