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Suggestions for Budget Laptop (<$500)

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Member
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Aug 28, 2011
324 posts
443 upvotes
Toronto

Suggestions for Budget Laptop (<$500)

Hey everyone,

Looking for a laptop <$450 pretax for light multi-tasking/general use (word processing, browsing, streaming...etc) and I want to get the best bang for my buck.
Just general things I've been looking for:

* 14 inch +
* 2+ USB ports
* CD/DVD Drive
* Webcam
* New (not used/refurb)

Been eyeing the following laptops but I'm not sure if there is better out there:

http://www.bestbuy.ca/en-CA/product/hew ... ed6142en02 (HP 15.6" Laptop - Black (Intel Pentium N3540 / 750GB HDD / 8GB RAM / Windows 8.1 - $429)

http://www.bestbuy.ca/en-CA/product/del ... 3429b4en02 (Dell Inspiron i3542 15.6" Touchscreen Laptop - Black (Intel Core i3/500GB HDD/4GB RAM/Windows 8.1 - $449)


Thanks!
12 replies
Deal Expert
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Jul 22, 2006
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You could get solid deals on refurbished T430 or T420 for $450 (tax included) easy....

It would out power any of those best buy offerings
Deal Addict
Dec 7, 2011
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Whitehorse
Dell currently has a refurbished sale, and I saw a discount code in the Hot Deals forum. That is probably your best bet.
Newbie
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Nov 26, 2014
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Montreal, QC
As of now there are no viable deals fitting your criteria that do not require much in the way of YMMV procedures.

That being said, the Microsoft Store has a nice Lenovo Flex laptop (i54210U, 6GBDDR3, 500GBSSHD, 15.6FHD touchscreen) for 499$. It will be faster than the models you list. Steer clear away from unbalanced systems such as the HP you mention: 8GBDDR3 and 750GBHD are going to be hampered by the slow N3540. These kinds of systems are purposely misleading.

Do keep in mind that the timing of this isn't great. The Microsoft Store had an Acer one (i54210U, 4GBDDR3, 500GBHD, 15.6 touchscreen) for 299$ around the holidays.

Usually it is wise to stay away from refurbished models because their quality is highly variable.
Deal Expert
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Jul 22, 2006
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chickenortheegg wrote:
Usually it is wise to stay away from refurbished models because their quality is highly variable.
Eek sweeping statement!! Shouldn't be hard to find reputable refurbisher
Newbie
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Nov 26, 2014
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Montreal, QC
george__ wrote: Eek sweeping statement!! Shouldn't be hard to find reputable refurbisher
I'm in Montreal, so that may account for some of my interesting (to say the least) experiences with non-OEM refurbishers. Either way, OP wasn't in favour of refurbished laptops.
Member
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Aug 28, 2011
324 posts
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Toronto
Thanks for all the tips guys.

I had a feeling that the CPU was going to be a bottleneck, but I've been pretty out of the loop since a few years ago when I set myself up with a gaming desktop and never kept up with the industry.

Yep, I'm not looking for a refurb since this is for the folks and they just have a thing against refurbs (them failing for one reason or another...gets attributed to it being a refurb according to the folks).

Looking to pull the trigger in a week or two; guessing I should wait it out then?
Deal Addict
Nov 21, 2007
3433 posts
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Scarborough
Check out the Dell website for the 14" LATITUDE (business class aka better than inspiron) selling at $450!

i3-4005U cpu
4gb/500gb
no dvd, I'm not sure. (no biggie, $30 usb plugin)
the important feature:
ENGRISH KEYBOARD!!!
Member
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Aug 28, 2011
324 posts
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Toronto
Samwfive wrote: Check out the Dell website for the 14" LATITUDE (business class aka better than inspiron) selling at $450!

i3-4005U cpu
4gb/500gb
no dvd, I'm not sure. (no biggie, $30 usb plugin)
the important feature:
ENGRISH KEYBOARD!!!
Seems like pretty good specs, but the lack of an optical drive kills it for the folks

Sure a USB plugin is fine for me, but they find that to be a hassle (to take it around and stuff if they need it)

Thank you though!
Member
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Aug 28, 2011
324 posts
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Toronto
I'm about to pull the trigger on this laptop.
chickenortheegg wrote: As of now there are no viable deals fitting your criteria that do not require much in the way of YMMV procedures.

That being said, the Microsoft Store has a nice Lenovo Flex laptop (i54210U, 6GBDDR3, 500GBSSHD, 15.6FHD touchscreen) for 499$. It will be faster than the models you list. Steer clear away from unbalanced systems such as the HP you mention: 8GBDDR3 and 750GBHD are going to be hampered by the slow N3540. These kinds of systems are purposely misleading.

Do keep in mind that the timing of this isn't great. The Microsoft Store had an Acer one (i54210U, 4GBDDR3, 500GBHD, 15.6 touchscreen) for 299$ around the holidays.

Usually it is wise to stay away from refurbished models because their quality is highly variable.


Waited till today for new deals to come out, only things close was this:

http://www.bestbuy.ca/en-CA/product/len ... 9d6b09en02

But the one from the Microsoft store has a much better processor.

This was also a consideration:

http://www.bestbuy.ca/en-ca/product/del ... 99c3dfen02

Any last suggestions before I do?
Deal Fanatic
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Dec 1, 2013
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redflagdeals.com
animestan wrote: I'm about to pull the trigger on this laptop.





Waited till today for new deals to come out, only things close was this:

http://www.bestbuy.ca/en-CA/product/len ... 9d6b09en02

But the one from the Microsoft store has a much better processor.

This was also a consideration:

http://www.bestbuy.ca/en-ca/product/del ... 99c3dfen02

Any last suggestions before I do?
If it were me I'd go with the Lenovo at the Microsoft store but that $429 Dell is an interesting option if they only need it for basic use. I'd say that the Lenovo is more "future proof" though. Is saving $70 worth it or not?
¯\_(-.-)_/¯ A wise RFD'er once said, "Buy now, think later."

༼ つ ◕_◕ ༽つ Behold!

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