Decision between several laptops

[CrisR82]

I'm having some doubts on the purchase of a "new" laptop, since I'll be giving mine away to a family member to replace a faulty one.

 

I am in the market for a Lenovo ThinkPad X-series model since the one I've used so far - X230 (1366x768 WXGA 12.5'', i5 3320 dual-core, 8GB DDR3, Intel HD 4000) - has proven to offer enough of what I need, so after some digging, I came across a few options but I have some doubts which one would be worth it to buy over the others, so thought I'd ask for some extra opinions.

 

Available options (price is in BGN, all come with 1 year warranty):
X230 -> 1366x768 WXGA 12.5'', i5 3320  2.6GHz dual-core, 16GB DDR3 RAM, SATA SSD, Intel HD 4000 -> 510 BGN

X250 -> 1366x768 WXGA 12.5'', i5 5200U 2.2GHz dual-core, 8GB DDR3 RAM, SATA SSD, Intel HD 5500 -> 550 BGN

X270 -> 1920x1080 LED 12.5'', i5 6300U 2.5GHz dual-core, 8GB DDR4, NVME SSD, Intel HD 520 -> 699 BGN

X270 -> 1920x1080 LED 12.5'', i5 7200U 2.5GHz dual-core, 8GB DDR4, NVME SSD, Intel HD 620 -> 779 BGN

I'm not listing the specific SSDs in each since I will be replacing it after purchase anyway.

 

My use case is actually fairly simple - RPG Maker game development (with occasional Paint.NET use), casual internet browsing (mostly listening to YouTube videos while I sleep...don't judge >: ) so I don't really need anything fancy, though nice battery life would always be welcome for me.

The choice was easier before I saw the requirements for Windows 11 so now I feel all 4 options will be basically outdated by 2025 when Windows 10's support is dropped and seeing how a gen-8 Intel CPU is the minimum listed on Microsoft's spec sheet, nothing I can afford is compatible.

 

If anyone happens to be from Bulgaria and has a more specific recommendation, I would be happy to hear it.

 

One thing I should point out - I prefer to buy a used enterprise-grade laptop rather than a new one just because these things seem to be built to last much longer than the average cheap laptop you get new at a store (and I won't really benefit from one with a dedicated GPU anyway so this seems to make sense in my head).

[Somerandomtechyboi]

Do you care about upgradability?

 

Cause you can change cpus if you choose t430, t440p, t460p, t470p

And no soldered ram on these laptops so you can get 32gb even 64gb if you want

[jaslion]

Any reason to get an old laptop and not just a decent new one? I mean these things are by now already quite outdated and beaten by similar priced new laptops (compared to the most expensive one here).

 

In terms of cpu performance they are all very close the 3320 being the best by a little then the 7200u being close behind, then the 6200u being very close behind and then the 5200u also being close behind.

 

Gpu wise of course the newer laptop is better but all are still very basic but you are aware of that.

 

It shouldn't be hard to find newer devices in these price ranges normally but I do not know the market in your country.

[CrisR82]

11 minutes ago, jaslion said:

Any reason to get an old laptop and not just a decent new one? I mean these things are by now already quite outdated and beaten by similar priced new laptops (compared to the most expensive one here).

 

In terms of cpu performance they are all very close the 3320 being the best by a little then the 7200u being close behind, then the 6200u being very close behind and then the 5200u also being close behind.

 

Gpu wise of course the newer laptop is better but all are still very basic but you are aware of that.

 

It shouldn't be hard to find newer devices in these price ranges normally but I do not know the market in your country.

Laptop pricing here is kind'a weird honestly.

The cheapest new model I could find that would meet my requirements is an Acer Aspire 3 A315-23-R8Z1 (1920x1080 15.6'' Ryzen 3 3250U 2.6GHz dual-core, 8GB DDR4 RAM, Radeon RX Vega 3) for 835 BGN. Other brands and models range from 950 BGN to 1500 BGN.

 

Putting aside durability concerns with cheaper consumer laptops, 15.6'' is too big for me these days, I tend to prefer smaller ones around 12-13''.

[jaslion]

36 minutes ago, CrisR82 said:

Laptop pricing here is kind'a weird honestly.

The cheapest new model I could find that would meet my requirements is an Acer Aspire 3 A315-23-R8Z1 (1920x1080 15.6'' Ryzen 3 3250U 2.6GHz dual-core, 8GB DDR4 RAM, Radeon RX Vega 3) for 835 BGN. Other brands and models range from 950 BGN to 1500 BGN.

 

Putting aside durability concerns with cheaper consumer laptops, 15.6'' is too big for me these days, I tend to prefer smaller ones around 12-13''.

Well thing is none of these laptops are better than what you have now in terms of performance so I really don't see a point effectively downgrading your laptop.

[CrisR82]

5 hours ago, jaslion said:

Well thing is none of these laptops are better than what you have now in terms of performance so I really don't see a point effectively downgrading your laptop.

Well, the thing is that I'm basically giving away my current X230 and I need to get a replacement so just looking to see if any of the other 3 models there are worth going for instead of getting the same one again.

[jaslion]

9 hours ago, CrisR82 said:

Well, the thing is that I'm basically giving away my current X230 and I need to get a replacement so just looking to see if any of the other 3 models there are worth going for instead of getting the same one again.

I would honestly look for a device with at least a 8th gen intel in it so you actually do get a better laptop spec wise at least.

 

Plenty of hp probooks, dell whatevers, lenovo thinkpads,... that have reached EOL for businesses and should be around your budget.

[UrMom35]

Hey guys. I am not sure if this is the right place to as for advice, but next year I will start programming and i only have a cheap and weak laptop (AMD A8-7410, R5 Graphics, 8 gb ram) and I do not just want to program but I also want to play on it. I have been looking everywhere and I cannot find a lap top that catches my attention and that is also fitting in my budget (below 800€) I do not have any preferences in the design but what I am looking forward into buying is a laptop with 8gb ram (upgradable to 16gb) 512GB ssd a CPU like an i5 or a ryzen 5 with and budget or medium range GPU. Remembering my budget is below 800€. So if you guys can find anything or just give me any type of advice I would be really greatefull