Budget laptop suggestions, are refurbished worth it?

wacom7

Estimable
Aug 24, 2014
2
0
4,510
1. What is your budget? 200- 380$ max

2. What is the size of the notebook that you are considering? 11-15inches

3. What screen resolution do you want?

766x1360 minimum

4. Do you need a portable or desktop replacement laptop?

maximum portability.

5. How much battery life do you need?

at least 6 hours.

6. Do you want to play games with your laptop? If so then please list the games that you want to with the settings that you want for these games. (Low,Medium or High)?

No, but viewing CAD drawings on a lite client is a possibility

7. What other tasks do you want to do with your laptop? (Photo/Video editing, Etc.)

Excel, Word editing, and browsing dank memes.

8. How much storage (Hard Drive capacity) do you need?

32gb w/ card reader

9. If you are considering specific sites to buy from, please post their links.

10. How long do you want to keep your laptop?
Until summer when I can get a bigger budget.

11. What kind of Optical drive do you need? DVD ROM/Writer,Bluray ROM/Writer,Etc ?
nope.

12. Please tell us about the brands that you prefer to buy from them and the brands that you don't like and explain the reasons.


13. What country do you live in?
The United States.

14. Please tell us any additional information if needed.

I am a student looking for a new laptop. I was running off of the linked for years, it took such a beating. My only real complaint was the lack of a backlit keyboard. I've considered a refurbished business class from Dell or HP but don't know how reliable that might be.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00PD6UFDS?refRID=QSPJ2XZ80NGRA1TRBE6N&ref_=pd_ybh_a_34

Any suggestions would be appreciated, thank you for your time.


 
Solution
You may want to consider this Acer Aspire
https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834315815

Then I would replace the HDD with an SSD. This will make it feel much faster.
https://pcpartpicker.com/product/8jH48d/sandisk-ssd-plus-240gb-25-solid-state-drive-sdssda-240g-g26

Later on you can always add more RAM. Once you do that you should have a laptop that will last you throughout most of university. The i3 isn't a power house with an SSD an eventually 8GB RAM (or 16GB). It will be faster than you need for university.

Pros
- 8+ hours battery life
- 1920x1080 display
- Nice Keyboard/Touchpad
- Very Good color Accuracy
- Extremely good color range (way better than many high end laptops)
- Solid construction
- SD Card Reader...
You may want to consider this Acer Aspire
https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834315815

Then I would replace the HDD with an SSD. This will make it feel much faster.
https://pcpartpicker.com/product/8jH48d/sandisk-ssd-plus-240gb-25-solid-state-drive-sdssda-240g-g26

Later on you can always add more RAM. Once you do that you should have a laptop that will last you throughout most of university. The i3 isn't a power house with an SSD an eventually 8GB RAM (or 16GB). It will be faster than you need for university.

Pros
- 8+ hours battery life
- 1920x1080 display
- Nice Keyboard/Touchpad
- Very Good color Accuracy
- Extremely good color range (way better than many high end laptops)
- Solid construction
- SD Card Reader and DVD
- Good range of ports including HDMI and USB C
- Decent speakers

Cons
- a bit bulky
- Narrow view angles
- Cheap webcam
- OK brightness (good for indoors not great in direct sunlight)

Overall it is an excellent laptop. Especially for the price.
Full Review: https://www.laptopmag.com/reviews/laptops/acer-aspire-e-15-e5-575-33bm
 
Solution

wacom7

Estimable
Aug 24, 2014
2
0
4,510
Thanks for your response, I've actually bought one of these already and have had to RMA it due to shorting out. Your link is still cheaper than the one I purchased, so I thank you again.