Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I need a new laptop, my current one is over 7 years old although it still works fine it's quite slow (i5-U, 4 GB RAM, Surface Pro 4).
However, at home I mostly use my Desktop which works just great so far and I mostly use my laptop for travel. I plan to do a whole lot of longer term traveling starting mid next year when I retire so the most use for the laptop will be starting then trading my Desktop for my Laptop as my primary computer.
Considering taking advantage of best prices/deals and when I actually need to use my laptop the most:
Would you:
a) Buy during black Friday or Cyber Monday deals in November?
b) Wait till Memorial day next year (con: deals may not be as good, pro: new models come out and there may be better discounts on current ones)
Argument for waiting:
until next May (memorial day) means I can put that chunk of change in a high yield savings and get some interest for 6 months since I am not using the laptop between now and then anyway, yeah it's not a lot of money but still a few bucks.
Argument for buying now (i.e. Nov):
Black Friday/Cyber Monday probably has better deals than Memorial day? But models sold this November may be 1 generation behind newer models coming out next year so perhaps more discounted?
I've been buying them used for ages on eBay. Just ck the seller's ratings, you'll quickly see who to buy from and who to avoid. Most if not all of them will take a full return minus shipping, but I've never had to return one. A lot of them come from schools and businesses that change theirs out regularly, they're in great shape and the good sellers ck them out before listing them.
You can get a better computer w/ more memory and a much fast processor than you can get w/ a new one for a lot less money. Best of all, you can get one with a better OS than these newer, crappy Windows OS's from Win 8 up to the current one. I have a laptop w/ Win 7 Pro, it's got plenty of memory and is very fast, which is good because I use Photoshop with large files from film scans. The medium format and large format 4x5 scans are huge. All my other stuff is compatible w/ it. Like XP, you can customize it to your heart's content and get it set up the way you want it, which is something almost impossible to do w/ the later OS's.
I do the same and I have no regrets. I used to be a PC technician, so I try to buy refurbished Dell computers. They last longer than the new HPs I've bought in the past!
Look, 90% of users like yourself is not gonna benefit from an additional 500MHZ of speed or 2GB more memory. Even when you maxed out at 64GB on a laptop it will not make you much more productive.
You buy at the brand and features that you can afford today with a nice screen and keyboard.
With inflation continuing, I would buy during Black Friday, if not this year, next. We could also see "shortages" in 2024, which would drive up prices.
In the meantime, I've repurposed a circa 2011 Macbook Air (4GB/11 inch) with ChromeOS Flex which essentially turns it into a Chromebook. It surprised me how usable it is for regular web consumption; browsing, movies, videos, etc.. Much more responsive than the old and unsupported MacOSx that was running on it. ChromeOS Flex didn't cost anything.
It is my go-to for lightweight travel and haven't been compelled to replace it. Even just recently replaced its battery with a new one.
Maybe consider a mini-PC setup if it could possibly work for you....not as trendy,
can be had for cheap, can be a better setup than a laptop of the same price.
If you have a smartphone and/or cheap tablet/pad PC for those times
you have to be mobile, it might be the best way to go seeing how cheaper laptops are
usually bare-bones and the performance is kind weak.
Bought a budget laptop this time last year for $270. Glad I did it because laptops are more expensive now.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
