Looking for two Lap tops, Can I get some help choosing which.

[JOE.G]

Hi, I am looking to purchase two lap tops,

1. I would like to find one somewhere around the $500 and down range, This would be used for Photo editing, Record keeping and daily activities like that.

2, This one I would like to be $800 and down , this one would be for Some Gaming and Regular Daily computer activities, Maybe some music and web surfing.

15-17 Inch Screens , I guess I am looking for two all purpose Laptops, I don't need the greatest but don't want one that is slow to open and load and freezes a lot.

Thanks

 

[coxhaus]

I use Dells.

 

[L&LD]

I would buy one @ $1,300 instead.

It will last longer, photoshop faster and game better too.

 

[JOE.G]

They are for different people, I have a High End lap top already looking to upgrade two others in the house.

 

[RMerlin]

With that budget, forget 17 inches, unless looking for bottom-of-the-barrel models, or discontinued clearances.

My usual go-to brands for laptops are HP, Asus and Lenovo. I favor Lenovo for their reliability and long-term support (my 3-4 years old Thinkpad Yoga 15 still gets software/firmware updates from them), however they cost a bit more than similar specced products from other manufacturers.

HP is hit-or-miss however. I like their ZBook products for my professionals who need something able to run light 3D applications but don't have the budget for the Lenovo Thinkpad P series, but their entry level models are pretty... entry-level.

Asus is where I usually go for customers who need general purposes models. Check out their Vivobook line of products.

I have very limited experience with Dells. I've had customers use a Latitude for many years without any problems, but I haven't looked at their more recent offerings.

Avoid Acer at all cost, unless you want to pay cheap, for something that will die early.

 

[coxhaus]

Last time I went shopping for a Dell laptop I took my Intel wireless card in and told them I wanted a used laptop to run this wireless card. That was 3 years ago when I had just upgraded my Cisco wireless APs to WAP371 units and I wanted better wireless.

 

[Klueless]

The consensus seems to lean towards Lenovo and Dell. Asus is gaining a following. Speaking for myself I've had good luck with Acer (we have five at work, two are eight years old now) and not so good luck with HP.

Watch for sales. Like cars, "last years model" can be a bargain.

Look for 8MB RAM (no less that 6MB anyway).

If you don't need a lot of storage (e.g., your "gaming" computer) consider an SSD (256 MB minimum) drive. It'll give you the illusion of more speed.

If you do need a lot of storage (e.g., photo editing implies such) then consider a product that augments with SSD or Intel Optane.

Again, just my opinion, I have no credentials on the topic.

 

[RMerlin]

Anyone buying a new device in 2019 should go with an SSD IMHO. HDDs belong either in the mass storage cabinet, or in a museum. You can have 1 TB SSDs for dirt cheap pricing these days. The problem is laptop manufacturers are still charging you 2018 pricing for their SSD options... Anyone with the technical know-how skill should get the cheapest HDD option in it, and replace it with their own SSDs.

You are buying a device for the next 4-6 years, never forget that when shopping for a laptop or a computer.

 

[RMerlin]

Watch for sales. Like cars, "last years model" can be a bargain.

Especially since the performance difference between, say, a 7500U and a 8500U is negligible.

Black Friday is usually a good time to shop for these kind of things.

 

[Klueless]

get the cheapest HDD option in it, and replace it with their own SSDs

Now that is a great idea! It also made me feel good. Had a near new laptop crap out. HDD was covered by warrantee but we didn't have the time to deal with the hassle (mfg. support, packaging, shipping, waiting, etc.) so I had it replaced locally. To mitigate the "sting" I had it replaced with a SSD. It's awesome and it's great to read that I made the "right mistake"!

Side bar - of course we all back up our data religiously (right!) but, on the off-chance one is sloth ... there's a better chance of recovering data from a broken HDD than from a broken SSD.​

 

[coxhaus]

Anyone buying a new device in 2019 should go with an SSD IMHO. HDDs belong either in the mass storage cabinet, or in a museum. You can have 1 TB SSDs for dirt cheap pricing these days. The problem is laptop manufacturers are still charging you 2018 pricing for their SSD options... Anyone with the technical know-how skill should get the cheapest HDD option in it, and replace it with their own SSDs.

You are buying a device for the next 4-6 years, never forget that when shopping for a laptop or a computer.

I replaced my hard drive in my Dell laptop with an Intel server SSD I had left over from a server project.

 

[coxhaus]

Now that is a great idea! It also made me feel good. Had a near new laptop crap out. HDD was covered by warrantee but we didn't have the time to deal with the hassle (mfg. support, packaging, shipping, waiting, etc.) so I had it replaced locally. To mitigate the "sting" I had it replaced with a SSD. It's awesome and it's great to read that I made the "right mistake"!

Side bar - of course we all back up our data religiously (right!) but, on the off-chance one is sloth ... there's a better chance of recovering data from a broken HDD than from a broken SSD.​

Yes but it gets expensive to have a company recover data off a dead hard drive.

 

[Natey2]

I would not get a 7th Gen Intel. Pay the marginal amount more and get a 8th Gen Intel processor. I usually avoid AMD processors.

If you replace the HDD with your SSD, it may void the original warranty of the laptop, if that's worth anything.

FWIW, I bought a
HP Pavilion 15 15.6" IPS Touchscreen Full HD (1920x1080) Business Laptop - 8th Gen Intel Quad-Core i5-8250U, 8GB DDR4, 1TB HDD, USB Type-C, FHD IR Webcam, WiFi AC, HDMI, Ethernet RJ-45, Windows 10.
in 2/2019 for $500 from Amazon.

Sent using Tapatalk

 

[JOE.G]

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0795W86N3/?tag=snbforums-20

I purchased this one last Christmas for my Step daughter who is in college, Is this still a decent computer by current standards? Maybe Ill pick another one of these up as my basic computer.

 

[coxhaus]

Now days I would buy a laptop by the wireless capabilities. SSDs are plenty fast enough.

 

[RMerlin]

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0795W86N3/?tag=snbforums-20

I purchased this one last Christmas for my Step daughter who is in college, Is this still a decent computer by current standards? Maybe Ill pick another one of these up as my basic computer.

This laptop should be fine for general usage for quite a few years.

 

[JOE.G]

I may get another, But Now I need to figure out one that is a step above this.

 

[coxhaus]

I would think an I7 with a good wireless card. Like I said I buy Dells. That is what I have except my wireless card is old as it is an Intel 7260 I believe. My Dell I7 won't run the new Intel wireless card which maybe is an Intel 9250 or something like that.

PS
Been drinking beer tonight.

 

[thiggins]

Look at refurb'd Dells or Lenovos. Dell if you want to upgrade the WiFi card. I've had better luck doing that with Dell than Lenovo.

 

[RMerlin]

I generally don't recommend going with an i7 for a laptop unless you do intend to run CPU-intensive tasks. For the little performance gain you'd get over an i5 in your daily tasks, you will also get something that drains your battery a bit faster, and will generate more heat and therefore cause the cooling fan to run more frequently.

For day-to-day usage on a laptop, the i5 is usually a good balance, and what I recommend to my customers.