Dell Latitude 7490
Ranked 3 of 3 business laptops by recommenders
People recommend it for being robust, easily upgraded, long-lasting and well supported on Linux and BSD. Critics mention its weight, RAM faults and hardware design flaws.
People recommend it for being robust, easily upgraded, long-lasting and well supported on Linux and BSD. Critics mention its weight, RAM faults and hardware design flaws.
7 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 5
- criticize it
- 2
- approval share
- 71%
Recommended in 3 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: recommended
- January 2026: not recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: recommended
- August 2026: not recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: not recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 5 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, not met.
- 2.5 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 3 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, not met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Lasts many years
“I reckon the current Dell has at least a couple more years in it for my purposes.”
Comment from 13 Jul 2026 in “Ask HN: How long do you use your personal laptop before replacing it?” “8 years and still kicking? and with more life left? For a Dell, that's amazing.”
Comment from 13 Jul 2026 in “Ask HN: How long do you use your personal laptop before replacing it?”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Hardware design flaws and failures
“which I wouldn't recommend as it have an hardware design flaw”
Comment from 27 Jun 2026 in “Linux on Older Hardware: The Complete Revival Guide” “usb-c port is now dead, it is soldered.”
Comment from 18 Aug 2026 in “Fixing a Bricked Framework Laptop”
Other business laptops people recommend
The two most recommended other business laptops, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lenovo ThinkPad | 332 | 113 | 75% | 12 | 10 yrs44 owners | Approved |
| HP EliteBook | 26 | 5 | 84% | 8 | 5 yrs7 owners | Approved |
| Dell Latitude 7490This page | 5 | 2 | 71% | 3 | — | — |
What people said
8 of the 9 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“usb-c port is now dead, it is soldered.”
“It's robust and easily upgraded, but a little heavier than I would like.”
“8 years and still kicking? and with more life left? For a Dell, that's amazing.”
“I reckon the current Dell has at least a couple more years in it for my purposes.”
“which I wouldn't recommend as it have an hardware design flaw”
“right now it is complaining about the RAM and reseating hasn't fixed it. Great laptop otherwise however!”
“it worked great with Linux, FreeBSD and OpenBSD”
“they are plentiful, cheap, and perfectly useable”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.