Shill me the best laptop under $500 (1 Viewer)

[ren hoek]

For a family friend.  He's 17 and looking for something simple.  Think schoolwork, something he can install Brave on and earn dank passive income with, and the usual boy stuff ?

 

[Jutz]

I'm going to be buying a new computer soon and I am getting a basic budget set up.  No gaming, no touch screen, no 2 in 1.  So far the best I have found are the Acer Aspire's on Amazon.  I was thinking of getting the laptop below and adding 4GB of RAM to it.  The laptop is about $350 and the 4GB of RAM would be about $50:

https://www.amazon.com/Acer-E5-575-33BM-15-6-Inch-Notebook-Generation/dp/B01K1IO3QW/ref=sr_1_3?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1515274224&sr=1-3&keywords=acer+aspire

I am leaning toward getting a desktop tower though and this Acer is nice too:

https://www.amazon.com/Acer-Desktop-i3-7100-Windows-TC-780-ACKi3/dp/B071DM6TWM/ref=sr_1_8?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1515274224&sr=1-8&keywords=acer+aspire

If you pair it up with this monitor it would still come in under $500 at around $450:

https://www.amazon.com/Acer-HA220Q-Monitor-Ultra-Thin-Design/dp/B071784D4R/ref=sr_1_5?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1515274482&sr=1-5&keywords=acer+monitor

I've been looking for a few months now and I haven't seen anything, with the exception of maybe re-furbs, with similar ram and HD for the price.  Also, the reviews say the Acer laptops are extremely easy to add RAM or HD.  A lot of people add RAM and an SS hard drive to the laptop I have linked.

 

[Rattle and Hum]

Staples has a Dell I5567-5274GRY-P on sale for $499. Features I would like include:

- Intel® Core™ i5-7200U

- 8 GB RAM

- 256GB Solid State Drive

- Tray load DVD Drive

- Backlit Keyboard

 

[msudaisy26]

Very good thread OP, right now we have a desktop that is like 11 years old and is horrible.We want a laptop we can take it downstairs and plug it into the television and stream shows/sports down there. So if you don't mind, I would like to piggy back this question and ask the same. It would just be used for streaming, checking email, checking fantasy football and minor stuff like that no games. Am I in the same ballpark as the OP?

 

[abbottjamesr]

For a family friend.  He's 17 and looking for something simple.  Think schoolwork, something he can install Brave on and earn dank passive income with, and the usual boy stuff ?

Is portability an issue or is this a desktop replacement?

$500 is not really one of the value sweet spots right now.  If it were me I would be looking at $250 - $380 lapbooks from Chuwi if I wanted inexpensive and portable.  These have very nice monitors for their price groups and will do basic computing just fine.  The 12.3 is very nice.  Only weights 2.9 lbs, has 6 gb ram and a M.2 slot for an ssd. 

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01N0XRC1S?tag=anandtech01-20

https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA3526D54387&ignorebbr=1&nm_mc=KNC-GoogleMKP-PC&cm_mmc=KNC-GoogleMKP-PC-_-pla-_-Tablet+PC+-+Tablets-_-9SIA3526D54387&gclid=Cj0KCQiAp8fSBRCUARIsABPL6JYG2gMS7uzeEySMu3s1BZ9NElEoWt9rlj18sMu6qcpJ4qngrRFfiBIaAuEkEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds

The next step up in my opinion is at $800, the Dell XPS 13.  This is a well built PC that would last a 17 year old through college likely.  

https://www.amazon.com/Dell-9360-Anti-Glare-InfinityEdge-Touchscreen/dp/B074G5DQ5M/ref=sr_1_3?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1515342889&sr=1-3&keywords=dell+xps+13

 

[Jutz]

Staples has a Dell I5567-5274GRY-P on sale for $499. Features I would like include:

- Intel® Core™ i5-7200U

- 8 GB RAM

- 256GB Solid State Drive

- Tray load DVD Drive

- Backlit Keyboard

Wow... that is an awesome laptop.  I was trying to keep my budget closer to $400 - $450 but that set up might be worth the splurge.  I agree with all of your underlined features as well.  And it's a Dell.  I'm normally don't care much about brand name, but I am always a bit hesitant with HP.  Dell I feel a lot better about.

 

[otb_lifer]

@ren hoek - i am a tried and true lenovo user - This Here looks pretty damn sweet, coming in right on the budget cusp.

i am notorious for beating my laptops to death, was going through roughly one per year - then i went lenovo - have been using my current one for 5 years strong. 

matter of fact, think im'ma upgrade myself to that linked model 

 

[abbottjamesr]

Very good thread OP, right now we have a desktop that is like 11 years old and is horrible.We want a laptop we can take it downstairs and plug it into the television and stream shows/sports down there. So if you don't mind, I would like to piggy back this question and ask the same. It would just be used for streaming, checking email, checking fantasy football and minor stuff like that no games. Am I in the same ballpark as the OP?

Have you thought about an iPad or similar tablet?  I use my iPad for just about everything that is not work or gaming these days. You can get all the streaming apps on it and casts to TVs.  

I bought a refurbed iPad Air 128gb with LTE off eBay for $250 and it has been pretty good for what it does. If you don’t need LTE they are even cheaper. 

 

[ren hoek]

Very good thread OP, right now we have a desktop that is like 11 years old and is horrible.We want a laptop we can take it downstairs and plug it into the television and stream shows/sports down there. So if you don't mind, I would like to piggy back this question and ask the same. It would just be used for streaming, checking email, checking fantasy football and minor stuff like that no games. Am I in the same ballpark as the OP?

You could probably get away with something like that for just $300-350.  That stuff is standard on netbooks these days.  

 

[Mister CIA]

For home use, I'm a big fan of the all-in-one form factor. Got mine set up on an end table next to the couch. If I want something more mobile, my old Nexus 7 tablet fills the bill nicely. That said, 80% of my tech consumption away from work is on my phone.

 

[ren hoek]

Staples has a Dell I5567-5274GRY-P on sale for $499. Features I would like include:

- Intel® Core™ i5-7200U

- 8 GB RAM

- 256GB Solid State Drive

- Tray load DVD Drive

- Backlit Keyboard

I like the way you think.  I definitely want a lot of memory and an SSD for him.  He's a good kid.  I was reading this post from pollardsvision from another thread and refurbished enterprise laptops seem like a real good value play.  Feel like I've heard a lot of good things about Thinkpads too.  

I'm no tech guy, but I've come to believe in the refurbished business grade laptop route. For years, I'd spend a few hundred bucks on consumer grade laptops and end up highly disappointed. Slow, cheaply made, don't last. They suck, but I'm also not dropping a grand on a laptop.

Then, I got a refurbished Thinkpad (T420) for about $250 and put an SSD & extra RAM in it (easy, and I'd never done it before). It's built like a damn tank. Fast as hell, incredible keyboard, boots up in 10 seconds, super easy to replace parts if need be, and runs as good as the day I got it used years ago. Thinkpads and Dell Latitudes are cranked out in high volume every year, then as businesses upgrade, boatloads of perfectly good laptops hit the market for a great price.

Anyway, a route to consider. Unlike consumer grade laptops, business grades are made to last and $400-500 will get you a far better product.

Is it easy to find compatible SSDs/RAMs for these things?  I don't know what I'm doing.  

 

[Rattle and Hum]

I like the way you think.  I definitely want a lot of memory and an SSD for him.  He's a good kid.  I was reading this post from pollardsvision from another thread and refurbished enterprise laptops seem like a real good value play.  Feel like I've heard a lot of good things about Thinkpads too.  

Is it easy to find compatible SSDs/RAMs for these things?  I don't know what I'm doing.  

interesting idea. Here is a super small SSD for $239: https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834317757

I wouldn't know how to transfer my OS to a new SSD drive.

 

[BoltBacker]

Is it easy to find compatible SSDs/RAMs for these things?  I don't know what I'm doing.  

Very. It's the easiest part.

Just search youtube to get a better idea if you will be comfortable with the upgrade. If you choose a popular mainstream laptop there may even be a video on that specific brand/model to show you exactly how that specific laptop is upgraded.

The bigger task than finding SSD/RAM is making sure you choose a laptop that is easily upgrade-able. There are some where components are soldered on or the mother support doesn't support more RAM so do some google searching before you buy.

ETA, a good link...

https://www.makeuseof.com/tag/5-things-know-upgrading-laptop-hardware/

 

[BoltBacker]

Very good thread OP, right now we have a desktop that is like 11 years old and is horrible.We want a laptop we can take it downstairs and plug it into the television and stream shows/sports down there. So if you don't mind, I would like to piggy back this question and ask the same. It would just be used for streaming, checking email, checking fantasy football and minor stuff like that no games. Am I in the same ballpark as the OP?

I realize that I'm not solving the problem that you asked but have you considered attaching a raspberry pi type device on the back of the TV downstairs instead of moving your laptop every time you want to use it? And when I say "type" device I mean raspberry pi's are the cheap version but if you are willing to spend just a little more you end up with something like this....

https://www.banggood.com/H96-PRO-PLUS-Amlogic-S912-Octa-Core-3GB-RAM-32GB-ROM-TV-Box-p-1100082.html?cur_warehouse=CN

Of course like anything else there are tons of these types of devices on the market so you could save $20 and get a slightly less powered one or spend an extra $20 and get a slightly more powerful on but this is kind of middle of the road "value" imo. Perhaps someone reading the thread will come up with an even better value. If you would like more info on a specific model there are a lot of reviews of specific models on youtube. Here is a short example although they also have comparison videos if you are deciding between two specific models that I find more helpful.....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=73s-zdnsi2M

I used to do what you are suggesting and from my experience just having a Chromebook upstairs and one of these downstairs that stays connected to the TV all the time is a lot less hassle and combined they are about $250-$300 depending on how nice a chromebook you are looking for. The only drawback is you won't get nearly as much exercise because if you go with the one laptop approach I guarantee you every time you want to stream TV downstairs the laptop will be upstairs and every time you want to use the laptop upstairs it will be connected to the TV downstairs. At least that was my experience.

 

[pollardsvision]

I like the way you think.  I definitely want a lot of memory and an SSD for him.  He's a good kid.  I was reading this post from pollardsvision from another thread and refurbished enterprise laptops seem like a real good value play.  Feel like I've heard a lot of good things about Thinkpads too.  

Is it easy to find compatible SSDs/RAMs for these things?  I don't know what I'm doing.  

Yes. I had never done either (and I'm quite ignorant on these matters), but I fairly easily put a SSD and extra RAM in my Thinkpad. RAM took about 3 minutes. SSD was pretty easy, though it took me a bit to figure out how to copy/clone the previous HD so that I didn't have to reinstall Windows. I think SSD's are so ubiquitous these days that a quick glance shows that many refurb models are coming with SSD's already installed without much difference in price (I got mine a few years ago, and it seemed more economical then to add SSD yourself).

Ease of replacing/upgrading parts, I gather, is one of the main draws of Thinkpads and other business-grade PC's (Dell Latitude is another popular model in the refurb market). 

For Thinkpads, there's a subreddit for the nerds that love them and love tinkering with them. Here's top post at the moment.

 

[ren hoek]

Yes. I had never done either (and I'm quite ignorant on these matters), but I fairly easily put a SSD and extra RAM in my Thinkpad. RAM took about 3 minutes. SSD was pretty easy, though it took me a bit to figure out how to copy/clone the previous HD so that I didn't have to reinstall Windows. I think SSD's are so ubiquitous these days that a quick glance shows that many refurb models are coming with SSD's already installed without much difference in price (I got mine a few years ago, and it seemed more economical then to add SSD yourself).

Ease of replacing/upgrading parts, I gather, is one of the main draws of Thinkpads and other business-grade PC's (Dell Latitude is another popular model in the refurb market). 

For Thinkpads, there's a subreddit for the nerds that love them and love tinkering with them. Here's top post at the moment.

Thanks.  His T420 gets here on Friday.  $256 shipped.  I was looking at this SSD bay thing for him but people in the reviews were saying it's incompatible with the 420. 

There a good SSD and tutorial somewhere?  

 

[pollardsvision]

Thanks.  His T420 gets here on Friday.  $256 shipped.  I was looking at this SSD bay thing for him but people in the reviews were saying it's incompatible with the 420. 

There a good SSD and tutorial somewhere?  

There a ton of resources on YouTube and that subreddit is a great place to ask things. It's probably not a bad idea to ask there before buying any components.

This is the SSD I put in mine. It's currently unavailable on Amazon it says, but it's a 2.5" SATA III (Adata). I don't totally remember, but I don't think I needed a separate caddy or bay to make it fit. Don't quote me on that that though. 

I hope he appreciates the beauty of this thing. It's not sleek or cute like all these fru-fru laptops today. It's a damn tank. I've never tried, but I'm pretty sure I could chuck off my roof and it'd be fine. And once he gets used to the keyboard, it'll be hard to ever go back.

 

[Jutz]

Staples has a Dell I5567-5274GRY-P on sale for $499. Features I would like include:

- Intel® Core™ i5-7200U

- 8 GB RAM

- 256GB Solid State Drive

- Tray load DVD Drive

- Backlit Keyboard

I just bought this rig at Staples yesterday.  I wanted to say thank you for posting it.  I seriously doubt I would have found this deal had it not been for your post.  I also wanted to say thanks for pointing me to Staples.  I seriously doubt I would have considered buying a computer at Staples had it not been for your post.  Staples also has an extensive inventory online.  They even have an extensive refurbished inventory online for those that decided to go the direction of the OP.  One quick note about this particular laptop is, I believe you have to go to the store in order to get the $499 price.  I think you can also do the online 'buy in 1 hour' feature, but if you put it in your cart in order to have it shipped to you it will show as $549 (I think).

My old laptop was so old and so slow that just about any new computer would seem like the greatest thing ever to me.  I'm really not a great judge of the performance of a computer because my old one was so bad.  I will say that this Dell works, it's fast, and... it works like a laptop should work.  My old laptop was one where I would hit the power button and have to wait about 10 minutes until everything was done booting up.  Then I would open a browser and my typing was delayed as I attempted to type something in the google search bar.  I won't even get into how bad iTunes ran on it.  It was running on Windows 7 and was incredibly slow.  This laptop blows my old one away but I certainly don't do anything on it that tests the limits.

Yes, refurbished computers are definitely a better deal.  I am one of those people that always thinks... I know if I get a refurbished laptop I am going to get that 1 defective one that doesn't have a Microsoft Windows key or something like that.  Yes, I am a worrier so I went the new route.  I honestly feel like, for a new computer, this is an extremely good value.  I don't see all the specification R&H has listed above for the price and those are the exact specifications I was looking for.  One other feature I like is the full keyboard with the number pad.

I could go on, but I just want to say thanks again.  I had been watching several computer deals ever since black Friday and this was the first one that impressed me enough to finally take the dive and put my money down.  The FFA comes through again!

 

[Big Blue Wrecking Crew]

In the market but not overly knowledgeable on specs, so curious of the Staples Dell computer expected "lifespan" based in whay is outlined?

 

[Jutz]

In the market but not overly knowledgeable on specs, so curious of the Staples Dell computer expected "lifespan" based in whay is outlined?

Oh man... judging a computer 'lifespan' is full of a lot of statements that begin with "Well, it depends on...".

Having said that, if you made me take a guess I would guess 8 years + or - 2 years.

My old budge ACER laptop lasted about 8 years.  I think this one should last the same.  That's the only thing I really am going by right now.  Take it for what it's worth.

 

[Foosball God]

Very good thread OP, right now we have a desktop that is like 11 years old and is horrible.We want a laptop we can take it downstairs and plug it into the television and stream shows/sports down there. So if you don't mind, I would like to piggy back this question and ask the same. It would just be used for streaming, checking email, checking fantasy football and minor stuff like that no games. Am I in the same ballpark as the OP?

Just get a chromebook imo.

 

[Jutz]

I just powered up my new laptop, opened ITunes, listened to music on ITunes, listened to music on youtube, logged into the FFA, posted in the FFA, did some casual browsing.  Everyting is fast.  Awesomeness.  Yeah.  Uh huh.

 

[Big Blue Wrecking Crew]

Missed out on the Staples deal, as my local locations were out of stock, but this just posted to Slickdeals:

Dell, via Newegg, offers new Inspiron 15 5000 Laptop with 15.6" 1080P Display, i7-8550U Quad Core 1.8 GHz CPU, 8GB DDR4L 2400 MHz ram, 128GB SSD + 1TB HDD, Windows 10 64 Bit @ $579.99 with free shipping. Was posted last week for $649.99 through Dell directly.

LINK: (AVAILABLE)
https://www.newegg.com/Product/Pr...DYY6GM9417

SPEC:
Windows 10 Home 64 Bit
15.6" 1080P Anti-Glare Display
Core i7-8550U 1.8 GHz (4 GHz Turbo, 8MB Cache)
8GBx1 DDR4L 2400 MHz ram
128GB M.2 SSD + 1TB 5400 RPM HDD
DVD-RW
Backlit Keyboard
HD WebCam
Dual band 802.11ac WiFi + Bluetooth 4.2 + Gigabit Lan
PORTS:
2x USB 3.0
1x USB 2.0
1x HDMI 1.4b
1x 3-in-1 Card Reader
Fingerprint Reader (in Power Button)
42WHr, 3-Cell Battery (Integrated)
4.85 lbs / 2.02 kg
 

Welcome a comparison view of the two...

 

[Spike]

.

 

[Wingnut]

Bumping this 3 year old thread to ask the same question as OP.

Looking for a laptop in the $500 range, nothing special needed. Just some streaming and general use. 

TIA

 

[identikit]

Just bought this one:

https://www.newegg.com/p/1TS-000D-0P2F7?Item=9SIB0GJFZC2091

ETA I'll receive mine in the mail tomorrow, but based on a couple weeks of searching, the best price with the most RAM and largest SSD I could find.

Might work for you @Wingnut