Image: Lenovo
Gaming laptops are getting pretty amazing, with some even hitting in the same performance category as equivalently expensive desktops. But they’re not getting any cheaper, at least not without a good deal.
That’s where I come in. Today, I present to you this Lenovo LOQ gaming laptop with an Intel Core i5 processor and Nvidia RTX 3050 graphics card for just $641.06 on eBay.
A couple of caveats. First, this is refurbished laptop. But as refurbs go, this is one of the best. It’s being sold directly by Lenovo’s corporate eBay account, and comes with a two-year warranty (which is better than the warranties on most new laptops).
Second, an RTX 3050 with 6GB of video RAM is definitely on the low end of modern graphics cards. This thing will be fine for League of Legends or Counter-Strike, but you’ll have to turn the settings down to hit 60 frames per second in something like Space Marine 2.
The rest of the hardware is solid, especially the 13th-gen 8-core processor and the 15.6-inch IPS screen with 144Hz of refresh rate. The Lenovo LOQ 15 also comes with 16GB of DDR5 RAM and 512GB of SSD storage, both of which can be upgraded with a few inexpensive parts and some elbow grease on your screwdriver.
This laptop is, to use a technical term, a chunky boi. It’s meant to sit on your desk most of the time, weighing in at 5.29 pounds (2.4 kilograms) and just a hair under an inch thick, according to Lenovo’s spec sheet. And the 60-watt-hour battery isn’t going to last long if you’re actually using it to play games unplugged, either.
But the trade-off is tons of connection options. On the left you get USB-C 3.2 Gen 2 and a headphone jack, on the right is a standard USB-A port, and around the back you have two more USB-A, a full-sized HDMI 2.1, and a full-sized Ethernet — no dongles needed here. While the laptop comes with a barrel charger, you can also get up to 140 watts into the USB-C port (which also has DisplayPort video capabilities).
Inexpensive gaming laptops like this one tend to move fast, and it looks like Lenovo is already out of stock for an even cheaper configuration on eBay. Get an order in quickly if you’re interested in this one.
Get this Lenovo gaming laptop with RTX for $642Buy now on eBay
Author: Michael Crider, Staff Writer, PCWorld
Michael is a 10-year veteran of technology journalism, covering everything from Apple to ZTE. On PCWorld he’s the resident keyboard nut, always using a new one for a review and building a new mechanical board or expanding his desktop “battlestation” in his off hours. Michael’s previous bylines include Android Police, Digital Trends, Wired, Lifehacker, and How-To Geek, and he’s covered events like CES and Mobile World Congress live. Michael lives in Pennsylvania where he’s always looking forward to his next kayaking trip.
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