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The CPU has similar Geekbench 6 scores to a 2010 midrange notebook. It has a 768p display.
I would just get a used machine. For not much more you could get a MacBook Air 2018 that blows this thing away with literally 5x the performance, good build quality, nice display, etc. The Intel N5030 was already junk tier in 2019 when it was announced … it's hard to find a worse CPU today if you tried.
Last edited by BlueDesk9616 January 31, 2026 at 01:58 PM.
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from BlueDesk9616
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The CPU has similar Geekbench 6 scores to a 2010 midrange notebook. It has a 768p display.
I would just get a used machine. For not much more you could get a MacBook Air 2018 that blows this thing away with literally 5x the performance, good build quality, nice display, etc. The Intel N5030 was already junk tier in 2019 when it was announced … it's hard to find a worse CPU today if you tried.
This right here.
This was extremely low tier when it was released. The build quality is abysmal -- the keyboard has more flex than a trampoline, the screen is a non-touch TN panel that's 16:9, the resolution is 1366 x 768 (which can be too low for MANY modern applications which are expecting 1920x1080 minimum).
I'm not even going to comment on the speakers, webcam, brightness of the screen, trackpad quality, etc. You can be safe to assume they're all equally junk.
Then there's the 8gb ram and 128gb SSD -- at least it's a SSD and not spinning rust. But these specs were laughable 10+ years ago....they're simply insulting today. Or more accurately, they're virtually unusable today. Just the core install of Windows 11 is going to eat up so much of that drive, you won't be able to actually do anything on it. Same for the RAM, as Windows 11 isn't a lightweight (or stable) OS.
You might get a little more life out of this machine if you find a compatible Linux install.... but why?
For $100-150, you can get 8th-10th gen refurbished Dell laptops on ebay with 16gb+ ram and 256gb+ ssd which will massively overpower this piece of junk. Yes, they're ever-slightly-more than $85. But they absolutely fall within the definition of "spend a little more for a LOT more bang for the buck."
If this was a $20 machine, you could make a justification for it, especially if you had non-traditional needs for a low-power machine. But for $85, it's just a bad joke.
Given how much a 8G Raspberry Pi 5 with accessories goes for, one of these laptops might be a reasonable stand in for a low-power home lab machine. ChatGPT seems to think an RPi5 and an N5030 are fairly comparable. Though you'd probably be happier by spending a few more bucks to get a better refurb off Ebay like LavenderPickle7682 said above.
Given how much a 8G Raspberry Pi 5 with accessories goes for, one of these laptops might be a reasonable stand in for a low-power home lab machine. ChatGPT seems to think an RPi5 and an N5030 are fairly comparable. Though you'd probably be happier by spending a few more bucks to get a better refurb off Ebay like LavenderPickle7682 said above.
Say no to ChatGPT Al slop.
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Our community has rated this post as helpful. If you agree, why not thank
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I would just get a used machine. For not much more you could get a MacBook Air 2018 that blows this thing away with literally 5x the performance, good build quality, nice display, etc. The Intel N5030 was already junk tier in 2019 when it was announced … it's hard to find a worse CPU today if you tried.
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Our community has rated this post as helpful. If you agree, why not thank
I would just get a used machine. For not much more you could get a MacBook Air 2018 that blows this thing away with literally 5x the performance, good build quality, nice display, etc. The Intel N5030 was already junk tier in 2019 when it was announced … it's hard to find a worse CPU today if you tried.
This was extremely low tier when it was released. The build quality is abysmal -- the keyboard has more flex than a trampoline, the screen is a non-touch TN panel that's 16:9, the resolution is 1366 x 768 (which can be too low for MANY modern applications which are expecting 1920x1080 minimum).
I'm not even going to comment on the speakers, webcam, brightness of the screen, trackpad quality, etc. You can be safe to assume they're all equally junk.
Then there's the 8gb ram and 128gb SSD -- at least it's a SSD and not spinning rust. But these specs were laughable 10+ years ago....they're simply insulting today. Or more accurately, they're virtually unusable today. Just the core install of Windows 11 is going to eat up so much of that drive, you won't be able to actually do anything on it. Same for the RAM, as Windows 11 isn't a lightweight (or stable) OS.
You might get a little more life out of this machine if you find a compatible Linux install.... but why?
For $100-150, you can get 8th-10th gen refurbished Dell laptops on ebay with 16gb+ ram and 256gb+ ssd which will massively overpower this piece of junk. Yes, they're ever-slightly-more than $85. But they absolutely fall within the definition of "spend a little more for a LOT more bang for the buck."
If this was a $20 machine, you could make a justification for it, especially if you had non-traditional needs for a low-power machine. But for $85, it's just a bad joke.
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