[SOLVED] Thinking about jumping ship and getting a new laptop for cyber monday.

[emd023]

I currently have a Dell Inspiron 5548 that has been very slow. Seems that the disk and CPU are always close or at 100%. I've performed many tests without resolution. Others seem to have the same issues with this model. I am starting to wonder if my hard drive is just failing. Reinstalling windows seems to temporarily fix it, however, I think the Windows updates are hurting it. It was purchased around 7 years ago I believe.

Dell Inspiron 5548
Intel Core i5-5200U 2.2GHz
8gb Ram
64 bit

I am wondering if its just getting old and it would be worth it to just grab a deal on another laptop on cyber monday. Do laptops typically last this long without issues? Can you look at my hardware and see how outdated I am? Do you think it would be worth it to pick a new one up? If so, any suggestions around the $700 range?

Thanks.

 

[Eximo]

Laptops can last anywhere from 4-10 years depending on use. Business machines tend to do the best long term, and have cheap replacement parts. But higher end consumer machines can last a long while too. My brother kept his Dell XPS going for at least ten years, and my other brother his first generation ASUS for even longer. My old Lenovo is still going, slightly older than your machine, but I don't use it that often.

5th gen CPU from Q12015, so will turn 6 years in January.

Certainly not an amazing CPU, but I wouldn't consider it outdated just yet. You could consider replacing the thermal compound if you are comfortable taking it apart. Or just dusting out the heatsink and fan. That might get you a little performance back.
What is the state of the battery? A replacement battery is quite expensive, so you can factor that into the cost of a new laptop vs spending it on an older one.
You could consider swapping in an SSD if you are still running a hard disk, that you think may be having problems. That will get you a lot of snappiness back in Windows. Pretty much all new laptops will be SSD only.

But if you are having performance issues, late model Intel i3s would more then equivalent. So $700 should get you a lot.

Actually, lots of good choices today Even some gaming laptops leaking into the mix:

https://techbargains.com/categories/laptops


If you like Dell Inspiron/Intel:

https://deals.dell.com/en-us/work/p...ysbWgjeKeSYv&dclid=COqq0uihq-0CFRHDwAodslwLWQ

This would probably be my pick if you wanted to spend a little more:

https://store.hp.com/us/en/pdp/hp-p...um=af&utm_source=aw&utm_campaign=TechBargains

 

[emd023]

Laptops can last anywhere from 4-10 years depending on use. Business machines tend to do the best long term, and have cheap replacement parts. But higher end consumer machines can last a long while too. My brother kept his Dell XPS going for at least ten years, and my other brother his first generation ASUS for even longer. My old Lenovo is still going, slightly older than your machine, but I don't use it that often.

5th gen CPU from Q12015, so will turn 6 years in January.

Certainly not an amazing CPU, but I wouldn't consider it outdated just yet. You could consider replacing the thermal compound if you are comfortable taking it apart. Or just dusting out the heatsink and fan. That might get you a little performance back.
What is the state of the battery? A replacement battery is quite expensive, so you can factor that into the cost of a new laptop vs spending it on an older one.
You could consider swapping in an SSD if you are still running a hard disk, that you think may be having problems. That will get you a lot of snappiness back in Windows. Pretty much all new laptops will be SSD only.

But if you are having performance issues, late model Intel i3s would more then equivalent. So $700 should get you a lot.

Actually, lots of good choices today Even some gaming laptops leaking into the mix:

https://techbargains.com/categories/laptops


If you like Dell Inspiron/Intel:

https://deals.dell.com/en-us/work/p...ysbWgjeKeSYv&dclid=COqq0uihq-0CFRHDwAodslwLWQ

This would probably be my pick if you wanted to spend a little more:

https://store.hp.com/us/en/pdp/hp-p...um=af&utm_source=aw&utm_campaign=TechBargains

I guess my real question is how difficult is it going to be to diagnose what my issue is? Do you think this can be figured out easily if I brought it into a shop? Would it be worth it? I am hesitant to install hardware without knowing if that is going to fix my issue. I don't want to miss out on the cyber monday deals so I need to make a decision soon, haha.

 

[emd023]

How about this?

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Lenovo-I...1jXQ0&sharedid=&ad_id=566719&campaign_id=9383

 

[Eximo]

HP from above has double the storage and RAM, same processor at the same price.

Getting a professional to diagnose the old one is going to be a significant expense, plus parts and all that. Not worth it. Might as well buy a $350 laptop at that point.

Replacing the hard disk is certainly worth it regardless. Might even suggest that so that it makes it easier to sell if you are interested in doing that.

Cleaning the internals, certainly not impossible for the laymen to do. Plenty of youtube videos out there, and ifixit.com generally has good teardowns of common models. Again something you might consider doing in preparation to sell it.

Most of the Cyber Monday deals will persist throughout the week. Their goal is to get sales and clear out inventory.

techbargains.com is a resource I use year round when making laptop suggestions. They usually have some good options. Secondly I tend to use Newegg.com, it has the best filters for searching, to confirm an actual price bargain. Then I typically hit up Amazon to see if the particular model can be had for the same or less. On average you are looking at a real savings of $50-100 on most laptops. Often it is uncommon colors or odd part selections that make laptops less than ideal. For example, they were probably asking a high premium for 16GB of memory and a 512GB storage drive, now they are equaling the competition to sell.