WHAT’S ROGER UP TO: Tips on why I chose a new “old” PC

When I retired from API/GE, I had to give up my old business laptop which I had used exclusively, both at home and at work, for the entire time I worked for that company.  My last few computers were Dell laptops and I accumulated a bit of peripheral equipment for them, including power supplies and batteries.

All of my Dell laptops back in those days had external batteries, so if the battery was fully discharged, I could swap in another fully charged one.  I found a spare, extended life battery for that last laptop and between my two batteries, I had at least 10 hours or more of battery life if I needed it.

After I retired at the end of 2016, I had to get my own laptop and I purchased an HP.  It worked well until very recently so I have been looking for another one.  My HP had an internal battery only and, after the first year, it had a useful life of less than three hours.

Almost all laptops now have internal batteries and you have to remove the casing to get at it and to replace it, which effectively makes swapping out batteries impractical, at best.

I really liked that extended battery life, especially when I travelled so much.  For my new laptop, two of the main features I was looking for were 1, an external battery that could be easily swapped out; and 2, a backlit keyboard.  My HP had that feature and I really liked it.

While doing research, I quickly learned that virtually all laptops now only come with internal batteries.  Even when I found one that advertised itself as having a “replaceable” battery, that turned out to mean that you “could” replace it by opening up the case and connecting a new battery inside.  Yeah, right.

I then started looking at getting a like-new, but older laptop which still had the actual external battery.  I found one that had that, and that also had the backlit keyboard I was looking for.  It turns out it is a Dell Latitude E7450.  Since it is a Dell, many of my old Dell peripherals are compatible.  I now have at least four, spare power supplies that I have found lying around my office.

My new “old” Dell Latitude is a factory refurbished 2016 model, still in the original box.  This is the first refurbished computer I have ever bought.  While I was a little wary, so far I have been very pleased and the price was great – $310.

The computer is definitely in a like-new condition.

 

E7450 Specs

• The external battery is a 4 cell, 54wh model that gives me 5 plus hours on a full charge so far.
  • I recommend staying away from 2 cell batteries. Look for batteries with 3, 4 or more cells and also rated at a higher number of wh (40 or more watt hours).  Both the number of cells and the higher wh rating seem to be the best indicators of maximum battery run time
  • I intend to get a backup battery and I have my eye on either a 6 or 9 cell which would give me a lot of battery capacity when I travel in addition to my original battery.
  • After my Scotland experience leaving my power supply on a plane, and having to luckily find Scotland’s version of Best Buy (Curry’s PC World), I will always now try to travel with a backup power supply.
• 14 inch, 1920X1080 resolution display
  • This is a bit smaller than my HP which had a 15.6 diagonal display.  However, the trade off is a bit smaller foot print, which will be helpful when on airplanes.  I have not noticed the size difference at all.
• Backlit keyboard, 2 levels of brightness
• Intel Core i5 Processor.
  • I recommend staying away from the older, slower AMD and Celeron processors.
  • The laptop works well for multiple app processing, like having Word, Excel and/or Powerpoint running simultaneously. It is also just fine for internet browsing, You Tube videos, use with multiple displays, etc.  I don’t do serious gaming and I probably would not recommend that on this machine, although I am sure it could run most games.
• 500 GB hard drive, 4 GB internal memory.
  • 1TB is available as an option.  I believe you can also upgrade to 8GB internal memory.
• No optical/DVD drive
  • An external DVD is an affordable option and I already had one that we had bought to use with my wife’s previous computer. I have used it with the E7450 and it works just fine.
• It has three, high speed, USB 3.0 ports, HDMI, RJ45, mini display port, audio IN/OUT and a built-in SD card reader.
• Speakers are located on the front of the computer. The sound is very good.  Finally I have a computer that has decent volume so I don’t always have to wear my earphones.

 

Windows

The laptop came with Windows 8.1 Pro.  I was able to upgrade to Windows 10 Pro for free.  The following link should allow you to download Windows 10 Pro for free.  I did because I am used to Win10 and I prefer it … and I am also too cheap to buy Windows 365!

https://www.cnet.com/how-to/how-to-download-windows-10-for-free-now-that-windows-7-is-dead/

 

You don’t need a product key to complete this download.

 

Office

With the exception of some package deals, most PC’s do not come loaded with Microsoft Office, and my E7450 was no exception.  However, if you still have your Microsoft Office Product Key from your current computer, you can download and install your previous copy of Office for free on any other computer.  Even though Microsoft no longer supports Office 2010, the link to download a copy with an existing Product Key still works.

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/office

 

Allow about 4-5 hours to complete the download and install.  The install portion takes the longest but once you get it started, it does not require intervention again until the end, including going through multiple reboots.