DELL Latitude 5421 Laptop Intel i5-11500H 16GB Memory 256GB SSD 14.0" FHD Touch
Newegg via eBay has Dell Latitude 5421 14" Laptop (Excellent-Refurbished) on sale for $239.99 (use the 20% off code LONGWKND20 ). Shipping is free.
Includes a 1-year warranty serviced by Allstate.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/38952255...SwGWtpcU04
Tech Specs:
Intel Core i5-11500H
Integrated Intel UHD Graphics
14 FHD (1920 x 1080) touchscreen display
16GB DDR4 RAM
256GB PCIe NVMe M. 2 Solid State Drive
Ports: 2x USB Type C Thunderbolt 4.0 with Power Delivery & DisplayPort, 2x USB 3.2 Gen 1, 1x HDMI 2.0, 1x RJ45 port, 1x micro-SD 4.0 Memory card reader, 1x Universal Audio Jack, 1x Wedge-shaped Lock slot
Windows 11 Pro
Model: Latitude 5421-RB1
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The Type C connector for the power adapter is a major weak spot. It's soldered to the motherboard, but the connection is easily damaged. Once it's damaged, there's nothing you can do. With the older barrel adapters, there was a DC in-cable that also could fail (not often), but you could replace it.
The plastic they're using for the Latitude top & bottom case is very brittle. It's easily damaged. especially around the hinges and the air holes.
Some Latitudes - not all - have soldered RAM. You have to read the specs carefully over at Dell.com to determine whether this is the case.
Dell Refurbished also isn't delivering the same product they delivered 6+ years ago. I've received Latitudes from them in recent years with the fan caked with dirt. I returned two like this - they're not even making an effort to inspect the computers, let alone truly "refurbish" them.
I've experienced various other problems with these computers, although the problems with the Type C connectors for power failing has occurred in several.
I kept trying with Dell Latitudes probably long after I should have, but after a series of failures with several computers, I'm pretty much done with them. Cannot recommend them any longer.
Latitudes used to be very good - I'm still occasionally using a Latitude I got in 2016. It's slow, but it's solid. The plastic in the case isn't brittle - not breaking at all. I wish they were still built that well.
The Type C connector for the power adapter is a major weak spot. It's soldered to the motherboard, but the connection is easily damaged. Once it's damaged, there's nothing you can do. With the older barrel adapters, there was a DC in-cable that also could fail (not often), but you could replace it.
The plastic they're using for the Latitude top & bottom case is very brittle. It's easily damaged. especially around the hinges and the air holes.
Some Latitudes - not all - have soldered RAM. You have to read the specs carefully over at Dell.com to determine whether this is the case.
Dell Refurbished also isn't delivering the same product they delivered 6+ years ago. I've received Latitudes from them in recent years with the fan caked with dirt. I returned two like this - they're not even making an effort to inspect the computers, let alone truly "refurbish" them.
I've experienced various other problems with these computers, although the problems with the Type C connectors for power failing has occurred in several.
I kept trying with Dell Latitudes probably long after I should have, but after a series of failures with several computers, I'm pretty much done with them. Cannot recommend them any longer.
Latitudes used to be very good - I'm still occasionally using a Latitude I got in 2016. It's slow, but it's solid. The plastic in the case isn't brittle - not breaking at all. I wish they were still built that well.
I have another newer computer (running W11, which I hate) for now but I may eventually be switching to Linux OS - I've been thinking about it for years, but inertia is strong. Whether you can depends on what you need to do on your computer. Linux can run fairly well on older computers.
Newer Dell Latitudes can also have issues running W11. The problems can exist for a lot of reasons, but one is that some Latitudes didn't have enough or good enough thermal paste applied. A relative (on my advice) some years ago purchased a Dell Latitude 5420 (from Dell itself, not refurbished), and it would shut down with absolutely no warning, frequently. You'd lose everything you'd been working on. I spent literally dozens of hours trying to diagnose the problem - testing RAM, reinstalling W11, spending lots of time looking online to see what others had done (lots of people were having similar problems with this model), and I never figured it out. In the end, I think there's a good chance it was the thermal paste, and told my relative to send it back under warranty. It may also have been some glitch with the way W11 was interacting with something on the computer - a lot of people were saying they had issues like that because W11 is STILL so buggy, after being out there for years. In the end, the owner dragged their feet and warranty ran out on them, so it's a brick, sitting in a closet. The value of the time I spent trying to diagnose the problem far exceeded the value of the computer.
Dell's manufacturing of Latitudes has greatly decreased in quality. It's really too bad - it was an excellent product.
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I initially bought this when it was at $255. This one had some issues. There was a noticeable bright spot on the screen. There was also noticeable gunk underneath some of the keys. On the back of the display with the Dell logo, there was also what seemed like a large sticker that covered the entirely of that area. I didn't tear it off, but it seemed strange. I decided to return that one. Newegg's Ebay page mentioned restocking fee, but I believe that's not allowed on Ebay based on my limited Google search through the forums. They probably copied and pasted that from their website. So let's see what happens. Got the return label pretty quickly and is currently in transit.
I then bought a second one at the $248 price and this one was much better. The condition looked almost new, keyboard was clean, display brightness looked uniform, and no weird sticker cover. I did notice a small dent on the back near the top vents. Overall quite satisfied and might end up keeping this one despite the price dropping yet again. Will probably upgrade the RAM in the future.
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