Had to pick between a $50 ThinkPad T420 and a $120 Dell Latitude E7450 last weekend

Found both on Craigslist from the same seller in Portland. The ThinkPad was older but had that legendary keyboard I keep hearing about. The Dell was newer with a better screen and thinner design. I went with the Dell because I figured it would handle web browsing and YouTube better for my kids. Three days in and the battery only lasts about an hour on a full charge. The seller said it was 'good' condition but didnt mention the battery was basically shot. Now I'm wondering if I should have grabbed the ThinkPad and just thrown an SSD in it. Has anyone else gambled on a laptop with a worn out battery and regretted it?

2 comments

2 Comments

craig.grant1d agoMost Upvoted

Man that's a rough break. I bought a used X230 once that had the same problem, battery died after about 45 minutes no matter what I did. Ended up spending another 40 bucks on a third party battery just to make it usable. You might still be able to swap the battery on that Dell for cheap if you look around online.

jana1791d ago

Those Dell batteries are actually pretty easy to swap... third party ones work fine too.