Screen resolution isn’t the greatest, but is what it is at this price point.
HDD is going to be slower than an SSD, but you’re not getting an SSD at this price point.
Overall, not a horrible machine.
I humbly offer 2 alternatives at $299 and $399, respectively, for the average consumer:
At $299: EVOO 15.6" at Walmart. A faster (though same-gen) processor, slightly bigger, better resolution (1080p), same RAM, a SSD over a HDD, and New vs. Refurb. You lose a bit on build quality and Win 10 Home instead of Win 10 Pro, but I think the pros outweigh the cons.
At $399: Gateway 14.1" at Walmart. A 10th-gen i5 processor, twice the RAM, a fingerprint scanner, and all of the pros from above (though it’s not that much bigger). The build quality on the Gateway is a little better than the EVOO but probably not as nice as the Dell, and again, only Win 10 Home instead of Pro. To me, unless I need the Pro license or the enterprise build quality, just going from a 6th-gen i5 to a 10th-gen i5 and doubling the RAM is enough to justify the price hike.
Nice one avoiding the product discussion and plopping down spammy affiliate links.
Thanks! I removed the affiliate codes from the url.
Who did the refurb of an off-lease business grade laptop matters. Didn’t notice it mentioned here. Easy swapping out if you get a lemon is critical.
This much more solidly built and serviceable (vs price-leader consumer crap) laptop and will likely do everyday tasks with perfectly acceptable performance, and do so for many years, except two issues: if it matters to you, that low screen resolution… and the hard drive vs SSD. If you get one that was a desktop dweller and not a road warrior in its prior life.
The hard drive would be easy to swap out for an SSD, but you shouldn’t have to do that for a properly refurbed laptop at this $350 price. Also, budget for a replacement battery unless you plan to use it plugged in.
1366 x 768 resolution showcases movies and games in stunning clarity
“Stunning”, no.
If it were my $300 or even 400, I’d look for a clean Dell business grade off-lease laptop with an SSD from a vendor who does easy swapouts before throwing money away on a price-leader consumer grade laptop that will be lucky to last half the remaining years of useful life of the Dell Latitude.
If I had higher performance or slimmer, more compact needs, I might consider a new consumer grade laptop… but it would be from a reputable brand and to get to an acceptable quality level, require $500+, at a sale price.
Sorry, was lazy this morning. I usually trim those.
I bought this one a couple of days ago for $299.99: Asus VivoBook 15 F512JA-PH31-BAC 15.6" Ultrabook Laptop, Intel i3-1005G1, 4GB Memory, 128GB SSD, Windows 10 (90NB0QUE-M13040) | Staples
It’s out of stock now, and it only has (a current generation) i3, 4GB RAM, and a 128GB SSD, but it has an empty slot to upgrade the RAM. 1080p screen, and wireless AC, too. Much better deal, IMO, even though this is a Latitude.
Gateway!? This company died 10 years ago. What next, Zenith or Magnavox! Please let Gateway RIP.
I saw that one a few days ago as well since I’ve been looking for a deal for a frugal friend. Do the research on that Asus Vivobook. No thanks.
I owned a couple Gateway computers in the early days when this “cow” company with the spotted boxes in Iowa was a great brand, producing well made and highly spec’d PCs at a good price, mail order only.
Then they went thru a sad multi-twisted chain of owners, even themselves buying eMachines at one point.
Today’s “Gateway” computers is a shill brand (like RCA, Polaroid, etc…) licensed by current rights owner Acer to the same Chinese company that makes cheaply made EVOO laptops for Walmart.
Trivia: Michigan’s last governor, Rick Snyder, ran Gateway Computer for a stint.
I was buying it for an 80 year old lady who is just going to use it for web surfing and e-mail. I set it up last night, and it’s more than capable for that purpose. It’s actually pretty snappy with the SSD in it. I would never buy something like if for myself, but it will do what 80% of people need it to do.