Looking at Laptops

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mjk1967

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Using an older Toshiba Tetra. Every Toshiba I've owned has been outstanding.

With that said, looking to possibly get into a new laptop soon --- work related projects I'll have going forward.

Need: 8gb ram. SSD drive, size not important. I5 gen 7 or equivalent processor. At least 15" screen.

Thoughts?
 
HP is pretty ubiquitous in stores, that being said I tend to avoid them,while the hardware is ok HP software is the absolute WORST! Dell, Acer and Asus are ok brands that don't load gobs of bloatware on their computers.
 
From my POV, like cars and trucks, laptops and desktop computers, tablets, cell phones and most modern day electronics have a percentage of brand loyal followers. I would guess that this is most from positive or in some cases negative experiences by the user / follower.

I myself was pretty loyal to Dell products. Then I had an opportunity to experience a Lenovo Yoga convertible laptop. The Lenovo aesthetics, and features won me over, I don't think I will ever consider another Dell. Please don't misunderstand me, I am not saying or professing that Dell's are crap and that the Lenovo brand is superior, but I am merely stating my preference.

I do however think that AMD has leap frogged anything that Intel can now offer from a main CPU standpoint and I would urge you to look at what the specs you need to see if they align with what AMD now offers.

I will say, do not buy a PC merely on price. I think that is where most people get burned or become disappointed post purchase when they find out the model they picked is not up to doing the job that they need it for.

Today, I think 10gb is the minimum standard for memory. I would get at least that or more. Good Luck, and make sure that you spec list the hardware you need, and don't be swayed by lower less than spec models because they have a lower price.
 
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Wrenchturner44 said:
I myself was pretty loyal to Dell products. Then I had an opportunity to experience a Lenovo Yoga convertible laptop. The Lenovo aesthetics, and features won me over, I don't think I will ever consider another Dell. Please don't misunderstand me, I am not saying or professing that Dell's are crap and that the Lenovo brand is superior, but I am merely stating my preference.
Click to expand...
Lenovos are great. We have 4 of them around the house.

Wrenchturner44 said:
I do however think that AMD has leap frogged anything that Intel can now offer from a main CPU standpoint and I would urge you to look at what the specs you need to see if they align with what AMD now offers.
Click to expand...
This was true a year or two ago, but the latest 12-gen Intel CPUs are kicking butt again.

news.yahoo.com

Intel vs AMD 2022: Why I moved back to Intel for day-to-day use and gaming with the 12th Gen CPUs

If your main purposes for your computer are gaming and multitasking, the Intel 12th Gen processors are your best choice for now.
news.yahoo.com news.yahoo.com


Wrenchturner44 said:
Today, I think 10gb is the minimum standard for memory. I would get at least that or more.
Click to expand...
Agreed. Get 16 GB if you can, or you'll be regretting it in a couple of years.
 
The new MacBook Air misses in some of your things but i thought to mention it as it has a fantastically efficient and powerful cpu.
 
I too was a dyed-in-the-wool Toshiba guy. As they slowly faded away from making consumer grade laptops I switched to Lenovo and couldn't be happier. Check into them online they are clearing some old stock that is still excellent and some bargains to be found.
 
They are all pretty similar these days for the same grade, you don't want to compare a cheap Walmart model with the enterprise stuff they hand out to employees. HP, Lenovo, Dell, all feels about the same for the same grade to me.

Personally I'd pick 16GB of DDR, even if the CPU is slower, and at least 256GB of SSD, and btw, 15" screen. I got a downgrade from 15" to 14" recently and I was very annoyed even now.

Something you can upgrade (i.e. with ram slot and M.2 slot for SSD, rather than soldered on like the MacBook) is better if you are buying instead of just getting a company hand out.
 
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You know a laptop is old when they say Toshiba! What kind of work are you doing?

I work with HPs the most, as that's what I order for the folks at the office. HP's software and drivers are the worst and they have the most bloatware. Sometimes they have drivers that work or BSOD after certain MS updates. Nothing a clean Windows install won't fix but not everybody wants to do that, understandably.

I don't think I've come across a broken Lenovo with any of my clients on the consulting side.

I rarely come across Dells on the consulting side as well so I can't really give an opinion about them.

PandaBear said:
They are all pretty similar these days for the same grade, you don't want to compare a cheap Walmart model with the enterprise stuff they hand out to employees. HP, Lenovo, Dell, all feels about the same for the same grade to me.
Click to expand...

I strongly agree with this statement. I've rarely had a consumer-grade laptop last as long as a business/enterprise/workstation class laptop. Of course, you're paying a lot more for it too. Higher-end consumer laptops like the HP Spectre are pretty stout too but they approach the same price as business-grade laptops.
 
1656013312447.jpg


Costco offer today
 
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As a Linux user, one thing I like about Lenovo's ThinkPad Carbon X1 line (formerly from IBM) is that the hardware is 100% seamless with Linux. CPU and battery control, WiFi, Bluetooth, video, audio, it all just works. Also, the Thinkpads are well built, durable, and have one of the best keyboards you can get with a laptop. I got one for my daughter in college, she runs Windows (11) on it, she likes it just as well.

Mine is 4 years old, still great with daily use and travel. Of course much of the reason for the longevity is Linux, which doesn't gradually pollute your hard disk with crap and run incrementally slower until you get so frustrated you have to replace it. But the hardware and long term durability is among the best.

I tried a Dell XPS13, nice machine in most ways but had the worst keyboard I've ever seen, even worse than Apple, had to return it.

PS: don't get less than 16 GB of RAM - you'll regret it.
 
Carbons are also good with BSD systems.

Right now a used Latitude 7490 with a quad i7 and 32GB RAM would ask very little money. They are getting off leases at the moment. Even Dellrefurbished offers 60% off on those.
 
When I bought my Dell laptop, it had everything I wanted, except 16GB of RAM - it came with only 8GB. Dell has all their manuals on-line, so found out what type of RAM it had, and how to install it, which looked easy. So ordered an 8GB RAM stick from Amazon for $28 and installed it no problem. Thing with Dell these days, you just can't add more memory to the computer you want. You have to buy fixed configurations, and to get what I wanted with 16GB of RAM, I would of have to spend $200 to $300 more to get a level up laptop that had 16GB of RAM.
 
7 years ago I switched to Apple with a Macbook Air. Got the best specs at the time and the computer is still used daily, with only the battery changed. This might be a choice - I have found the Apple products last much longer than others and the software is supported for a very long time.
 
If I had to buy today it would be a Macbook, and I have never owned an Apple Computer anything, the reviews are just so good when compared to any windows based computer.

Two years ago purchased a HP notebook at COSTCO. It was a total POS, totally shocked HP would put something out with so much bloatware and such low hardware quality. Not the HP I knew of in my earlier days- HP was always consider a top of the line product.

Replaced the quickly broken HP Notebook from COSTCO with a Lenovo notebook from COSTCO, day and night difference. If comparing the two, the HP would be a Chevy Citation, the Lenovo would be a Lexus ES sedan.
 
I have always been partial to Lenovo Thinkpad laptops… love their keyboard and many of their designs are made quite sturdy… Think hey have a lot more designs now than before… always loved the classic Black on black-design with roll cage and think pad security type program that comes with many of their laptops…. It is the laptop Darth Vader would use… and keyboards on many models are to me-best out there…. Know I just repeated myself but they are that good… their website invariably has discounts on most models and they have a clearance section in website where you can get excellent maybe one year old new computers for tremendous deals. I am rough on things…and always felt confident with my Thinkpad that used for many years when worked a second job requiring report writing on daily basis…
 
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