Question New laptop vs giving second life to existing one

lukasamd

Distinguished
May 25, 2010
8
0
18,510
Hey,
I work as a web developer / PM and most of the time use desktop I've built last year (12gen, 64GB RAM) with external monitor. It's great, but of course not portable.
Previously I've used Dell Latitude 5501 (i7-9850H, 32GB RAM, Samsung 980 NVME, iGPU + MX150). This machine is still fine, but of course a bit noisy & hot because of Intel 14nm+++(...) CPU.
Last time I needed some portability and decided to use VPN, keep PC running and use laptop just for remote display - it worked perfectly!
But...
  1. Laptop battery is 68Wh and wear level is ~33%, it's noticeable
  2. It's possible, that I will have to sell my PC this year and move abroad this year - not sure, but possible, then I will use only laptop, maybe all the time, maybe only in the beginning - hard to say
Not sure what will be better: sell Latitude (in my country, I can sell it for something like $400-450) and buy new laptop.. 14" HP Elitebook/Probook with Ryzen 5xxxU (enough performance, cold and quiet), or maybe Legion 5 Pro with 12700H (desktop replacement) - depending on choice, it will be something like $1500-$2500

It is not a problem, but maybe... not worth? My current Dell is in perfect condition, I like build quality and overall experience, so maybe just buy a new battery? 68Wh costs ~$60-70, but there are some replacements 97Wh for about $100. It's like giving second life to an old device, but it still works fine. Single thread performance is not superb in comparison to new laptops, multi also, because Dell limited PL2 in big way (only 35W), but... How often do I need such a power? Not often, so maybe it's not a real problem

Need advice, I'm also open for other ideas
 
Last edited:

Lutfij

Titan
Moderator
in my country
Where is this?

Have you tried undervolting using ThrottleStop your laptop to see if you get better temps and a little bit more battery life out of it? As it stands the specs to your Latitude 5501 should get you by but the MX150 is what's lacking.

To add;
https://forums.tomshardware.com/thr...orth-upgrading-the-cpu.3786932/#post-22868298
your CPU and GPU are soldered onto the laptop's motherboard/PCB. They can't be upgraded without replacing the entire motherboard.
 

punkncat

Polypheme
Ambassador
In my own experience you are going to want to try and find that battery as an official Dell product with warranty.
Often, when moving to a larger battery, and particularly on the newer devices that don't have "removable" ones like they used to be, are also going to require extra space. I am not explicitly familiar with the Latitude you have, but saying that if you can find the larger battery from Dell it might be worthwhile to make sure it fits in the case as is, or needs a new part. More AH typically results in a larger battery to house.

The other aspect is that most of the aftermarket batteries I have ever purchased for a laptop did not perform as well as the original.

Based on what you are saying and the value of this laptop as is in your market, I would probably sell it and look for something newer that can be at least a part more of the performance of that desktop you can't take.
 

lukasamd

Distinguished
May 25, 2010
8
0
18,510
I know that replacing cpu or gpu is not possible. Can't unvervolt because dell blocked that in one of bios updates and there is no possibility to downgrade to version with that option unfortunately. I can only disable turbo boost or some of cores

About country, im from Poland