Compared a $60 used ThinkPad against a $200 Walmart laptop and the difference was insane

I needed a cheap laptop for basic stuff like browsing and spreadsheets. Picked up a 2019 ThinkPad T490 off Facebook Marketplace for $60, then my cousin told me to get a new $200 HP from Walmart instead. Honestly, the ThinkPad was built way better, ran faster, and even had a better keyboard. After 2 months the HP started lagging on Chrome tabs and the hinge got wobbly. Has anyone else had way better luck with old business laptops over those budget new ones?

3 comments

3 Comments

evahenderson26d ago

Oh man, you just described exactly what I went through. I used to be one of those people who thought "old laptop = garbage, new laptop = better" no questions asked. Then I grabbed a beat up Dell Latitude from a surplus sale for $50, and my buddy bought a brand new Acer from Best Buy for $250. After six months my Latitude was still running smooth, and his Acer was already getting that cheap hinge wobble and a trackpad that didnt track right. It totally changed my mind about how much "new" actually matters when you're talking about cheap consumer grade stuff. Those old business machines were built to be used hard for years, not just to look pretty on a shelf.

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taraross26d ago

Have you ever looked at what happens to those cheap laptops after a few years, environmentally speaking? I read somewhere that most consumer grade laptops end up in a landfill within 3-4 years because the plastic shells crack and the batteries swell up. But those old business machines, they get refurbished and resold for a decade or more. Kind of makes you wonder if the "cheaper" option is actually costing the planet more in the long run.

diana_kim6626d ago

Planned obsolescence is just the modern version of a disposable society creeping into everything we buy, isn't it?