I got sent the wrong laptop :(

[8ball]

As per post title.

It’s only slightly wrong.
I was sent one with an i5-8250u processor when it should actually be an i5-8350u.

Backmarket have offered to replace it, but I’m wondering what the performance difference is likely to be. It’s a lot of hassle sending it back and struggling to do certain things on my phone if the difference turns out to be imperceptible.

So was just wondering if a there is a kindly processor-savvy person about who could offer a little advice.

I’ve done a bit of searching and it looks like once thermal throttling and something else techy are taken into account, it may not make any difference at all. I’d trust the denizens of urban more than random Redditors on such matters, though.

Also, battery life seems a bit crap. I’m not sure what to expect from a laptop, but about an hour seems short..

 

[Idaho]

An hour is far too short, unless you've got it mining cryptocurrency.

 

[planetgeli]

Also, battery life seems a bit crap. I’m not sure what to expect from a laptop, but about an hour seems short..

Serious? Get rid.

 

[8ball]

An hour is far too short, unless you've got it mining cryptocurrency.

Serious? Get rid.

Thanks - it’s a 5,200 mAh battery, which to my very basic knowledge of laptop power usage seems like it should last longer.

I’m doing stuff like using Firefox, Excel etc. Nothing unusual or fancy.

 

[Idaho]

I have a crappy, cheap laptop that was bottom of the range 8 years ago. The battery has gone pretty rubbish, but still goes for 2-3 hours.

 

[UnderOpenSky]

As per post title.

It’s only slightly wrong.
I was sent one with an i5-8250u processor when it should actually be an i5-8350u.

Backmarket have offered to replace it, but I’m wondering what the performance difference is likely to be. It’s a lot of hassle sending it back and struggling to do certain things on my phone if the difference turns out to be imperceptible.

So was just wondering if a there is a kindly processor-savvy person about who could offer a little advice.

I’ve done a bit of searching and it looks like once thermal throttling and something else techy are taken into account, it may not make any difference at all. I’d trust the denizens of urban more than random Redditors on such matters, though.

Also, battery life seems a bit crap. I’m not sure what to expect from a laptop, but about an hour seems short..

In the real world, you won't notice a huge difference.

However, this CPU was released in 2017, so it's not a huge surprise the battery is very degraded. It's going to be a minimum of five years old. You've not said the model of the laptop, but I'd be looking to see if the battery could be replaced. Maybe as a gesture of goodwill backmarket could help you fund a new one?

 

[8ball]

In the real world, you won't notice a huge difference.

However, this CPU was released in 2017, so it's not a huge surprise the battery is very degraded. It's going to be a minimum of five years old. You've not said the model of the laptop, but I'd be looking to see if the battery could be replaced. Maybe as a gesture of goodwill backmarket could help you fund a new one?

They’ve offered to replace whole laptop if I send it back. But I figured their pile of batteries wouldn’t be tied to particular laptops (maybe connections have been changing, though, and this machine can only use older batteries).

5,200 mAh at 10.8v would only be a shade over an hour if I was using 50 watts consistently, but that would seem steep usage, wouldn’t it?

Are there utilities that might show whether the battery is poorly (powercfg /batteryreport showed nothing untoward).

 

[UnderOpenSky]

They’ve offered to replace whole laptop if I send it back. But I figured their pile of batteries wouldn’t be tied to particular laptops (maybe connections have been changing, though, and this machine can only use older batteries).

5,200 mAh at 10.8v would only be a shade over an hour if I was using 50 watts consistently, but that would seem steep usage, wouldn’t it?

Are there utilities that might show whether the battery is poorly (powercfg /batteryreport showed nothing untoward).

Yes, but after a fair few years of use a 5200 mAh battery is nowhere near that.

If I was buying a laptop that age, I'd be looking for one which is was easy to change the battery and look for a new one on Amazon or eBay, even if it was well reviewed generic rather then official.

My 3 year old Dell Latitude has a significantly shorter battery life then when new.

 

[8ball]

Yes, but after a fair few years of use a 5200 mAh battery is nowhere near that.

If I was buying a laptop that age, I'd be looking for one which is was easy to change the battery and look for a new one on Amazon or eBay, even if it was well reviewed generic rather then official.

My 3 year old Dell Latitude has a significantly shorter battery life then when new.

I guess I naively figured that a refurbished laptop would come with the freshest battery available.

Sounds like getting it replaced might be worth it based on the likelihood of a newer battery - would you agree?

<I’ll have to write a few scripts to replicate all the setup changes I’ve made since getting it>

 

[Saul Goodman]

I guess I naively figured that a refurbished laptop would come with the freshest battery available.

Sounds like getting it replaced might be worth it based on the likelihood of a newer battery - would you agree?

<I’ll have to write a few scripts to replicate all the setup changes I’ve made since getting it>

Refurbished, these days, seems to mean it was powered up to make sure it boots, then wiped over with the cleanest rag they could find.