Looking for a solid laptop at $400ish pricerange (I have a nice desktop)

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izzytoots

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Jul 15, 2013
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I'm currently searching for a laptop to take to school next semester as an electrical/computer engineering student and wanted some input from this fine forum.
I have never really shopped for a laptop before, as all of my computing has been from my desktop or my smartphone, and I'm not up to speed with mobile technology. The main issue i have is amd or intel for my cpu. I have no idea which one would be better for me, so I'll give an idea of what i am looking for--
-$400 price range maybe up to $450
-I already have a nice gaming desktop i built a year ago, so i don't need a super powerful laptop
-I want a portable laptop with decent battery life and nothing bigger than a 15" screen
-I would like more than 4 gb ram, but that might be asking too much
-A good keyboard. I really love those lenovo keyboards, but I have no idea how well lenovo's perform.
-It would be nice to have an ssd, but that might be asking a little much
-CSU also allows me to stream cpu and gpu intensive programs from their fancy computers, but i don't know what may or may not effect the streaming performance, so if someone could enlighten me :D

If you guys could share some insight on intel vs amd in the mobile department, my choices would be narrowed down significantly. I just want some info from people that are experienced when it comes to laptops, as all of my knowledge involves desktop computing. If more info is needed just let me know.
 
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hang-the-9


I try to avoid buying anything used unless I can see it in person (craigslist is pretty much my go to place for that). Even in the $500 range you will have a hard time beating a $300 used ThinkPad for quality and...
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izzytoots

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Jul 15, 2013
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10,510
I found some refurbished thinkpads on newegg, but I don't really trust that short of a warranty. The thinkpad is my ideal laptop, but yeah. Money. Poor college students.
 
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izzytoots

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Jul 15, 2013
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Let me rephrase my question. I want someone to tell me which laptop manufacturers are reputable and whether i should get an intel i3 or an amd a6/a8. I found some pretty great deals toshiba laptops, but i've heard some bad things about build quality and customer support, so I'm sceptical. I just have no experience with laptops. I never buy them and i can't build my own
 
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hang-the-9

hang-the-9

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Mar 25, 2010
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If you want a "good" laptop for under $600, get a used Lenovo ThinkPad. A used T420 with an i5 CPU can be found for your budget and will be better built and will last longer than any new $400 laptop. The only thing you may need to get is a newer batter, most used laptops sell with a batter that only lasts about an hour.

A used laptop that cost about $1,000 new that's in good shape and is only 2 years or so old, is a better pick than a $400 new one.

Also keep in mind that many of the used Lenovos are business models with no webcam.
 
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izzytoots

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Jul 15, 2013
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From your experience, how sketchy are used/refurbished laptops? I just am a bit wary about buying something that has some 3 month very limited warranty. I almost bought an open box Acer m series for like $200 off at best buy, but the lid and back panel had large dents and scratches and i began to wonder what the hell the previous owner was doing with that thing, so i didn't go for that one.
Also, I've decided i might as well raise my budget to $500-550 seeing as i can't find anything to great in that 400 price range.
 
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hang-the-9

hang-the-9

Titan
Mar 25, 2010
60,387
1,081
152,940


I try to avoid buying anything used unless I can see it in person (craigslist is pretty much my go to place for that). Even in the $500 range you will have a hard time beating a $300 used ThinkPad for quality and maybe even speed. The only case builds I like more than the Lenovo ThinkPads are possibley the Apple products (which I don't recommend at all unless you are rich and like shiny things). IdeaPads are good, but the build quality is not quite like the ThinkPads. ASUS is good also, I'd avoid Acer and home HP and Toshiba models. Dell may be OK, I said in another post that the Dell Insipron is like a burger at McDonalds, not bad and billions buy them, but nothing special. Lenovo, Asus and Dell would probably be my top 3 laptop brands in that order, with the ThinkPad models on top. Aside from the pricy boutique makers that is that tend to start at $1,000 or more.
 
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