Windows 10: Best Value Opinions - Windows 10 Tablet/Laptop Sub $250

Howdylx07,
Yes, but as previously mentioned, they pretty much all are. Still looking, not much hope though.
Thanks,

 

Asus is Taiwanese. Not sure if that counts as China or not.

 

The Lenovo computers were "spun off" from IBM a few years ago just as the IBM Deskstar HDDs were spun off to Hitachi before that which now may be known as HGST.

 

Thanks Lxo7, I will have to investigate.
Best Regards,

 

Hey Berton,
It is quite complicated IMHO!
Best,

 

@glennc, I got a second hand Lenovo X201 Thinkpad from ebay a couple of weeks ago.

There are hundreds of these things around if you are interested. They are dumped by companies after the 4 year amortization period has ended and older ones are even cheaper.

It was an i5, had 8GB RAM, a 240GB HD, a docking station with CD-W and even a mouse with batteries. For $100 (actually 100 but it is the same as 100 USD more or less). There was another 16 for the shipping.

I then bought a (used) 840 EVO SSD and did a clean install of Windows 10 using the number on the back. Total price including shipping - about $180. It looked as if it had been in someone's cupboard for a decade and never used at all.

It is infinitely better than the Asus Tablet I got for my sister-in law from the supermarket (which cost more).

The only problem is it doesn't run DX11 but I don't think you'd buy a $200 tablet to run the latest AAA games anyway.

Not saying you should but pre-owned is a pretty good option.

 

Hello lx07,
Strange, but I guess I didn't hit enter as I thought I answered your interesting reply..... Sorry for the operator error. Thanks that sounds like a great deal!! Good luck. Not a gamer just looking for a Windows 10 upgrade to an android tablet. Keep me from having to run upstairs to get access better than my Windows phone. Actually I could probably use the exercise !
Best,

 

Thanks - this is interesting information. I had a look around and see that there is quite a variety including refurbished units with SSD and Win10 preinstalled. My concerns, though, would be:

• Battery viability. These units are old enough that their Li-Ion packs are certainly beyond their rated service life and the cost of replacement can easily make the PC not cost-effective to buy.
• Hinges. The Achilles heel of many units, especially Lenovo. I had an old TP390X whose screen literally fell off its mount as the hinges slowly crumbled and collapsed. Also years-long damage to the flex cable connecting the lid with the body. (Note that the N22 mentioned here is designed for classroom abuse and has reinforced frame and hinges).
• Fans. If continuously running in a dusty environment in their previous life, the fan is almost certainly embedded with dust and prone to fail. Not easily serviced in many models, too.
• Refurbisher. Most of the commercial offerings I see are refurbished by Joy Systems who have a checkered quality control history if you read the consumer rating sites.

 

I can't answer your concerns about refurbishers in the US specifically as I have never heard of Joy Systems and I bought it from a seller in Europe.

In terms of battery (and remember this is a laptop from 2010) it has a 25% wear level (so from 91k mWh to 68). Not terrible - it lasts 5 or 6 hours. I also have the battery from the one I bought myself in 2010 (for almost 3000 but lets forget about that) and it is about the same.

The hinges were fine. I can't imagine how they would break. Perhaps the chassis would break if you sat on it (which I did once and the "military spec" magnesium chassis didn't help at all under the weight of, er, me) but the hinge? I agree with you about the screen cables they certainly do disintegrate. On everything.

As for running in a dusty environment this comment is beyond me. Do you old ThinkPad's ran in dustier environments than other brands? Perhaps they do. I have literally no idea.

The fans were clean incidentally. First thing I did was open it, put in my old Gobi_WWAN card so I can stick a SIM card in it and put in a SSD. It was spotless.

Perhaps I was lucky but considering there hasn't been any major hardware changes since 2010 (except for DX11) I figured 180 for the X201 and a new SSD was good value.

I only picked X201 specifically as I had one anyway (that I sat on when I was pissed and broke) so I had the docking station, spare charger and what-not anyway. If not I might have gone for a T series as they are even cheaper and probably more convenient to use.

It was cheaper than replacing the screen on my 2013 MacBook (about $400 from China) which I managed to break not by sitting on it but dropping it 20cm onto the floor.

If I had 2k spare for a laptop I'd get a XPS probably. If I had 200 spare I'd do the same again and get a second hand Thinkpad and a new SSD for it. I'm sure other brands are good also but second hand Thinkpads seem cheaper and more plentiful where I am. It is a small risk.