Are new "budget" laptops worth it?
Вставка
- Опубліковано 17 чер 2024
- Any time I go into a big-box store in my area like Walmart, Target, or Best Buy, I often see budget oriented laptops from companies like Acer, HP, and Asus on display. As someone who has made a UA-cam channel from buying, repairing, and upgrading older laptops on a tighter budget than buying new, it often made me wonder - are these new "budget" laptops worth it compared to a decent used machine like a ThinkPad? I see people all the time buy these sub-$300 machines with Celerons and Pentiums to have a cheap laptop or an affordable present for a loved one, so I decided to find out for myself. Stay tuned to hear my thoughts and feel free to share your own experiences in the comments! As always thanks for watching!
Timestamps:
00:00 Introduction
01:25 Hardware tour
02:56 Display/specifications
03:38 Performance
05:50 Battery life
06:03 Repairability/upgrades
07:05 Comparison to used laptops
09:16 Conclusion
10:19 Outro - Наука та технологія
These cheap laptops are essentially just larger netbooks. And if you even try to multitask they will make you regret it.
There's some 200-250$ Ryzen laptops with decent performance, generally dual core with smt, but quads can be found
@@jaykoerner for 250 you get a 6 core Ryzen CPUs
@@GewelReal on a new laptop? If your talking about a desktop CPU alone, well yeah but kinda irrelevant in the laptop discussion, if your talking used, cool and yeah likely a great option but I was just saying not all cheap (new) laptops are trash
Especially the models with eMMC storage.
Trust me bro, I have that exact laptop. The bastard chugs and gets very toasty 💀.
I got a t480 with the i7 8650U, 512GB M.2 and 16GB of Ram at a good deal. I upgraded the ram to 64GB, Upgraded the trackpad to the glass version, Swapped out the display to the Innolux panel, Replaced the internal, 72Wh, CMOS batteries with new ones, and last but not least cleaned out the heat pipes, fans, and repasted the CPU with Kyronaut. The T480 is the last hoorah to the Lenovo's powerbridge era and it was only fitting to go all out with these upgrades to make it imo "The Endgame Thinkpad". The only downside to thinkpads is the mysticism of always feeling obligated and compelled to upgrade them.
How much did you pay for it?
I sell them atm with one year of warranty, i7, 8gb and 256gb SSD m.2 for 320€
But i would like to know what they go for in other countries.
I have a dell latitude 7480 at a rather large discount compared to the local used market (typical price is 270-300ish usd) because I got from a friend. For the price that I bought it and compared to my latitude e5430 that I bought as an emergency purchase last year since I didn't have a laptop, and in comparison to that its real damn nice. And as a bonus I didn't pay the thinkpad tax which will go to a 16gb RAM upgrade and an IPS upgrade.
Where did you buy the batteries and how good are they, i have the same T480 but with an i5 7200u and i need batteries since i only have a 72wh external which is a half capacity which means in reality i have a 35wh battery which has a dead cell at around 40% which will go to 5% in seconds.
I got all of mine from Ebay and they have been pretty good so far. No premature draining issues and they are holding on to charges well. You just really need to search hard and look at the positive feedback from the seller.
@@marterpfahl1081 Over here in Malaysia an i5, 16/256 GB can be had for US$250. Most sellers here don't bother cleaning the devices so it'll arrive all smudged and dusty.
rewatching all your videos,, looking forward to new content (hopefully) coming soon!!!
yeah he kinda dropped off the face of the earth huh
Fantastic to see you back Sebi, Yes, since I got the Thinkpad bug almost 25 years ago these have become de-facto in my eyes. I have become a hoarder, sorry collector of various models😂😂spanning the years. Just won a batch of 480's from a UK government auction and the smiles per £ cannot be described at the moment. Thinkpads are business grade computing and their robustness and upgradeability as well as the floods of spares and forums out there; it's amazing 😊😊
Which website if you don’t mind me asking mate ?
I'm actually surprised by this. I did not expect them to perform this bad. My entire family have always bought refurbished thinkpads, so I never really think of these budget laptops as an option at all, but this performance is just a joke. People's needs have changed too much for a 10 year old thinkpad beating completely new laptops to be appropriate.
I'm even gladder, that I always turn to used laptops when looking for something new.
When i was younger my mom used to buy me these trash laptops and even watching videos on youtube was a big struggle its like why even product something this bad, so instead when i had an iphone id use it instead of the laptop to watch videos. And they dont last very long usually a year or two in you start having big issues
I find your channel useful.
Your approach is utilitarian, specific and detailed.
I came across your channel 4 years back when i was searching for the pros and cons of a used thinkpad.
I got a t440p back then and every time I window shop for a new laptop these days or try to suggest one for a friend,
I feel a 2014 laptop is far better than the new ones being offered now.
Whether it be the detached power plug from mother board or other usually accepted upgrades of the past, they are a rarity now.
I always have and had a pleasant feeling every time you clearly talked about the value of the thinkpads prior to 2017 and you are absolutely right about it.
The new laptops are just a repackaged version with power efficiency like 5nm technology with the same performance for a daily user device and additional non-upgradeability.
Cheers and have a great time.
Nice video as always. Those train and railroad shots are cool. Definitely looking at getting another ThinkPad when it’s time to upgrade.
babe wake up, sebi’s random tech uploaded a video
Definitely agree used laptops are better. Also, what do you think of the Framework laptops? Would love to hear your thoughts since they have great upgradability like the old Thinkpads used to have.
They're still too new and are fairly niche to have a solid opinion on. Once they've been more well established and the long term support of the product is guaranteed, then it'll be easier to make a good judgement about their laptops. From what I've heard the keyboards aren't nearly as good as ThinkPads, and the lack of a pointing stick similar to the TrackPoint is a dealbreaker for me. With how modular their product is, surely they could make a keyboard with a pointing stick for those of us who live by it! 😎
@@SebisRandomTech I'm excited to get to buy the used ones in about 5 years.
@@VertexPlaysMC I'm concerned about that because like, any wise framework owner would just replace the mainboard or the rest of the used parts so I doubt we'll ever see a used market for the devices.
@@glazedbelmont the cases are definitely going to be hard to get, but a lot of people will have old logic boards they don't need anymore, so you could definitely find them, but maybe not for a very good price.
Louis Rossman bought a Framework and was very happy with it up until someone swiped his backpack with the Framework inside. Linus of LTT bought one and $250K worth of Framework stock. That would appear to be an endorsement. These guys are pretty influential on UA-cam and seem to know their stuff.
The Framework logic boards too may be hard to get because a niche use has arisen to repurpose the motherboard. People have designed 3d printed cases for the old board suitable for new purposes.
Thanks for the great video review. I'm looking forward to seeing your next video about the best budget Thinkpad in 2024.
Very much looking forward to your next video, I’ve been thinking about getting a classic thinkpad, I have my eyes on the t430 or x230 but very unsure
Great video as always, watched it on my T430 I bought for $50. This laptop has just aged like fine wine, and the option of an external graphics card through the express card slot just makes it edge out the T440p for me. I suppose when the day comes where 16 gigs of RAM doesn't suffice I'll have to switch to a W530 or maybe a T480. If Framework adds a trackpoint and trackpoint buttons and it's reasonably priced maybe I'll try that one day. Until then, the T430, always and forever.
This is what I'm currently wanting, personally, ThinkPad E14 Gen 2, It's definitely a Modern laptop with the curves but it's got a good apu and build quality to simply match it.
@jamesabestos2800 The AMD verison (Ryzen 7 4700U) meaning I got 2ghz base freq and 8 cores.
came here from your videos comment section's my comment section
Thanks for another great video!
Hi! This year my Lenovo Thinkpad x230i celebrated its anniversary. Ten years it helps me to do my daily tasks. Of course it's out dated, so I'm waiting for your next video!!!
Great video! For general e-mail and websurfing, I agree totally.
You hit the nail on the head with this one, as always. Hello from r/thinkpad
I found your channel back in february and got interested in thinkpad, and bought a used T470 with i5 7300u, touch screen, fingerprint reader, IR camera, for like $113 (currency converted). I'm glad i found your channel and thank you for posting a video like this!
You got a good deal on that T470! Glad you could get a good laptop and thanks for watching my videos!
So many of my favorite UA-camrs are posting again I really need to play lotto!!
Won a free ticket on a scratch-off tonight, maybe it's a sign! :P
Got this same laptop, put Linux Lite on it. Required a little tinkering, but now can do a fair bit on it. I can even play a low settings, performance modded Minecraft with UA-cam in a mini player in the corner and experience mostly light stutters in game. That’s pushing the limits.
When just using chrome I can open several tabs and browse comfortably. Initially got it just to tinker, the size and weight make me use this more than my more powerful 15” laptop. I would not buy this as your only laptop, but as a secondary laptop to tinker with or do stuff on the couch.
still waiting on the updated version of the best value thinkpad video
Those HP 15 laptops with the core i3's that are priced around 300-400 dollars you were walking past are actually pretty good. I got a similar model of laptop that was 5 years old for only 7 dollars and it was still surprisingly responsive, and it was really tough, since it had been dropped before I got it and still worked, although I later needed to buy a new hard drive, and the battery isn't as good as it was new.
Hey love your videos man , am looking for a thinkpad to upgrade to when are you dropping the new video
Man I so much like your videos! Always super on point! I have learnt a lot with you here . THANKS!
I am also a thinkpad fan, nothing can replace that level of quality.
Can you please do a video on the x230 tablet? I just got one and I am super curious about how far you can upgrade and customize one of those (specially the bios) . So far I got it working with Linux Mint and absolutely loving it as a daily work horse. Thanks again!
Most of the upgrades that can be done to a standard X230 can also be done to the X230 Tablet. I honestly don't have a strong interest in tablet or touch-based laptops, but if one presents itself for the right price I'll be happy to feature it in a video!
Based on the information in your videos I went looking for a used T430. For $140 (Canadian) I picked up one with an i7 processor (2.9MHz), 8GB of ram anďthe 1600x900 display. It was in mint condition. I love the keyboard feel. I could not be happier with the value of this purchase - thank you for your videos.
Thank you for watching!
2.9MHZ? Gotta be some insane undervolting lol
Must be a computer from the 70s, or maybe NASA from Apollo 11...
Good Advice. Thank you.
love this thank you sebi
been binging your videos and you really encouraged me to get a ThinkPad as I saw they had potential and were good.
I'm getting one in a few weeks and I'm excited. keep up the good stuff. (I'm getting a t540p which you never talked about in your channel tho)
(maybe coz it came out with the t440p which stole it's thunder but I believe it's a dope machine)
T540p should be a solid machine depending on your needs, sure I didn't talk about it but it still holds its own if you can get it for a good price.
Honestly a very well-made and informative video. Really interesting topic as well. Good stuff! From Isaac ;)
Thanks for watching!
Hi Sebi, since watching your video I became a fan of Thinkpad. Been looking forward to your new edition of best used Thinkpad. Heard mixed comments on newer Thinkpad like T490 or other models. I’m still rocking my x220 and it’s doing its job fine. Maybe looking to upgrade after your new video
Yaaaaay🎉🎉🎉 glad you're back.
I totally agree with you! Thanks :)
I loaded ZorinOS on the 11' version of that system to resell and was able to get better performance, but as you mentioned, even with Linux it just wasn't up to much of tasks I'd use it for. It ended up being a light media consumption device for a not so tech-savvy user.
New Thinkpad vid HYPE
Nice name, bro! That one you gotta earn👊🏻
Watching this on Linux on an i7-2620m T420s that I bought used in 2014. I had some issues with overheating and thermal throttling, but now after cleaning out the fan and replacing the thermal grease it works much better.
Amazing how such a small fix can make a huge difference! The very first ThinkPad I had, an R51, had a "fan error" that I was able to solve just by dislodging the fan. That's what started it all for me.
@@SebisRandomTech I remember you talking about that stuck fan before.
Getting at the fan and heatsink in this -s model was a mess though. Every screw had to be removed, the screen taken off and the motherboard taken out. I also took this chance to replace the cable to the webcam/microphone/LEDs that had gone intermittent. I really like the keyboard and magnesium chassis.
The T470p I use at work is nice too though... Now after a couple of years it also needed a cleaning and thermal paste replacement to solve thermal throttling issues.
Sebi, thank you. Took your advice and bought the last great Thinkpad the T-480. It was a refurb with a i7 8th gen processor, 16 Gbyte of memory and 256 Gbyte of storage and OF COURSE FHD IPS display. I made that mistake on my last Dell and did not want another god awful TN display. It works fine and I'll be looking to upgrade storage when I see a bargain.
When opening the packing I was sort of surprised to see what looked like a brand new machine. What? No indications of use? Closer examination indicated the machine was wrapped with a die cut sticker for the top, bottom, palm rest and track pad. It really looks brand new at first and second glance. Feel? Not bad but not new Thinkpad, you can feel the edges of the sticker. I doubt the adhesive will keep it adhered for the long term but that won't effect its function. @ $300 from Newegg it was on par with typical Ebay offerings with little or no guarantee.
FYI just read the warranty Information, 18 mo. on the machine. Battery covered for 12 mo.- void if opened or tampered with oops! already opened the laptop but denying warranty is illegal according to federal law, they have to prove I broke it. The Thinkpad is better than my last Dell e6410 bought about five years ago for $200 as a brand new refurb, I assume a return. Sebi, thanks for helping me spend less on a nice laptop.
I have using used laptops. Never had any serious problems. Works fine.
My 2019 Lenovo Ideapad 8th Gen i3 might as well tell that new laptop to hold its beer! Seriously, even though it's an i3, it still handles 3D Animation in Blender (I only do 90s-style graphics which isn't all that demanding), video editing in Davinci Resolve is fine as long as I don't do 4K (which I don't anyways), and classic games in SCUMMVM or a Virtual Machine run fine! On top of that, it has an option to add a secondary 2.5 inch hard drive, which I did have a 500GB HDD on standby so I'm using that. So I think I convinced you enough why I love mine and will never get something like this! Awesome video btw!😁👌
Glad your machine is working for you, and glad you liked the video! Thanks for watching!
Welcome back
Got a lenovo laptop for somewhere around 200 CAD. Its celeron was 80% at idle and ram was at 70%. Threw debian on it with lxqt and its cpu is now only a few percent and ram is at about 30%. Much snappier now and it doesn't struggle to open gsender anymore.
I remembered when using Laptop like that. It was my Mom borrowed from school. You know it was make me kinda mad, as it was kinda sluggish for pretty much basic tasks
Although I was happy with how compact it is and lightweight as it use flash based storage (unlike Asus X441M that use HDD by default)
Hello. I couldn't have the chance to buy a thinkpad because I wanna focus more to the graphics side and had to get a gaming laptop etc. But I LOVE your channel. And I have a question, when you are buying damaged laptops what do you do if the problems are too much or can be fixed only by changing what's damaged? For example how do you deal with a damaged motherboard, not working charger port etc. And thank you so much for guiding people about buying used products!
I'm very selective about what sort of damaged laptops I buy. If it looks to be damaged enough that it can't easily be repaired I try to avoid buying it to begin with unless I am specifically getting it for a part it has. If a laptop I buy is too far gone to be fixed, I salvage whatever parts I can from it and try to find a way to safely dispose of the rest (passing it onto someone else, local electronics recyclers, etc). I'm glad you like my videos even if ThinkPads aren't the right machines for you! Thanks for watching!
Hey for the next video could you mention the thinkpads l380 and l390? These are very affordable 13 inch laptops with i5 8th as well as... 2 ram slots! Also the thinkpad e14s are very good, especially the ryzen 3 4500u version with super iGPU and 2 ram slots as well! Good luck on the next vid.
I'll consider it, but I'll probably focus on the 14" models like the L14, due to better availability in most markets. Thanks for watching!
I got a Thinkpad L14 Gen2 recently with a Ryzen 3 Pro 5450u, for $230 certified refurbished. It's probably the best deal I've ever gotten on a computer.
The 5450u is 4 cores 8 threads, and Zen 3 cores, so very good single core performance. Also, everthing on the L14 Gen2 is upgradable except the processor.
The L14, at least up to the Gen2, is a very solid modern ThinkPad, especially the AMD variant. They made a few changes to the most recent version that I'm not very happy about, but you definitely landed a solid deal with yours!
TN Display despite that problem, sometimes can be beneficial especially for privacy. Although may not as secure as "HP Sure View" 😅
bro posts vid at 1 am after three months, it is the law to watch the said video
Sebi we need more videos !!
I work at the IT helpdesk at my school and we use the Thinkpad l13 yoga gen 2's. people constantly come in with computers that wont charge, power switch problems and numerous other problems. the solution is always a board replacement I cant tell you how many I have seen replaced. Technically we are an authorized service center so they are all warranty but still. I have also needed to show so many people how to hit the bios rest button, the trackpads wont work key boards wont work or it will just get stuck in a boot loop until you rest it.
I can also recommend tablets as a good replacement for budget laptops. Apps are pretty lightweight so for basic internet browsing, social media and emails they do it without any complaints. Also if you spend a bit more for something like an ipad they're basically old relative proof and work out the box if you don't want to be the family IT support.
Could not agree more. I always advise people to buy old business laptops .
Please make a video about the ThinkPad T14 Gen 5
Got a T450 and 6 cell replacement battery several months ago for about $90 total. It works great with Opensuse Tumbleweed after swapping in some spare parts. I'm probably never buying a brand new laptop in the foreseeable future.
It's not just budget laptops. Consumer laptops in general seem to be more disposable when compared to business models. I'm currently using a Lenovo Legion 5 pro as my main PC and an old Dell Latitude E5430 as a secondary machine. And while the Latitude is nowhere near the Legion performance wise, I wouldn't be surprised if it outlived it, even though it was one of Dell's lower-end business laptops at the time.
Hey, hope you're doing well. When can we expect the next best value thinkpads video?
i have an older model of that asus laptop that my mom got for my birthday and it's the exact same just that it has the sd card slot and also has troubles with the N key as you showed in the video and also has a slightly different design on the top cover, if you guys are curious about the model number, it's the asus r214ma and as a user of this, don't buy it, it's cooling is so bad that i can fry an egg while typing a google doc
Microsoft Certified Refurbished are also a good option. They generally show up looking like a brand new machine and usually have a warranty. Evening you're going to upgrade later on you know that you are starting out with something good. You might pay a bit more but not much more.
Off-topic but refurbished smartphones are a good way to save money too. I'm sitting here waiting for a Galaxy Note 10+ to arrive. It still has a couple of years of security updates and the newer models are downgrades. The Note 10+ comes with 12 GB of ram, 256 GB storage and an SD card slot. The newer models only have 8 GB ram, 128 GB storage and no SD card slots. Cameras are excellent even on older devices and processor upgrades are really minimal at this point. They can't get much faster due heat restrictions. My ThinkPad T480 will be here tomorrow. A high end smartphone and a T480 both in excellent condition for under $700 Canadian. I couldn't be happier.
These low-budget laptop will work best with a light Linux distro, like AntiX or Lubuntu. For the adventurous types, the unauthorized version of Windows 10 called "Tiny 10" will run smooth as silk on a Celeron-based laptop...for educational and demonstrational purposes, of course.
I Love my old Thinkpads. ❤😀
Most of these budget laptops are technically not the successor to netbooks, they are tablets that are in laptop form factor, at least the budget laptops that are sold here in Southeast Asia. Tablets in a sense that the motherboard components are fully soldered (the RAM, WiFi+BT, and EMMC [you're lucky if it is an SSD]).
If I had to choose between these two, easy. I'll take the (used) ThinkPad. I never wanted a notebook that weaker compared to Android/iPhone or iPad…
Its been so long where have you been?
Busy as usual. 😔
@@SebisRandomTech oh ok... Will be waiting for your video.
I've tried the CrystalDiskMark myself with my not brandnew but A grade Microsoft certified refurbished X390 and the result annihilates the cheap Asus laptop. Ten times faster in Read and unbelieveable 35 times faster in Write (SEQM1). And I paid a 280 Euro on a summer sale with 20% discount. I would say I made the much better deal with the X390! :D
Thank you so much for this Video. Is ThinkPad T480 worth buying now in late 2023 or 2024 ⁉️
Depending on your needs, yes.
I still use an HP laptop, which I bought in 2018. It has an Intel Core i5-8250U (way better than the Celeron N4020 the budget laptop has), 1TB of storage (one downside is that it's hard drive storage) and 8GB of RAM (double the 4GB of RAM of the budget laptop), all for about $700 (although nowadays, it would go for closer to $450).
The good thing is you can probably upgrade that storage easily if you wish to put in an SSD.
Is that a Dell Latitude 5400 at 7:42 into the video? If so, what are your opinions on it?
That it is, my experience with it is very limited but it's a decent business laptop from my initial impressions.
Found a t450s on the side of the road in hard rubbish. Works great brand new battery too. The display is not perfect and has a dead pixel and a few white spots and some scratches mostly can't see any of it in use and I use an external display anyway. i5-3500u with 12gb of ram.
You get laptops like the Lenovo IdeaPad 3 with a fast Ryzen 3 5425U 4C/8T CPU and 500GB NVMe SSD sometimes for less than 400 USD. A repairable alternate are used laptops like the HP Elitebook 850 G6 which features a fast 8th gen. 4C/8T CPU as well for like 350 USD. The Elitebook laptops are easier to repair than the Thinkpad series and feature additional I/O.
I've heard some good things about the EliteBook/ProBook lines, at some point I'd like to give them a look.
@@SebisRandomTech Well I sold several hundred of these and most are reaching the 10-year mark easily. I can easily swap a keyboard or screen panel in less than 10 minutes. Charging port broken? No big deal, since the G5 series USB-C charging is supported as well. In the worst case, you can get the Classic Dock for 20 USD and charge it that way. 3 options to charge a single laptop.
Hi, do have any idea of Thinkpad P72? Can you compare it for instance to a gaming laptop with gen 10 or gen 11 CPUs in some way?
A gaming laptop would probably provide better performance for games than the P72, but that machine is no slouch and has some powerful hardware for a laptop. It *can* play games, but not as well as a "gaming" laptop probably can.
I think the newer N100 laptops are much faster. Maybe you can try one of those?
Fortunately, I didn't buy laptop like that. I purchased Ideapad Slim 14 that has i3 11th Gen and 8 Gigs RAM (fortunately there's slot for upgrade). It surprisingly run well. Only struggle when using DR and Pr video editing software
Well, i3 1115G4 has similar specs with 8th Gen i5 8365U. Mine using M.2 SSD from Intel by default and 8 gigs RAM, 1 soldered, 1 slotted. For my tasks, it still quite well. Although it's pretty power hungry though 😅
I bought the same ASUS E210M for really cheap before Christmas... I thought it was a Chromebook but it had Windows 11 Starter on it... Very slow... Got rid of the Starter... I had to change many settings to get it moving so it'd load a webpage! I found out there's a virus protection program to protect the kernel. It's on Win 10 but not automatically turned on like Win 11... I turned it off and finally got some speed.
I also have many old IBM Thinkpads I use that don't leave the house, that's why I bought this dang ASUS to do in the first place.
I'd probably put Linux Lite on that if you don't mind Linux. It's my favorite recent Linux distro for machines with low RAM. It feels like real Linux but will run fine in 1 GB of RAM, and great in 4 GB.
@@harleyn3089 I was thinking of putting Linux Mint on the ASUS... I have Mint on a few machines and think it would work fine on this throw-in-the-backpack laptop.
Brave browser is actually pretty great for slow computers, though I'd disable a bunch of bloat (not slow down bloat)
To ask you I bought t430 put new ram and 16gb of ssd in and turn it one it done it just fine.I had i7-3610qm 45tdp processor so i took out a battery and cleaned heatsink and fan (used pressure air spray to clean it of, I accidentally forgot to keep it in place with finger so it was spinning fast for few seconds I replaced processor with i7-3610qm but back heatsink and battery turned it on and nothing think light powers on power button on keyboard stays green fan spins for 5 seconds and stops and i have black screen no thinkpad logo or bios. I again tore it apart same as before put back original i5 again same happens. Now I wonder did I kill the fan or the motherboard. Theres no beep sound or nothing.
Just bought a Fujitsu E734 laptop with Windows 10 Pro, i5 4200M, 8GB DDR3 and 128GB SSD for $60 for my grandma. She used to use an old core 2 quad q9450 system that used a lot of power and was slow due to having a HDD.
That Fujitsu sounds like it was a good upgrade!
@@SebisRandomTech True, my grandma is very happy with the upgrade. And it will save a buck on energy costs compared to the Core 2 Quad with an old 80GB 10000RPM WD Raptor HDD
I got a 2010 MacBook for 21$ and it works fine. Just has a few miss keys.
Most budget offerings from the big box stores in this era are pathetic swindles for the unassuming consumer. It's pretty troubling to see brands push out these hobbling netbooks when a used Samsung Galaxy S20 Plus could run circles around them in every use case. It wasn't always like this. Having briefly worked at Best Buy, I've seen good and bad budget offerings surface at different phases of the market. Ten years ago I made a great buy of an Acer Aspire E1-572 for about $600 that's still competently kicking around today and I only had to make one repair to the charging port.
Whilst I agree that budget laptops are generally rubbish, at least you can usually stick a decent OS like Linux on them.
I can't think of anything worse than having to do my computing on any locked-down Samsung mobile device that are becoming as "walled garden" as Apple are as time goes on.
Sorry, nobody does SERIOUS computing on a phone or tablet - there's a reason why toddlers like their Disney movies on tablets in the back of their parents' car when on long trips!
I'd take a cheap Celeron laptop over a phone any day, phones suck for everything else than reading news or forums and instant messaging. I loved my netbook back in the day, that thing even had longer battery life than many of my older smartphones lol
@@Pasi123 which is a goddamn shame because like the original commenter said they run circles around cheaper (and even midrange) laptop CPUs
if only Microsoft didn't fumble Windows on ARM
new budget laptops are not that bad of a deal if you make some sensible decisions like
1. not buying chrome book
2, not buying laptop with anything less than Ryzen 3500 or intel i5 8th gen
3. buying laptop with upgradable storage and ram.
more than 3 years ago i bought my first personal laptop a asus vivobook for equivalent of 450 -500 dollars as i was not comfortable opening electronics to try used. most people buying their first machine wants something that works out of the box. Since I have added a ssd . Replaced a busted fan. I have become quite comfortable opening and fixing basic stuff in laptops so i might very likely buy a used one next. But than again in india the used market for laptop is not that hot so will have to see.
Where have you been?
Hi there!
I'm just wondering why you don't mention the t485 or similar AMD-CPU driven laptops. Isn't the t485 a AMD-clone of the t480? Is there a similar upgradeability? Would be nice if you can make a review on one of the AMD Thinpad-"oldies" :)
They're pretty much just AMD versions of the T-series equivilant. Lenovo didn't market them well and they didn't sell very well (at least the A485 and other similar older models) so they're harder to come by.
I have recently converted my old Vivobook x505za to a Linux machine(Ubuntu), and very much disappointed with it, constant crashes, and no hints, (most probably amd gpu driver/ wifi card.. still testing).
And yes the keyboards...just don't mention, mine malfunctioned twice... Now detached the inbuilt one and using external.
Now I have made up my mind to switch to a x270, could you please provide some insight (how compatible... Generally Intel has better compatibility, as I read) about driver issues in Linux with these thinkpads ?
ThinkPads are generally about as good as it gets when it comes to Linux support. I believe the only driver issue Linux may have is with the GPU or fingerprint reader, but the X270 isn't equipped with a GPU so that's not really an issue.
I think the market for these budget laptops is mostly shopped by undiscerning customers. The differences in value for the same price can be pretty significant if you really get into it.
As for Chromebooks, there is much to be said. The Chromebooks known by the average person seem to be ones both outdated and minimalised for use in schools - and improper IT management, I suspect, causes overloads of logged-in google accounts that bog down the machines. However, of you're looking for a budget 'new' computer, they can be a good value. While I'm sure businesses pay pennies for Windows licenses on cheap machines, Google may have less royalty involved. Also, Chrome OS is a bit more efficient with limited resources. I wouldn't suggest getting a bare base model of anything, but Chromebooks that are $200-350 on sale can reach into the low end 'premium' scale hardware wise.
Ultimately the thing to remember is that these low-cost devices are both even cheaper than they look, and constantly overstocked. If you wait for a sale and/or a refurbished deal it's not uncommon to get something for as little as half list price.
While you called out the NVME M.2 port, doesn't sound like you attempted to utilize it. An NVME drive for your OS plus some performance tuning of Windows (or another OS entirely) can deliver real tangible benefits for these devices. Just try to find a similar weight and size alternative. You're correct that the general population probably shouldn't buy these devices.
It just wouldn't be worthwhile. For the cost of this laptop plus a good SSD to add to it, one could have purchased a much better used model. That's one of the points I was trying to make with this video, even the small upgrades you can do won't do much to improve the experience compared to just buying something else. As you pointed out, these devices aren't good for most of the general population. Thanks for watching!
Hello! Would the T480 be sufficient enough for high school (browser/email), coding, and low-end gaming (browser games and Minecraft) in your opinion?
T480 should be more than good enough for all of those things, just make sure you check the functionality of the Thunderbolt port, as those models were prone to issues with the Thunderbolt controller.
@@SebisRandomTech thanks!
crazy how a thinkpad from 15 years ago that's prolly half the price seems like such a better option
These ultra-budget laptops worry me a bit in all honesty, they're just landfill waiting to happen.
With such low specifications it's hard to know who they're even targeted to - they're not suitable for kids because they can't play games, they have too little RAM to comfortably run Windows + Office for productivity, the CPU is too slow to run Netflix or UA-cam in any kind of high definition, and the tiny amount of slow storage means they can't even have many applications installed.
you can typically get a 2010s thinkpad for under $100 (maybe itll end up being over 100 if you buy additional parts) and it'll be way better than the $200 laptops they're selling.
Exactly!
ThinkPad after 4th gen not worth getting as the CPU is soldered to the motherboard. Recently acquired the ThinkPad 13 Gen 2 and found nothing much to upgrade except the RAM and primary storage. Cannot add secondary storage like my X230 or L440.
Since the CPU is a Celeron, I'm only using it for media playback. Not bad since it outlasted my L440 with an extended battery.
For a while that was true, but more recent Intel and AMD offerings have surpassed the performance of the very best CPUs that can be fitted into a 4th generation socket. While it's unfortinate that upgradeable CPUs aren't really a thing on laptops anymore, once we've squeezed every last bit of performance out of the older machines that's the reality we'll have to deal with.
Heyo! Do you think either a T450 or a T460 be sufficient for Docs, Slides, and occasional gaming like Minecraft?
I don't know what suits me better, but I prefer spending less. Many thanks for what you do and I hope you're doing well! :3
I think the T460 would be a smarter choice than the T450 unless you can find one for a substantially cheaper price. Both would be good enough for basic office work and light gaming (Minecraft for example).
damn that cinebench score is 5.8x of what my desktop puts out and that's sad
my Athlon x2 340 has a cinebench of 114 points
it was used got the whole pc for 2 broken budget Samsung phones from 2016
any update on the best value video? planning on getting one soon. if it wont come out in this week could you just reply what you think is best bang for your buck and i'll get that
Depends entirely on your budget and needs. T480s are pretty cheap right now, just beware of the Thunderbolt controller issue that plagues them. Lots of people I know are also happy with X270s or T470s if you don't mind a dual core chip.
Looking forward to watch your video about used thinkpad laptops in 2023
These laptops do have a place (imo): portability. In addition to the ludicrously lengthy battery life, they have small footprints, are extremely lightweight, and don't need a hard surface for ventilation. So if you are going to be carrying your laptop around in a backpack or other bag throughout the day and/or are using it in unconventional places, plus you don't need to do anything performance-heavy, these are perfect for that. You don't have to lend a single thought to whether the battery will last and they barely take up any space and weight, making transport basically a non-issue. However, as an actual daily driver or for literally any other usecase, I agree that a used Thinkpad or similar is going to be the far better option. So these cheapie laptops do have a use, but it's clear that manufacturers aren't selling exclusively to this demographic and are disappointing a lot of people expecting a more typical experience.
2:30 before or after disassembling the device?
Before.
It's a disgrace these big biz sell laptops like these. It's a big waste of resource and big sources of eWaste. I see lots of people are unloading them on local buy/sell site like Kijiji. In 2023, Intel should be ashamed to sell techs in the 90's. Seriously, Celeron and Pentinum. This ain't 1990s. The sad part I bet people see Win11, an Intel 11th Gen chip, and reliable companies like HP, Lenovo, Asus,... it can't be that bad. That's until they turn it on at home... My 2007 Duo-Core Classic white Macbook running latest Linux Mint will run at least 10x faster. Good to see your new videos. You get me started buying Thinkpads, they are really good value for the money.
used lenovo T480 are out of competition. with the same price
Not only old business laptops are far better in performance. You can get better build quality and features like 5ghz wifi, screen quality and what not. It makes no sense to buy a Celeron at all. Im using a 7th gen U class i5 and i think i can pull atleast 3 more years before it becomes a server.
Please suggest me - T430 vs X230 ?
Which one you like most?
T430 if you want good upgrades, X230 if you care more about portability.
4:26 hey look it's the stalling 60s
At least it's not the B&P's! 😎😎
bro come baaackk