How Bad is This Laptop?
August 4, 2023 7:36 PM Subscribe
Long story short: I left my fancy Lenovo Carbon laptop at a hotel and they cannot ship it to me before I leave the country for a month on Tuesday. I'm teaching an online class and need a laptop to connect to the online course management system and browse the web.
Could I do with this $199 laptop? Or would I just be hating life? Open to alternative recommendations.
Best answer: 4G of memory.
unless you are running some flavor of linux, you will probably hate it.
posted by hollisimo at 8:02 PM on August 4, 2023 [3 favorites]
unless you are running some flavor of linux, you will probably hate it.
posted by hollisimo at 8:02 PM on August 4, 2023 [3 favorites]
It sounds like all you need is a web browser? Would something like a chromebook do? Example (not an endorsement, just the first result in my google search for "chromebook")
posted by btfreek at 8:04 PM on August 4, 2023 [2 favorites]
posted by btfreek at 8:04 PM on August 4, 2023 [2 favorites]
Best answer: I would just buy an okay-ish Chromebook with a nice display and keyboard and wait for your fancy laptop to arrive. Make sure it has HDMI if you need it.
posted by credulous at 8:40 PM on August 4, 2023 [2 favorites]
posted by credulous at 8:40 PM on August 4, 2023 [2 favorites]
It's horrible. I would not bother.
Is there any way you can hire someone, with a large tip, to pick it up for you? Or can you find a place that let you RENT one, at probably exorbitant fees?
posted by kschang at 9:24 PM on August 4, 2023 [2 favorites]
Is there any way you can hire someone, with a large tip, to pick it up for you? Or can you find a place that let you RENT one, at probably exorbitant fees?
posted by kschang at 9:24 PM on August 4, 2023 [2 favorites]
Where is your hotel? Maybe a mefite nearby can pick it up & overnight it to you for less than $199.
posted by needs more cowbell at 10:37 PM on August 4, 2023 [8 favorites]
posted by needs more cowbell at 10:37 PM on August 4, 2023 [8 favorites]
Alternative recommendation: can you delay your trip for a few days so you can get your valuable computer back?
posted by zippy at 12:50 AM on August 5, 2023
posted by zippy at 12:50 AM on August 5, 2023
Maybe buy a relatively high-end laptop and then sell it after you get your Carbon back? Apple laptops hold their value very well and can easily be sold via Criaglist or Facebook Marketplace.
posted by matkline at 3:38 AM on August 5, 2023
posted by matkline at 3:38 AM on August 5, 2023
Best answer: There's this from Costco which isn't amazing but seems a bit better than what you can get locally from BestBuy for the same price (I'm going off the location in your profile). You could also look at what's available on Craigslist and FB Marketplace, though maybe you don't have time for that.
Regardless you want 8gb RAM as an absolute minimum, and ideally a higher screen resolution.
It's not a bad thing to have backup equipment when your work depends on it, if that helps a bit with swallowing the unexpected expense.
posted by trig at 3:41 AM on August 5, 2023 [1 favorite]
Regardless you want 8gb RAM as an absolute minimum, and ideally a higher screen resolution.
It's not a bad thing to have backup equipment when your work depends on it, if that helps a bit with swallowing the unexpected expense.
posted by trig at 3:41 AM on August 5, 2023 [1 favorite]
I'd suggest the old standby of buying an old premium Lenovo laptop on ebay that meets your price point, or a little above it. Most of the people selling them are professional resellers working with ex-commercial stock, which are in decent enough condition, and they're working with enough throughput that the reliability and service you'll get are likely well above what you'd get from BestBuy for a cheap laptop.
Plus it'll be familiar for you, too. I'd go for about the ThinkPad T470 level, maybe a bit older.
posted by ambrosen at 3:43 AM on August 5, 2023 [6 favorites]
Plus it'll be familiar for you, too. I'd go for about the ThinkPad T470 level, maybe a bit older.
posted by ambrosen at 3:43 AM on August 5, 2023 [6 favorites]
I made the mistake of buying one of these. It's full of bloat and will frustrate you.
posted by parmanparman at 3:47 AM on August 5, 2023
posted by parmanparman at 3:47 AM on August 5, 2023
I like the Chromebook idea, but I wouldn't do it unless I knew absolutely and for sure it would run the course management system and any other software you need.
On the other hand, its just possible you could get by with an iPad. Or maybe not.
posted by SemiSalt at 4:40 AM on August 5, 2023
On the other hand, its just possible you could get by with an iPad. Or maybe not.
posted by SemiSalt at 4:40 AM on August 5, 2023
Best answer: If you live near the college you work for, I'd suggest checking with the tech dept (or whatever it's called at your institution). Ours always has some extra laptops around that would be manageable for that purpose.
posted by bizzyb at 6:16 AM on August 5, 2023 [11 favorites]
posted by bizzyb at 6:16 AM on August 5, 2023 [11 favorites]
Yeah, just get a Chromebook. CMSes are all browser based these days and anything that works in desktop Chrome will work on it. It will be way more useful afterwards as a cheap laptop to keep in the kitchen or something whereas the crappy laptop will immediately become ewaste. You should be able to get a higher quality Chromebook than this laptop for a similar price at any electronics store.
posted by derrinyet at 7:19 AM on August 5, 2023
posted by derrinyet at 7:19 AM on August 5, 2023
Best answer: Can you get somebody to ship it on fiverr or similar?
Ask around; friends have resources. If you lived near me, I'd loan you the laptop I use to watch movies in bed.
The school you work for may have resources.
Where are you going? They sell computers there. Like Ambrosen, I buy used Lenovo Thinkpads off ebay or locally. I'm using a T560 and it's a champ. With a decent used Thinkpad, you can buy it, sell it when you're done. They are extremely popular around the world, so you can do this wherever you land.
1st few results, I didn't look at specs, but there are Thinkpads out there:
280, Seattle, CL
295, Seattle, CL
130, Spokane, FB Mktpl, check the model #
Spokane, FB Mktpl, check availability
225, Spokane, FB Mktpl
This sucks, good luck.
posted by theora55 at 8:38 AM on August 5, 2023
Ask around; friends have resources. If you lived near me, I'd loan you the laptop I use to watch movies in bed.
The school you work for may have resources.
Where are you going? They sell computers there. Like Ambrosen, I buy used Lenovo Thinkpads off ebay or locally. I'm using a T560 and it's a champ. With a decent used Thinkpad, you can buy it, sell it when you're done. They are extremely popular around the world, so you can do this wherever you land.
1st few results, I didn't look at specs, but there are Thinkpads out there:
280, Seattle, CL
295, Seattle, CL
130, Spokane, FB Mktpl, check the model #
Spokane, FB Mktpl, check availability
225, Spokane, FB Mktpl
This sucks, good luck.
posted by theora55 at 8:38 AM on August 5, 2023
2nding ask your friends or coworkers! My husband has at least one if not multiple decent unused laptops he'd happily lend a friend in need. My boss would lend me an old company computer in a heartbeat if I needed it. I really can't imagine spending money (not to mention environmental footprint) on a machine you're going to use once when so many people have perfectly good computers cluttering their homes, waiting for just this kind of emergency to spring into action!
posted by gueneverey at 9:45 AM on August 5, 2023 [2 favorites]
posted by gueneverey at 9:45 AM on August 5, 2023 [2 favorites]
Back Market has a couple 7th gen X1 Carbons in 'fair' condition for $260. That one's from 2017, Core i5, 16gb RAM.
posted by snuffleupagus at 10:01 AM on August 5, 2023
posted by snuffleupagus at 10:01 AM on August 5, 2023
Response by poster: Thanks friends for talking me out of a bad decision! I'll check in with my work on Monday and see if IT has a loaner. In the meantime I'll play around with a Lenovo tablet and the Canvas app and grade a few papers and see if that isn't maybe good enough.
posted by LarryC at 10:08 AM on August 5, 2023 [4 favorites]
posted by LarryC at 10:08 AM on August 5, 2023 [4 favorites]
Also if you are teaching "live"... I would suggest confirming that the audio / microphone situation is functional.
posted by oceano at 10:48 AM on August 5, 2023
posted by oceano at 10:48 AM on August 5, 2023
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i would beg, borrow, or steal someone else's computer before i bought that unless you plan is to buy it, do what you need to do, then return it for a full refund. i normally frown on that but with a laptop that atrocious, everyone involved with selling it needs to suffer.
posted by glonous keming at 7:47 PM on August 4, 2023 [13 favorites]