school Laptop for College Questions

[KillerWolf17]

Hi, at the end of this month I am going to university and I need a laptop.

There are a few I am considering including a beefy Dell Inspiron 15 gaming (not to use for gaming obviously)

here's the link: https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834861167&ignorebbr=1

I would prefer a laptop that will last around 4 years but I know that isn't likely.

 

Another laptop I was considering is the Lenovo Yoga 710 with a dual core i5 7th gen at 2.5ghz and integrated graphics. This one is not as powerful as the dell but is sleeker and lighter but seems like it might break easily.

 

The Dell has an i5 7300HQ quad core at 2.5ghz with a turbo that wont be used for battery's sake since it only lasts around 5 hours. The dell also has a GTX 1050 which is great.

 

They are around the same price which isnt a problem.

 

Let me know what your opinion is (which one is better) and leave any other recommendations you might have.

 

Thanks.

 

[Anghammarad]

Take a look at the new Acer Aspire 5 with FHD and GF MX150. Perhaps that would be nice too.

[DrMacintosh]

what are you going to be doing with the laptop> 

[KillerWolf17]

Just now, DrMacintosh said:

what are you going to be doing with the laptop> 

note taking, spreadsheets, homework, research, essays. ect. aka normal college things

[DrMacintosh]

Just now, KillerWolf17 said:

note taking, spreadsheets, homework, research, essays. ect. aka normal college things

So you need something with the power more in line with a dual core i5, not a quad core i5/ i7 with a dedicated GPU. 

 

How much can you spend?

[shooter2749]

1 minute ago, KillerWolf17 said:

note taking, spreadsheets, homework, research, essays. ect. aka normal college things

get a 4gb ram chrome laptop then its quite cheap

[KillerWolf17]

Just now, DrMacintosh said:

So you need something with the power more in line with a dual core i5, not a quad core i5/ i7 with a dedicated GPU. 

 

How much can you spend?

i can spend about $750 but in case I change my major or get into video editing or animation the 1050 and quad core will suit that well and probably last longer. but thats my opinion

[DrMacintosh]

1 minute ago, shooter2749 said:

get a 4gb ram chrome laptop then its quite cheap

That could work but come on...a Chromebook? At least recommend something with versatility and a real operating system. 

[KillerWolf17]

1 minute ago, shooter2749 said:

get a 4gb ram chrome laptop then its quite cheap

I have one of those theyre slow and limited and dont last very long

[shooter2749]

Just now, DrMacintosh said:

That could work but come on...a Chromebook? At least recommend something with versatility and a real operating system. 

acer aspire 5 is good spec for cheaper than the competition at this price range

[KillerWolf17]

Just now, DrMacintosh said:

That could work but come on...a Chromebook? At least recommend something with versatility and a real operating system. 

exactly what I was thinking

[shooter2749]

Just now, KillerWolf17 said:

exactly what I was thinking

see my coment on that

[KillerWolf17]

Just now, shooter2749 said:

see my coment on that

I did and I looked it up and its $900 on newegg if im looking at the right one, also I have had bad experiences with acer

[shooter2749]

1 minute ago, KillerWolf17 said:

I did and I looked it up and its $900 on newegg if im looking at the right one, also I have had bad experiences with acer

https://www.amazon.ca/Acer-Aspire-i5-7200U-Windows-A315-51-53UC/dp/B071WK49BX/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1501954975&sr=8-6&keywords=i5 laptop

canada price

[KillerWolf17]

4 minutes ago, shooter2749 said:

https://www.amazon.ca/Acer-Aspire-i5-7200U-Windows-A315-51-53UC/dp/B071WK49BX/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1501954975&sr=8-6&keywords=i5 laptop

canada price

I am typing this on a $550 (USD) acer laptop right now and it has a horrible keyboard and junky materials im just going to stay away from low end acers

[Pendragon]

2 hours ago, KillerWolf17 said:

i can spend about $750

get a used thinkpad. those things will last 4 years EASY. 

 

currently the T460 goes for around 750 on ebay. get it from a reputable ebay refurb seller and benefit from factory lenovo warranty and tier 1 durability from business laptops. 

[edit1754]

19 hours ago, KillerWolf17 said:

Inspiron

I wouldn't go for that Inspiron, since it uses a low quality TN display with poor contrast and viewing angles, same as used to be the only option on the Inspiron 7567 as well, which I would find to be really not good enough for a laptop that's already getting into this kind of price bracket. It resembles the one on the left side of this photo: http://imgur.com/Sajajqc.jpg -- Companies using low quality displays in higher priced laptops is a fairly significant issue in the market today that you have to watch out for.

 

My recommendation would be the Dell Inspiron 7567 -- not the base model which still has the poor TN display, but the next-up model with the IPS display, GTX 1050 Ti, and 256GB SSD. It's $833 new, and if you can't go $833 then you can get it for $769 refurbished. I would say a refurb of a good model is a better use of a limited budget than a new model that isn't very good to begin with. This 7567 has an empty slot for a  HDD as secondary storage, and I believe has a better cooling system than the 5577 too.

 

I linked some new and refurb links to it here: https://www.reddit.com/r/SuggestALaptop/comments/6pm2dj/asus_fx502vm_vs_vivobook_pro_15/dkrctdb/

 

But if you're not going to use it for gaming, you could consider Thinkpad T series, such as the T470 or T470p. Be sure to buy with the 1920x1080 IPS display not the 1366x768 TN display.

[Pendragon]

2 hours ago, edit1754 said:

T470

Might be out of budget even with refurb