What is a good Dell laptop

BlueFox

I retire the end of April, and will have to turn in my Dell laptop. I haven’t turned on my home computer in years, and will junk it for a new Dell laptop. However, they have so many different models. LOL.

Does anyone have a suggestion for a good laptop that I can take to the grave.

rpf65

Think a friend, who works at Dell, owns a Lenovo.

daddyjt

I was a Dell guy for years, then I had a Lenovo for work about 10 years ago. That thing was built like a tank - I carted it everywhere, dropped it, traveled with it and basically abused the heII out of it. The thing impressed me so much, I bought them for my kids, then got one for my personal use. They are not sleek or sexy, but they have it where it counts. Great battery life to boot.

Just my .02

Clipdat

We use Lenovo laptops at my office and I work extensively with them. I would hesitate to recommend them.

Personally, I would rather go for a nicely appointed Dell Latitude 7490.

BlueBirdMusic

For home-use, one of these two: Dell Latitude or Dell XPS.

I recommend a Dell Latitude for top of the line quality with whatever options you require.

If I wanted a more modern "Apple looking" then the Dell XPS. Thinner, lighter, etc.

__________________________________________________________________

If I wanted the very best from Dell and money is no object, then the Dell Precision Laptop (usually called mobile workstation) has no equals. I have had an older Precision desktop for years purchased from Dell outlet that is more like a battleship. It can be dropped with no damage. The build quality is amazing.

__________________________________________________________________

I would buy direct from Dell in order to choose your exact choice. Places like Best Buy usually compromise to reach a desired price. If anything happens to your Dell under warranty, service is performed at your house.

One other place to purchase a Dell is Costco. Costco builds out their offerings with the most memory, etc and extends the warranty. You can look at Costco online if there is not one nearby.

I am retired but my work, the big soda company in Atlanta, was Dell for Windows.

Harry

xschop

Preferably one without all the bloatware.

aiconn

We too use Lenovo at work. I have no problem with them as long as you stick with the Thinkpad line. I also bought my son a new laptop for college. Since he's an engineering major I bought him this:

https://www.dell.com/en-us/shop/dell-gaming-laptops-and-notebooks/new-dell-g5-15-gaming/spd/g-series-15-5590-laptop/gnvca5ch1507h.

My wife has this for daily use:

https://www.dell.com/en-us/shop/dell-laptops/inspiron-13-7000-2-in-1/spd/inspiron-13-7375-2-in-1-laptop/dncwdamd1005h

msg

I agree with the above - Latitude 5000 or 7000 series, XPS. I have been pleasantly surprised with some of the newer Inspirons. They use to feel a bit creaky and flexy. Lenovo Thinkpad is also nice, agreed. Here are a few more notes to consider when trying to narrow down your choice.

WHAT SIZE DISPLAY WOULD YOU LIKE?

• 13" is nice for portability and travel, but small. May be difficult to use at 1920x1080
• 15" is comfortable; best all 'rounder.
• 17" is handy for multi-tasking, graphics, or if you prefer a large display for extra cushy use of high resolution, like 1920x1080 or higher. At this level the machines are heaviest in comparative weight.

GLOSSY OR MATTE?
Consider whether you want glossy or matte display. I prefer matte. Easier on the eyes, greatly reduced reflections

WHICH SCREEN RESOLUTION ARE YOU MOST COMFORTABLE USING?

• 1920x1080 is fairly common now. Can be a little tight on smaller laptops
• 1600x900 I thought was the best middle ground if full HD wasn't necessary, but rare native display now.
• 1366x768 is comfortable on almost any screen, but limited "real estate", may seem too short, depending on use.

WHAT KIND OF BATTERY LIFE ARE YOU AFTER?
Those Dell Latitudes noted by the guys in the posts above have stupendous battery life.

IS WEIGHT A CONSIDERATION?
Travel with it, have it on your lap? Those 7000 series Latitudes and some XPS machines are made to be thin and light.

PERFORMANCE

• Video - As long as you're not gaming or designing, the onboard Intel display adapter should be fine.
• Disk - Make sure you're getting something with a solid state disk (SSD). I think most at the Latitude, XPS and Lenovo levels have moved from the 2.5" to M.2/NVMe/PCIe, which are even faster than earlier SSDs. Depending on what you're doing, capacities range from 128GB, 256GB, 512GB, and 1TB, typically. 512GB is the sweet spot here, 256GB is still usable, but you may run out of space if storing photos, video or music locally.
• Processor - Intel Core i5 is the sweet spot for performance and battery life
• Memory - 8GB-16GB is about standard these days. Shoot for 16GB, but 12GB would be acceptable. I'd even go 8GB and upgrade later if it hits all your other points.

CONNECTIVITY

• Need Ethernet?
• A bunch of USB ports?

Laptops these days are coming with fewer ports. USB-C is becoming the standard. On some machines, I've seen two USB-C ports and a single USB 3.0 port. Good news is that there are adapters and convenient small, bus-powered hubs you can use to convert and add additional USB ports and ethernet to those machines that don't ship with them, so don't let that necessarily deter you from a machine that checks all the boxes otherwise.


One I use as a second around the office was a spare that I adopted. It's a modest 15" Latitude E5570 Core i5 dual core with 8GB RAM and 256GB disk. FHD 1920x1080 matte display with the integrated Intel video adapter. Works great for most everything. Fast. The only thing I don't like about the Latitudes is the finish. It picks up fingerprints easily. Sometimes I find the full HD display a little small if I'm using it on my lap and not at a desk, but it's not bad.

Then, there's always the Macbook Pro

msg

xschop wrote: »

Preferably one without all the bloatware.

Uninstall that jank, or quit buying E-Machines!
Anyone remember these?

mhardy6647

Go with a business-class Lenovo. Way more robust machines IMO.
Used to love Dell, but the quality slipped steadily starting over a decade ago (again IMO).

I gave up on Dell after buying one (ca. 2011) that failed 10 days out of warranty.

I now buy used Lenovos from "my IT guy" (a small one-man shop who works out of our old town of Harvard, MA). I use one for the class I teach in Boston (an elderly T430) and another for my LLC/home use (a somewhat more modern T440). These machines are unsexy, but they're fast and rugged.

msg

Good note, Doc, on the business class versus home machines. It's a bonus if they live beyond warranty, and many do.

Business class machines offer performance and build quality over home grade, which seem to be generally made and configured to be replaced after 2yrs. Also often minimally specced, making for slow, frustrating performance.

Business class computers offer some refinements. Better components, nicer keyboards, etc., and, as you said, more rugged design. Metal parts. Display hinges, for example. Seen many a laptop ruined simply due to poor hinge design found on some of the cheaper machines.

Nothing wrong with either choice, just depends on what kind of user you are, and what kind of life, performance, and feel you want out of a computer.

mhardy6647

I am sooo tired of hinge issues on cheap laptops.
Mrs. H's (cheap) Lenovo* currently has one hinge that's hanging by a thread (almost literally).

______________
* Now, mind you, this cheap Lenovo is of essentially the same class (200 dolla, plastic lappie) as the Dell I mentioned previously -- that said, the Lenovo still works fine, having outlasted the Dell by nigh on five years. The Lenovo's hinge issue is quite recent.

aprazer402

Just a quick aside:
Two hot air balloonists who were blown off course and found themselves near a building with some people on the roof. One balloonist shouted out; "Where are we?" and the rooftoppers yelled back "You're in the gondola of a hot air balloon!" The balloonist turned to the passenger and said "Oh. We're in Redmond, WA and that's Microsoft HQ." His companion asked "How do you know that?" "Well," he answered "like their tech support, the information they provided was technically accurate but practically irrelevant".

mhardy6647

maximillian

No 4k video love? Personally love mine. Issue is that if you go with a dual monitor and use the laptop monitor then you really need a 4K external monitor as well. It's a pain dragging back and forth between the two if they are not the same resolution.

dromunds

I’ve been using a Lenovo Thinkpad laptop and it’s pretty crappy. I also have a Dell XPS which I really like, and Dell’s customer service has been very good. I have a MacBook Air that I also like, but sometimes Apple drives me crazy.

tophatjohnny

Old Thread I see ! In the last year I went with the Dell Precision 7730 and no complaints!

machone

Yes, Dell Precision is very good. That is what I run as a mobile desktop for solid modeling.

kevhed72

Get a Mac Book. I never owned one but that's the ticket!

Emlyn

Considered a desktop computer with a wireless keyboard and mouse instead? In my experience they last a whole lot longer than a laptop and can be upgraded easily too.

Easily hooked up to a big screen TV too.

I haven't had a personal laptop for years now. When I'm mobile I just use an iPad or iPhone. For work I'm now on my third high spec HP laptop in two years. The batteries in those things swell up and split the case open. I think some Dells have the same problem.

pitdogg2

Battery problems seem to affect most of them now.

BlueFox

I ended up with an Inspiron 15 3000 series, model 3581. So far it has been fine, although I primarily only use it on Friday to download new music from HDTracks. Other than that I use my iPad for browsing.

gmcman

dromunds wrote: »

I’ve been using a Lenovo Thinkpad laptop and it’s pretty crappy. I also have a Dell XPS which I really like, and Dell’s customer service has been very good. I have a MacBook Air that I also like, but sometimes Apple drives me crazy.

Best Buy has a decent deal on a Lenovo Legion 5 right now, until Friday I believe. Been looking for a mid-range laptop for my son but I have some criteria, and this meets most of it. Not a bad deal for a 1660 Ti laptop with NvME storage. The Lenovo is definitely well made.

https://www.bestbuy.com/site/lenovo-legion-5-15-gaming-laptop-intel-core-i7-8gb-memory-nvidia-geforce-gtx-1660-ti-512gb-ssd-phantom-black/6398969.p?skuId=6398969

Kex

Dell laptops have improved immensely, and they are some of the easiest to service, with detailed instructions by “Service Tag” for upgrading RAM, hard drives, and batteries, as well as other stuff (such as replacing the CMOS battery, that keeps the system clock ticking). I’ve only bought Vostro models in the last decade, and they have all been very slick and stylish, but not as stylish nor as good as Mac (which everyone uses in our household now, except for the office - because of the need for proprietary software and software deployment).

We’ve had multiple Lenovo’s for work (440s 460s, X1 and others that were older). Those have the best keyboards for fast typing, but still not as good as Apple. No touchpad comes close to a Mac trackpad in usability. The recent Mac trackpads are so good that you seriously don’t even need a mouse, unless it’s for gaming (for the button clicks and movement tracking).

We’ve had service issues with a couple of Lenovos in the past few years. Mostly a broken hinge that was a poor design, and a weird software failure that rendered WiFi unusable intermittently. It was a $3K laptop, but still got replaced within 18 months because of the failure. For those reasons, I wouldn’t necessarily recommend Lenovo instead of Dell.

Have also managed to melt a couple of motherboards because of the intensive usage they get put through. Macs are rock solid on that score, even when they’re ten years old.

gyosa

Does it have to be dell ?

The only laptop you will be able to take to the grave is a MacBook ....

I have had a mid-2012 MacBook Pro bought new 2013 or so .
Works flawlessly- always has......

Recently installed a 1tb ssd , 16gb ram - up from 4 , and a new battery.
Easy peazy.

It’s a sweet machine now ....it flys !

Bk

Kex

@gyosa, @BlueFox has made his purchase, and it was a Dell, so the discussion has evolved into a more general discussion about laptops. 😉

I have a 2010 MBP that I keep for testing. Still works flawlessly, but no more OS updates are available for it, so if it were a laptop for daily use, I’d be starting to miss some of the new features of recent updates. The touchpad is also not nearly as good as the 2016 and newer models.

Big changes have already happened in 2020 with the M1 chip, and more are expected for the 16” models in 2021. That is a game changer IMO, in performance, heat management, battery management, app availability, and ease of use. So I’ll be considering those for some of the offspring next year.

Did you get your parts from OWC?

gyosa

yeah ,
I noticed after I posted that it was an old thread .. LOL

yes , the new MacBooks with the M1 chips are a game changer I believe ... I'd get one now BUT , I want 32gb ram so I know its future proof, and the current M1 can only support 16gb.... so , will wait....

this MacBook is a hand me down from my 17 yr old son who realized he wanted a ALIENWARE laptop for gaming .... I guess Macs suck for gaming....

I've been using this Mac for a few years now and will never go back to a pc - no matter the price difference ... Macs will last forever , pc's not so much - lucky to get a few years before the OS self destructs or gets corrupted...

I got the battery from OWC - after much , much research I determined that it was worth a few extra bucks to get one from them as most of the amazon batteries are crap after a few months use.

memory was from Crucial.

SSD is from Samsung.

a bit less than $300 for all ... cheaper than a new MacBook , and it'll keep its own now...

runs so awesome now , I really don't foresee the need to replace for a few years ...

of course , I did a clean , no backup , install of Mac Catalina OS on the new SSD ....soooooo easy - unlike a PC - couple keystrokes , and its done....

the RAM made a big difference , obviously... from 4 to 16 ....
but the SSD made a unbelievable difference ....
did I say unbelievable ?

bk

gyosa

Battery from OWC
SSD from Samsung
Ram from Crucial

bk

VR3

Im rocking a sony vaio laptop from 2010, runs 3 external monitors and does what i need.

I7 quad core, was 1400 back in the day! Even has my name engraved in it from the manufacture

I installed a ssd, maxed out the ram and had to change the keyboard due to dumping 32 ounces of coca cola on it...

Still ticking! Knock on wood!