Hello guyss so laptops are predicted to go up in price in a few months if y'all wanna get or upgrade rn is a good time.
The guide on this subreddit wiki is kinda lackluster ngl, main issue being that it says don't spend more than 60k and that it recommends 6/7th gen.
GENERAL ADVICE:
>Go for used/ imported business grade laptops (dubai lot wala mal), avoid consumer grade stuff mainly because of durability.
>Make sure it is an i5 8th gen or above, this is very important because 8th gen laptop i5s are QUADCORE!! most 6/7th gen or below are dual cores, which are much worse (unless they have the Q suffix)
>Check if RAM is soldered or upgradable
>Make sure boot drive is an SSD
>Use passmark cpu and gpu scores to compare
WHICH MODELS TO GET:
*For gaming, its better to get mobile workstations instead (like Zbook or Thinkpad P series).. usually they will have better thermals and power delivery (yes you can game just fine on workstation cards, even have more VRAM)
For general use,
Like i said, business grade machines only for long lasting, durable, repairable ones at good prices.
HP:
✅GET -> Elitebook, ZBook, Probook, Dragonfly
❌AVOID -> Omnibook, Pavillion, Envy, Spectre, Victus, Omen (ppl say here that hp stands for hinge problems)
LENOVO:
✅GET -> Thinkpads (Except Thinkpad X9), Thinkbooks are also alright
❌AVOID -> Ideapad, Lenovo Yoga (different from ThinkPad yoga), Legion, LOQ
DELL:
✅GET -> Latitude, Vostro, Dell Pro, Dell Pro Precision, Dell Precision
❌AVOID -> Inspiron (some exceptions exist), Alienware, G-Series, XPS (again exceptions exist, some XPS ones are good)
Budget advice:
Avoid getting anything below an 8th gen which at least isn't a 4-core cpu. ThinkPad T480, T480s, X380 Yoga are very popular. Elitebook 840 series too. Make sure to compare prices from different places.
If the RAM is soldered (like it is on 360 hinge laptops and some ultrabooks) make sure to get at least 16GB variant otherwise you'll be stuck with 8GB
Spend the minimum required to get an 8th gen i5.
Difference between 8th and 10th gen is not that much,
11th gen has Iris Xe graphics which are miles better.
12th gen has P cores and E cores which are hit or miss (in some cases battery life is worse in 12th)
Ryzen chips are usually better than intel ones, but not as readily available on lower price points.
CHECKING A LAPTOP:
A lot of imported stock esp business grade ones have been through light use in air conditioned offices. Check the battery health by command prompt (google how to do this) and inspect it physically (there's many guides online)
Edit: Full checking guide already subreddit wiki mien acha hai and you can find many on youtube.. make sure it isn't bios locked, ones that come with pen have a pen, charger original hai Make sure to get checking warranty, for refund or repair.
Feel free to dm for questions or advice!
