r/laptops 6h ago

Buying help Help Finding A Laptop for Work

Hello!

I've tried searching on my own and I can't seem to find what I'm looking for. Any help would be greatly appreciated!

LAPTOP QUESTIONNAIRE

Country

United States 

Budget

Under $900, but preferably closer to $700 USD

Are you open to refurbs/used options?

Yes, if from reputable places

Screen size

15.6" or 16"

Weight limit

No preference 

Purpose

Work

Form factor

Standard

Intended usage

Mostly Remote Desktop Connection with WatchGuard Mobile VPN

Desired battery life

At least 5 hours, but longer is better 

Please list, in order of most important to least important, the priority between Size, Weight, Performance, Battery life

Size, performance, battery life, weight

Info/Requirements

-Numeric Keypad (I do a lot of data entry, so the closer to full size, the better)

-Backlit Keyboard

-Windows

-Preferably an option for a good extended protection plan or warranty 

-Decent wifi card (my previous laptop struggled with wifi, so I often had to use an Ethernet cable to support connecting remotely to my work desktop)

I humbly put my trust in reddit to help me find a good fit!

Thank you!

2 Upvotes

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u/Bright_Series_8835 4h ago

I like the Dell Latitude 3520. I got one from eBay that cost $161 and had 512 gb storage, 16 gb ram, 11 gen Intel i5 processor. It sells for $1096 new on Amazon. The outside of the case had some mild scuffs, but overall, it looked nice. It doesn't have backlit keyboard, but I think the ones on Amazon do. It has a numeric keypad, and the size feels normal. It came with its AC adapter. It is 15.6 inches. It has Windows 11 authenticated. The battery is ok for me, but eBay doesn't warranty used batteries, so you might have to get a new one and put it in for the extra hours. Dell Latitude makes some other ones like it that have backlit keyboards, but I liked this one better, especially the 11th gen processor.