How bad is a NEW $47 laptop... used MacBook killer or eWaste?

I make loads of videos about cheap MacBooks and deals on buying used Macs, but when I saw this open box new laptop for just $47, I knew I had to find out more! This ultra cheap laptop could be a good value or a pile of waste waiting to happen, depending on your perspective!

Gear:
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[lukemiani]

COME SEE ME LIVE! The day after WWDC I'll be hosting Genius Bar Goes Drk with Noah Sam and Jon- think of it like an aftershow to discuss Apple's latest announcements and hang with other Apple fans. With Apple launching FCP and Logic on iPad ahead of time I can only imagine what's going to be announced in a few weeks... geniusbargoesdrk.com

[MrMunkyMeat]

I have found that most of the hardware you find like this is suited for "single task" type operations. I have a friend that uses a similar model as a base to monitor his IP cams around his property. I have heard another person talk about using one as a monitor for his boost settings in his car. For these, they are a much better fit than even a free macbook. It really boils down to the right tool for the job.

[oKokimaru]

The fact that that $50 Windows Celeron computer got a similar cinebench score to my 2020 i3 Macbook Air is honestly pretty surprising and disappointing at the same time

[Merlin]

I think for 50 Money that’s a very good deal. It’s about the same price as a Raspberry Pi, but has probably a bit more performance, a SSD, keyboard, mouse, display and speakers already included? That’s cheap as hell! Perfect for little home projects and if you installed some form of Linux on it it would also be faster than running on windows.

[allisonrnance]

This is exactly why I’ve turned my whole family onto buying computers from our local e-waste recycler instead of a big box store like Best Buy. My grandma will go there and get a “new” computer that’s a year or two old for a good deal, and she’ll turn in her old devices, and the people working are always willing to help her with any software or hardware issues. And if she has issues they’ll normally give her a better computer than the one she bought. I love that its a chance to support local & cut down on e-waste.

[UltraGamerYT]

2:23 that transition to a sponsor is cleaner than LTT

[randallsmith]

I work a PT weekend job as a vendor in a Best Buy store (I don't work for Best Buy). I see stuff come through there for recycling all the time that is perfectly serviceable. I've spoken to customers who are not technically savvy that just buy a new laptop every 2 years because "my computer gets slow." Some of them can't believe that I am using a 2015 Macbook Pro as my primary machine and that I also have a laptop from 2013 that I use regularly.

[RyanMercer]

I have one of these for my ham radio use. The wifi radio on mine is hot unreliable garbage but I can run it directly from my 12v lithium iron phosphate radio batteries.

[adriecoot]

Sweet, now I don't have to buy the MacBook Pro M3 Max Ultra. Thanks Luke!

[KylesVideos]

The thing that's impressive about these newer low power computers is the video decoders in the iGPU. It played 4k video just fine!

[RCfromtheNYC]

The trick to getting a laptop like this to run smooth is either to install a lightweight Linux build like AntiX, or Tiny10 (a stripped-down version of Windows 10)...for educational and demonstration purposes of course. 😎

[speedyg.]

i’m surprised it came with Windows tbh. $47 for a screen, motherboard, cpu, ram etc etc AND windows? how the hell did that company manage that

[BustinShit]

Very interesting it has the older windows logo on the keys, you’d expect a machine that’s most likely only a few years old to have the newer logo as it’s been around for almost a decade.

[generationscomputersystems]

Hi Luke. I have to agree that e-waste companies are overwhelmed with decommissioned business laptops and computers. All perfectly working fine with some work, they can easily be turned around to help the low to low-middle income families.

I've been trying to do just that for years but the e-waste companies ends up trying to price gouge people like me.

As for this hunk of plastic e-waste, maybe this can be used for alternative operating system deployment. Like Ubuntu, Linux Mint or even Android. I've also been exploring this type of alternative OS for older systems.

[bobsfriend]

It looks like that was designed to be a chromebook that they installed windows on. With chromeOS Flex it would be soooo much better.

[finefuturity]

I got one of these sometime last year and the thing that makes it worth it to me is the out-of-the-box LTE connectivity! And if you export the current install's drivers to USB, format and install a debloated copy of Windows, and reinstall the drivers... it's actually a capable computer for basic tasks!

[triforcelink]

Really good point about the recycling. So many good computers going to the landfill because they’re not worth selling and people not wanting used stuff.

[markenetube]

Could a 14 year old Macbook play 720p Youtube video? Those cheap window machines are the Netbooks of the 2020's. They are fine for light users.

[aelaan]

Thing is the Google has ChromeOS Flex - that is what I would run on it.

[thecon_quererarbitraryname]

There's no distinction to be made between that and ANY modern macbook. Remember how the 64gb of flash storage is soldered on the board and can't be upgraded or replaced ? Yes just as the NAND flash chips are soldered to macbook logic boards. Any modern will apple device be e-waste as well once the storage hits its maximum write cycles. A few weeks ago the NVME SSD in my laptop suddenly died and refused to boot. It was a simple matter of replacing it and my laptop is back in working order. If I had a macbook it would have magically transformed into a paper weight...