Is this a good value for a refurbished laptop?

Joko · June 12, 2019

https://www.newegg.com/p/N82E16834847657?Description=i5 5300U&cm_re=i5_5300U-_-34-847-657-_-Product

I wanted something cheap like a chromebook, but that has Windows and is actually usable without Internet.

I like this model because it's the T series thinkpad which I've only heard good things about and it has a 5th gen processor which seems to be a sweet spot because it's both old enough to be affordable and new enough as to when they switched to 14nm and began rating their CPUs down to 15W TDP.

For only 219 USD this looks like a great buy to me. It should be able to surf web, store my files and even play some Oldschool Runescape or Vanilla Minecraft.

LukeLinusFanFic · June 12, 2019

Ugh. Dual core? Ehhhhhhhh. Sure, it'll work. But it won't be fast.

ahuckphin · June 12, 2019

as long as it has a 1080p display which I doubt it has, then you should be find despite being a lower end thinkpad

Joko · June 12, 2019

53 minutes ago, LukeLinusFanFic said:

Ugh. Dual core? Ehhhhhhhh. Sure, it'll work. But it won't be fast.

The quad core laptops are all new 8th generation. We're talking 500 dollars, atleast 700 for anything with as good build quality as a thinkpad and then probably a grand for anything with over 8GB of RAM and an SSD. I don't make that kind of money.

What sort of programs suffer the most from having less than 4 cores?

I can work around the CPU as well by increasing RAM to 12 or 16GB. I've got a bag full of various Laptop RAM in my closet which might have some of whatever DDR3 this stuff probably uses

42 minutes ago, bindydad123 said:

as long as it has a 1080p display which I doubt it has, then you should be find despite being a lower end thinkpad

edit: I think it's 900p

A little bit of a bummer, but not a big deal, less work for the mediocre iGPU

LukeLinusFanFic · June 13, 2019

11 hours ago, Joko said:

The quad core laptops are all new 8th generation. We're talking 500 dollars, atleast 700 for anything with as good build quality as a thinkpad and then probably a grand for anything with over 8GB of RAM and an SSD. I don't make that kind of money.

What sort of programs suffer the most from having less than 4 cores?

I can work around the CPU as well by increasing RAM to 12 or 16GB. I've got a bag full of various Laptop RAM in my closet which might have some of whatever DDR3 this stuff probably uses

edit: I think it's 900p

A little bit of a bummer, but not a big deal, less work for the mediocre iGPU

It's going to be okay, I just get mad slow internet browsing on my surface pro with a 6500U. It's a compromise, but I guess you can learn to live with it.