Older Windows 10 Laptops

[raymac46]

There's been quite a lot of angst on the Interwebs about all this hardware that's going to the landfill once Windows 10 reaches EOL next year. Of course, Linux users don't have to worry about obsolete hardware.

But will there be any bargains to be had with the Skylake and older Thinkpads and Dell Latitudes? My opinion is that unless somebody gives you one, probably not. The refurbed machines currently available in the Ottawa area at a decent price are at least Intel Gen 8 quad cores. It doesn't make much sense to pay $30-40 less for Skylake (assuming you can find one.) 

My already ancient Ivy Lake and Broadwell laptops are running Linux just fine. The T430 is now close to 12 years old and the HP I got from my neighbor for free is close to 10. No point in moving up to a 6th gen Intel.

We still have a few months to go, but I don't see a massive selloff of old Windows 10 hardware coming up.

[Corrine]

At least EOS isn't until October 25th.  

 

Not that I think most consumers would be interested since it isn't free but I learned from here that extended security updates are available for a year for consumers for $30 ($42.07 Canadian).

Quote

• Information on the purchase of Extended Security Updates (ESU) for organizations of all sizes as previously announced in April of this year and, for the first time, an ESU option for consumers, available for a one-year option for $30.

 

[raymac46]

When you can get a Skylake Thinkpad for $160 Canadian - and that is a rather high-end Skylake laptop - I don't see anyone adding $40 just to keep Windows 10 for another year. If you intend to buy used and you wish to keep going with Windows, may as well get a T480 or newer.

I paid around $300 Canadian for a pristine T430 in 2017. It had Windows 10 on it, although Lenovo didn't really support that O/S on machines that old. Originally it had Windows 7. No matter. I installed Debian and have been running well ever since.

[goretsky]

Hello,

I suspect the sell-off won't begin to happen in earnest until we are a little closer to the Windows 10 EOL date.

Regards,

Aryeh Goretsky
 

[raymac46]

The only things I would be interested in buying from the "incompatible" Windows 10 universe are very high-end Thinkpads, Dell Latitudes, or HP Elitebooks in absolutely Grade A condition. I have already been gifted a consumer-grade HP machine that I upgraded a bit with an SSD, and I have another quad-core pre-Ryzen AMD laptop. Both of these work great with Linux.

If your preference is Windows 11, good refurbished machines are available at decent prices. I cannot see any reason to go for an older Skylake-powered Thinkpad unless you want it as a Linux machine.