• Figuring out my best option for a (likely used) laptop.
    5 replies, posted
So I'm just reposting this from a form on another site, because it already has the relevant information. [B]What is your maximum budget?[/B] $400 [B]What country are you in?[/B] USA [B]What will be the uses of this laptop?[/B] Heavy browsing, VMs, very light gaming. [B]Do you have brand loyalty or care which brands we select for you?[/B] A brand with above average build quality and ease of disassembly, preferably a business model (thinkpad, precision, probook, etc) [B]What screen size do you require?[/B] 14" preferable, 11.6"-15.6" acceptable. [B]What screen resolution do you require?[/B] 1600x900 and up, 1366x768 alright for 11.6 [B]Are you looking to buy NEW or would refurbished/recertified/used be okay?[/B] Pretty much must be used at this budget, got no problem with that. [B]How long should the battery last? (Under optimal conditions, no movies/games/heavy internet)[/B] Not a huge deal, would like 4 hours for optimal usage (Under conditions a new battery would handle) [B]What games would you like to play with your laptop? And on what settings?[/B] Very light gaming, Intel HD graphics should suffice. [B]What operating system do you need? (if any)[/B] None needed. [B]Is there a certain style of laptop you want? (aluminum, black, gaming, etc.)[/B] Would prefer it not to be a brick. [B]How much hard drive space do you need?[/B] A 500gb+ drive @ 7200rpm would be nice, if not I'll replace with one (not included in budget) [B]Do you need any special hardware? (bluray, webcam, specialty ports, etc.)[/B] Unless it's a fantastic deal, some level of hackintosh compatibility would be appreciated, not afraid to change out a couple parts to do so. [B]Is there anything else we need to know?[/B] 3+ USB ports are necessary, will be using it with 3.5" drive docks for work, plus a USB secondary screen at times. Processor should be an older i5 or newer (ivy+) i3. 8gb of RAM needs to be obtainable in budget, but I should be able to get a 4gb stick for very cheap. I've been looking at Thinkpad t420/430's lately, and possibly Probooks of similar time period and specs. I just don't want to be completely overlooking any of my options.
Thinkpad T420 is perfect for you, Levelog. For 250$ on Ebay it has: Great build quality clit mouse 900p screen dual core i5 at 2.5GHz 320gb 7200RPM drive integrated graphics About 8 hour battery life Hackintosh support and easy to take apart
Yeah, it fits the bill pretty well. The only thing the Probook has up on it is a bit better hackintosh support. Just wanted to make sure I wasn't missing anything.
Well, it's always good to have a review with other people about a product even if you already know alot about it. Are you gonna throw an SSD in it?
Not at least for starters. Having Windows, Linux, and OSX takes up a fair deal of space. When I throw a 500gb SSD in my desktop I might throw my current 240 in it, then get an ODD bay adapter to put the 320 in.
Have a look at the HP elitebooks.
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