Topic: New laptop advice

[CornerFlag]

https://www.pcworld.co.uk/gbuk/computing/laptops/laptops/hp-15-bs162sa-15-6-laptop-silk-gold-10169335-pdt.html

This is a boss little set-up for under £400 isn't it?  The 4GB is a bit weedy but I can throw in an 8GB stick in any time, it's mainly for the missus (who still hasn't got one) to internet browse, horde some music, play Netflix and play some games (though nothing modern at all, think Ambulance Simulator-types).

https://www.tesco.com/direct/hp-14-bw020na-14-amd-a6-dual-core-8gb-ram-1tb-hdd-laptop-with-dvdrw-blue/599-7314.prd?skuId=599-7314

She wants this (she'll get it for £341 because of discount) but I'm not convinced it's going to do everything she wants it to.

[Keith Lard]

I am debating between a couple of laptops. One has a 128gb SSD drive, the other a 500GB SSHD (Solid state hybrid drive).

I have no interest in buying a laptop with the lag of old style hard drives (I love SSD), but i'm intrigued by SSHD and the bigger capacity it offers. Also, the description of the SSHD drive says: "The drive uses only nonvolatile memory to store data instead of the spinning platters and moving heads. This results in fast access times and data transfer. This small form-factor drive has no moving parts. As a result it acts as a reliable storage device". Again, this sounds interesting and potentially appealing.

Is anyone here familiar with SSHD technology? Would you vouch for it, or would you recommend I just stick to SSD and take the smaller drive?

[Red Raw Burp!]

I am debating between a couple of laptops. One has a 128gb SSD drive, the other a 500GB SSHD (Solid state hybrid drive).

I have no interest in buying a laptop with the lag of old style hard drives (I love SSD), but i'm intrigued by SSHD and the bigger capacity it offers. Also, the description of the SSHD drive says: "The drive uses only nonvolatile memory to store data instead of the spinning platters and moving heads. This results in fast access times and data transfer. This small form-factor drive has no moving parts. As a result it acts as a reliable storage device". Again, this sounds interesting and potentially appealing.

Is anyone here familiar with SSHD technology? Would you vouch for it, or would you recommend I just stick to SSD and take the smaller drive?

Not used one myself but my understanding is that the hybrid drive acts a bit like having faster/more cache.  The solid state part does not show up as a separate drive and you can't chose to install stuff on it separately.  At least that's what they were like the last time I looked.

When you can buy a £500 GB SSD for under £120 I would be tempted to look for something cheap like CornerFlag highlighted above and chuck one of these in: Samsung 850 EVO 500 GB 2.5 inch Solid State Drive

I have put Intel, Kingston, Crucial and SanDisk SSDs into my computers and they are all great after using HDDs but 128 GB is just too small  for me unless its going in a desktop as a system drive.  The Samsung EVOs though seem to have been the quickest for a while now.

The other bonuses with SSDs are light weight and better battery life which helps if it is going to be a portable.

Laptop manufacturers seem to want charge rather a lot for piddly little SSDs (which you can buy for ~£40) and charge Mac money for large or PCIE SSDs (even quicker). In many cases it will be cheaper to buy your own and if you do a clean windows install you also get the benefit of losing all the crap bundled software.

[Keith Lard]

Not used one myself but my understanding is that the hybrid drive acts a bit like having faster/more cache.  The solid state part does not show up as a separate drive and you can't chose to install stuff on it separately.  At least that's what they were like the last time I looked.

When you can buy a £500 GB SSD for under £120 I would be tempted to look for something cheap like CornerFlag highlighted above and chuck one of these in: Samsung 850 EVO 500 GB 2.5 inch Solid State Drive

I have put Intel, Kingston, Crucial and SanDisk SSDs into my computers and they are all great after using HDDs but 128 GB is just too small  for me unless its going in a desktop as a system drive.  The Samsung EVOs though seem to have been the quickest for a while now.

The other bonuses with SSDs are light weight and better battery life which helps if it is going to be a portable.

Laptop manufacturers seem to want charge rather a lot for piddly little SSDs (which you can buy for ~£40) and charge Mac money for large or PCIE SSDs (even quicker). In many cases it will be cheaper to buy your own and if you do a clean windows install you also get the benefit of losing all the crap bundled software.

Thanks for your advice mate - I think just buying a 512gb ssd drive and doing a clean install is the way I will go!

[outlaw_nas]

im looking for a laptop that i can log into work pc, that can handle remote desktop(teamviewer)
budget is around 300-400
any recommendations?

[QR350]

I'm selling mine if anyone's interested. Only a week old, selling as I'm sticking to my PC.

This one:

https://www.very.co.uk/hp-17-ak008nanbspamd-a9nbsp8gbnbspramnbsp1tbnbsphard-drive-173-inch-hd-laptop-silver/1600202576.prd?_requestid=145915&Ntt=hp%2017

[AndyMuller]

Laptops finally packed in so I’m in the market for a new one.

Any recommendations? Basically use it for browsing, Word, Music and will be looking to run a couple of games on it too like FM and Cuphead if possible.

Looking to pay about 400.


[You may have an iPhone but you are still using the free version of Tapatalk and spamming us with that knowledge]

[outlaw_nas]

https://www.laptopsdirect.co.uk/hp-250-core-i7-7500u-8gb-256gb-ssd-15.6-inch-windows-10-laptop-2sy44es/version.asp

Gone over budget and got this.

[aaronaldo]

Hi All, just bought a new laptop. what would be the best way to get the Microsoft suite for windows 10? without paying a hefty amount!

[Graeme]

Microsoft Office? Drop me a PM

[Henry Gale]

https://www.laptopsdirect.co.uk/hp-250-core-i7-7500u-8gb-256gb-ssd-15.6-inch-windows-10-laptop-2sy44es/version.asp

Gone over budget and got this.

Looks a good price. How is it?

[outlaw_nas]

Looks a good price. How is it?

So far so good. Very quick

Sent from my SM-G950F using Tapatalk

[Henry Gale]

So far so good. Very quick

Sent from my SM-G950F using Tapatalk

Thanks. Is the 256GB enough space? I'm guessing windows takes up a fair bit?

[WhereAngelsPlay]

Thanks. Is the 256GB enough space? I'm guessing windows takes up a fair bit?

I ended up getting one with just an 128gb ssd & bought a 1TB Seagate back up plus for £48.Windows takes up less than 20gb

[martinsquirtle]

Is this a good laptop? Ive been given a £500 to get a laptop at work, but I'm not really sure what to get. Wanted to get a thinkpad, however the ones within the price range seems to have pretty poor specs.

https://www.laptopoutlet.co.uk/lenovo-v110-80th0016uk-15-6-laptop-intel-core-i5-7200u-2-5-ghz-3-1-ghz-turbo-processor-8gb-ram-128gb-ssd-windows-10-professional-64-bit.html?___SID=U

[WhereAngelsPlay]

Is this a good laptop? Ive been given a £500 to get a laptop at work, but I'm not really sure what to get. Wanted to get a thinkpad, however the ones within the price range seems to have pretty poor specs.

https://www.laptopoutlet.co.uk/lenovo-v110-80th0016uk-15-6-laptop-intel-core-i5-7200u-2-5-ghz-3-1-ghz-turbo-processor-8gb-ram-128gb-ssd-windows-10-professional-64-bit.html?___SID=U

I got the kids a cheap Lenovo ideapad & it has been a far better bit of kit than I expected it to be.

[martinsquirtle]

I got the kids a cheap Lenovo ideapad & it has been a far better bit of kit than I expected it to be.

Cheers

[blert596]

Anyone got the XPS 13? Seems to get a good review, and tempted as this ones doing my head in

[Ｓｎａｉｌ]

Anyone got the XPS 13? Seems to get a good review, and tempted as this ones doing my head in

Bought this last night, picking it up tomorrow after work

https://www.johnlewis.com/dell-xps-13-9370-laptop-intel-core-i7-16gb-ram-512gb-ssd-13-3-ultrasharp-4k-gold-white/p3401309

[Lfsea]

Bought this last night, picking it up tomorrow after work

https://www.johnlewis.com/dell-xps-13-9370-laptop-intel-core-i7-16gb-ram-512gb-ssd-13-3-ultrasharp-4k-gold-white/p3401309

Been looking at the XPS's to replace my Macbook - you demo'd the webcam position yet? Looks very oddly placed.

[Ｓｎａｉｌ]

Been looking at the XPS's to replace my Macbook - you demo'd the webcam position yet? Looks very oddly placed.

The webcam isn't something I'm going to make use of thankfully, although I have set up Windows Hello with it and it is VERY oddly-placed/unflattering. If it's something you're going to use on a daily basis then I could see it being a problem.

Anyway, I've been playing around with it since I got home from work and I love it so far. Gorgeous bit of kit. Was a bit worried that the keyboard would be a tad cramped but it's absolutely sound; the shite/defective keyboards on the current MacBook Pros are mainly what put me off sticking with Apple. Had a play with the 13" 2017 MBP and as someone who types a lot and for long periods of time there's no way I could've coped with a keyboard that "firm" for any prolonged period of time, it would've genuinely been uncomfortable.

[Claire.]

Been looking at the XPS's to replace my Macbook - you demo'd the webcam position yet? Looks very oddly placed.

My work laptop is a dell something or other and has the camera under the screen, pure weird. The mics/sound on them are fucking woeful, also, battery life is terrible, ~3hrs for a £1700 machine? Do one dell. My 2013 Air still lasts all day and it's not like I do dramatically different things on them.

It's a Dell Precision 5510. The spec says it's 10 hours battery I think that's with the lid closed.

[Ycuzz]

Any with any experience regarding the Acer Swift 3?

https://www.komplett.no/product/957789/pc-nettbrett/pc-baerbar-laptop/alle-baerbare-pc-er/acer-swift-3-156-full-hd#

Translates to ~£600-ish..

edit: not £650, closer to £600 ..

[elsewhere]

So I have macbook airpro which I've bought about 5 years ago. The battery goes down quite fast like in 2-3 hours at max, 1 hour if watching a sports event. It says "condition:replace soon" on top corner but for some reason i am skeptical to those bastards. Should I get a new battery and how much would that cost?

[a treeless whopper]

Was looking to get the MacBook pro but i liked the look, feel and weight of the Macbook. Is it better to get the Macbook Pro?

[Claire.]

So I have macbook airpro which I've bought about 5 years ago. The battery goes down quite fast like in 2-3 hours at max, 1 hour if watching a sports event. It says "condition:replace soon" on top corner but for some reason i am skeptical to those bastards. Should I get a new battery and how much would that cost?

It's £129 to replace, just book an appt at a store. I've bought a new battery for a MBP (when you could just clip them out) and it was £120 so it's not that bad really. Should come with a warranty, ask them.

[Zlen]

Was looking to get the MacBook pro but i liked the look, feel and weight of the Macbook. Is it better to get the Macbook Pro?

Price wise they aren't that different, for let's say a 256GB SSD drive model - and I'd always go for MBPro even though it's slightly heavier it is still an exceptionally slick and light machine. Both are absolutely fucked for ports and you'll need dongles of all kinds to work normally since you can't plug in normal USB cables, SD cards, HDMI, headphones - and all of those I use very often. After that it depends on the kind of work you do, if it's mostly browsing, consuming content and writing - then decide by which one you can afford, but if you work with video, graphics, music or 3D, then MBPro is your only real choice. Macbook is a bit lightweight for serious work.

[a treeless whopper]

Price wise they aren't that different, for let's say a 256GB SSD drive model - and I'd always go for MBPro even though it's slightly heavier it is still an exceptionally slick and light machine. Both are absolutely fucked for ports and you'll need dongles of all kinds to work normally since you can't plug in normal USB cables, SD cards, HDMI, headphones - and all of those I use very often. After that it depends on the kind of work you do, if it's mostly browsing, consuming content and writing - then decide by which one you can afford, but if you work with video, graphics, music or 3D, then MBPro is your only real choice. Macbook is a bit lightweight for serious work.

Thanks. Will probably just get the MacBook Pro.

[Claire.]

There's also the other option of the lovely Airs. Though the mac rumours guide is saying don't buy one of those at the mo: https://buyersguide.macrumors.com/#Mac

[a treeless whopper]

There's also the other option of the lovely Airs. Though the mac rumours guide is saying don't buy one of those at the mo: https://buyersguide.macrumors.com/#Mac

Looked into that but when I saw the laptops in the store it was quite noticable how poorer the screen was with the Mac Air compared to the others.

[Claire.]

yeah they don't have retina and the screens are matt so they don't look as impressive, to work on there's less reflections and shit though! Hopefully (and it's what I've been holding off for!) the air will be getting an update soon. Should know in the next few weeks.

[Lfsea]

Looked into that but when I saw the laptops in the store it was quite noticable how poorer the screen was with the Mac Air compared to the others.

Worth remembering that one of the reasons the Mac Air has such ridiculous battery life, is because of the low-power screen. As the processors and power units have so many less pixels to drive, it increases battery life hugely, so it's a compromise in one area to benefit another.

[Claire.]

I don't think there's going to be an Air update

[oldfordie]

Any advice on this Laptop please. only want it for browsing internet, no games or downloading. bigger screen size would be great for me. only thing putting me off is no reviews as it's a new model.

http://www.argos.co.uk/product/8628697

[WhereAngelsPlay]

Any advice on this Laptop please. only want it for browsing internet, no games or downloading. bigger screen size would be great for me. only thing putting me off is no reviews as it's a new model.

http://www.argos.co.uk/product/8628697

Got the lad a 320s a few months ago,much lower spec than that one but it is surprisingly good.Personally I would go for the one with a slightly smaller screen just because it has an ssd,you can get a 1tb portable drive for less than £50.

[oldfordie]

Got the lad a 320s a few months ago,much lower spec than that one but it is surprisingly good.Personally I would go for the one with a slightly smaller screen just because it has an ssd,you can get a 1tb portable drive for less than £50.

Eyesight awful so I enlarge fonts etc so bigger screen would help. to be honest I don't understand what you mean by smaller screen as it has SSD.

[WhereAngelsPlay]

Eyesight awful so I enlarge fonts etc so bigger screen would help. to be honest I don't understand what you mean by smaller screen as it has SSD.

SSD = Solid state drive,just means that it is good to go within 20 seconds of powering it up.

The one you listed will be more than enough for what you need though mate.

[oldfordie]

SSD = Solid state drive,just means that it is good to go within 20 seconds of powering it up.

The one you listed will be more than enough for what you need though mate.

Looks fine to me but as you can tell am not very hi tech.
Pot luck sometimes,bought a Lenavo a few years back, awful crackling away while browsing the net,took it back and expected argument but they changed it no problem,the replacement has been brilliant, quiet and quick, been knocked over by grandkids and shutting down and repairing itself a few times a day now, will get a new laptop and do a reinstall and have it as a spare for kids to play on. ta for advice.

[Claire.]

Any advice on this Laptop please. only want it for browsing internet, no games or downloading. bigger screen size would be great for me. only thing putting me off is no reviews as it's a new model.

http://www.argos.co.uk/product/8628697

If you just want it for the internet, have you looked at chromebooks?

https://ao.com/product/4cl86eaabu-hp-laptop-grey-59786-251.aspx HP chromebook for £199, alright specs.

You only get a small amount of storage on the laptop itself, as it's all web based, but if you only use it to go online... you don't need it anyway

[Lfsea]

If you just want it for the internet, have you looked at chromebooks?

https://ao.com/product/4cl86eaabu-hp-laptop-grey-59786-251.aspx HP chromebook for £199, alright specs.

You only get a small amount of storage on the laptop itself, as it's all web based, but if you only use it to go online... you don't need it anyway

Although I agree with you Claire, those Chromebooks do rather rely on you buying into the Google Docs/Drive ecosystem which won't be for everyone, even though the likes of me and you will find it simple to use.