I need a new laptop

[mofugly13]

My old work laptop took a dump. I'm able to do all my work tasks on the company provided cell phone and iPad.

But now I'd like a laptop for myself. I mostly would use it for storing photos. Excel and Word at times. Internet, all things to do with using my little 3d printer.

I don't and won't be gaming on it.

A 15" screen would be fine....but a 17 would be preferable.

How much should I expect to spend for.somethig that meets my needs?

In the past I get suckered into desktops with way more bells and whistles than I need. I don't want to have the same thing happen with a laptop. I will be willing to pay for sturdiness/longevity....something that will last me a few years.

I'm savvy enough to know my way around a computer as a user....not savvy enough to know what to really look for.

Anything at Costco fit my bill?

I'm open to all suggestions.

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[jorgi23]

Im using a costco "gram" from lg

deal was 1400.00 bucks

and they sent me a 800.00 costco gift card, waited for that one to come back,

haven't seen anything like that lately

[epags]

This will last you a long time without having to add memory or storage
https://www.costco.com/dell-inspiron...000181706.html

[mofugly13]

Originally Posted by epags

This will last you a long time without having to add memory or storage
https://www.costco.com/dell-inspiron...000181706.html

Thank you.

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[Buymoreguns]

There's a ton of deals to be had on laptops. Get something with 32GB ram, 1TB or larger SSD, 1440p resolution or better. Any cpu will do really. I got something like that, but with 4k screen, 2TB ssd, Nvidia 3070 GPU, for 1400 after tax last year. You can certainly get the specs I suggested for under 1k.

[high_revs]

$1500... 32gb of ram.. 1tb nvme drive


dell or lenovo thinkpad.. i'm very biased to commercial level equipment.

[XDJYo]

Originally Posted by high_revs

$1500... 32gb of ram.. 1tb nvme drive


dell or lenovo thinkpad.. i'm very biased to commercial level equipment.

When I was shopping for a new laptop a few years ago, I was sure I was going to get a Dell given that every work computer I ever used was a Dell and they get daily use/abuse and keep working. However, they were quite expensive at the time comparitively. I looked at Lenovo and found my next 2 laptops (me & the Mrs. XD). Both are 15" screens with a 10-key and SSD and Core i7 chips. I don't remember how much I spent for them, but they were quite reasonable vs what we got.

So, +1 on Lenovo.

[Cowboy T]

Dell Latitudes, generally, are my favorite for workhorse laptops. I've got an old Latitude D830 that I use for car maintenance, and the thing just goes and goes and goes. The thing is from 2008, so it's 15 years old and still kickin'.

[mofugly13]

Originally Posted by Buymoreguns

There's a ton of deals to be had on laptops. Get something with 32GB ram, 1TB or larger SSD, 1440p resolution or better. Any cpu will do really. I got something like that, but with 4k screen, 2TB ssd, Nvidia 3070 GPU, for 1400 after tax last year. You can certainly get the specs I suggested for under 1k.

Is there a time of year when things generally get cheaper? I'm not in a big hurry.



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[edgerly779]

Black friday.

[Preston-CLB]

Hop over to ArsTechnica and look at their laptop reviews.

Dell Latitude, Lenovo, and Toshiba are good choices.

I agree with the RAM and SSD specs in the other posts.

A 17" screen laptop will not be very portable, but if this is a desktop replacement, a large screen is a boon.
-P

[billofrights]

Whether you intend to use it as a desktop replacement or not, skip the 17". Get a 15" and just buy a monitor/kb/mouse to connect to the laptop. For the cost difference in laptops you'll get a much bigger display than 17".

[Dan_Eastvale]

$150 discount 1tb 16 gb 17" Sale ends tomorrow
Should not have to pay more than this for what you need. Even this a somewhat overkill..

https://www.costco.com/.product.4000...6-fe25ee1fe32c

Best Buy, Newegg always have excellent sales.

Or an excellent used laptop for $400+ on the local classifieds.

[Iknownot]

Originally Posted by mofugly13

My old work laptop took a dump. I'm able to do all my work tasks on the company provided cell phone and iPad.

But now I'd like a laptop for myself. I mostly would use it for storing photos. Excel and Word at times. Internet, all things to do with using my little 3d printer.

I don't and won't be gaming on it.

A 15" screen would be fine....but a 17 would be preferable.

How much should I expect to spend for.somethig that meets my needs?

In the past I get suckered into desktops with way more bells and whistles than I need. I don't want to have the same thing happen with a laptop. I will be willing to pay for sturdiness/longevity....something that will last me a few years.

I'm savvy enough to know my way around a computer as a user....not savvy enough to know what to really look for.

Anything at Costco fit my bill?

I'm open to all suggestions.

Sent from my SM-G990U using Tapatalk

Best Buy has been having some good laptop deals month to month. Better than Costco. If you can wait we are nearly at Black Friday sales times. Id wait for a 12th or 13th gen i7 (or AMD Ryzen 7 equivalent ) 16 gigs of ram and a 1tb ssd if you can get it (but not less than 512). You should be able to get a 15 inch or 17 inch between $500-800 with a Sale. The thing to watch out for at BB when they do have a sale is their Certified or Excellent open box pricing. You might be able to save another $40-60 on top of the sales price

(I just got a 13th gen i5 HP Victus with a dedicated graphics card for $540 open box excellent ) on a recent $600 BB sale and the laptop retails for $900. )

I normally stay away from HP as I have not had great experiences with their desktops or laptops in the past. This one was cheap enough I said what the heck. They have changed their game based on what I am seeing. The components are all decent, it has a nice screen and keyboard, the internals are easily accessible and everything can be replaced / upgraded easily. I am pleasantly surprised.

Aside from that I have had very good experiences with Dell, Lenovo and Toshiba laptops.

[Iknownot]

OP: you mentioned Costco. I don’t know what your budget is but you should check out this laptop if you don’t mind spending that much. Light weight, about the screen size you want, with good specs and it has an OLED screen which should be quite nice for your purposes.

https://www.costco.com/.product.4000154421.html

[AtomicOrange]

Not sure why you would need 32gb of RAM unless you will be doing heavy editing/modeling. I have two Lenovo Thinkpads (from 2014 I believe) with 16GB RAM and their memory is usually only 30% in use, and that is with four or five apps/windows open. I would put the money toward storage and consider network storage (NAS) to access and protect your photos. The Thinkpads are solid machines. Check out the Micro Center Website for deals. I would guess you can get out the door for under $1000 for a very good laptop that is not gaming-related.

[XDJYo]

Another suggestion is to only consider HP for a printer. They make crap laptops and computers IMHO. Been burned before. No more.


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[C.G.]

Originally Posted by XDJYo

Another suggestion is to only consider HP for a printer. They make crap laptops and computers IMHO. Been burned before. No more.


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Not anymore, now that they only support HP cartridges, no aftermarket cartridges.

[sd_shooter]

A macbook pro. I'm typing on one that's 10 years old, still works just like new.

Buy once cry once

[Iknownot]

Originally Posted by sd_shooter

A macbook pro. I'm typing on one that's 10 years old, still works just like new.

Buy once cry once

Always a good choice as long as you don?t need PC / windows specific programs or gaming.

[mofugly13]

Thanks everyone for all the excellent advice. I'll keep all this in mind as I look for a good deal to come around

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[SactoDoug]

Framework lets you pick individual components for your laptop. The laptops are upgradeable and repairable.

https://frame.work/

I would advise that whatever laptop you are looking to buy, go to the manufacturer's web site and see if they have a repair or service manual available for it. Lenovo has such documentation for their laptops. If the maker does not have that available, then assume that repairing or upgrading the laptop is going to be a PITA and likely void the warranty.

[Preston-CLB]

Originally Posted by SactoDoug

Framework lets you pick individual components for your laptop. The laptops are degradable and repairable.

Does "degradable" mean it will self-destruct if you leave it in the sunshine too long?
-p

[SactoDoug]

Originally Posted by Preston-CLB

Does "degradable" mean it will self-destruct if you leave it in the sunshine too long?
-p

Damn spell check. It did not have "upgradeable" in its dictionary and I just clicked through.

[socal m1 shooter]

Over the last 15 years or so the laptop models I am familiar with have increasingly been made to achieve planned obsolescence. I don't know of a manufacturer who does not do this-- Apple, Dell, etc.-- and because of this you need to buy in a way that best matches what you do with your laptop.

In other words, memory and other components may not be upgradeable. For example, Apple MacBooks have everything soldered in, and you can't upgrade anything anymore. I have not cracked the case on a Windows laptop recently, but I'm pretty sure they are likewise.

I have purchased both Windows (Dell) and Apple OS (Apple) laptops in recent years, and I use both Windows and Apple OS.

Older Apple laptops with Intel CPUs were capable of dual-boot with both operating systems in one machine. No longer, Apple silicon runs Apple OS only.

That said, I am still using an Apple MacBook Pro that is more than 10 years old. The OS no longer updates, and I'm not using it to render videos or such as that, but it is still more than sufficient for office-type work: word processing, spreadsheets, Web browsing, etc. IME Apple laptops tend to last when they are well-cared for. The same can be true of Windows laptops, but YMMV.

Apple has a relatively small share of the laptop market but they earn disproportionate profits on that small share. As a result, Windows laptop makers are more or less engaged in a race to the bottom, cutting corners where possible to increase margins. IME, for this reason, these machines-- even when babied-- tend not to last as long.

Everything has costs and benefits. It's probably fair to say that Apple laptops tend to cost more but last longer. Windows laptops tend to cost less but don't last as long. That is my $0.02.

[DolphinFan]

I need one too. Going with a Dell Inspiron.

[Tikka3x]

Originally Posted by C.G.

Not anymore, now that they only support HP cartridges, no aftermarket cartridges.

You can stop automatic firmware updates now and even roll back the firmware to allow for non hp cartridges. Just did one yesterday.