Why a Used Business Laptop is Better than a NEW Consumer Laptop (For Most People)

[@SalemTechsperts]

For everyone asking WHERE to buy Used Business Class Laptops. If you're in the US and SalemTechsperts.com doesn't have what you need (shameless plug) then try eBay, electronics recyclers, Facebook marketplace, and computer repair shops. If you live in another country and don't have access to those, then I don't know what to tell you :( Also editing this because I forgot to mention in the video: A lot of these laptops will STILL be under manufacturer warranty. The T16 is under warranty for another 24 months and you can grab these for like $500 on eBay. It's insane

[@randomspaceman3732]

I got a used business laptop but the battery dies really quickly even when only browsing. ~ 2 hours at best The display was really good but the integrated graphics literally cant keep up with the resolution.

[@irpanfauzi1160]

What do you think about Steam Deck? Do you have Experience with Fixing Hand held PC? What do you think about Repairing Hand Held PC

[@wingman-1977]

I just bought a 11oz mug from your online store. The greatest mug that’s ever lived.🤙

[@SalemTechsperts]

@@randomspaceman3732 Unfortunately one of the few drawbacks. But the good news is you can usually find genuine batteries for business-class laptops like these. I should've mentioned that in the video

[@SalemTechsperts]

@@wingman-1977 Enjoy it! I love that thing lol

[@SWOhioSpeedtesting]

The cutscene of MKBHD speeding in a school zone 😭 greatest editor that ever lived

[@gp8383]

Bruh no time stamp?

[@wolfdragon6073]

@@gp8383here ya go, 05:00

[@trott4241]

@@gp8383 it's literally in the beginning of the video lol. 1:05

[@gp8383]

@trott4241 yes I was trying to listen in the background and watch intermittentlly but couldn't let my eyes leave the screen lol

[@SalemTechsperts]

I've done much, MUCH dumber shit in cars. I'm just lucky enough to not have filmed it.

[@forzatoro89]

In 2011 I got a broken Thinkpad W500 almost for free that was supposed to be for parts, then I saw from the Lenovo site that was still in warranty and with the service *at home*, the Lenovo technician came at my place with the spare parts and fixed it for free. Best day of my life. And at the time was a beast of a laptop

[@aab.videos]

You were so lucky!!! Congrats!

[@jxmai7687]

I did that to my customer's notebook for a few time, replaced the whole mainboard, made good profit from it.😂

[@bwiese]

I did just that last year. Bought a refurbished Thinkpad T480s, and despite asking it to do things it wasn't intended to do, it has never broken down on me. Highly recommended

[@FireFoxDestroyer]

What did you ask it to do? Get drunk at a bar?

[@bwiese]

@@FireFoxDestroyer haha no, just played some games on it as I don't have anything more powerful atm.

[@almc8445]

I’ve had 2x T480s’s for the past 5 years, and a business had them before that. They’re absolutely awesome.

[@sihamhamda47]

Same. I bought a T480 for $150 and upgraded it by changing thermal paste with Arctic MX-6, upgrading the RAM to 32GB and swapped the small 24Wh battery with the larger 72Wh one. I choose regular T480 over T480s because I really love laptops with swappable battery

[@a.yashwanth]

​@@sihamhamda47How did the 72wh battery even fit in the 24wh battery spot.

[@JosephDri21]

Hey Andy, I currently have an Acer Nitro 5 that I got from my brother that wouldn't boot. Your videos, made me open the gaming laptop and fix it. I ended up fixing: 1. Ticking noise from the fan and overheating (the repair shop we have send the laptop in the past scammed us and replaced the blower fan with an incompatible one that was not only shorter, but it was leaking air everywhere) 2. Repaste 3. A bricked sata m2 ssd that had the integrated graphics removed from device manager (I did a format) 4. A broken mx key in the keyboard (used some glue to) 5. I glued a crack in the case 6. I identified and removed the RAM stick whose slot was causing the computer to crash and shut down and upgraded the RAM 7. I tied and fixed the loose trackpad 8. I reset the bios that was bricked 9. I cleaned and removed debris from the mobo 10. I insulated many metal parts that was touching the mobo from the case causing shorts (!?) 11. The cooling for both ssd's 12. Installed windows (and linux mint) 13. Upgraded the cooling system making it more efficient and going for 60C to 36C ambient 14. Many more miscellaneous things In the end I took a non working computer that was bricked and had so many problems and it now works perfectly fine, all thanks to you and people like you, that taught me how to do all these stuff. I also want to note that I am an archaeologist student and in no way a professional in IT. Thank you.

[@mohamadasrisanusi1821]

Coming from a company that actually disposes all these T and P series, I can confirm that they are indeed bulletproof and last longer than most modern laptops. Note that Lenovo stopped allowing you to put in more RAM since T490s. Avoid P1 Gen 2 and 3 as they were made during Covid and they didn't do any QC on their screen which has a very high failure rate (called Lenovo to replace these screens 2-3 times a year for the same laptop). T14S Gen 2 is an awesome daily driver for someone who isn't a crypto bro.

[@SalemTechsperts]

Thanks Mohamad!! I appreciate this!

[@JanJanJanJanJanJanJanJanJan2]

I think from Gen4 or 5 onward you can replace RAM in the T14. I have a T14G3 and it doesn't even have an SD card reader. All of my other ThinkPads do.

[@Atheist2k3]

Thanks man ! I'm thinking to buy Dell latitude 3490, i3 7th gen. Tight on budget, previously had ryzen 3 3250u based vivobook.

[@tegathemenace]

Got t480 for this reason

[@tegathemenace]

​@@Atheist2k3 nah. That processor would be balls. Try to get i5 8th gen minimum. Not Ryzen because the rarity in laptops = more costs

[@rossmanngroup]

I am proud to have met you in 2021 for what I saw at one minute in this video. :)

[@SalemTechsperts]

That visit was the catalyst that gave me the balls to start a KZbin channel. But listen, I have this device that can fight diseases...

[@SingerDuce]

Rossman is a watcher as well , nice

[@aab.videos]

@@SingerDuce Yeah

[@PapaVanTwee5]

A friend gave me a T14, and I gave it to my daughter's robotics team. It's been running like a champ. They did hand it back to me with a "fan issue" and it wouldn't boot. I took it apart, had to take the fan and heat pipes off, and just looking at the fan, which spun easily with my hand. It wasn't until I looked down that I found a screw sitting where the fan used to be. It didn't come from the computer, some sneaky robot put it there. Put in new thermal paste, and it's still running like a champ.

[@SalemTechsperts]

Hah, I once had a laptop come in that had a weed stem stopping the fan from spinning. Love those simple fixes

[@pifre3051]

you sound like a cool dude

[@natcuber]

My T480's screen failed this week. I just bought a new screen online and all it took was 5 mins for me to replace the screen.

[@Piquliar]

@@SalemTechsperts Same, my sister brought her laptop a few days ago and let me listen for a kind of slight toking sound the fan was making, and I said I can check it out later, let me know if it's getting hot or shutting down from overheating which it did later in that day. Popped it open and saw the culprit being a little piece of plastic preventing the fan from spinning properly and it has been perfectly fine ever since hehe.

[@hugegamer5988]

@@SalemTechsperts be careful, that can smoke the laptop.

[@DarthMizaru]

Working in big corporations somethimes it saddens me how we destroy so much good hardware, when we upgraded our backup server I almost cried when I had to send to heaven 80TB of perfectly good and working drives.

[@_A.t.g]

But don't they sell it off to second hand sellers or recycling companies? I don't think it becomes junk

[@DarthMizaru]

@_A.t.g data security wont allow it, you wipe it as much as you want but the data it's still there and its confidential so the only way to be sure is to destroy it.

[@steeviebops]

@@_A.t.g Hard drives are very often destroyed rather than wiped.

[@Error-7-0-7]

​@_A.t.g it depends on the company, they don't want to risk personal info being accidently retrieved.

[@DavidLee-cr4xv]

Another thing about these business-class laptops is that they tend to be sold with rather extensive service contracts-- typically 3 years with on-site service. So, if these break too often, Dell/Lenovo/HP would need to spend money sending someone out to the client's office to repair it. As such, it would made no sense to cheap out on build quality.

[@Schamisheep]

Can fully agree we only buy with extended warranty for 3 years with on-site service. Really motivates the manufacturer to produce better hardware (except for fujitsu which needed to send someone 3 times this year, basically equaling a whole laptop in costs).

[@maxslayer11]

We do the same for laptops with extended onsite warranty. HP has really gone down hill in terms of service with their third party service. Lenovo still seems good for their onsite services.

[@Milena-ix5mq]

There must be more genuinely good people like you and Lupe! I am so glad for this channel 's existence and the content you choose to share with the world! Informative, funny and easy to understand.❤

[@toufusoup]

01:05 LMAOOOOOO friggin brutal. Thanks for the constant stream of quality content 🎉🎉

[@SalemTechsperts]

Thank you!!!

[@_rage_quitter_11]

I hope he applies the greatest blur filter that ever existed.

[@vickyoo5]

​@@SalemTechsperts why your website not working in other countries...???

[@SalemTechsperts]

@@vickyoo5 I blocked certain countries that have no reason to visit my website other than to email me scams or ask for free advice and PC's. Sorry.

[@clawbo92]

i got a used asus gaming laptop for 600 dollars. the thing retails for $2000+ brand new. i pumped in 16 more gigs of equivalent ram, cleaned the heatsinks/fans, put thermal pads on all of the pieces that needed cooled, and buttoned it up. im not going to lie. i was expecting this specific laptop to be a bitch to repaste and clean. but it is surprisingly easy to disassemble and take care of business. hardest part was getting the upper and lower covers to separate, even then it was only a very mild issue. i got it for my daughter for christmas, i hope she likes it.

[@Cyan_Nightingale]

Congrats on you. Tips: never use 1920x1080 on old gaming laptop like that. Use 1600x900 or 1366x768 resolution for better performance. I have Asus laptop from 2017 with non-gaming i7 Kaby Lake + Nvidia GPU (GT940MX 2GB) that still can play Forza Horizon 4 on that resolution.

[@clawbo92]

@Cyan_Nightingale it's not that old of a laptop. 2021 model. It's got a 3070 ti and a ryzen 9 5900hx. It should easily handle 1920x1080 between that and the 32 gb of 3200 ddr4

[@artsykilla]

​@@clawbo92Lol that laptop is a beast

[@JarrodsTech]

11:11 Hey thanks! When it comes to gaming laptops, there are definitely great deals on used/open box models to be had, but yeah the problem seems to be they just age quicker due to games improving and new GPUs coming out every other year. For regular people doing normal stuff though it's way less of a problem. Hopefully designs like the Framework 16 with removable and upgradeable GPU get more popular. I know there's something new coming in that space next year, but can't talk about it just yet.

[@blitzir]

I dont like how Im starting to read all ur comments in ur voice

[@SalemTechsperts]

Of course man, you're the go to! Appreciate you watching my video. Thanks for doing what you do. Open box is always a steal, brand new without the brand new price! I genuinely hope Framework takes over the world, or at least forces other companies to take upgradeable GPU's seriously. their mission is admirable. Can't wait to finally see one in person at CES. Your last sentence intrigues me 🤐💻👀

[@antalpoti]

​@@SalemTechspertsregarding his last sentece: Tongfang released a thinner gaming laptop with swappable GPU about two weeks ago for the Chinese market. Looks good. He may mean that one. Or something else entirely. We'll see.

[@Shorty15c4007]

I would consider a gaming PC tower then. The PC box itself will last forever and all of the components are compatible.

[@ranjitmandal1612]

The goats 🐐

[@insertech2600]

Thanks man ! That is so well said ! We're a canadian non-profit organization and we refurbish business computers to resell them to the community since 26 years ! Your video is all we're working for, it's so great to see this on a big profile like yours, thanks !

[@Slowdr]

0:58 seems like MKBHD still can't catch a brake

[@reaper15a]

Well no he can't, cause he obviously doesn't know what brakes are .... lol.

[@jay-5061]

i see what you did there

[@ArthropodSpidey]

@@reaper15a explain the obvious joke more. I don't think the rest of the world got it.

[@greebj]

What's the minimum age for claiming you aren't responsible because you hit the accelerator instead of the brake ?

[@ProfRoxas]

I might be late to learn the MKBHD stuff, but thanks to all the comments on it, now i'm up to speed

[@Slowdr]

Thank you for the advice.

[@SalemTechsperts]

Thank you!!

[@DeputatKaktus]

Typing this comment on a T440 (running Linux) that I literally pulled out of an e-waste dumpster 2 years ago. New thermal paste, some gooch removal and general TLC as well as two batteries later, and it's still going strong. Plenty enough for browsing, email and some wireless shenanigans. Love this machine. And all I paid was like 90 bucks for the new batteries and a charger. A small RAM upgrade and the thermal paste came from my parts bin so I consider them free. Not bad for a perfectly usable light duty workhorse.

[@ANANG408]

Debian here 💪💪

[@larenski]

So you spent as much money as you would for new laptop

[@k_zildjian4460]

I'm not a fan of the T440 series (the T430 series was WAY better). The trackpad is absolutely awful!

[@DeputatKaktus]

@@k_zildjian4460Yes, definitely the trackpad is less than ideal. No idea why they made it that way. It’s also the only Thinkpad I have ever had which had this sort of weird trackpad. In a pinch though, I can still use a mouse.

[@k_zildjian4460]

@@DeputatKaktus It was in interesting idea (and surely inspired by Apple's "clicker-less" trackpad), but the execution was a total fail. I'm glad they abandoned the concept.

[@mariodiy4517]

I've salvaged an HP EliteBook G5 with an 8th Gen i7, from my old job. They were going to chuck it. Sat in an e-waste pile for 6 months. IT was nice to hand it to me because it had no value to them. I upgraded the ram from 8GB to 32GB. Upgraded the 512GB nvme SSD to a Crucial T500 1TB SSD. New battery. New Intel Wifi 6E card. Windows 11 Pro. It does everything I need it to for my IT Support online course. I'm happy. It had BSOD issues, so I reinstalled Windows on the new SSD, from there I upgraded the BIOS. Something my IT department failed to address. The primary issue was that it wouldn't charge. A BIOS update fixed that. I reused the old nvme SSD as an external disk drive by using an Asus enclosure. It works fine without any issues. It's crazy to think how many salvageable parts are in these laptops such as RAM for example.

[@ralphelie3057]

I have one too hope the hinges will last

[@Psikeomega]

I miss working at an electronics recycling center. They used to hand me my paycheck, and i would hand it back to them and buy all sorts of servers workstations and business class laptops. (Fujitsu are my favorite)

[@ΓερασιμοςΔημοπουλους]

fujitsu has good laptops ?

[@VibrantJuniper]

Fujitsu has amazing laptops

[@ΓερασιμοςΔημοπουλους]

Any recomendations ?​@VibrantJuniper

[@Psikeomega]

@@ΓερασιμοςΔημοπουλους Fujitsu laptops don't die. they just get louder. I still have an archaic life book B series that got me through college and I said I would recycle when it died. except it never died

[@bustergundo516]

It lives by absorbing the lifespans of broken devices nearby XD.​@@Psikeomega

[@richardbennet8597]

I own numerous T series Thinkpads, and several Dell Precision Workstations as well. You are gonna help me big time. I don't resell - they are all mine. YOU ROCK. Thank you Andy.

[@Xsis_Vorok]

My wife asked me to find a new laptop for my mother in law, so I figured that I'd scroll through your videos to find what business grade laptops you'd suggest. Then I find out that this video just came out! The greatest KZbinr that ever lived. Thank you.

[@SalemTechsperts]

Interrogate her first to find out what she NEEDS. Ask about screen size and numpad specifically, battery life, etc. Older people tend to love larger screens

[@SalemTechsperts]

@@laxminarayananks1520 Yeah always assume you need to replace the battery, most sellers will specifically state whether the battery is guaranteed or not

[@Xsis_Vorok]

@@SalemTechsperts Yup. I've been taking notes from your vids. :) She needs it for surfing, emails, and banking. Right now, I'm looking at a Latitude 3590 with its 15.6" screen. I can't find any P or T series Thinkpads locally. More research will be done!

[@erichill414]

I’ve been looking as well and there are a ton of them on eBay.

[@vickyoo5]

​@@SalemTechsperts how can I buy from you..??

[@MrCauphy]

Excellent video! I'm typing this on a very used Dell Precision M4700. It was on a shelf at work and after seeing it sit there for years... I ask it I could buy it. They just gave it to me. It runs Windows 10 (It will forever not matter what Microsoft says.). It will run Linux, I know because I have and do run it on here. Does every thing I need it too. It can play some games, but like the guy states, "it wasn't designed to.". It will run freeCAD and will do just fine with 3D printing and such. It just works. Reminds me I need to replace the heat sink goo. I'm know I'm very technical. Cheers for the honest video!

[@MrToops]

I work at an electronics recycle comany in Columbus Ohio. He is VERY CORRECT. Chromebooks I sell for 25 bucks. These laptops are very capable and upgradable. Plus TOUCHSCREEN too

[@bondjovi4595]

Naw. I run Debian, and Fedora Linux. This is because you don't have to disable secure boot. I always run secure boot. On all my machines.

[@albertdunkhausker7397]

What is the name of your company?

[@Weezulguy]

Dude you need to go into broadcasting, that sales voice is SMOOTH as glasssssss

[@RdesignedSteve]

Same with cars. I had 80K to splurge on a car. I could have gotten a new anything but I chose a used Volvo. And I LOVE IT. Only spent $23K. By smarter with your money, people.

[@greebj]

Yep. I love my old BMWs, got a million km worth in the driveway, a meh POS bought new a decade and a half ago that would have been junked by now would prob have cost me more in depreciation alone than my whole fleet has. My 540i could blow up tomorrow and I'd still be smiling as the towie carted it away. I don't give a f what people think, cheap pleasure is still pleasure

[@nocturnal770]

@@greebj You got that right. Old BMW's are the poor mans luxury car. My E90 has been kicking it for years, and I beat the snot out of it. Ballin on a budget yo!

[@ProjectExMachina]

I had 2k€ to spend on a car and I spent 2k€ on 12 years old Fiat. Stil going six years and 130k km later.

[@RdesignedSteve]

@ProjectExMachina Which Fiat?

[@ProjectExMachina]

@@RdesignedSteve Stilo 1.4 converted to LPG

[@hoppysport2872]

Just love this video. So well-written, presented and produced. In 2013 I bought a used Lenovo T430s for $450 with the i7, 16gb of RAM and a 512 SSD. I still have it to this day. It's been perfect. For anybody who has never had a ThinkPad, their keyboards are other worldly. Jump to 2019 when I bought a pre-owned 2017 Lenovo T470s with 20gb of RAM and a 512 gb SSD for $175. It still had a 1-year Lenovo warranty. I had Lenovo come to my office to "fix" some issues. They put in a new case, cover, keyboard, screen. My old T430s is now my Internet computer. My T470s is my work computer. And for some reason my T470s came with Windows 11, even though it's not supposed to be spec'd for it. Not a fan of Windows 11, but I don't want to deal with switching. Lastly, have been an IBM/Lenovo user for decades. I couldn't produce without their incredible red Trackpoint.

[@yepidoodles]

Love that you're including Trident in your skits now

[@alex.scholeck]

Bro keeps robbing them like he in a GTA heist😭😭🙏🙏

[@SalemTechsperts]

@@alex.scholeck I wait until my stars go away

[@daonebest3001]

got a used i5 8th gen dell latitude back in 2021 good as new for around £200-250.. It's an extremely practical laptop with multiple USB, HDMI, SD reader, ethranet. and even a SC reader. It also has upgradable storage and ram. I've taken great advantage of it's features and it's done everything I needed it to and I have no plans of replacing it anytime soon

[@TrevorHamberger]

I got a Dell rllatitude rugged with an i7 for $60. It's a monster

[@AvengeTheBlade]

This makes me so happy about my T480 purchase yesterday. Got a used model off eBay with 32gb of ram, 256gb NVME, i5-8350u and an IPS 1080p display for only $135 😎

[@connorgtz7634]

Can you reply with that seller name please?

[@SteffDev]

I bought a refurbished ThinkPad T450 over a year ago now, and I love it!

[@blueincognito5037]

The T580 is a worthy mention, espicially if you need more battery than performance.

[@EidolonKaos]

Sounds like a good option for somebody who would otherwise get a chromebook or similar.

[@AdewaleLuqmaanMudasiru]

Got this early this year

[@144Donn]

Thank you man for having INTEGRITY! I get such a high from hearing a professional like speaking about value, NOT ripping off people rather giving extra value and creating TRUST! The world needs this now more thane ever! So as a fellow "INTEGRIST", I thank you!

[@lalo_landa.]

This is so true. I bought a refurbished Dell Latitude 5400 a couple years ago for $250, easily upgraded it myself with 32gb DDR4 ram and a 2TB SSD, and it works like a charm. Fast, reliable, and REPAIRABLE.

[@ProjectExMachina]

7480 here. Didn't upgrade it. 16/256 GB. And it does everything I need from it like a charm and build quality is just amazing

[@RideOnTimePH]

I have the same latitude 5400. Still stock with 8gb ram and 1TB mechanical drive. Bought it in 2021 from my old company (they auction their machines to employees). This laptop is very reliable.

[@Odud_rg]

I genuinely love used laptops. My current old gaming Dell with me for 5 years. I bought it in a bit harsh condition, upgraded ram, replaced keyboard and insert ssd as it has 2 slots. This thing survived university, occupation, me working with kids (it fell from table once) and moving from place to place. And now I'm playing BG3 with my bro on it. This laptop is modular enough, total blessing

[@MrTheinfoman]

I'm an IT technician we have Dell Latitudes that we can repair and reuse for our co workers to use. Before dell we have Lenovo but that contract ended.

[@SalemTechsperts]

What's your experience been like comparatively? Pros, cons of latitude vs thinkpad

[@MrTheinfoman]

@SalemTechsperts the thinkpad we used to have is the xone yoga gen2 there decent with i5 7th gen there little bit beaten but the downside with them is small and thin then again there still work as training laptops for new hires to use. The latitudes are very good for beginners since the size of those laptops are enough to understand the parts plus Dell has more parts available to use in my area to get in case of failure and mainly we use it for office workers. To me both are good. I'm using a Dell Latitude 5550 Laptop with an i5 12th gen cpu

[@MrTheinfoman]

@@SalemTechsperts Both are great choices but when come to repairablilty and most imporatanly avaliablity to get it replaces in quick pinch the dell Lattidues are good choice I do own a Dell Latitidue 5530 with a intel I5 12th Gen and been working form me quite well. I know the 5000/7000 series of Lattitudes are the best choice when comes to get a real useful laptop.

[@kasten8020]

@@MrTheinfomanbought an used Lattitude 7390 great Laptop. Great battery, Touchscreen, Nice Keyboard, Type C Charging... 150€ cheap and portable Perfect for on the go

[@akin242002]

My 2 favorite laptops, Dell Latitudes and Lenovo ThinkPads. Those are the best gamble to take for used/refurbished laptops.

[@DanielBarbieri-vh9bx]

Amazing, I run a small IT shop in South Florida. I don't have a storefront it's strictly mobile. Been telling my customers the same thing for years, I'll often direct them to a certified business class refurbisher simply because of the better quality. I started out using only machines from a refurbisher called Joy Systems... not sure if they're still around. I remember unpacking one of their desktops... it was utterly amazing...they would even repaint the side of the desktop where the monitor had sat on top of as a workstation. Thanks for being courageous enough to share!! DB

[@joel530johnson2]

I've been watching you for a while. Having worked in the business for over 40 years I can appreciate what you go through. I've been converting old Windows PC/Laptops to Linux for the past 4 years. Like you I hate to see these machines go into land fills. I had heard about Thinkpads for a while, but you brought home why they are good. My son lives in Beverly, so if I ever need a Thinkpad, I'll contact you and have him pick it up for me (to save you shipping). BTW, since I load up Linux, I won't need Windows installed.

[@floofypoofybread]

As a normal consumer with no experience in Linux, could you point me how to install it, is it that different from windows, how could I install exe or msi programs?

[@misterthegeoff9767]

The other thing about Thinkpads is you can spec them from lenovo with Ubuntu so they have 100% hardware compatability and you rarely get any driver issues on linux.

[@misterthegeoff9767]

@@floofypoofybread Just like installing Windows you create a bootable USB which you can do so by downloading your linux iso of choice (e.g. Linux mint 22) from their website and using balena etcher or similar software to create the installation usb drive. You then use that to install linux just like you would to install windows from USB. The more beginner friendly distros (like Linux mint which I use) have a Windows app store/google play store like interface where you can install stuff, similar to if you have used a Chromebook. For .exe I use WineGUI which sometimes works but more often than not you can just find a linux program that does what you want (e.g libreoffice instead of MS Office) or for games Steam can run an awful lot of games on linux natively now because all the Steam Decks are linux based so they have been really pushing for compatability.

[@vmaxmadness]

My T490 bought as refurbished. Running Fedora as smooth as butter.

[@BrianRialti]

Totally agree with you on the ThinkPads. Noticed you didn't mention the X series. I'm guessing that maybe you don't see as many of them come through the recycler you buy from. In my experience at work, the only folks who got the smaller laptops were the management folks.. directors, vice presidents.. Thanks for putting content out like this. More folks need to know about the used business class laptops.

[@PeanutsandPopcorn]

This type of messaging is why I keep coming back to this channel. Well, that … random deaths, capping on moms, and a general lack of seriousness between the seriousness.

[@SalemTechsperts]

Hah, thank you for coming back!

[@BeastPSSingh]

7:02 I like my woman Chunky. ... The Greatest Technician that's ever lived 2024

[@delipatedape728]

Dude, your videos are so refreshing. It's so nice to see someone just being real.

[@DoctorUmbraTV]

Greetings from Chile. I followed your advice and bought a used Lenovo L14 Gen3 (AMD). I have to say, I'm IMPRESSED with the little machine. It cost a FRACTION of a new laptop, and it really does it all. Thank you for sharing your wisdom with us, and making the internet a better place. Much love.

[@matthewl5434]

Before my mom retired she had a few Thinkpad T14s that were issued to her by her company, helped set a relatively new one up for her when she moved to WFH and my god, that might be one of the best feeling laptops I've ever touched. Makes my Alienware feel like a Fisher Price toy in comparison.

[@SalemTechsperts]

Alienware quality is no joke though! But yeah T14s is sexy af lol

[@from6454]

I totally agree. I bought many used Lenovo laptops on eBay. Usually just around $1135 average, other than few models. I think 15" just make no sense. I would go with 17.3" P series workstation at home and T14/X1 Carbon/X1 yoga for out of home use. So far, I have already collected so many some fix it up and give it to my family. Like P50, X1 Yoga (G3), X1 Carbon (G5), and T490s (Touchscreen). Now, I still own P70, two P70 (around $220) and X1 Carbon (G6), and T490s (Touchscreen), and T580 and T490. With my latest P17 (Gen 1), I think I would stop buying for 2 years and just enjoy what I have. I would never buy another new laptop for the rest of my life. I had built a desktop 2021 (for around $1300) now it just sitting there doing nothing.

[@TheBillzilla]

You've made me very happy with my recent purchase of a used Lenovo ThinkPad P16S gen 1. I use it for CAD work and it's been superb. After watching this video I'm more confident that it'll last for years.

[@TheDbduece]

Been operating with that motto (buying off-lease business laptops over used commercial) for nearly 30 years. The only time that strategy didn't work during the Window's Media Player days which business machines didn't offer much in the way of consumer entertainment ( awsome sound/video cards, blu ray playback, etc ) that consumer PCs, particularly HP, were providing.

[@corey7219]

Bringing my decade old dell latitude e7440 with me on a flight to San Diego, then our first ever cruise in December. I bought a Dell power companion (18,000 mah) for extra power. The laptop has served our family well since 2020

[@eyobed5274]

yeah. that PC is a rock

[@Thalanox]

_"Linus Tech Tips Is Dead, All Hail Salem Techsperts!"_ This is one of the first "here's the basics of computing for a consumer" videos I've seen in a VERY long time. I hope your business is going well.

[@Thalanox]

@todorsamardzhiev144 I saw that in the next video of his I saw a few minutes after this comment. At least the economic devastation I've been trying for years trying to warn people about is starting to get noticed. Hopefully it'll get bad enough fast enough that we'll be able to fix civilization before the worst happens. I worry that the various threats aren't all being recognized.

[@thedungeondelver]

I bought my wife an HP Z2 G4 mini for Christmas to upgrade from her current HP All-In-One. The Z2 G4 is a beast of a mini-PC, and she doesn't game except very regularly and casually. Got it in and the build quality on this thing is insane. I always worry when stuff is shipped, but yeah, no this thing just rocks on toast. It's a 7th gen i7, 16gb RAM, it came diskless but I threw a 240gb SSD in it. It'll probably last her a decade.

[@kellyoneal5498]

Well, I still have a working HP Elitebook 8530w laptop from circa 2007, so a decade sounds about right...

[@amandawoodward4099]

Your channel and others has helped me learn how to better take care of my gaming laptop. My laptop isnt super clean but i try to open it up to air dust it as best i can. I dont trust myself to tear it down completely but i do try to keep my fans and vents clean as best i can.

[@DivisionOfTheLight]

Just upgraded my refurbished i7 ThinkPad T480 I bought for 250€. It already came with a lot of upgrades si I'm pretty sure the previous owner was part of the cult too. I love this laptop.

[@septacular7]

That ending made me chuckle. Appreciate it man. Educative and entertaining as always.

[@37Kilo2]

For sure. We deal with close to 2000 laptops at work, all business class. From my 11 years of experience, Lenovo and Dell are great, but HP is not recommended. You can literally feel the quality. You really notice how much better they are when a customer brings in one of their $300 Best Buy offerings, which is made of the cheapest plastic (including the hinges). It's overloaded with bloatware, and runs like absolute trash even after a fresh OS install.

[@Schamisheep]

Honestly we are currently buying mainly HP Elitebooks and they actually fell pretty stable. The worst models we have are Fujitsu laptops, these things break all the time and feel like the whole screen ist only plastic.

[@fleurdewin7958]

My company has been using HP Elitebook 800 and 1000 series for many years now. Pretty good , occasional battery bloat issues after 2 years but hardly any other hardware failures. I will say, don't get the lower range business class laptops like HP Probook and Dell Vostro. I have been burnt before by trying to cut cost going for these lower end model, their failure rate is noticibly higher.

[@37Kilo2]

We have more issues with HP Elite Books than with any Dell or Lenovo devices. Also, dealing with their warranty service is more difficult than with Dell. I have yet to need to contact Lenovo for any reason, so I can't comment on their service.

[@SalemTechsperts]

I've heard iffy things about HP's warranty experience and their build quality seems to fluctuate wildly depending on model. But I don't see many come into the shop, even used ones.

[@donavannj]

​@@37Kilo2we're primarily an HP shop where I work and the majority of the Gen 9s I've deployed were lemons. But I've not had issues to nearly the same extent with any other Gen of EliteBooks. They're certainly still better than most consumer desktops.

[@SmilerRyanYT]

This really makes me feel like i've made the right choice yesterday having someone order a latitude on amazon then, it's coming tomorrow. Can confirm it came and it's great, nobloatware, default windows 10 drivers work, and powerful enough for what i need, and some of my gaming needs.

[@mihilist]

I work for an MSP that supports large state government contracts (US government holds onto ancient hardware across the board). Popping an SSD into a Lenovo T430 to this day still makes an extremely usable laptop which came out in 2012.

[@SalemTechsperts]

SSD's are like meth for old PC's, it's wild

[@MichaelMossmanNZ]

Typing this on a Latitude 5521 that I bought while it was still under Dell service contract, for a quarter of what it sold originally when new. I love this laptop, and never thought I'd be rocking an octa-core (yes, 16 threads) cpu as a daily driver. Anyway, keep up the good work ... looking forward to the next video =)

[@AMACHiiBiong]

4:46 THE GREATEST AD SEGUE THAT’S EVER LIVED

[@ChristianStout]

I'm glad this strategy is gaining traction. I've been recommending this for years. Used workstation laptops are also better than new gaming laptops for most people.

[@tytanium654]

I wish laptops were built to last, rather than being made to fail right after the warranty expires. Planned obsolescence sucks. I have an MSI gaming laptop I got in 2021, every year I had to get the screen fixed, now the warranty is expired, and it's in a pile of PC parts.

[@Bladenkerst_Baenre]

I am on my 2nd MSI laptop and have never had any problem. 1st one my daughter and granddaughter use it. I have travelled with both and besides being a heavy pain on my shoulder from the messenger bag, nothing but praise!!. When the NVidia 5xxx comes out, may be time to trade out the 3080.

[@ashleythomas9671]

if its just the screen, check if it has a hdmi port, you can attach it to a tv or monitor and get another few months out of it.

[@tytanium654]

@ashleythomas9671 it still works, just not as a laptop

[@FrancescoAntoni090504]

Bought my mum a refurbished T490. Works great. Good battery. She’s super happy with it.

[@brandyboutwell9388]

I still run a Dell Latitude with a 4th Gen i-7. Love that thing. Bluetooth and backlit keyboard. It has been great for everyday use for the past 4 years for portable usage.

[@SalemTechsperts]

love it

[@martingaunt599]

Good stuff, trying to get this point across is so hard. I have been repairing and selling business-grade laptops for over 20 years in England. I sell like you mainly Thinkpads.

[@Dennn90]

While looking for a inexpensive laptop for a friend, accidentally bought another one for myself.. I bought him a Ryzen 7 2700U Hp elitebook with 256 ssd and 16 gb of ram for around 180 USD (conversion from CAD) and got myself a Thinkpad T495 with Ryzen 3700U, 32 gb RAM, 512 SSD and touchscreen for around 220 USD, seller installed Win 10 on it with no drivers at all, and even after I've installed audio driver, there was no audio, so I asked 40 bucks off in case if I wont be able to fix it (it was a hotkey driver issue, someone turned sound off with button combo, so only proper driver and button combo will turn it back on). Love it, it's light, fast, built like a tank and can even play some games with it's vega 10 iGPU.

[@NegativeAccelerate]

Where did u find them?

[@DamonChuckLover89]

I have the exact same laptop!

[@ralphelie3057]

How's ur friends elitebook holding up? Hinges?

[@Dennn90]

@ralphelie3057 Last time I asked, he said it's ok, no issues. Can't find any complaints about the hinges on the specific model (755 G5 if I remember correctly) on google.

[@Dennn90]

@todorsamardzhiev144 I've bought T490 few weeks ago for my girlfriend, also for a bargain deal, outside they are the same, only T490 being Intel based, and with much weaker igpu..

[@the81tch455]

I have much love for you bro. I'm from South Africa and used to run my own repair shop. Unfortunately here spare parts aren't that available and costly for shipping. I instead evolved to automation in fruit packhouses. Still an IT guy by nature

[@BMO20]

1:05 MKBHD reference is crazy

[@Tamay.]

1:41 Cool license plate

[@almc8445]

I’ve got 2x T480s’s, I’ve had them for ~5 years, and they were owned by a company before me. They both still work awesomely, they need new batteries, but otherwise they great little things, thin, light, and get the job done.

[@rodhoutx]

Those Dell business laptops are pretty solid. I think they tend to have a longer upgrade cycle too. Back in 2008 I bought a Dell Inspiron Laptop (Inspiron is home version) which came with Vista, and it wasn't cheap because I upgraded the RAM and Video. When Win 7 came out there were no drivers for it on Dell's site. They said it wasn't compatible with Win 7. Yet the Dell Latitudes we had at work had drivers for all kind of OS versions. I'm still using an old Latitude E6440 as a second work Laptop (HDD upgraded to SSD), and I swear it it seems to run just as fast as the newer HP that was supposed to replace it.

[@reaperfs2371]

Lupe has a beautiful beard man

[@SalemTechsperts]

Coconut oil

[@SomeRendomDude]

did you forget a comma, perhaps?

[@reaperfs2371]

You sure it's not baby oil?​@@SalemTechsperts

[@reaperfs2371]

​@@SomeRendomDudeno no lupe has a man with a beautiful beard lmao

[@DragoonMS]

10:44 Yes, that's quite logical reasoning, actually. Especially since ThinkPads are supposed to be absolute beasts anyway. Also, cool Star Trek: The Next Generation uniform in the bag back there behind you.

[@SalemTechsperts]

It's foreshadowing a future video 👀

[@syaondri]

A subtle foreshadowing!?​@@SalemTechsperts

[@derrickdavis4861]

Promethian and Bob in the background definitely fits your vibe. Thanks for the content man, let us know when you have a laptop drop.

[@waylonfrancis188]

I 100% agree with you my tech administrator at my school gave me a couple decommissioned HP probooks 4520s from 2010 and they're amazing

[@yissellreynosomartinez5461]

It seems that they are very prepared and have a good format.

[@MichaelAChang]

I absolutely concur. I've been buying off-lease corporate laptops for years; Dell Precision preferred followed by Lenovo.

[@MIInDsEthiopia]

This day's the KZbin algo got me good, I love the vibes here and I'm staying for that

[@Rattiestbook2]

Saw your video on the T530, purchased one and it’s perfect.

[@SalemTechsperts]

Glad to hear you're enjoying it!

[@elindred]

I've been telling my friends and family exactly this for years and they've never fine wrong. Part of their business model is their service contracts guaranteeing repair within 4 hours of calling them, so not often do they need to last long before repair but they also need to be serviceable quickly. I've serviced consumer laptops where replacing the ram needed taking almost the while thing apart, whereas a business laptop will need you to turn a couple of Philips screws, if that. That said, I hate lenovos; the fn key is where the Ctrl key should be and it drives me nuts.

[@thebigunodos3559]

This is exactly what I'm interested in. Great timing!

[@lihtan]

A few years ago I picked up a used HP ProBook at a used computer store for the cost of a Chromebook. It's a solid chunky laptop, with a full complement of ports. It even came equipped with an optical drive and a DB-9 serial port! Servicing it is very easy. I just have to unlock one latch, and the entire bottom panel just slides open. Although I bought it for office productivity and doing ZOOM calls, I've also found it capable for doing minor video editing. I've been telling people the same thing : get yourself a used business class laptop!

[@ChaoticD3sTroYeR]

Is 0:19 that the infamous Dell 7559 HINGE PROBLEM?! HAHAHAHHAA. I got one as a gift to myself back in like 2016 and that EXACT hinge issue happened to me, from the LEFT too as the video shows, and then it started falling apart, just the same too. Bro it's insane how much of a problem I've seen this be for so many people. Brought back memories. Bro MKBHD is never escaping that speeding event, it is the canon event of his life. 😭

[@SalemTechsperts]

Hah, you already know

[@aaarhhh4341]

Im using a fully specced dell precision from like 6 years ago.. this thing is a beast. 7th gen i7 THIRTY TWO GB of ram, 1tb nvme ssd, 4k touchscreen, crazy loud speakers, nvdia quadro 1200 it was in terrible condition but i paid basically nothing to get it serviced and cleaned up and perfectly usable for video editing, graphics and even some gaming When i first got it serviced it wasnt working properly and i couldn’t figure out why until i realised a bad sensor was causing some BD protochot error to limit the cpu usage to under .8 ghz. Im not very knowledgeable about computers but i watched your video about underclocking and i was trying it when i noticed what was wrong. So i need to thank you for helping me bring this pc back to life cause i really REALLY needed it to

[@CoMmAnDrX]

I just recently pushed 2 of my clients towards buying a used Thinkpad W540. Intel i7 (4th gen) 16GB DDR3, 512GB SSD and a dedicated GPU with 2GB of vram. Both those clients love them and said they will never buy new again. Both surprising had good batteries too.

[@SalemTechsperts]

I know I'll catch heat for this but this is one of my most hated ThinkPad's. Simply because of the weird quality of plastic they used, and the touchpad. Oh God the touchpad. With that said it truly is a legend for being the last one with a DVD drive. I sold plenty and they all loved it. Except 1 that had a display that was 3K resolution and was completely unobtainable when they broke it.

[@TenkaiSp]

​@@SalemTechspertsI really hate the rubber coating on older Dells that gets sticky over time, horrible experience lol

[@SalemTechsperts]

@ man that sticky rubber coating affected everything from headphones to Maserati’s.

[@crazyelf1]

The Lenovo P series, especially with models with a high end GPU, can be used for gaming. They are typically more conservatively clocked than a GPU on a gaming laptop, which means a slightly lower frame rate. Some of the newer ThinkPad laptops also have fused screens, because they have high end OLED touchscreen displays. Otherwise, if you are willing to live with these issues, the P series will be able to game. They have the same GPU dies as their gaming counterparts.

[@Pommy727]

I watch for the comedy, subscribed for the tech advice.

[@TerryKiss]

wow i wish there were more tech enthusiasts like you

[@MrFunnyMint]

2:52 The greatest Thief That Ever lived!

[@Foolish_FlameIgnis]

I appreciate you sharing our philosophy. If I need fixing in the future I’ll consider you first.

[@Zincboy1]

Think pads are the best laptops.

[@telephoto]

not all of them

[@steelcity9517]

For the cost, and how easy they are to repair - yes they are!

[@PyroBlank]

P series ones. E series are not great.

[@FR4M3Sharma]

Sebi's Random Tech has entered the chat

[@foxyloon]

P, T, W, and X series are solid laptops. E series are glorified consumer laptops. Dell Latitude/Precision mobile and HP ProBook/EliteBook series are also solid options.

[@TrevorHamberger]

I got an excellent used business laptop for 40 bucks and one for 60 bucks. I just installed Linux mint on it and it was good to go. Best decisions I ever made

[@MediocreTCG]

My 11 year old was doing homeschool last year, and I got him a used Carbon X1 6th gen with 16gb of RAM running Windows 11. Now that he's back in regular school, we added a thunderbolt gpu dock and it's his gaming system, and my pick up and use for web surfing laptop. Best 250 bucks I ever spent on used device tbh

[@NeverWasHere2]

I have a Carbon X1 5th Gen. I’m currently using it for college so I’d still recommend it if he needs it later in life and takes care of it

[@Shinravega]

Why can't there be more honest people like this in the world.

[@karkovb152]

I had a Thinkpad Yoga that I use as a "tablet" to draw illustrations. And I think these things vs the customer-grade Lenovo Yoga is an obvious superior. Like why is Lenovo calling a laptop that can't do Yoga, a Yoga.

[@stefanmodigh7897]

As an IT 2nd line support guy who works with these models daily in an enterprise environment, these laptops can take a punch..it's crazy how durable they are and easy to work with...I can change the battery or keyboard in less than 10 min. Typing on these keyboards is one of the best in the business.

[@brianh02]

Scored a Thinkpad T14 Gen 1 10th gen with a 4k screen for $250 AUD! much better than any of the crap they try to sell these days

[@SalemTechsperts]

👏 This is exactly what I'm saying!

[@MikeGusFifteen]

I just got a T14s Gen2 aluminum on ebay for $250. Immaculate condition, just a couple light scratches on the outside. For an 11th gen i5, 16gb of ram, and a 512gb m.2 ssd I got a crazy good deal. This video is what made me pull the trigger. Thanks!!!!!!

[@beandrive]

I agree, for me it started with a ThinkPad T20 w/ Intel 386 processor. I was hooked ever since. thanks for your posts.

[@SalemTechsperts]

Salute to an OG! Thanks for watching!

[@Just_Damian]

Yep i am subscribing, love these videos

[@TriSci42]

You guys definitely got your money worth on the plastic skeleton

[@tomc101]

I'm a long time software developer that needs a development computer in the field. Started with IBM ThinkPads and then Lenovo ThinkPads after they bought the line from IBM. Bought new at first but for the last 4 or 5 generations have been workstation class ThinkPads bought used from eBay. Never had a failure in any of them. Because migrating to a new computer is so time consuming because of all the software and development environment I use, it takes a substantial jump in capability in newer ThinkPads to make me decide to upgrade. Currently using a used P51 with Xeon processor, two M.2 SSD, 64GB ram, and UHD display. Cost was around $500 from eBay. It came with 64GB ram, but I replaced the one M.2 drive it came with to two 2TB M.2 drives.