If you're comparing new to new, ThinkPads are expensive, but even a year or two old on eBay will be pretty heavily discounted. I would suggest going that route. It should be a lot more durable than a gaming laptop as well.
replyI buy a thinkpad every month or so off ebay (for clients). I just bought a T16 Gen 3 Core Ultra 5 32GB/512GB NPU for $575 delivered w/ zero charge cycles, in orig packaging. Technically not new but it had never been used.
replyI'm typing this on a T14 Gen 2 Ryzen 7 Pro 32GB/512GB I picked up last year for $220. For my work bag I just bought a T14 Gen 3 i5-1250P 32GB/512GB WWAN for $370 that looks new.
I'm pushing folks to buy now - anything they'll need in the next 2 years. I'm convinced Ramageddon is trickling down into the (>3yo) used market. Ebay prices already seem up a bit from a few months ago.
Thank you. This is a great tip.
replyI signed up for a business account and just used my name to get ~35% off a laptop before the Ram crisis. I think it's just one of those things where you're meant to have a business relationship. It was a very competitive price and a no-brainer for what I specced. I assume they assumed I would buy many more.
replyThe Ideapads I have encountered over the years are just absolute shit quality. Its even started to infect the thinkpad lines. I would not stray too far from specific X, T or P models (and they definitely charge perhaps an unearned premium for them)
replyI agree with you on the Ideapads; the only reason to buy is on price: I bought a new one with Pentium Silver CPU and 4Gb RAM for $150 on sale and added 8gb RAM and installed Linux. With external keyboard and monitor it works great!
replyI have used an IdeaPad S540 for about 5-6 years. Upgrading RAM, WiFi modules along the way. Was bummed when Apple’s Mac Pro died on me 11months with no warning. And went back to IdeaPad again (this is where I gave up on Thinkpad). So I would swear by it. Not the current one, it’s got soldered RAM and I am less of a fan, but it just works - no issues.
replySome lines are better than others. I avoid ideapads and yogas. I buy T series and on rare occasion an E series (if the price is too good).
replyFor desktops, it's ThinkCentre Tiny all the way.
No trackpoint, no deal.
replyHa! That’s a valid point. My trackpad is crap on Linux.
reply