i don't know E36 M3 about computers. looking for specific recommendations. i currently use a ThinkPad P15 at work, and it's probably more machine than i need for home. i need something i can use for:
i'd like to spend less than $500. doable?
Just to crosspost from Appleseed's thread. I buy refurbished Dell from Newegg and spend $300 to $400. I also just bought another for $220 that is a little older. My wife and I both have Latitude 7490, and I bought a less optioned version for the $220 as a gift for an online student. The difference of $100 between mine and my wife's is that she wanted a touchscreen.
I buy these or something similar from Amazon. Stupid fast, stupid cheap, very durable. I give them to my employees as work laptops and my kids to beat around on.
Lenovo Thinkpad T460, Intell I5 2.4GHz, 16GB RAM, 512GB Solid State HDD, Windows 10 Pro. $175.99
If you do a search for Refurbished Thinkpads it comes up with a bunch of them ranging from $140 to $600.
In reply to Toyman! :
I have a similar Lenovo refurb bought through MicroCenter about 4 years ago. Still fantastic. I ran a whole business from it.
Processor:
i3 = basic, i5 = good, i7= great. I bought i5. i3 is too basic
16gb ram is a proper amount of ram. 32 is better. I bought 16.
Storage: that is subjective. You don't need much if you store to the web. There are many remote options or easy updates. 256 is good for me. Actually, mine might be 128 which is rather small to most but fine for me. You want one that is SSD (solid state)
In reply to AngryCorvair (Forum Supporter) :
Definitely doable if you're willing to a bit older.
My recommendation is to avoid the brand new consumer special laptops and get a used/refurbished business laptop. Those are usually both more robust and have at least some repairability.
I'm particular to the Lenovo T series, although I've also got an X1 Carbon Gen 6 as my personal carry-around laptop when I'm traveling. This one here more or less matches what I have - I'd budget for a replacement SSD but assuming you've got licenses for an office suite and turbo tax already, you should be able to get one of these all in for under your budget even with a new SSD.
With a bit of shopping around you can also find a 7th gen within your budget. The other options I really like are Lenovo T480/T580 models. They're a bit (or a lot, in the case of the T580) bigger an heavier, but are generally considered to be the last easily repaired T-series. My wife uses a T580 for her office laptop, and I've also got one flying around just in case. Be aware that the T480/580 does have a flaw with the HDD connector that's pretty common which IMHO makes it a bit more of a gamble than the X1.
tl;dr - get the newest Lenovo X1 Carbon you can find in your budget that has an i5 or i7 CPU and enough RAM, then budget for a new SSD.
Edit: This is the SSD I stuffed into mine. The SK Hynix P31 is supposed to be pretty fast and energy efficient, so it makes a good combo for a laptop drive. At those prices IMHO it doesn't make sense to got much smaller than 1TB - usually SSDs achieve smaller capacities by using fewer flash modules, which actually impacts the performace. So a 1TB tends to be a bit faster than a 128/256GB drive. Plus, they have more space for wear levelling so they should last longer.
Last year I needed something for the shop to do basic web browsing, FORscan, Xentry/DAS/WIS, oscilloscope software, and TunerStudio so I picked up this at the local Micro Center: https://www.microcenter.com/product/663100/lenovo-ideapad-3-14-laptop-computer-platinum-grey
I think it was on sale for a little under $200 when I bought it and it's been great for that sort of stuff so far. I also have used it for classwork and work-work with O365.
I bought this about a month ago. It's the same thing I use at work, fine for more than you want to do.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B099X9222H?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details
I have some asus 15.6 deal I bought at Sam's club two years ago for all my tuning software and winblows crap forced upon me. Besides that I use my MacBook for everything else because it just works.
Totally doable, you might even want to see what's available used - of all the laptops I've had only one was bought new, and it's not the one I'm typing this on. Any ordinary office computer can handle what you're doing. Lenovo has really good hardware quality but costs are on the higher side. Asus hardware quality is decent and they tend to be a good value for money.
I also concur on the refurb Lenovo Thinkpad. At least i5 and 16GB RAM with some sort of SSD. T-series can be had cheap, as lots of companies use them and then trade them in on newer ones. I have one myself for my "tuning laptop".
In addition to places like Micro Center, check the Lenovo Outlet for deals. They get refurbs and clearance stuff on there a lot.
Got a Dell Inspiron 15 3511 from Amazon last Christmas - 1T SSD HD, 16 gig ram, some i5 or i7 processor, touchscreen, for about 600 clams. Been a good little book for me.
Mrs. VCH used a refurbed Lenovo Thinkpad for years before it finally became interminably slow for her, and we got her a new HP. The Lenovo is still in my garage (it's an i3) where it gets used for looking up SU carburetor needle specs and streaming videos and music when I need it.
There's also some x86 desktop running windows 98 that gets used to play movies and Street Rod.
Ive had good luck with amazon warehouse deals and many times saved a BUNCH of money. Think scratch and dent stuff.
I wouldnt worry too much about ram for your intended use, itd probably be fine at 8.
I prefer the intel chips, for something like that probably just an i3, and preferably an SSD, but I wouldnt call that a necessity. If its a stationary laptop I like the bigger 15" screens, if your actually going to drop it in a backpack or datalog with it I prefer something like 13. a 15" screen that was meant to be mobile was a much bigger hassle than expected.
Ive done what your doing on way less computer
Lenovo, Acer, and Asus. They don't accept as many third-party bloat softwares and are well built machines. Spend money on processor and memory. Don't worry too much about display, graphics, sound, and hard drive space.
For your perusal, this is a NewEgg search for those three brands with 16gb memory, Win10 and 11, 2-3ghz processors, and a few other parameters. Big Ol' link to some stuff.
If you have a Costco membership, they have a 15.6" MSI - i7, 16GB RAM, 512 GB SSD, & Win 11. $549.99. And it's new with a warranty.
I have a T440p LENOVO , nice solid machine thats pretty heavy if you had to drag it around all day ,
But its one of the last ones that you can replace most of the parts yourself , and has a DVD player too :)
Following, I'm in a similar boat I have a 15" acer that won't hold a charge long enough to be a reliable tuning laptop and it's 7 years old so it's slow. I have a P15 Gen2 for a work computer that's an absolute CAD monster desktop replacement. It's heavy but it's a great laptop and gets pretty good battery life for the processing power. I really need something with a key pad on the side, I hate typing numbers up top on the keyboard. I've been looking at older Lenovo P52s and Gen1 P15s because I would like some graphics card for small CAD work on the go but looking for other options as well.
Bumping this as I just scooped a Thinkpad P53 for a little over half a Steve. Core i9-9880H, 16gb ram, 500gb ssd and Quadro RTX 4000. Should be an absolute hammer for most CAD work and I'll be happy with even 2-3 hours of idle time for EFI tuning and browsing.
In reply to RacetruckRon :
Mind sharing where you got that gem? I'm about to be shopping and that would push me from "about to be" to "breaking out the wallet".
In reply to the OP, I ended up buying one of the work laptops when they liquidated all the IT E36 M3. For $600 I got a P15 with all the latest updates plus 2 years of on-site warranty, as it was a much later build date than the one I had on my desk. Also got a second battery and a 230 W charger and a 27" LCD in addition to the standard 23" that they included with the laptops. Overall screaming deal.
In reply to secretariata (Forum Supporter) :
Snagged it if eBay. There's a lot of used thinkpads on eBay for pretty reasonable money. I had several sitting in my watchlist from top of the line P52's to mid range P15's. For the P52/53 my plan was to buy as much graphics card as possible or get the cheapest, newest P15 I could and upgrade the graphics card later. The P52/53 have the graphics card integrated to the motherboard and on the P15 the graphics card is a swapable board. Just have to watch out for the sneaky P15S and P15V if you are looking for the full frame mobile workstation.
Here's a starting point, seller offered me $50 off this one after I had already pulled the trigger on another P53 seller offer. Link Put a few in your watchlist and wait for the seller offers. And here's the exact one I bought. Linkerino
Glad this came back. My 7 YO dell is acting up, may be time to replace it. My wants are big screen, like 17" but no touchscreen. No serious use, most of the hours are streaming or here. I have been looking at Dell and HP, but should I also consider Lenovo? Even though I have never had a warranty claim I like the idea, so Micro Center and costco/bjs are top of the list. But now you guys have me thinking new egg.
In reply to RacetruckRon :
Thanks for the info & links.
Steve
In reply to porschenut :
When it comes to Lenovos, I'm a big fan of used business models. They tend to be relatively easy to repair and also last a long time. I wouldn't buy one new though as they are $tupidly expensive new.
I'm not sure you can still get a lot of 17" laptop models as they aren't that portable. Personally I find a 14-15" model with an external monitor more usable, but then again I'm a fan of big monitors in the first place.
In reply to BoxheadTim :
Thanks, the old dell is still working but the wifi is cutting out at random and the second battery has a life of 10 minutes. I have an external monitor but tend to use it alot to watch TV from other than TV accessable locations. It also has a CD drive which I like but know this feature is long gone from new stuff. Right now costco and microcenter have decent stuff under $600.
In reply to porschenut :
You might also look to Amazon. There are several sellers on there selling refurbished business Lenovos for cheap.
I have bought 4 of them for employees as well as myself. The last one I bought was a Thinkpad T480s with an i7-8650U 4.20 GHz processor, 24 gig of RAM, a 512 SSD, and Windows 10 pro. They are currently selling for $339. They are only 14" though. Link.
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