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Question

Is it worth it getting a 4-5 year old laptop?

Aug 28, 2015 6:31PM PDT

My Acer laptop that I mentioned in a previous thread malfunctioned on me. I decided that it was more worth it to buy a different laptop than to try and fix that one.

The two top choices for me are the HP Elitebook 8460 and the Lenovo Thinkpad T410. Im leaning more towards the Elitebook after seeing reviews saying that it has better sound quality, an aluminum build and longer battery life. However the Thinkpads are very attractive to me because they are said to last a very long time with proper use.

My question is how old should the laptops I buy be? Ive seen people look down on buying anything more than 2 years old, but most of the laptops within my budget (sub 400) seem to be those budget laptops that dont seem like theyd last very long.

Would it be more worth it to get a premium laptop from a few years ago vs getting a budget laptop from today-less than 2 years old?

Discussion is locked

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Answer
Given the battery life span is 300 Cycle Rated.
Aug 28, 2015 6:56PM PDT

That alone nicks the price by about 100 bucks on some models. At 4+ years, it better be cheap.

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They're very cheap
Aug 28, 2015 9:20PM PDT

Usually anywhere from 150-250 is what I see. To future proof them to the best of my ability I was going to upgrade the ram to 8gb if need be and get a new battery

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At 200 to 250 we see new laptops.
Aug 29, 2015 6:04AM PDT

The used market is under a lot of pressure because you can get new machines that work out of the box without having to replace a battery, reload an OS or do a lot of work.

No sale here.