deciding on a laptop used or refurbished .?

[raptorddd]

there is this laptop on amazon its refurbished

Dell Latitude 5511 15.6" (latest model) Core i7-10850H (6 cores) 512GB PCIe SSD 16GB RAM FHD (1920x1080) 300 Nit WiFi 6 AX + BT Win 10 Pro (Refurbished)

 

these are on EBAY used.

Dell Precision 3551 i7-10850H 16GB 256GB SSD 15.6" Nvidia P620 Win 11 Pro

or

Dell LATITUDE 5511 15.6" FHD I7-10850H 1TB SSD 32GB GeForce MX250

 

am still using the dell precision m4600 i7 2760qm.
 

[meowpressreturn]

I have a Precision 3551 with i7-10850H and Quadro P620 which I got refurbished from Dell outlet.

 

Although its named Precision, the 3551 is really just a Latitude 5511 with delusions of grandeur.
This means its much much lighter and more portable than the 7-series Precisions though. 

 

But it isn't a great machine, I'm on my third motherboard already, and find the machine suffers from poor thermals. Googling info on this model suggests heat and fan noise is the common complaint for this model.

 

After a BIOS update it developed nasty coil whine, squeaking like a pack of giant rats were having a party and then they invited all their bat friends along and everyone started dancing on lino in rubber shoes. This very audible and extremely annoying noise was cured only by disabling turbo boost in BIOS thus limiting the processor to 2712 mhz which helped the heat a fair bit too.

 

 

The CPU and GPU share a single fan which noisily blows a lot of heat out the vent on the left most of the time and I have to use a little USB clip-fan on the edge of my desk to blow over the keyboard or it becomes quite unpleasant. 

 

Before disabling turbo boost, the CPU used to get up near 100c a lot of the time and hang around there. Now it tends to peak down in the 80s, and idle in the mid to high 50s.

 

That i7-10850H processor looks juicy on paper, but Dell already limited the processor to 35w instead of the 45w it would normally do and I reckon all that heat means its still gonna give Jack the Ripper a run for his money in the throttling department.

 

[raptorddd]

11 hours ago, meowpressreturn said:

I have a Precision 3551 with i7-10850H and Quadro P620 which I got refurbished from Dell outlet.

 

Although its named Precision, the 3551 is really just a Latitude 5511 with delusions of grandeur.
This means its much much lighter and more portable than the 7-series Precisions though. 

 

But it isn't a great machine, I'm on my third motherboard already, and find the machine suffers from poor thermals. Googling info on this model suggests heat and fan noise is the common complaint for this model.

 

After a BIOS update it developed nasty coil whine, squeaking like a pack of giant rats were having a party and then they invited all their bat friends along and everyone started dancing on lino in rubber shoes. This very audible and extremely annoying noise was cured only by disabling turbo boost in BIOS thus limiting the processor to 2712 mhz which helped the heat a fair bit too.

 

 

The CPU and GPU share a single fan which noisily blows a lot of heat out the vent on the left most of the time and I have to use a little USB clip-fan on the edge of my desk to blow over the keyboard or it becomes quite unpleasant. 

 

Before disabling turbo boost, the CPU used to get up near 100c a lot of the time and hang around there. Now it tends to peak down in the 80s, and idle in the mid to high 50s.

 

That i7-10850H processor looks juicy on paper, but Dell already limited the processor to 35w instead of the 45w it would normally do and I reckon all that heat means its still gonna give Jack the Ripper a run for his money in the throttling department.

 

i was searching for videos foe dissasebly because the ones ive seen only showed 1 fan. i tought there was a 2 fan model with dedicated GPU.

which thermal paste are you using.? any mods for cooler temps.?  i have heard people complaint about noise fan it doesnt bother me. what bothers me its the temps..

 

 

[meowpressreturn]

Mine is still under warranty and I don't have experience repasting so haven't been brave enough to try repasting it myself (yet!), so its whatever rubbish the Dell onsite technician used when he re-assembled it last time.

 

Reading other people's posts about this model on Dell support forums, reddit, etc suggests repasting will improve the situation, but will still be relatively hot machine.

 

So far I think the only thing I've done that might vaguely count as a cooling mod is adding bigger rubber feet to the bottom which elevates it a little more above the desk which might improve airflow a little. (But my main reason for doing that is to make it feel better to type on due to the 'shock-absorbing' action of the rubber lol). 

[raptorddd]

2 hours ago, meowpressreturn said:

Mine is still under warranty and I don't have experience repasting so haven't been brave enough to try repasting it myself (yet!), so its whatever rubbish the Dell onsite technician used when he re-assembled it last time.

 

Reading other people's posts about this model on Dell support forums, reddit, etc suggests repasting will improve the situation, but will still be relatively hot machine.

 

So far I think the only thing I've done that might vaguely count as a cooling mod is adding bigger rubber feet to the bottom which elevates it a little more above the desk which might improve airflow a little. (But my main reason for doing that is to make it feel better to type on due to the 'shock-absorbing' action of the rubber lol). 

ok well Honeywell 7950 its the best paste ive ever used.   you can read here 

 

is there a sub forum on here Dell - NotebookTalk for 3551.?

 

why were your motherboards replaced.?

 

 

 

[raptorddd]

@Aaron44126 any suggestions.?

[kojack]

My advice is to only purchase electronics from the Amazon renewed store.  Ordering something from ebay like that is a gamble and if it is not what you think, returning it is a PITA. I, moving forward, will only be purchasing from the renewed store for all my devices.  You get great deals on 1- or 2-year-old tech items with full warranties.  It's a fantastic way to save money and get great devices. 

[Aaron44126]

14 hours ago, raptorddd said:

@Aaron44126 any suggestions.?

 

I dunno.  I'm not familiar with any of the models listed here.  I've also never done a used or refurb purchase.  I also tend to buy "the best laptop you can get" and then use it for as long as possible.

 

So, I generally am only looking at the high-end stuff.  I've only used Precision M4X00/M6X00 or Precision 7000-series systems in the last 12+ years.  Most of the Precision systems that I have used were for work and provided by my workplace, but I did have a personal Precision M6700 that I used as my daily driver for a full ten years.  If you want something sort-of current in that vein, you could look at maybe Precision 7540?  It's pretty upgradeable so you could beef it up over time, with three full-size M.2 SSD slots that take both NVMe and SATA drives, plus the option for a 2.5" SATA drive (if you go for the smaller battery), I think up to 128 GB of RAM, 4K display option, and graphics go up to Quadro RTX 5000 (Turing generation) with 16GB of vRAM.  ...Can't swap out the CPU, though.

 

I did switch to Mac last year so I doubt that I will ever get a newer Precision laptop.  Since Apple Silicon systems came out, it's the only option that offers both high-performance when needed (for me, basically gaming) and a good "laptop experience" the rest of the time (all-day battery life / no heat or noise).  While there are downsides to this choice, in particular in terms of the system's modularity / upgradeability...  I don't accept the direction that Microsoft is going with Windows, and I made an attempt to switch to Linux that ended up with more frustration that I'd prefer, so... I don't really see another option.

[raptorddd]

8 hours ago, kojack said:

My advice is to only purchase electronics from the Amazon renewed store.  Ordering something from ebay like that is a gamble and if it is not what you think, returning it is a PITA. I, moving forward, will only be purchasing from the renewed store for all my devices.  You get great deals on 1- or 2-year-old tech items with full warranties.  It's a fantastic way to save money and get great devices. 

in my situation i have to look for other ways. because of panics i do not have a job as you know all i want is to head back home asap. yeah if i had the money i would buy new. but thats not my case. i did searched on amazon but i think i didnt found one with dedicated GPU. and i have to pay exportation fee ands shipping. so i tought with exportation and shipping amount i can use that towards a better model but used. as i think not 100% sure that someone might be coming on the 12th of september. it could save me shipping and exportation fee.

 

4 hours ago, Aaron44126 said:

 

I dunno.  I'm not familiar with any of the models listed here.  I've also never done a used or refurb purchase.  I also tend to buy "the best laptop you can get" and then use it for as long as possible.

 

So, I generally am only looking at the high-end stuff.  I've only used Precision M4X00/M6X00 or Precision 7000-series systems in the last 12+ years.  Most of the Precision systems that I have used were for work and provided by my workplace, but I did have a personal Precision M6700 that I used as my daily driver for a full ten years.  If you want something sort-of current in that vein, you could look at maybe Precision 7540?  It's pretty upgradeable so you could beef it up over time, with three full-size M.2 SSD slots that take both NVMe and SATA drives, plus the option for a 2.5" SATA drive (if you go for the smaller battery), I think up to 128 GB of RAM, 4K display option, and graphics go up to Quadro RTX 5000 (Turing generation) with 16GB of vRAM.  ...Can't swap out the CPU, though.

 

I did switch to Mac last year so I doubt that I will ever get a newer Precision laptop.  Since Apple Silicon systems came out, it's the only option that offers both high-performance when needed (for me, basically gaming) and a good "laptop experience" the rest of the time (all-day battery life / no heat or noise).  While there are downsides to this choice, in particular in terms of the system's modularity / upgradeability...  I don't accept the direction that Microsoft is going with Windows, and I made an attempt to switch to Linux that ended up with more frustration that I'd prefer, so... I don't really see another option.

thanks i did look at your suggestion but its out of my range.

[meowpressreturn]

The first motherboard replacement for my Precision 3551 was because the TPM module had died. Supposed to be next-day onsite service but this was in 2022 with logistics issues so I had to wait several weeks for them to get the part. My big worry was maybe they wouldn't be able to get it and might want to swap me to a 3561 - unacceptable as that model doesn't have touchpad buttons which was the primary reason I bought the 3551 in the first place! 

 

When they finally installed the new motherboard it failed within minutes of the technicians departure, with "Power surge on the USB port" every few seconds and continual USB bleeping noises. Luckily I only had to wait until the next day for that one to be replaced.

 

---

 

re: Precision 7540, I have one of those too, and its build quality is much better and more solid than the Latitude-based 3551, but that one is already on its second screen as the one it shipped with refused to support Dell Premuim Color, and DPC is necessary to change to a reasonable colour profile as the default one is some garish vibrant thing where every colour is maxxed out and is horrible for anything except showing off the screen in a bright store front. I have the 4k screen in the 7540, and ... I like the 1080p screen in the 3551 a lot better. Much nicer to work with for long periods. 

 

The 7540 is bigger and significantly heavier than the 3551, also was much more expensive, so that one I keep at home and isn't my daily driver. The 7540  can be expanded to 128 GiB (mine has only 16 but now that prices for older memory are down I'm looking to expand it - I see a lot of people have trouble using the 3200mhz ram so will be looking for 2666) and it has 3 NVMe slots, and if you don't have the 97Wh battery there's also room for a 2.5" SATA drive (not sure if any of the smaller batteries also use this space, might need the smallest one?). Mine has the big battery but even so battery life when off charger isn't great because its a power-hungry machine. 

 

---

 

Batteries are an issue with non-current laptops. Its hard to get replacements. Even though the rest of the machine is still under warranty Dell only gave one year warranty on the batteries, and don't see fit to supply that model any more.

 

They are very cheeky with this - you can see the part in their store and all looks good, but when you go to add to cart it gives you "Sorry, Dell 6-cell 97 Wh Lithium Ion Replacement Battery for Select Laptops is out of stock or no longer offered. We removed it from your cart." (ditto for the 3551 battery). I should have bought spares back when I bought the machine, but I was already out of money 😞

 

Also, neither of these models is suitable for use on your actual lap. The base gets much much too hot for that. 

[raptorddd]

17 hours ago, meowpressreturn said:

The first motherboard replacement for my Precision 3551 was because the TPM module had died. Supposed to be next-day onsite service but this was in 2022 with logistics issues so I had to wait several weeks for them to get the part. My big worry was maybe they wouldn't be able to get it and might want to swap me to a 3561 - unacceptable as that model doesn't have touchpad buttons which was the primary reason I bought the 3551 in the first place! 

 

When they finally installed the new motherboard it failed within minutes of the technicians departure, with "Power surge on the USB port" every few seconds and continual USB bleeping noises. Luckily I only had to wait until the next day for that one to be replaced.

 

---

 

re: Precision 7540, I have one of those too, and its build quality is much better and more solid than the Latitude-based 3551, but that one is already on its second screen as the one it shipped with refused to support Dell Premuim Color, and DPC is necessary to change to a reasonable colour profile as the default one is some garish vibrant thing where every colour is maxxed out and is horrible for anything except showing off the screen in a bright store front. I have the 4k screen in the 7540, and ... I like the 1080p screen in the 3551 a lot better. Much nicer to work with for long periods. 

 

The 7540 is bigger and significantly heavier than the 3551, also was much more expensive, so that one I keep at home and isn't my daily driver. The 7540  can be expanded to 128 GiB (mine has only 16 but now that prices for older memory are down I'm looking to expand it - I see a lot of people have trouble using the 3200mhz ram so will be looking for 2666) and it has 3 NVMe slots, and if you don't have the 97Wh battery there's also room for a 2.5" SATA drive (not sure if any of the smaller batteries also use this space, might need the smallest one?). Mine has the big battery but even so battery life when off charger isn't great because its a power-hungry machine. 

 

---

 

Batteries are an issue with non-current laptops. Its hard to get replacements. Even though the rest of the machine is still under warranty Dell only gave one year warranty on the batteries, and don't see fit to supply that model any more.

 

They are very cheeky with this - you can see the part in their store and all looks good, but when you go to add to cart it gives you "Sorry, Dell 6-cell 97 Wh Lithium Ion Replacement Battery for Select Laptops is out of stock or no longer offered. We removed it from your cart." (ditto for the 3551 battery). I should have bought spares back when I bought the machine, but I was already out of money 😞

 

Also, neither of these models is suitable for use on your actual lap. The base gets much much too hot for that. 

ok thanks.

 

if you didnt mentioned the lack of trackpad keys  on 3561i wouldnt have noticed it. 

 

yes the 7540 its nice but out of my range. 

 

i started looking at the 3561 because theorically i assume that 11th gen 11850h should be cooler than 10850h

 

the 3561 i have found that they currently have about 4-5 months of dell warranty. doesnay one knows if say i get used laptop that still has warranty if i would be able to buy extended warranty.? doesn anyone know how much  warranty cost.?

 

for the 3551 i have found some with ebay refurbished warranty for 1 year.

 

@ryan what you think.?

 

[ryan]

I was honestly thinking t590 or a dell anykind with 10th or 11th gen cpu(better integrated graphics)

 

Lenovo ThinkPad T590 15.6" FHD (1920x1080) IPS 250nits Anti-Glare Display - Intel Core i5-8365U Processor with vPro, 16GB RAM, 512GB PCIe-NVMe SSD, Windows 10 Pro 64-bit (Renewed) : Amazon.ca: Electronics

 

pretty nice laptop.

[ryan]

save your money...i think the sweet spot is 600-700 cad//i can/will help you find one in a couple weeks/ i would help more if i could..but the t590 is a nice laptop better than my vivobook 15x

[raptorddd]

On 9/6/2024 at 6:49 PM, ryan said:

I was honestly thinking t590 or a dell anykind with 10th or 11th gen cpu(better integrated graphics)

 

Lenovo ThinkPad T590 15.6" FHD (1920x1080) IPS 250nits Anti-Glare Display - Intel Core i5-8365U Processor with vPro, 16GB RAM, 512GB PCIe-NVMe SSD, Windows 10 Pro 64-bit (Renewed) : Amazon.ca: Electronics

 

pretty nice laptop.

why do all thinkpads look the same on the outside.? 

 

On 9/6/2024 at 8:24 PM, ryan said:

save your money...i think the sweet spot is 600-700 cad//i can/will help you find one in a couple weeks/ i would help more if i could..but the t590 is a nice laptop better than my vivobook 15x

well i was thinking maybe this with nvidia t600 but from ebay some of this still have dell warranty like 4 months left. i wonder if you could get extended warranty if bought second hand

 

Dell Precision 3561 Workstation Laptop | 15.6" 1920x1080 FHD | Core i7-11850H - 512GB SSD Hard Drive - 32GB RAM | 8 cores @ 4.8 GHz Win 10 Pro : Amazon.ca: Electronics

 

or this one also from ebay refurbished

 

Dell Precision 3551 Workstation Laptop | 15.6" 1920x1080 FHD | Core i7-10850H - 512GB SSD Hard Drive - 16GB RAM - Nvidia Quadro P620 2GB | 6 cores @ 5.1 GHz - 2 GDDR5 Win 11 Pro : Amazon.ca: Electronics

 

thanks ryan . i kind of like either of the above as ive said a friend of ours might come to mexico that way i could save shipping and exportation fee.

i might be able get just enought for the 3551.   nto sure about 3561 but ill try my best.