I missed out on the deal the last time that newandusedlaptops4u had these available. But I did opt for another laptop, the Dell Latitude E5430.
Some thoughts, comments and opinions on the item I received and my overall experience with them:
I think you get a lot of laptop for the money. It's 3rd Gen Ivybridge i5 but still very capable. Most of the improvements to the later generations are to efficiency/power. If you compare benchmarks to some of the mainstream cpu now available 5005u etc this has them beat.
The build quality of these business machines is night and day over entry level consumer laptops.
I went with their SSD upgrade and Windows 10 because I couldn't be bothered to do it myself. It came with a new Adata SP550 drive. These are TLC nand, but it benched higher than my old Crucial M4 which I am still very happy with.
Functionally I've thoroughly tested it now. Passed memtest on the memory etc and ran all the Dell diagnostics and passed. Checked all the ports etc, all working.
For me, for the money, you'd be hard pressed to find something as good for the same price. Its my first refurb but has changed my mindset now and I will look to buy used business machines in future.
The negatives basically comes down to cosmetics. It seems to be a crap shoot to what condition item you will receive. Though to their credit they offered to refund my money if I sent it back, after I'd e-mailed them about it. They also offer a 1 year warranty.
They don't do much cleaning of the product. The screen on mine has been wiped over so quickly that there were massive smears everywhere. Not a big thing as I cleaned it myself but it shows you the level of time they spend on that.
There were big sticker residue that they didn't attempt to remove.
2 of the rubber feet were missing.
The vent that covers the heatsink was missing so you can see and touch the copper heatsink.
There was a screw missing on the bottom.
The BIOS that came with it was A03 which seems to be what was on it at release of this model. I updated to A16. So they don't update in that respect.
There weren't alot of scratches but the chassis itself is very battered. For example where the SD card slots in you can see gaps where the surround no longer fits around it as neatly as it should. Looks like its bent or something.
The company itself do answer e-mails quickly but don't always seem consistent in what they tell you. For example, I was told the battery would be a 3 cell battery, but that also that they use 'extended' batteries. Mine arrived with a 6 cell.
Overall, I'm ok with the buy. I thought about returning it but for the money, its got good specs and works really well, very snappy.
You need to temper expectations on the condition of the laptop that you will receive.
If you aren't bothered about the appearance of the laptop then I think you will find these are a bargain.
If things like missing vents or screws bother you, then I'd stay clear.
Top comments
M1sterDeeds
28 Jul 164
I missed out on the deal the last time that newandusedlaptops4u had these available. But I did opt for another laptop, the Dell Latitude E5430.
Some thoughts, comments and opinions on the item I received and my overall experience with them:
I think you get a lot of laptop for the money. It's 3rd Gen Ivybridge i5 but still very capable. Most of the improvements to the later generations are to efficiency/power. If you compare benchmarks to some of the mainstream cpu now available 5005u etc this has them beat.
The build quality of these business machines is night and day over entry level consumer laptops.
I went with their SSD upgrade and Windows 10 because I couldn't be bothered to do it myself. It came with a new Adata SP550 drive. These are TLC nand, but it benched higher than my old Crucial M4 which I am still very happy with.
Functionally I've thoroughly tested it now. Passed memtest on the memory etc and ran all the Dell diagnostics and passed. Checked all the ports etc, all working.
For me, for the money, you'd be hard pressed to find something as good for the same price. Its my first refurb but has changed my mindset now and I will look to buy used business machines in future.
The negatives basically comes down to cosmetics. It seems to be a crap shoot to what condition item you will receive. Though to their credit they offered to refund my money if I sent it back, after I'd e-mailed them about it. They also offer a 1 year warranty.
They don't do much cleaning of the product. The screen on mine has been wiped over so quickly that there were massive smears everywhere. Not a big thing as I cleaned it myself but it shows you the level of time they spend on that.
There were big sticker residue that they didn't attempt to remove.
2 of the rubber feet were missing.
The vent that covers the heatsink was missing so you can see and touch the copper heatsink.
There was a screw missing on the bottom.
The BIOS that came with it was A03 which seems to be what was on it at release of this model. I updated to A16. So they don't update in that respect.
There weren't alot of scratches but the chassis itself is very battered. For example where the SD card slots in you can see gaps where the surround no longer fits around it as neatly as it should. Looks like its bent or something.
The company itself do answer e-mails quickly but don't always seem consistent in what they tell you. For example, I was told the battery would be a 3 cell battery, but that also that they use 'extended' batteries. Mine arrived with a 6 cell.
Overall, I'm ok with the buy. I thought about returning it but for the money, its got good specs and works really well, very snappy.
You need to temper expectations on the condition of the laptop that you will receive.
If you aren't bothered about the appearance of the laptop then I think you will find these are a bargain.
If things like missing vents or screws bother you, then I'd stay clear.
All comments (39)
MercutioLeonhart
28 Jul 16#1
You just convinced me to buy it. Is this an internal WiFi replacement or a USB one?
Eebobobo
28 Jul 16#2
Ordered, thanks.
Keep in mind, they're charging £30 to double the RAM from 4GB to 8GB, which is probably a worthwhile upgrade (depending on what you intend to use the machine for), but a single 4GB stick can be had for between £15-20 on eBay.
Just make sure you get an exact match.
M1sterDeeds
28 Jul 161#3
According to Passmark the 3320m in these score 1630 on single thread, and 4006 cpu mark.
A i5-6200U scores 1520 and 3938, these are used in a lot of new consumer laptops around £500
A m3-6y30 scores 1183 and 3056, seen in surface pro and other ultra book types, also £500 ish.
Except the 4GB option is likely to get you two 2GB sticks rather than a single 4GB, so you'll have to buy two 4GB sticks.
RAMiAM
28 Jul 16#6
I purchased one of these a few months back, different seller though, but a bit more expensive I think.
Upgraded RAM to 16gb and replaced HDD with a 240GB SSD and it fly's along.
It also makes a really great hackintosh and runs the very latest OSX without issue, all you need to do I think is replace the wifi card which cost me about £8, again on email. It's also one of the easier hackintosh installations.
Highly recommended for the money, cracking machine now running OSX.
AnonAnonAgain
28 Jul 16#7
would appreciate some advice if poss. it's been a long time since I bothered to check anything in detail. I have a HP G6 i5 8gb . the fan has bothered me since it was months old, noisy as hell and burning hot, better since I slowed the cpu down but.... should I buy this Dell and put my ram n ssd in it?
RAMiAM
28 Jul 16#8
Internal replacement with another dell card I think.
If I get a chance tonight I'll double check.
M0nk3h
28 Jul 16#9
Regardless, 32Bit shouldn't cause a BSOD with more than 4GB in. It would simply show 3.5GB Useable in System Properties.
Evouk
28 Jul 16#10
I bought a Dell 6420 from the same company last year. Mine's a 2nd gen i5 but despite that after chucking in a SSD it flies. Works well with Windows 10. Only issue I had with it was the adaptor wouldn't charge the battery. I got in contact with them and they sent another battery and a brand new oem power adaptor free of charge, couldn't fault the service i had.
stone3t
28 Jul 16#11
Please remove the word "Powerful" from the title. It is not.
Franzkill
28 Jul 16#12
Tried to break the screen off and use it as a tablet, display didn't come on somehow..COLD!
MercutioLeonhart
28 Jul 16#13
After a brief search on my lunchbreak, I found this. Does that look about right to you?
Hackintosh forums mentioned the Atheros AR5B197 working fine, this says AR5B97, but specs are identical.
Begize
28 Jul 16#14
Great value laptop. We run these at work along with other similar Lattitude models and they are generally rock solid. Much better deal than the HP rubbish being posted recently.... and that's coming from an HPE accredited engineer. Unfortunately HP have really taken their eye off the ball.
wild_quinine
28 Jul 16#15
Get the right chipset, not just the right specs. The short and slightly simplified version is that you willl only get something working on OS X if that something is already in a Mac somewhere.
Apple only write drivers for the hardware they use.
BenLBamford
28 Jul 16#16
I literally have no need for a laptop but can I resist this deal. Probably not...
teerex
28 Jul 16#17
Probably too late to get win 10 update now as it ends tomorrow
blaablaa
28 Jul 16#18
I have a 256gb ssd in my current laptop - if I bought one of these laptops and swapped SSDs, would it boot with all my current stuff? I have windows 10 etc on this laptop I am using. I just wondered if I would need to do anything more or could I put my current ssd into the dell E5230 and just use it straight away?
zxzx
28 Jul 16#19
You may well run into some issues, as the install will have drivers specific to your old machine, not the new one. Additionally it could cause windows to require a new activation since it would detect a massive hardware change.
Nice Find OP.. got to be worth a shot for a Hackintosh at the price.
joolt
28 Jul 16#21
You would need to clone the operating system that is on the new laptop onto the SSD of your old laptop (can use Macrium Reflect free edition for this)- Assuming there are files you want to keep already on the SSD you would need to partition it first and make sure there was a clean blank partition of sufficient size (prob 50gb or so) to clone the OS onto (can use Minitool Partition Wizard or similar). The SSD itself should work fine assuming it is a 2.5 inch one
Edit - you wouldn't be able to transfer W10 unless you have a retail version - you would need to wipe this
blaablaa
28 Jul 16#22
Okay thank you - my current hp elitebook has 12gb RAM (4+:sunglasses: & a 256gb ssd - I was hoping I could literally "lift and shift" both into one of these dells for a temporary amount of time while abroad.
JeepBB
28 Jul 16#23
Got one of these about a month ago. One of the USB ports was damaged, and would shortout, but it has 2 more USB ports so ive kept it and put a bit of tape over the port.
With an SSD HD this is a great , robust (metal not plastic framed), and fast travel laptop for very little money.
flashyphotos to JeepBB
28 Jul 16#25
About 100 sold since this listing went up.. Going to keep this refurber busy configuring this lot tonight!
wild_quinine to JeepBB
28 Jul 162#26
He means there will be 2 x 2GB modules in the bloody Dell, you numpty.
The laptop will only have 2 slots. Buying one 4GB module, which, yes, you totally can do, will mean you will get a max of 6Gb RAM.
Eebobobo
28 Jul 16#24
Nonsense.
It's always a good idea to research something before just typing and posting. Just a tip for the future :smirk:
I had issues when I let it self update to El Capitan 10.11.4 and had to update the AppleHDA_IDT.kext but apart from that it was pretty easy. It's all in the thread if you read it through.
Astec123
28 Jul 16#32
You're welcome. The card should be just about playable at low for most games. You should end up with a nice hardy machine and if anything does go wrong with it then the repairs should be very cheap to make.
64bit, that isn't the issue, but thanks for your response all the same :smiley:
After running Memtest, I've narrowed it down to one of my DIMMs, so please ignore my original post :wink: Have it running 6 for now, going to RMA the faulty one.
jkirwan761
29 Jul 16#34
are these noisey, fan constantly going?
MaximusRo
29 Jul 161#35
If you value your privacy, you might not want to upgrade.
No real benefit.
I downgraded mine. This thread has info about some of the updates you should not install or if you did, how to uninstall them to block telemetry and win7/win8 to win10 upgrade messages (that Microsoft pushes very aggressively) using a convenient .bat program.
MaximusRo
29 Jul 16#36
20-25% is way off, Samsung Magician recommends 10%
Did you change ships from Lenovo to Dell? I still have my T420 :smiley:
M1sterDeeds
29 Jul 161#37
I bought the E5430 which has the same cpu. The fan is noticeable when it's on. What I noticed was after upgrading the BIOS to the latest version that the fan would only spin up once it reached a certain temperature. So I noticed the fan less. It's silent when browsing and under light loads. Although I have noticed sometimes its spins up and down for a short period even when under those conditions. But overall definitely much less after the BIOS upgrade.
There are some reports on the internet that when these were first released that the fan was noisy, and hence some changed were made to the BIOS to tackle the issue.
Astec123
29 Jul 16#38
It depends who you speak to. My experience and testing is that 20-25% affords maximum performance, once you start going under that figure performance begins to take a hit, maybe not a massive drop but enough to be noticeable. Under around the 10% mark like Samsung seem to suggest it's a very significant drop.
As to machines, I've got quite a range of devices, Dell, HP, Lenovo etc. I don't constrain to one supplier and pick the best device for the budget and needs.
Scarro
29 Jul 16#39
Random question, but doesn any one know if this machine would have any chance of running CIV 5 at any performance setting?
![Fresh Breakfast Meat Box (Using code) @ Campbells Meat [Haggis / Lorne Sausage / Bacon / Black Pudding & More]](/images/topics/208684_1.jpg)
![[Xbox One] Q. u. b. e: Director's Cut on Deals with Gold](/images/topics/208716_1.jpg)
Opening post
Some thoughts, comments and opinions on the item I received and my overall experience with them:
I think you get a lot of laptop for the money. It's 3rd Gen Ivybridge i5 but still very capable. Most of the improvements to the later generations are to efficiency/power. If you compare benchmarks to some of the mainstream cpu now available 5005u etc this has them beat.
The build quality of these business machines is night and day over entry level consumer laptops.
I went with their SSD upgrade and Windows 10 because I couldn't be bothered to do it myself. It came with a new Adata SP550 drive. These are TLC nand, but it benched higher than my old Crucial M4 which I am still very happy with.
Functionally I've thoroughly tested it now. Passed memtest on the memory etc and ran all the Dell diagnostics and passed. Checked all the ports etc, all working.
For me, for the money, you'd be hard pressed to find something as good for the same price. Its my first refurb but has changed my mindset now and I will look to buy used business machines in future.
The negatives basically comes down to cosmetics. It seems to be a crap shoot to what condition item you will receive. Though to their credit they offered to refund my money if I sent it back, after I'd e-mailed them about it. They also offer a 1 year warranty.
They don't do much cleaning of the product. The screen on mine has been wiped over so quickly that there were massive smears everywhere. Not a big thing as I cleaned it myself but it shows you the level of time they spend on that.
There were big sticker residue that they didn't attempt to remove.
2 of the rubber feet were missing.
The vent that covers the heatsink was missing so you can see and touch the copper heatsink.
There was a screw missing on the bottom.
The BIOS that came with it was A03 which seems to be what was on it at release of this model. I updated to A16. So they don't update in that respect.
There weren't alot of scratches but the chassis itself is very battered. For example where the SD card slots in you can see gaps where the surround no longer fits around it as neatly as it should. Looks like its bent or something.
The company itself do answer e-mails quickly but don't always seem consistent in what they tell you. For example, I was told the battery would be a 3 cell battery, but that also that they use 'extended' batteries. Mine arrived with a 6 cell.
Overall, I'm ok with the buy. I thought about returning it but for the money, its got good specs and works really well, very snappy.
You need to temper expectations on the condition of the laptop that you will receive.
If you aren't bothered about the appearance of the laptop then I think you will find these are a bargain.
If things like missing vents or screws bother you, then I'd stay clear.
Top comments
Some thoughts, comments and opinions on the item I received and my overall experience with them:
I think you get a lot of laptop for the money. It's 3rd Gen Ivybridge i5 but still very capable. Most of the improvements to the later generations are to efficiency/power. If you compare benchmarks to some of the mainstream cpu now available 5005u etc this has them beat.
The build quality of these business machines is night and day over entry level consumer laptops.
I went with their SSD upgrade and Windows 10 because I couldn't be bothered to do it myself. It came with a new Adata SP550 drive. These are TLC nand, but it benched higher than my old Crucial M4 which I am still very happy with.
Functionally I've thoroughly tested it now. Passed memtest on the memory etc and ran all the Dell diagnostics and passed. Checked all the ports etc, all working.
For me, for the money, you'd be hard pressed to find something as good for the same price. Its my first refurb but has changed my mindset now and I will look to buy used business machines in future.
The negatives basically comes down to cosmetics. It seems to be a crap shoot to what condition item you will receive. Though to their credit they offered to refund my money if I sent it back, after I'd e-mailed them about it. They also offer a 1 year warranty.
They don't do much cleaning of the product. The screen on mine has been wiped over so quickly that there were massive smears everywhere. Not a big thing as I cleaned it myself but it shows you the level of time they spend on that.
There were big sticker residue that they didn't attempt to remove.
2 of the rubber feet were missing.
The vent that covers the heatsink was missing so you can see and touch the copper heatsink.
There was a screw missing on the bottom.
The BIOS that came with it was A03 which seems to be what was on it at release of this model. I updated to A16. So they don't update in that respect.
There weren't alot of scratches but the chassis itself is very battered. For example where the SD card slots in you can see gaps where the surround no longer fits around it as neatly as it should. Looks like its bent or something.
The company itself do answer e-mails quickly but don't always seem consistent in what they tell you. For example, I was told the battery would be a 3 cell battery, but that also that they use 'extended' batteries. Mine arrived with a 6 cell.
Overall, I'm ok with the buy. I thought about returning it but for the money, its got good specs and works really well, very snappy.
You need to temper expectations on the condition of the laptop that you will receive.
If you aren't bothered about the appearance of the laptop then I think you will find these are a bargain.
If things like missing vents or screws bother you, then I'd stay clear.
All comments (39)
Keep in mind, they're charging £30 to double the RAM from 4GB to 8GB, which is probably a worthwhile upgrade (depending on what you intend to use the machine for), but a single 4GB stick can be had for between £15-20 on eBay.
Just make sure you get an exact match.
A i5-6200U scores 1520 and 3938, these are used in a lot of new consumer laptops around £500
A m3-6y30 scores 1183 and 3056, seen in surface pro and other ultra book types, also £500 ish.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Crucial-DDR3L-PC3L-12800-SODIMM-204-Pin/dp/B006YG8X9Y/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1469706234&sr=8-1&keywords=ddr3+crucial+8+gb
Upgraded RAM to 16gb and replaced HDD with a 240GB SSD and it fly's along.
It also makes a really great hackintosh and runs the very latest OSX without issue, all you need to do I think is replace the wifi card which cost me about £8, again on email. It's also one of the easier hackintosh installations.
Highly recommended for the money, cracking machine now running OSX.
If I get a chance tonight I'll double check.
Hackintosh forums mentioned the Atheros AR5B197 working fine, this says AR5B97, but specs are identical.
Apple only write drivers for the hardware they use.
More detail here
http://www.howtogeek.com/239815/why-cant-you-move-a-windows-installation-to-another-computer/
Edit - you wouldn't be able to transfer W10 unless you have a retail version - you would need to wipe this
With an SSD HD this is a great , robust (metal not plastic framed), and fast travel laptop for very little money.
The laptop will only have 2 slots. Buying one 4GB module, which, yes, you totally can do, will mean you will get a max of 6Gb RAM.
It's always a good idea to research something before just typing and posting. Just a tip for the future :smirk:
There are plenty of single 4GB modules on there.
My apologies, if that's the case.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Crucial-DDR3L-PC3L-12800-SODIMM-204-Pin/dp/B006YG8X9Y?
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/300893674625?clk_rvr_id=1068347271583&rmvSB=true
If you google compatible wifi cards you'll find loads of list of cards that will work out of the box.
Here's the guide I followed
http://forum.osxlatitude.com/index.php?/topic/8506-dell-latitude-inspiron-el-capitan-clover-guide/#entry54621
I had issues when I let it self update to El Capitan 10.11.4 and had to update the AppleHDA_IDT.kext but apart from that it was pretty easy. It's all in the thread if you read it through.
http://www.notebookcheck.net/NVIDIA-NVS-5200M.76732.0.html
After running Memtest, I've narrowed it down to one of my DIMMs, so please ignore my original post :wink: Have it running 6 for now, going to RMA the faulty one.
No real benefit.
I downgraded mine.
This thread has info about some of the updates you should not install or if you did, how to uninstall them to block telemetry and win7/win8 to win10 upgrade messages (that Microsoft pushes very aggressively) using a convenient .bat program.
Did you change ships from Lenovo to Dell? I still have my T420 :smiley:
There are some reports on the internet that when these were first released that the fan was noisy, and hence some changed were made to the BIOS to tackle the issue.
As to machines, I've got quite a range of devices, Dell, HP, Lenovo etc. I don't constrain to one supplier and pick the best device for the budget and needs.