Refurb’d laptop needed by the wife.

[JayCeeDee]

Hi all – well I’ve spent the last few days waiting to get this topic up for discussion so a big welcome back to the Forum!!😀👍

I need to get a refurb’d laptop for the wife, hers has been getting slow, losing keyboard letters and needs replacing. I have just researched this topic on the forum and the latest posts were 20/21, so I wondered if the recommends were still current.

Budget is £350ish, she needs a 15″ screen, it also needs to be reasonably fast as she uses my machine if the wifi goes out and I’m not around and she has got used to the speed!! She browses, reads, shops and plays solitaire-style games, so no really heavy workload as such.

I’ve looked on Amazon Renewed, one of Dave’s recommends, and seen some HP Elitebook G3’s, ( i5, 16Gb, 256 Gb SSD ) that fit the bill, also some Lenovo Thinkpad P50’s ( i7 with similar specs ), but don’t know either the reliability or durability of these machines.

It needs to have a good battery life as I don’t want it plugged in when she’s using it. The power lead lays across the floor when she’s at the table and has proved to be a trip hazard multiple times and the laptop has often been bounced off the floor too.

TIA. Cheers.

[Ed P]

Two comments before you splash out.

a) When a Windows PC is getting slow a quick fix is a ‘Reset of Windows. (Settings->System->Recovery)

b) When keyboard letters are being lost then assuming you do not mean they are worn, then it can often be cured with a squirt from an Air-can. If the keys are sticky then IPA on a cotton bud can be used to clean out the gunk. Plenty of Fixits on the topic as eating/drinking while using a laptop is a common cause of problems. https://www.ifixit.com/News/11585/how-to-clean-your-laptop-keyboard-fix-sticky-keys

If that does not work then it could be that the keyboard loom has worked loose after dropping the laptop. On some makes it is easy to reseat the loom. On others it is a pig and not worth the effort. I suggest you check out ‘reseat keyboard loom or ‘replace keyboard’ for your wife’s laptop’.

I’ll let Dave comment on the best buy, but I have always found that the old Thinkpads were built to last, but not necessarily the nicest to use.

[JayCeeDee]

Thanks Ed – I have already tried the reset method and it made a marginal improvement, but the keyboard issue is the worst – not worn or sticky, at least six or more letters in total, from each row are not typing out. Huge problems with passwords and searches. An old wired USB keyboard is keeping things going there, but it’s a PITA!!

It’s time to upgrade – she’s had it two or three years now and it came from our son who upgraded after two years. I’ve already replaced the power socket following the lead being kicked out, and it’s working loose again now.

[Ed P]

JayCeeDee wrote:

six or more letters in total, from each row are not typing out

Classic signs of a keyboard loom being displaceddue to its being dropped. As I said in my note, this can be easy to fix or a pig, depending on laptop make. Judging by your post it may not be worth your time unless you want to pass the laptop on to a charity etc..

[JayCeeDee]

I ended up getting her a renewed HP Elitebook 850 G3 from Amazon. 16Gb, 240Gb SSD,i5-6300u for £370.
Set it up and loaded her bits and pieces on to it and she’s delighted. 12 month warranty gives peace of mind. Spanking condition, gleaming and no visible signs of wear or scratches, and I was looking hard!!
Checked back over the site and Dave had sung Amazon’s praises as well as the HP, and so far that has been proven.

[Author]

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