I virtually purchased a MacBook Neo till I noticed what $600 buys used

The MacBook Neo was a wake-up call for Windows laptop manufacturers, and confirmed that you just actually didn’t have to compromise on the core experiences to ship a wonderfully balanced machine for the overwhelming majority of customers.

And that form of nonetheless holds true to at the present time. The MacBook Neo continues to be the most effective entry degree laptops yow will discover proper now, together with newer Windows alternatives such as the 2026 Dell XPS 13.

And that is not even bearing in mind the used market, which has wonderful offers if you recognize the place to look. I managed to snag a Dell Latitude 7320 for $600, and it has slowly remodeled into my secondary machine previously week since I purchased it.

Meet the Dell Latitude 7320

This is the souped up model of the laptop computer variant

The thriller laptop computer in query is a Dell Latitude 7320, a compact and moveable powerhouse. It comes outfitted with an eleventh era Intel Core i7 (i7-1185G7; vPro variant) that has 4 cores and eight threads to spare, together with a most clock velocity of 4.8 GHz.

Pair that with one TB of user-replaceable storage and 32 GB of LPDDR4x non-upgradeable RAM, and you’ve got a relatively strong laptop computer. My explicit system additionally has a WWAN slot full with a modem, though I haven’t been ready to make use of it but.

These Latitudes are additionally extremely well-built and may take a beating. While the shell is made from carbon fiber and plastic, it is the sturdy form of plastic, and can take in any bumps and bruises alongside the best way.

It’s actually not excellent, and in some ways is beginning to present its age (it was launched over 5 years in the past, in spite of everything). Despite that, it’s surprisingly succesful for fundamental duties and typically, even a bit additional.

The Dell can do issues the Neo can’t

Dual Thunderbolt and Linux help, together with quadruple the quantity of RAM

The Dell Latitude 7320 is a much more succesful laptop computer, and its port choice is extremely numerous for such a small kind issue. It has two USB-C Thunderbolt-capable ports on both aspect (each of which help charging), which makes it mechanically superior to the MacBook Neo’s twin non-Thunderbolt USB-C ports.

If that wasn’t sufficient of a slam dunk, the Latitude additionally has a microSD card slot, an HDMI port and a complete USB-A port, which may be very a lot appreciated. It additionally has a WWAN module, which implies you’ll be able to stick in a SIM card.

Combined with an eGPU dock, it makes for a practical and capable desktop replacement that may drive a number of displays — one thing the Neo can not do. It’s extremely quiet too, even on the maxed out energy and fan profiles. Temperatures are fairly toasty although, and you need to anticipate upwards of 90 levels Celsius throughout heavy workloads.

That being mentioned, the laptop computer by no means felt uncomfortably sizzling to the contact, and the lively cooling helps. It additionally has a number of niceties, like a bodily webcam shutter and a fingerprint sensor, all of which work beneath Linux simply positive.

Speaking of working programs, this works with each Windows 11 and Linux. I selected Arch Linux, and after putting in the related Dell driver packages, was capable of get issues working with none points.

The MacBook Neo may not be my first choose, however it’s nonetheless fairly a great deal

There are some benefits right here I can’t ignore

The MacBook Neo is a more recent machine, and one that you could nonetheless purchase in shops with a guaranty to associate with it. In case one thing goes incorrect, you’ll have the ability to take it to the shop and have them (or Apple) repair it for you.

Used laptops often don’t include any guarantee to talk of, and most safeguards are doubtful at greatest.

There’s additionally the truth that the Dell has an objectively worse show, and by fairly a margin. My explicit variant isn’t the superior 400-nit model, and is as a substitute relegated to the anemic 250-nit show.

Combine that with a relatively mediocre built-in panel that reveals an ungodly quantity of ghosting, and you’ve got the worst of each worlds. The Neo’s show is much superior, regardless of being restricted to 60 Hz as nicely.

The Dell laptop computer additionally suffers from disappointingly mediocre battery life. I believe it is a mixture of each the smaller 43 Wh battery and the power-hungry CPU (in comparison with the Neo, which runs on a brilliant environment friendly cellular chip) that makes it so horrible.

It barely lasts 4 hours on a great day, and that is with energy financial savings enabled. To be honest, the MacBook Neo doesn’t supply spectacular battery life both, however It’s nonetheless lots higher than the Dell.

And there’s the truth that you could have entry to desktop macOS on the MacBook Neo, whilst you’ll be caught with Windows 11 on the Dell Latitude. Operating programs are actually a matter of private choice, however I’d simply choose the MacBook Neo if it weren’t for its anemic 8 GB of RAM. macOS is only a higher working system, regardless of its many, many quirks.

Honestly talking? The MacBook Neo is a fairly nice deal nonetheless and an ideal entry-level laptop computer, however nothing extra. I simply want it had extra RAM and a backlit keyboard.

Future improve paths and repairability are what make the Dell superior

Unlike the MacBook Neo, the Dell Latitude 7320 options lots of upgradeable parts. Yes, whereas the MacBook Neo continues to be shockingly repairable (for an Apple product), none of its parts will be “upgraded”.

The storage on the MacBook is soldered, for instance. On the Dell, it is as straightforward as putting in the next capability M.2 drive afterward — you could have the flexibility to decide on. It additionally has a microSD card reader, so you would at all times make for some additional, cheaper storage.

Unfortunately, the RAM is soldered on each laptops, however the Dell variant I’ve has 32 GB of it, which is greater than what I’ll ever want. The audio system are additionally a plus, and sound wonderful for a Windows laptop computer.

And there’s the entire improve path. Quite a lot of these machines ship out with the bottom spec, and it’s potential to swap out most parts for a greater high quality one. The keyboard and battery, for instance, will be swapped for backlit and higher-capacity ones, respectively.

And that is precisely the place enterprise and enterprise laptops shine. They age tremendously nicely and are a viable different for Windows and Linux customers. With {hardware} costs the best way they’re proper now, it is nearly as good a time as any to look into the used market.