Help me buy a new (used) laptop for Second Life

[Soen Eber]

Whelp, it's official. My 8 year old HP EliteBook is dead with a corrupt drive, and the tech is quoting $300+ for a partial restore (New drive with Windows 10, back up and restore documents). So I might as well spend a bit more and get something that can handle PBR.

I've no idea what I need to handle PBR. If a 1050ti is struggling with it (as I've read here recently) I'm guessing I'll need a mid-tier graphics card with 2, preferably 4 GB, a half-gig drive, an i7, and a lighted keyboard (must have: I got spoiled with the EliteBook). But again, these are just guesses on my part, it's been a couple years since I looked at something new. And I guess I also have to bite the bullet and go with something that can support Windows 11.

Second Life is the only high-end sink for power use, absent which I'd probably just buy a $150 used craptop. I'm looking to spend up to $800 for a solid, used gaming rig with mid-tier performance. Reliability and build quality are A-tier requirements, everything else can be a solid C so long as I can squeeze out 3 or 4 years.

I'm going to link the Facebook Marketplace and Craig's List "gaming laptop" URLs for Minneapolis, and I hope someone who knows what they're doing can drop a couple 2 or 3 recommendations. I don't want anything that's "Too good to be true" because they could be either scams or something that get snapped up within 2 hours even if it's legit, since it might be several hours up to a day before get the info, make the call and pull the money for it. I'm also somewhat committed to 2nd hand, both for price and so I'm not subsidizing any exploitative industry practices or seeing something decent end up in a landfill.

Gah, the run-on sentences are running wild. Oh well.

Thanks much!

Facebook Marketplace gaming laptops between $200 and $800

CraigsList gaming laptops between $200 and $800

 

[Kokoro Fasching]

Whelp, it's official. My 8 year old HP EliteBook is dead with a corrupt drive, and the tech is quoting $300+ for a partial restore (New drive with Windows 10, back up and restore documents). So I might as well spend a bit more and get something that can handle PBR.

I've no idea what I need to handle PBR. If a 1050ti is struggling with it (as I've read here recently) I'm guessing I'll need a mid-tier graphics card with 2, preferably 4 GB, a half-gig drive, an i7, and a lighted keyboard (must have: I got spoiled with the EliteBook). But again, these are just guesses on my part, it's been a couple years since I looked at something new. And I guess I also have to bite the bullet and go with something that can support Windows 11.

Second Life is the only high-end sink for power use, absent which I'd probably just buy a $150 used craptop. I'm looking to spend up to $800 for a solid, used gaming rig with mid-tier performance. Reliability and build quality are A-tier requirements, everything else can be a solid C so long as I can squeeze out 3 or 4 years.

I'm going to link the Facebook Marketplace and Craig's List "gaming laptop" URLs for Minneapolis, and I hope someone who knows what they're doing can drop a couple 2 or 3 recommendations. I don't want anything that's "Too good to be true" because they could be either scams or something that get snapped up within 2 hours even if it's legit, since it might be several hours up to a day before get the info, make the call and pull the money for it. I'm also somewhat committed to 2nd hand, both for price and so I'm not subsidizing any exploitative industry practices or seeing something decent end up in a landfill.

Gah, the run-on sentences are running wild. Oh well.

Thanks much!

Facebook Marketplace gaming laptops between $200 and $800

CraigsList gaming laptops between $200 and $800

Facebook wants me to log in.. sorry.

MSI Gaming Laptop - Pulse GL66 *bnib - computers - by owner - electronics sale - craigslist

Brand new in box MSI gaming laptop. $550 Ethan MKT NAME :Pulse GL66 11UCK-234US Product SKU : GB51140H8GXXDX10M ERP P/N : 9S7-158224-234 S/N: K2105N0090115 UPC CODE: 82414225218 Color:...

minneapolis.craigslist.org

This one seems to be both the most honest, and a good laptop for Second Life. The video card is good.

 

[Soen Eber]

I was also looking at this one: ASUS ROG Strix G16 2023 Gaming Laptop

I understand ASUS ROGs are pretty decent both spec-wise and in regard to build quality and it's a fairly recently produced laptop. If I'm going to be asking for help I should at least seed the discussion with my own effort as well.

$700 ASUS ROG Strix G16 2023 Gaming Laptop, 16” 16:10 FHD 165Hz, GeForce RTX 4070, Intel Core i7-13650HX, 16GB DDR5, 1TB PCIe SSD, Wi-Fi 6E, Windows 11 Home, G614JI-SS74

 

[Veritable Quandry]

We have had several Asus gaming laptops, and all of them have held up very well.

 

[Kokoro Fasching]

I was also looking at this one: ASUS ROG Strix G16 2023 Gaming Laptop

I understand ASUS ROGs are pretty decent both spec-wise and in regard to build quality and it's a fairly recently produced laptop. If I'm going to be asking for help I should at least seed the discussion with my own effort as well.

That one looks very good also. I'd make sure the box is still factory sealed though, and if you go with that one, make sure the purchase is in a safe place, like the lobby of a police station while you are holding donuts.

 

[Soen Eber]

After talking it over with a tech who was servicing my laptop, I've decided to go with a refurbished MicroCenter laptop just so I have some peace of mind. Last chance to tell me "It's a trap!" before I pick it up Saturday. $629

• HP OMEN 16-wd0013dx 16.1" Gaming Laptop Computer (Refurbished) - Shadow Black; Intel Core i5 13th Gen 13420H 1.5GHz Processor; NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4050 6GB GDDR6; 16GB DDR5-5200 RAM; 512GB Solid State Drive

 

[Argent Stonecutter]

I have that machine's little cousin, an HP Victus (the Chevette of the Omen family) with i5 12th gen 2.5 GHz, RTX 3050 4GB VRAM, 32GB RAM, 512GB SSD, and it's fine.

$800 two years ago.

 

[Essence Lumin]

What ever you do buy it quickly. One news story indicated under Trump's new tariffs, new laptop prices will increase 50%. Used prices will reflect the change.

My last two laptops have been hp's. I am mostly satisfied. The older one randomly blue screens once or twice a month. It also once in a while reports on boot that the fan isn't working properly. The newer one also blue screens very frequently especially when picked up from the lower left so is currently being serviced by hp under an extended warranty. So I'd say hp laptops have some quality issues however I give them very heavy use.