Dell Latitude E7440 vPro still an issue?

[sebasura]

Hi, I need a light laptop to code (mainly used, because in the $200 price range, there are no good options). I found a Dell E7440 for around $210 (I live in Chile and the original price was 140.000 CLP, I converted it). It has 8gb ram, 500 hdd, i5 4210U, backlit keyboard, it's 1080p, 4hrs battery life and it weighs 1.6kg which is very light compared to my current 2.7kg Dell Precision M4600. It pretty much has everything I need: It's cheap, can run some IDEs and should compile decently. But I noticed it says vPro in the processor sticker, and after reading quite a bit, I'm very worried about privacy and performance issues (Intel ME and stuff). Let's say I don't care about privacy, I still read some people complaining about thermal throttling when rendering video, reaching temps up to 95ºC. This is unacceptable, and I've read that the problem is the vPro bloatware. Is there any current update to disable it? Is it still an issue?

My other option is a Lenovo B4-80, with 4gb ram, i5 5200U that weighs 2kg. Still decent, but it's only 720p, keyboard is not backlit and battery says 3hrs.

In fact, I made a spreadsheet with some of my options (in spanish though): https/docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1xiVEVacE11-DFKbkUI8rmQh-N6tUNFkA0sc6MPbKsmQ/edit#gid=0

The column "Estética" means aesthetics (meaning wear level) and it goes from 1 to 5. All the fields with an * are grade fields that go from 1 to 5. The Dell E7440 is really the perfect balance for me, it's in pretty good condition too, but the vPro thing seems to be way too important to just look over. Any advice?

Thanks.

 

[hang-the-9]

it's not an issue with bloatware, the 7440 runs hot, you can replace the thermal paste though to lower it by 5-10 degrees. I would avoid those Dell models in anycase, they also have issues with the motherboards, and often there is are lines coming across the LCD screens. I have a stack of them at work that are damaged this way. Battery also likes to ballon up, sometimes damaging the system.

I would go with a Lenovo T430s from about the same era.

 

[sebasura]

it's not an issue with bloatware, the 7440 runs hot, you can replace the thermal paste though to lower it by 5-10 degrees. I would avoid those Dell models in anycase, they also have issues with the motherboards, and often there is are lines coming across the LCD screens. I have a stack of them at work that are damaged this way. Battery also likes to ballon up, sometimes damaging the system.

I would go with a Lenovo T430s from about the same era.

Aaah I see, thanks. I haven't seen a T430s, just these models, with their respective aesthetic condition (1-5):
Thinkpad T430 - 4.5
Latitude e7440 - 3.8
Lenovo B40 - 4.2
Thinkpad T440p - 3
HP 17-F037CL - 4.4
HP 240 G5 - 3.5
Thinkpad x240 - 2.9

For example, the Thinkpad x240 I saw is quite a good option in terms of specs, but it looks like shit lol. Which of those would you pick?

 

[hang-the-9]

Depends on the exact specs, there are different configurations for each model. The X240 is a 12.1" model, most of the others are 14 or 15". Without knowing anything about them aside from the models, I would get the T440p out of those, but again depends on the exact setup. The "s" Lenovo models are thinner, and you can find a lot of systems with upgrades like a solid state drive or extra RAM. Really depends on what is available in your area. I'm sure it would be more limited than what is in the US or most of Europe.

 

[sebasura]

Depends on the exact specs, there are different configurations for each model. The X240 is a 12.1" model, most of the others are 14 or 15". Without knowing anything about them aside from the models, I would get the T440p out of those, but again depends on the exact setup. The "s" Lenovo models are thinner, and you can find a lot of systems with upgrades like a solid state drive or extra RAM. Really depends on what is available in your area. I'm sure it would be more limited than what is in the US or most of Europe.

Yeah, there's not a lot available around here (at least not as much as in the US). This looks like a nice option:

Spoiler

https/scontent.fscl3-1.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/46995987_10156544538778673_1282712736232374272_n.jpg?_nc_cat=109&_nc_ht=scontent.fscl3-1.fna&oh=94d3af57edffc210edcd793859fa311c&oe=5C6874FF
Lenovo b40
intel core i5 5200u@2.2ghz
4gb ddr3
500gb hdd
battery 3hrs
14" screen, 720p

Also, there's this HP:

Spoiler

https/uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20181121/9cc084f40b660db6e17e8ff801688213.jpg
https/uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20181121/664ebac66452a5ce7d510dec19aac9e2.jpg
Hp 240 G5
Intel i5 6200u
4 GB de RAM DDR4
1 TB hdd

 

[hang-the-9]

Don't know anything about the Lenovo B40 but that is a consumer not a business model from what I can tell. HP G5 is not bad but they are not as reliable as the Lenovo T models.