Author Topic: New laptop advice  (Read 169643 times)

Offline bradders1011

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Re: New laptop advice
« Reply #880 on: September 10, 2020, 01:11:53 am »
I've just ordered this: https://www.dell.com/en-uk/shop/laptops/new-inspiron-15-5000/spd/inspiron-15-5590-laptop/cn55901

Pretty high spec for a mid-range laptop, big SSD and a nice discount from RRP. I'm the same as you, just going to use it to browse and stream and if it lasts 5 years like my last Dell I'll be happy.
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Offline soxfan

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Re: New laptop advice
« Reply #881 on: September 11, 2020, 06:43:41 pm »
I've owned a refurbished Acer Swift 3 (14") for about 2 years now. It's been great. I'm constantly on the go as a salesperson so it gets bumped around a lot. No complaints whatsoever.

I really am not a high-end game player on it, so I can't comment on that aspect. But I've always got multiple browser windows open, an Excel or Powerpoint loaded, maybe a video playing, and it runs quite well, no hiccups.

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« Last Edit: September 11, 2020, 06:45:13 pm by soxfan »
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Offline CornerFlag

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Re: New laptop advice
« Reply #882 on: September 13, 2020, 03:41:44 pm »
Shameless bump for this. Still at a loss as to what to go for, again any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Will you end up playing some newer games on it?  How much are you looking to spend on it?  What size screen is your absolute minimum?
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Offline JLStretton

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Re: New laptop advice
« Reply #883 on: September 14, 2020, 01:28:23 pm »
I've just ordered this: https://www.dell.com/en-uk/shop/laptops/new-inspiron-15-5000/spd/inspiron-15-5590-laptop/cn55901

Pretty high spec for a mid-range laptop, big SSD and a nice discount from RRP. I'm the same as you, just going to use it to browse and stream and if it lasts 5 years like my last Dell I'll be happy.

What is the differance between that one and this one https://deals.dell.com/en-uk/productdetail/5gfa looking again it seems to be the same one.  Never owned a Dell laptop before I take it they are ok reliability wise.
« Last Edit: September 14, 2020, 01:34:38 pm by JLStretton »
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Offline Graeme

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Re: New laptop advice
« Reply #884 on: September 14, 2020, 01:56:35 pm »
Never owned a Dell laptop before I take it they are ok reliability wise.

Probably the most reliable I've dealt with. Used to purchase ICT kit for a Local Council and we bought Dell. The fault rate was next to zero, they just worked. They also don't pre-load their OS build with shite.

Offline JLStretton

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Re: New laptop advice
« Reply #885 on: September 14, 2020, 02:13:29 pm »
Interesting, thank you.
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Offline ToneLa

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Re: New laptop advice
« Reply #886 on: September 14, 2020, 08:25:09 pm »
Dell are good. Never owned one but  in my IT days they were never a chore (beyond the usual chore of fixing things!)

They're good, a standard. Like Graeme says really, I agree.

They're not my fav brand but nothing about the Dell name is bad. Of course individual models vary, but as a brand,yeah, thumbs up from my professional days

Offline Claire.

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Re: New laptop advice
« Reply #887 on: September 15, 2020, 06:28:00 pm »
our dev machines are dells and mine has been great, *fingers crossed*, no issues in almost 2.5 years.

Have to say that some people have had problems, there's been a few swollen batteries and BSODs but mine doesn't move!
« Last Edit: September 15, 2020, 06:29:35 pm by Claire. »

Offline FlashGordon

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Re: New laptop advice
« Reply #888 on: September 21, 2020, 11:16:38 am »
Will you end up playing some newer games on it?  How much are you looking to spend on it?  What size screen is your absolute minimum?

Wouldn't be buying it to play games on really but if I was to play any games it would only be FM. Minimum screen size about 14'', can spend anything up to €650-700. Thanks.
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Offline bradders1011

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Re: New laptop advice
« Reply #889 on: October 13, 2020, 08:50:39 pm »
Can anybody advise either technically or on how to deal with Dell here?

I bought that laptop on 7th September, it arrived 23rd September, from day 2 (24th) it randomly freezes. Just stops - nothing responding and if sound is playing it just buzzes. All I can do is longpress the power button to force shutdown.

There's nothing in event viewer, nothing in logs, nothing in pre-boot diagnostics, nothing in memory testing and it happens on battery and plug.. I've run it in safe mode, tried uninstalling different programmes, uninstalled and reinstalled drivers, run without the Intel graphics driver on the basic one, changed laptop sleep/screen-off settings to 'never' and reseated the RAM chip, but nothing.

Spent 2 hours today on the phone with a Dell tech support who ran the same hardware tests and came back with nothing, so did a factory reset, after which it froze again without me having done anything more than log into Windows and do a driver and Windows update, as I was instructed to by the tech support op.

He told me that because the hardware tests passed, it isn't covered under warranty. I suggested I'd ask for a refund and he tells me that because it's over 30 days since order, I won't get one, which I believed was against legislation which was 30 days from delivery.

This problem started the second day I used the laptop, after about 6 hours' use in total, and again on factory settings, so it's clearly a problem at their end.

He's calling back tomorrow to check on the ticket, so I'm planning on asking for a replacement or, failing that, a refund. I'm paying through Paypal Credit so I believe I'm covered the same as I would be on a credit card under Section 75.

Any thoughts on tech things to try or ways to ensure I haven't spunked £500 on a brick? Alternatively, anybody have the number for UK-based Dell customer support so I don't have to listen to a script being read?

Cheers
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Offline Alf

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Re: New laptop advice
« Reply #890 on: October 13, 2020, 10:42:03 pm »
Can anybody advise either technically or on how to deal with Dell here?

I bought that laptop on 7th September, it arrived 23rd September, from day 2 (24th) it randomly freezes. Just stops - nothing responding and if sound is playing it just buzzes. All I can do is longpress the power button to force shutdown.

There's nothing in event viewer, nothing in logs, nothing in pre-boot diagnostics, nothing in memory testing and it happens on battery and plug.. I've run it in safe mode, tried uninstalling different programmes, uninstalled and reinstalled drivers, run without the Intel graphics driver on the basic one, changed laptop sleep/screen-off settings to 'never' and reseated the RAM chip, but nothing.

Spent 2 hours today on the phone with a Dell tech support who ran the same hardware tests and came back with nothing, so did a factory reset, after which it froze again without me having done anything more than log into Windows and do a driver and Windows update, as I was instructed to by the tech support op.

He told me that because the hardware tests passed, it isn't covered under warranty. I suggested I'd ask for a refund and he tells me that because it's over 30 days since order, I won't get one, which I believed was against legislation which was 30 days from delivery.

This problem started the second day I used the laptop, after about 6 hours' use in total, and again on factory settings, so it's clearly a problem at their end.

He's calling back tomorrow to check on the ticket, so I'm planning on asking for a replacement or, failing that, a refund. I'm paying through Paypal Credit so I believe I'm covered the same as I would be on a credit card under Section 75.

Any thoughts on tech things to try or ways to ensure I haven't spunked £500 on a brick? Alternatively, anybody have the number for UK-based Dell customer support so I don't have to listen to a script being read?

Cheers

According to Which, your 30 days starts from when it was delivered. I’d start mentioning trading standards if they don’t play ball. Alternatively you should be able to contact someone higher up at Dell from the 2nd link.

https://www.which.co.uk/consumer-rights/advice/what-do-i-do-if-i-have-a-faulty-product#how-long-do-i-have-to-return-a-faulty-product

https://www.ceoemail.com/

Offline bradders1011

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Re: New laptop advice
« Reply #891 on: October 14, 2020, 09:53:37 am »
According to Which, your 30 days starts from when it was delivered. I’d start mentioning trading standards if they don’t play ball. Alternatively you should be able to contact someone higher up at Dell from the 2nd link.

https://www.which.co.uk/consumer-rights/advice/what-do-i-do-if-i-have-a-faulty-product#how-long-do-i-have-to-return-a-faulty-product

https://www.ceoemail.com/

Thanks for that, I've got the head fella's LinkedIn favourited...

Had the call this morning and they're sending me the USB to flash and reinstall the OS. Nuclear option, but I'm willing to give them the benefit of the doubt one last time.

My old Dell laptop has lasted me 5 years. It's a dinosaur but even at 17" it's been dropped, had RAM replaced, had water chucked on it but still kept going. Only problem was it took 20 minutes to boot up, so I was so incredibly happy with the new one with an SSD being usable in 15 seconds. Having this rigmarole is a kick in the nuts.

Edit: Just got another call, they're sending an engineer round to change the hard drive. Again, nuke option, but let's see if it works.
« Last Edit: October 14, 2020, 09:58:12 am by bradders1011 »
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Offline Alf

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Re: New laptop advice
« Reply #892 on: October 14, 2020, 10:31:52 pm »
Thanks for that, I've got the head fella's LinkedIn favourited...

Had the call this morning and they're sending me the USB to flash and reinstall the OS. Nuclear option, but I'm willing to give them the benefit of the doubt one last time.

My old Dell laptop has lasted me 5 years. It's a dinosaur but even at 17" it's been dropped, had RAM replaced, had water chucked on it but still kept going. Only problem was it took 20 minutes to boot up, so I was so incredibly happy with the new one with an SSD being usable in 15 seconds. Having this rigmarole is a kick in the nuts.

Edit: Just got another call, they're sending an engineer round to change the hard drive. Again, nuke option, but let's see if it works.

I had a Inspiron 1545 lasted me 7 years, I replaced two batteries and a charging cable for a total cost of £60 during that time. The Toshiba one I had beforehand lasted just 2 years and cost £150 more. When I came to buy a new laptop in 2016, the new Dell laptops just looked a bit flimsy to me. About 15 years back, a lad I worked with bought a desktop from them when you could only buy PC's direct from Dell. He never got a floppy disk drive, every time he contacted him them they had another DVD drive sent to him. He ended up with about 30 of them.

Anyway I hope it all gets sorted out for you, let me know how you get on.

Offline ScouserAtHeart

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Re: New laptop advice
« Reply #893 on: October 28, 2020, 02:59:18 pm »
Anyone think the Surface Book 3 looks interesting?
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Offline bradders1011

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Re: New laptop advice
« Reply #894 on: October 28, 2020, 03:10:13 pm »
Hard drive change didn't work, the engineer left a corrupted USB boot stick, so couldn't install Windows on the blank drive. Spent all day on the phone to go through downloading another on my ancient laptop which took 25 full minutes to start up during the call. Even after all that it still froze, so I asked for a replacement. Took a week to go through the machinery but this week a new machine has been dispatched. If that has problems I might drive to Bracknell and throw them through their office windows.
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Offline bradders1011

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Re: New laptop advice
« Reply #895 on: November 9, 2020, 03:42:48 pm »
My replacement laptop arrived today. It's a lower spec - 256gb SSD vs 512gb and half the RAM, very likely a refurbished one to boot, so I'm just getting a refund. Speaking to them about this resulted in me being passed to 5 different people within a 20 minute call before someone was in the right team to help me.

Don't buy Dell.

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Offline bradders1011

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Re: New laptop advice
« Reply #896 on: November 11, 2020, 10:24:03 pm »
Order an HP from Currys on Monday, picked it up yesterday.

Open it, press the power button...."No Hard Drive Installed"

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Re: New laptop advice
« Reply #897 on: November 11, 2020, 10:32:43 pm »
Order an HP from Currys on Monday, picked it up yesterday.

Open it, press the power button...."No Hard Drive Installed"

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Offline RedFalcon

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Re: New laptop advice
« Reply #898 on: November 26, 2020, 07:16:34 am »
Any advice on which laptop to buy my 12 year old son for Christmas? Would mainly be used for schoolwork (probably wishfull thinking on my part). I see these days you need a subscription to Microsoft office? Was looking at spending around £250. Looks like Lenovo get pretty good reviews on here. Would the Ideapad 1 be any good or worth paying extra for the 3? Thanks

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Re: New laptop advice
« Reply #899 on: November 26, 2020, 08:23:52 am »
My lad dropped his Chromebook HP screen cracked beyond use...too costly to replace screen and missus forgot to insure..hmmmmfffff...



Anyhoo...anyone reccomend a chrome book budget around €300/350...its mainly for school work..but he wants to watch films on

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Offline Zlen

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New laptop advice
« Reply #900 on: November 26, 2020, 08:25:39 am »
@Redfalcon Not sure about the prices, but a Chromebook should suffice for that. Also you can just use Google Docs as it works seamlessly with MS Office files.

Offline WhoHe

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Re: New laptop advice
« Reply #901 on: November 26, 2020, 09:26:41 am »
@Redfalcon Not sure about the prices, but a Chromebook should suffice for that. Also you can just use Google Docs as it works seamlessly with MS Office files.
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Offline Mark Walters

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Re: New laptop advice
« Reply #902 on: November 26, 2020, 11:18:29 am »
Anyone think the Surface Book 3 looks interesting?
Sorry a bit late to this but I have one.  I previously had a Surface Pro 3 and liked the portability and flexibility of it, if not the tiny keyboard. So when I got the chance to get a SB3 I jumped at it (coming from a Dell 2-in-1 device).  The SB3 is great so far.  I have had one or 2 issues that probably relate more to Windows (and the crap that my IT dept puts on their standard build) but it's a beautiful device.  The only thing I'm not too keen on is the 3:2 screen aspect ratio.  I understand why they've done it but for me it just doesn't work, especially with my more traditional 16:9 external monitor.

Like anything though, whether it's right for you depends on what you're using it for. It's certainly not recommended as a gaming device or one that might be suitable for video editing, particularly if you're using it without the keyboard (which contains the "external" graphics card).
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Offline Riquende

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Re: New laptop advice
« Reply #903 on: November 26, 2020, 12:00:50 pm »
Sorry a bit late to this but I have one.  I previously had a Surface Pro 3 and liked the portability and flexibility of it, if not the tiny keyboard. So when I got the chance to get a SB3 I jumped at it (coming from a Dell 2-in-1 device).  The SB3 is great so far.  I have had one or 2 issues that probably relate more to Windows (and the crap that my IT dept puts on their standard build) but it's a beautiful device.  The only thing I'm not too keen on is the 3:2 screen aspect ratio.  I understand why they've done it but for me it just doesn't work, especially with my more traditional 16:9 external monitor.

Like anything though, whether it's right for you depends on what you're using it for. It's certainly not recommended as a gaming device or one that might be suitable for video editing, particularly if you're using it without the keyboard (which contains the "external" graphics card).

I've literally just put an order through today for a SB3 for one of our higher ups who can't get on with the size of her Pro 7 screen (she insisted on her Pro 7 about 6 weeks ago so that was a good use of funds). It had better be absolutely perfect!
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Offline ScouserAtHeart

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Re: New laptop advice
« Reply #904 on: November 26, 2020, 03:00:46 pm »
Sorry a bit late to this but I have one.  I previously had a Surface Pro 3 and liked the portability and flexibility of it, if not the tiny keyboard. So when I got the chance to get a SB3 I jumped at it (coming from a Dell 2-in-1 device).  The SB3 is great so far.  I have had one or 2 issues that probably relate more to Windows (and the crap that my IT dept puts on their standard build) but it's a beautiful device.  The only thing I'm not too keen on is the 3:2 screen aspect ratio.  I understand why they've done it but for me it just doesn't work, especially with my more traditional 16:9 external monitor.

Like anything though, whether it's right for you depends on what you're using it for. It's certainly not recommended as a gaming device or one that might be suitable for video editing, particularly if you're using it without the keyboard (which contains the "external" graphics card).

Thanks :) I have a Dell 2-in-1 as well (Inspiron 5482) and was looking to upgrade. They just released it here.

I'm not gonna use it for gaming at all. Just office work and general use
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Offline Mark Walters

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Re: New laptop advice
« Reply #905 on: November 26, 2020, 03:34:05 pm »
I've literally just put an order through today for a SB3 for one of our higher ups who can't get on with the size of her Pro 7 screen (she insisted on her Pro 7 about 6 weeks ago so that was a good use of funds). It had better be absolutely perfect!

I have the 13" one and it's plenty big enough but if she's coming from a bigger device then dropping down to the 12.3" screen size of a Pro might be too much for some people.
Thanks :) I have a Dell 2-in-1 as well (Inspiron 5482) and was looking to upgrade. They just released it here.

I'm not gonna use it for gaming at all. Just office work and general use

One thing I will say about the SB3 is that the lack of ports is disappointing. 2 USB, 1 USB-C and an SD card slot (full size) and that's your lot! I had the 7390 and the Thunderbolt 3 port was fantastic. Microsoft haven't implemented one because, according to them, it's a security threat! 🤷‍♂️
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Re: New laptop advice
« Reply #907 on: November 28, 2020, 03:56:08 pm »
Guys. I need a new lappy for purely downloading movies using torrents and a bit of internet browsing. That's it

I use my decent work laptop for everything else but my personal laptop is essentially buggered.   

Can someone point to a REALLY cheap one on Ebay that they would consider in my shoes. Don't care if its second hand. 

Are netbooks ok for downloading stuff?

Cheers
« Last Edit: November 28, 2020, 04:14:04 pm by Buck Pete »

Offline darragh85

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Re: New laptop advice
« Reply #908 on: November 30, 2020, 02:35:26 pm »
why do HP seemingly have such a good name?  i dont understand it based on my experience. thankfully ive never owned one myself but i am aware of at least 5 people that had HP laptops that failed within a couple of years. most were down to overheating. is it based on their higher spec laptop because their more affordable ones seem to be utter shite.

you always see HP recommeded by experts yet Acer isnt considered as good. ive had this Acer laptop since December 2009. still running well. does everything i need it to do. Almost 11 years now. only issue i had with it was some overheating at one point but that was just down to a tag getting caught in the fan and it was an easy fix.

what are peoples thoughts on this dell one?

https://www.dell.com/en-us/shop/dell-laptops/new-inspiron-14-5000-2-in-1-laptop-dune/spd/inspiron-14-5406-2-in-1-laptop/n25406ejuch

its not for playing games on or anything. just basic tasks really. seems like good value as specs are decent

« Last Edit: November 30, 2020, 02:37:54 pm by darragh85 »

Offline Mark Walters

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Re: New laptop advice
« Reply #909 on: November 30, 2020, 05:19:39 pm »
what are peoples thoughts on this dell one?

https://www.dell.com/en-us/shop/dell-laptops/new-inspiron-14-5000-2-in-1-laptop-dune/spd/inspiron-14-5406-2-in-1-laptop/n25406ejuch

its not for playing games on or anything. just basic tasks really. seems like good value as specs are decent
With an i3 processor, 4GB RAM and a 1366x768 display I wouldn't touch it personally as I like to future-proof my devices. This is about as low as spec as you can get.  I do like the 2-in-1 form factor though.
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Offline darragh85

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Re: New laptop advice
« Reply #910 on: November 30, 2020, 06:33:54 pm »
With an i3 processor, 4GB RAM and a 1366x768 display I wouldn't touch it personally as I like to future-proof my devices. This is about as low as spec as you can get.  I do like the 2-in-1 form factor though.

the person im thinking of buying it for only needs it to browse the internet, use ms office (word, excel etc), watch movies and skype mainly. touch screen and 2 in 1 convertible was also important. im not seeing many 2 in 1 laptops under the 550 euro price range.  i get your point about future proofing but it depends what you need the laptop for doesnt it?  i wouldnt go near this laptop either if i was buying it to play games or any other intensive uses.

ive fallen out of touch with regards processors nowadays. i know the AMD Ryzen ones seems to best now but are the intel core i3, i5 and i7 still their main offerings or are they coming out with new ones? I understand that core i3 is the budget processor.  4 gb ram isnt great but should be more than enough to undertake the tasks outlined above.

Offline Riquende

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Re: New laptop advice
« Reply #911 on: November 30, 2020, 07:00:36 pm »
why do HP seemingly have such a good name?  i dont understand it based on my experience. thankfully ive never owned one myself but i am aware of at least 5 people that had HP laptops that failed within a couple of years. most were down to overheating. is it based on their higher spec laptop because their more affordable ones seem to be utter shite.

We use HP laptops from the business line exclusively and have done for 5+ years with no major issues. You're probably right that it's a difference between their Probook and Pavilion lines (their Spectre gaming and Zbook workstation ranges are probably decent build quality too). It's probably not restricted to HP though. I imagine Acer, Lenovo etc 'budget' laptops are all pretty janky pieces of plastic rubbish prone to failure. Buying cheap is a recipe for problems in way more fields than just laptops.

I do find in general that people get hung up looking at laptop specs to the detriment of the machine as a whole. What are the keyboard and trackpad like? How bright is the screen, how good are the speakers? Does it have enough connectivity in terms of USB and display ports? Sure, you can mitigate a lot of that with peripherals, but the more you have to the less mobile you make yourself as you cart your mouse, USB hub and powered speakers everywhere you go around the house.

If you're looking at something cheap that you think is okayish, with specs that are still good enough, the answer to all those questions above will likely be 'disappointingly inadequate'.

But then, that's why I don't like laptops and try to stay out of the game of recommending them (proving difficult at the moment as the missus is in the market, so to speak).

Saying that, I've been enjoying playing with this recently: Windows 10 installed on a 2012 15" Macbook Pro with a 500GB 860EVO SSD and its RAM upped to 8GB (I'll be going to 16GB after Xmas is over). Quad core i7 (Ivy Bridge, but still good compared to cheap CPUs from years later). Absolute tank of a laptop, weightwise.

« Last Edit: November 30, 2020, 07:19:46 pm by Riquende »
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Offline Riquende

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Re: New laptop advice
« Reply #912 on: November 30, 2020, 07:01:49 pm »
i get your point about future proofing but it depends what you need the laptop for doesnt it?

How do you what you're going to need it for in the future?
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Offline darragh85

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Re: New laptop advice
« Reply #913 on: November 30, 2020, 07:23:51 pm »
How do you what you're going to need it for in the future?

good point.

https://deals.dell.com/en-us/productdetail/6mrt

what about this one? same laptop but with core i5 processor double the ram and alot more hard drive space for about 80 euros more?

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Re: New laptop advice
« Reply #914 on: December 1, 2020, 12:20:01 pm »
Hi Guys,

Hoping you can help. Looking at getting a new laptop with a budget of around £1K.

I'll mainly be using it for day to day stuff, browsing, streaming, movies etc. Plus some work stuff so running MS Office applications mainly, and i'll soon be starting to do some coding on it.

My friend swears by Lenovo so i've mainly been looking into them but I am open to any suggestions.

Came across these two deals but not sure which is the better laptop.

https://www.ebuyer.com/947554-lenovo-thinkbook-14-core-i7-16gb-512gb-ssd-14-win10-pro-laptop-20sl000luk

https://www.laptopsdirect.co.uk/lenovo-thinkpad-e14-amd-ryzen-7-4700u-16gb-512gb-ssd-14-inch-windows-10-pro-20t6000muk/version.asp?wgu=272145_116019_16068203020935_07e2a9a6bf&wgexpiry=1614596302&utm_source=digidip%20GmbH&utm_medium=webgains&refsource=webgains

Any advice would be great, nice one!
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Re: New laptop advice
« Reply #915 on: December 1, 2020, 04:38:55 pm »
I wouldn’t go Lenovo personally. I know someone recently in this thread had an issue with Dell but I’ve always found them to be very high quality. I’ve worked for two local authorities who have both used Dell and Lenovo and the difference in returns and faults with Lenovo compared to Dell is staggering.

My other recommendation would be Asus.

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Re: New laptop advice
« Reply #916 on: December 1, 2020, 05:18:52 pm »
Hi Guys,

Hoping you can help. Looking at getting a new laptop with a budget of around £1K.

I'll mainly be using it for day to day stuff, browsing, streaming, movies etc. Plus some work stuff so running MS Office applications mainly, and i'll soon be starting to do some coding on it.

My friend swears by Lenovo so i've mainly been looking into them but I am open to any suggestions.

Came across these two deals but not sure which is the better laptop.

https://www.ebuyer.com/947554-lenovo-thinkbook-14-core-i7-16gb-512gb-ssd-14-win10-pro-laptop-20sl000luk

https://www.laptopsdirect.co.uk/lenovo-thinkpad-e14-amd-ryzen-7-4700u-16gb-512gb-ssd-14-inch-windows-10-pro-20t6000muk/version.asp?wgu=272145_116019_16068203020935_07e2a9a6bf&wgexpiry=1614596302&utm_source=digidip%20GmbH&utm_medium=webgains&refsource=webgains

Any advice would be great, nice one!

for around a grand you're going to get a decent one

i've always used HP and found them to be reliable - of course the more you pay the better build quality you get

but any of the top brands will suffice

best thing to do is to make notes of what you want

screen size - not always the larger the better but if you want to watch movies on it then... but I always plug a HDMi cable in from the laptop to the telly anyway

screen quality/clarity - it's best if you visit places that sell laptops to see the quality of the screens because sometimes the screen will bug you especially if you're working on it and find yourself constantly tilting it to suit or the fact that it suffers from glare in certain lighting conditions
and does the screen swivel or lie flat - and is this something that you need anyway?

ports and inputs/outputs - most laptops in that price range should have enough of the essential ones but make sure it has enough of them as you need

most laptops are solid state these days so don't rely on a 'moving' hard drive but this also means that they won't always have a DVD/CD slot - if you're not bothered about that then fine but if you want to play old DVDs etc then it's worth thinking about

RAM - i see those 2 you linked to have 16GB which is great but are you paying more for RAM you don't need or are you a gamer and therefore need more RAM?

Memory - yours have 512 is that enough? do you tend to keep lots of files? if not don't pay more for space that you won't use up

comfortability - again you'd have to go and see it but if you're using the keys are they comfortable do your palms sit on the laptop okay? you may just use a mouse all the time but if you're coding then the comfortability will matter to you

these are basic things to think about but not a lot of people do think about them as they go for all the bangs and whistles and forget about the simple essential things - i mean, do you really need a finger print identifier? if not then you'll be paying extra for that feature - a feature that you don't really need

but £1000 is more than enough

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Re: New laptop advice
« Reply #917 on: March 22, 2021, 09:23:09 am »
Bump.

Am moving away from an old desktop to a laptop for work purposes but it will double up as a personal laptop also.

Just wondering if anyone had any recommendations? Maybe a budget of £500-£600 approx.

I'd say the key thing is boot up speed and basically processing power, something that can handle microsoft outlook and running a few programs simultaneously without too much stress.

Are any of those ones like the Microsoft Surface that can double as a tablet any use? (I know they're more expensive)

Cheers
« Last Edit: March 22, 2021, 09:25:57 am by Phil M »
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Re: New laptop advice
« Reply #918 on: March 22, 2021, 02:54:04 pm »
^ Dell have a few deals going here that I'm also looking at:

https://deals.dell.com/en-uk/category/laptop-deals
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Re: New laptop advice
« Reply #919 on: March 22, 2021, 04:26:00 pm »
Just wondering if anyone had any recommendations? Maybe a budget of £500-£600 approx.

I'd say the key thing is boot up speed and basically processing power, something that can handle microsoft outlook and running a few programs simultaneously without too much stress.

Are any of those ones like the Microsoft Surface that can double as a tablet any use? (I know they're more expensive)

A convertible would probably push up the prices too much or force you to compromise on more important specs to do so.

Processing power will be fine with anything even slightly current, focus on getting enough RAM and SSD storage e.g. something like this Asus Vivobook with 16gb RAM and a 512GB NVME SSD would be good for you:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/ASUS-VivoBook-Quad-Core-i5-1135G7-Keyboard/dp/B08CRC1RVG/