Replacement for Dell E6330?

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[Nibbled To Death By Ducks]

The 9-year old E6330 dell Laptop warhorse is showing it’s age. Pretty soon I’m going to have to replace it. (sniff!)

There’s so much out there in the market, new AND used! I’d like something that at least has the same build quality of the MIL-STD-810G casing; I mean, this thing could stop a .32 slug!

The idea is to have something lined up BEFORE the 6330 goes belly-up!

Anyone have any suggestions? Oh, and I should probably say I don’t have my own gold mine… Senior on a fixed income, and all the joy that entails…

Thanks!

Win7 Pro SP1 64-bit, Dell Latitude E6330 ("The Tank"), Intel CORE i5 "Ivy Bridge", 12GB RAM, Group "0Patch", Multiple Air-Gapped backup drives in different locations. Linux Mint Newbie
--
"The more kinks you put in the plumbing, the easier it is to stop up the pipes." -Scotty

• This topic was modified 2 years ago by Nibbled To Death By Ducks.

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Nibbled To Death By Ducks wrote:

mean, this thing could stop a .32 slug!

They don’t build them like they used to, apart from Lenovo’s Thinkpads (like Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon series).

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Nibbled To Death By Ducks

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Kinda noticed that. Most laptops these days look like they’d shatter into 1000 pieces should they get a drop on to a hard surface from 1 foot. Mine would  be dented, but be OK. The thing even has a “free-fall lock” on the HDD if it detects a falling condition.

This E6330…maybe I should go directly to the US MIL-STD Spec and see what matches it today… shop that way. If it’s possible. The STD may be extinct or expired.

“I can do without practically anything, but if I really need something, it has to be good. ‘No one spends more money than a bargain-minded buyer.”- Anon

Or: “There is hardly anything in this world that a man cannot make worse and sell cheaper; and the persons who consider price only are this man’s lawful prey.” -John Ruskin

Standing by for more suggestions.

Win7 Pro SP1 64-bit, Dell Latitude E6330 ("The Tank"), Intel CORE i5 "Ivy Bridge", 12GB RAM, Group "0Patch", Multiple Air-Gapped backup drives in different locations. Linux Mint Newbie
--
"The more kinks you put in the plumbing, the easier it is to stop up the pipes." -Scotty

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Ducks,

Do you need the portability of a laptop or just the space savings?

I just installed a BeeLink mini-pc for a couple at our CCRC and they just love it.
It uses a Laptop processor but boy does that sing. It’s something you might want to consider and BTW they got the machine for $305 (now @299 and there’s a $20 coupon!) and a 27″ monitor for $130. A pretty nice setup for under $500!

May the Forces of good computing be with you!

RG

PowerShell & VBA Rule!
Computer Specs

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Nibbled To Death By Ducks

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Nibbled To Death By Ducks wrote:

Standing by for more suggestions.

The 5 best rugged laptops of 2023 Prices range from $1350 – $2500 and they all passed MIL-STD-810G, or the newer MIL-STD-810H, testing.

Or if you’d prefer another Dell laptop.

Latitude Rugged laptops and tablets prices start at $1371 (tested to MIL-STD-810G & H)

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windbg, Elly, Nibbled To Death By Ducks

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I’ve got a couple of Dell Latitude e5450 that I bought from Dell Refurbished. They weren’t advertised as being military spec but they are well built units and a noticeable step up from Dell Inspirons; the former are more for business road warriors (which I am not), the latter for home consumers.

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Nibbled To Death By Ducks

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Thanks to all!! Unfortunately, COVID has visited my house and all in it, and I’m barely able to think straight and get around. Just trying to stay out of the hospital.

I will say this for the moment from what little browsing I was able to do: This is almost as bad as buying a new car. Lenovo: A charger is an “accessory”. WHAT? And their memory is soldered to the board. Huh. 1 yr warranty  vs. 3 yrs Dell.

Dell looks more straightforward and more for the same money, about. Oh, they run little critters and chickens under your nose too (an old used cars joke), but at first glance I’m leaning to Dell.

Expect me back next week!

Off to bed, again.

 

 

Win7 Pro SP1 64-bit, Dell Latitude E6330 ("The Tank"), Intel CORE i5 "Ivy Bridge", 12GB RAM, Group "0Patch", Multiple Air-Gapped backup drives in different locations. Linux Mint Newbie
--
"The more kinks you put in the plumbing, the easier it is to stop up the pipes." -Scotty

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Get well

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Nibbled To Death By Ducks

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Thanks, Alex. I wound up in the hospital anyway, as you can read from the last post. Your wishes are greatly appreciated.

Win7 Pro SP1 64-bit, Dell Latitude E6330 ("The Tank"), Intel CORE i5 "Ivy Bridge", 12GB RAM, Group "0Patch", Multiple Air-Gapped backup drives in different locations. Linux Mint Newbie
--
"The more kinks you put in the plumbing, the easier it is to stop up the pipes." -Scotty

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Soldered RAM is not an unusual thing for laptops now, and is the norm pretty much across the board for mainstream laptops (not counting gaming laptops, mobile workstations, stuff like that). There is actually a technical reason for it, and it’s not just the thing about thinness. The low-power RAM (LPDDR4 and LPDDR5) that is the norm on laptops and phones apparently does not work on removable RAM modules (SoDIMMs for laptops).

When I bought my Dell XPS 13, with soldered RAM, I bristled at the idea too. But I did buy the unit to be my go-everywhere PC, so I want the best battery life possible. Trade-offs.

The XPS is not sold as a “tough” laptop, but it is sturdily built and has shrugged off impacts like the ones that caused a lot of damage to my Acer Swift 1 (I had to replace the case bottom and palmrest assembly). That Xenia 14 I had for a bit would have fared even worse than the Swift, I think… it was really flimsy, which is a shame, as it was otherwise a fantastic unit. I’m too clumsy for a flimsy laptop.

As for warranties… my XPS came with a one-year, but I bought the extended (3 year) pro warranty (US call centers and on site service) with full damage coverage. I have used it and it has been quite good.

I have been disappointed with Dell’s battery longevity. Not the time it lasts on a charge, but how long the battery lasts before I have to buy a new one. My fourth battery is coming today, on a laptop two years old. One was an aftermarket, so I don’t blame Dell for that, but two were OEM from Dell itself (so definitely not counterfeit). All the batteries still work and are listed by the UEFI setup as having “Excellent” health, but they are down to 80% capacity, which is the end of life point for things like battery cycle specifications, so that is how I see it as well.

Now I have set the UEFI to only charge the battery to 85%, and hoping that will help preserve it. I can still charge it to 100% if I am planning on being out and about. I just won’t leave it at 100% all the time as I used to. I think the overcharging is what did it in.

Dell does not cover the battery capacity loss under warranty, and it drops really quick on all of the Dells I have had. I discovered Dell’s charging logic charges my battery to ~110% to get extra run time out of it, which works, but it also destroys the battery over a few months if it is kept at full charge.

My Dell gaming laptop’s battery dropped to 59% in a bit over a year even though I almost never used it on battery (and even then usually for a few minutes only). I have not checked, but I would bet it was overcharging too.

Dell XPS 13/9310, i5-1135G7/16GB, KDE Neon 6.2
XPG Xenia 15, i7-9750H/32GB & GTX1660ti, Kubuntu 24.04
Acer Swift Go 14, i5-1335U/16GB, Kubuntu 24.04 (and Win 11)

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windbg, Nibbled To Death By Ducks

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If you are in the States, take a look at the Best Buy website and search for refurbished laptop computers.

We recently purchased two refurbished HP – ProBooks from Best Buy.  See my AskWoody topic Refurbished HP ProBook.

https://www.askwoody.com/forums/topic/refurbished-hp-probook/

The only mistake we made was we did not make sure that they supported Windows 11 – they do not.

But at a cost of about $300 US each, we are more than satisfied with the refurbished units.

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Nibbled To Death By Ducks

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Avoid refurbished computers.

After posting the above we had to return two refurbished HP laptops Joy Systems due to hardware and operating system problems.

It took days to recover from the defects.

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Nibbled To Death By Ducks

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Yeah, Kathy, I noticed down the decades that HP built some mighty fine printers, but nearly all of my old friends in the old local computer club hated them with a purple passion for PC’s.

From personal experience, I learned that Dell makes some fine laptops and monitors that just keep trucking for years and years.

When I was building my own boxes/towers (before I got too old to do it) I was so happy that I could do so, as I could count on a superior grade of components (sound card, graphics card, processor, RAM, etc.) and end result, for an amount LESS than what I’d pay for an off-the-shelf brand assembled desktop. No guarantee, but that was the reason my last tower desktop (really a graphics workstation) was built by a custom build shop, as they guaranteed the labor for a year…hey, I only had to take it back twice!

I always used AMD processors, but that’s probably just because I’m a contrarian.

In any case, this was my first laptop, acquired used in 2017, and it’s run just like a V-12 Merlin engine . I have no huge complaints.

….And until I get myself settled and the old mighty 550-Watt tower out of storage and running again, it’s going to be laptops for me.  And maybe after! It’d be nice to have two boxes. The portability of a laptop, I have found, can be VERY handy.

I wish you health and happiness in 2024!

Win7 Pro SP1 64-bit, Dell Latitude E6330 ("The Tank"), Intel CORE i5 "Ivy Bridge", 12GB RAM, Group "0Patch", Multiple Air-Gapped backup drives in different locations. Linux Mint Newbie
--
"The more kinks you put in the plumbing, the easier it is to stop up the pipes." -Scotty

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TO: ALL

My thanks are tardy to a couple of you. Unfortunately, I did NOT stay out of the hospital, and it looks like I’m going to be battling several Long Covid issues for quite a while. That last strain really wanted to kill me.

But the old E6330 just keeps chugging away!! I know it’s going to go belly-up someday, but I did find a good, honest, knowledgeable, and fairly honest independent PC repair shop a few miles from here…and it HAS helped keep this thing running.

…as has your input!

The time to decide on a new PC is not when yours breaks down! Pre-need shopping, always, like a good plumber or electrician or HVAC tech, or a good car mechanic is vital.

Again, sorry for the delay in tying this thread up, but I completely spaced it. (Probably the COVID brain fog…)

Happy 2024!!

Win7 Pro SP1 64-bit, Dell Latitude E6330 ("The Tank"), Intel CORE i5 "Ivy Bridge", 12GB RAM, Group "0Patch", Multiple Air-Gapped backup drives in different locations. Linux Mint Newbie
--
"The more kinks you put in the plumbing, the easier it is to stop up the pipes." -Scotty

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If you look on the Business side (instead of Consumer) on Dell and HP, you are more likely to find what you are looking for. Dell Inspirons usually have less flexibility with hardware. However, the Latitudes on the Business side have sturdier cases and some replaceable parts (RAM, SSD, battery). If you look at the specs, it will tell you what can be changed. HP also has a similar line on the Business side. You can also talk to the live reps in sales when you make your choice and confirm what you want.

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Nibbled To Death By Ducks

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We buy HP computers from the HP Store.  https://www.hp.com/us-en/shop

Take a look at what they have on sale.

Then go to Business PCs and look around.   They have 148 business laptops to choose from.

Their business computers come with three-year warranties.

And you can order by phone by calling 800-565-9917 or get help by going to    https://www.hp.com/us-en/contact-hp/shopping.html

If you purchase direct from HP you may want to see if you can get a deal on software from their store such as:

• Laplink PCmover v.11.0 Ultimate to help move programs and data files from your old PC to the new one and
• Office Home and Business 2021

Happy hunting and good luck.

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Nibbled To Death By Ducks

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Nibbled To Death By Ducks

I assumed that you are in the States when I recommended the HP Store.

Please let us know if you are not in the US or Canada.

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Nibbled To Death By Ducks

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I have bought several PCs from the Dell Outlet store through the years with great success. You can get “like new” refurbished, or scratch and dent. Either of those has been fine for us.

--Joe

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Nibbled To Death By Ducks

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