Following on last Tweet HIVE MIND pls save me the brain cells spent researching & tell me what laptop to buy? Been out of market for a decade. Requirements: Windows, quick boot, medium sized, durable/low maintenance. HALP!
Lenovo is a win for my other half work laptop and hes in software development (apparently )
Ive had a MacBook and loved it but needed a spec like yours on a budget so went with a Dell, was very happy until the battery died 8mths in, unable to take back due to pandemic - friend had same happen years ago with Dell too.
So, to me it feels like everyone is engaged in "bafflement pricing" now. They could do 3 models: 1 budget, 1 regular, 1 with all the bells and whistles. But they have a load of machines that are all very similar at a wide range of pricing.
I do like my MacBook Air M1, they are getting old so they have some discounts. The battery life is ridiculously good.
I know that Not A Mac was a criterion. But, at the moment, Macs are in a different place to PCs (due to chip decisions that Apple have taken). As someone who has a Mac, a PC, and a Chromebook (I know), the Mac is more similar to the PC than the Chromebook.
Disconnect from what? I thought you`d say it was a huge palaver getting it to work again, or similar. The XPS8300 manual calls what I was thinking of "coin cell battery" This isnt a bad one for the price.
You can use the Android Office apps on a Chromebook if you have a 365 subscription, or you can use the Office apps in the browser for free.
I`m only familiar with Macs (& I have ones dating back as far as 1990 so have spare batteries for them) but what`s the model, & what happens if you leave it without power?
For Quick boot you want SSD disk 512Gb size, at least 8gb memory. Ive used before, both without issue.
No cos I have an android phone. It`s just a big version of that really. I don`t use it for much more than internet/photo editing/zoom etc
Buy fujitsu !!. I sold thousands of Fujitsu pcs. I have bought Fijitsu for 25 years. My current is 12 years old and still working fine.
Consider getting a hybrid tablet/laptop. Definitely the future.
LG Gram 16....they make a 15 and a 17 as well. Good value, very light and quiet.
You lot are great. I just wanted to say thanks to everyone who offered helpful advice. My bandwidth for taking on non-COVID information is so limited rn. The thought of researching core processors made me want to poke rusty forks in my eyes. Now I dont need to
LG Gram is by far the best laptop I`ve ever had. I`m now replacing one by one everyone of my staff`s laptops with them and every person has loved them. Thin, light, powerful. Should find models around that price limit and a bit below.
Well it`s a tough call, but max RAM budget will allow. Dell over HP. ASUS don`t seem to last. But I fully accept I may be completely wrong.
Dell XPS good choice, never pay price on website, always worth chatting to sales to get a deal
I`m in a similar? work situation of mostly remoting in to a chunky desktop (though for both work and play I prefer at least passable local compute too). We have a Surface Book in the house which is a v luxurious browsing / light duty device, if you can find a refurb like we did.
sorry, my macbook air never boots, because he is always on. battery capacity at 77% after 7 yrs of work, including my phd. University mac (for work) has windows in VM, but I use it rarely. Price was 1100 EUR 7 yrs ago.
Usually, a small, non-rechargeable battery on the motherboard, hopefully replaceable rather than soldered in place, that keeps the clock running when other power is removed. It also maintains the memory of preferences & settings. They last years, but not forever
Its clock battery needs replacing?
Get a Chromebook or maybe this: That is also a good one
Dell Inspiron 7000 is a workhorse, only 1.2kg for a large 14`` monitor and superior customer service/warranty plans.
529 - Simple midrange laptop. Ok for everyday use
Not a HP. That`s my n=1 advice
Hi! Have a look at this list, ignore the MacBooks (if you must ). I like the HP and Dell models. Are you doing anything where CPU performance matters? Ryzen 5xxx will be in the same performance ballpark as a new MacBook; anything else will be a bit slower. This Dell has a blazingly fast CPU; in other respects it would be unexciting. (I have a Latitude for work, it`s ok.) You really really would be happier with a MacBook, but if it must be a PC the Dell XPS 13 range is okay.
Here are a couple of options around the 550 mark. Both are fairly future proof (they will support Windows 11 & you can add more ram if wanted later) and should be fast! Theyve got different screen sizes. 15.6 screen 14 screen
I very much like Dell Latitude models. Dell`s website is (deliberately) confusing. But you want minimum 8 GB of ram, at least 256 GB hard drive (more if you don`t put everything in the cloud). Here`s an explainer for their model numbers. Have a look at that list I posted earlier, but as a wild card, have a look at a Chromebook - here`s the one I`ve got which is brilliant for sofa/browsing/Office With that budget you can buy two or three Lenovo ThinkPad T-series or the smaller X-series on eBay, fit an SSD, install a Linux distro and you`re sorted.
For a trad laptop I`d go for a ThinkPad. Great build quality & best keyboard. For usefulness that doesn`t simply replicate your work supplied laptop I`d go for a Microsoft surface Pro (wait for discounts twice a year).
Jumping on the Lenovo ThinkPad bandwagon, under 1000 if you don`t buy the highest spec and very durable in my experience!
Refurbed used Lenovo thinkpad every time.
Those were my requirements too, ended up buying a chromebook. John Lewis staff were very helpful
I would use the wirecutter recommendations.
Something like this (good input devices, at least)? Cue lots of people telling you to get an Apple, or that Linux is far better than Windows.
Windows surface pro pretty good especially has touch screen
I`m very happy with my MacBook Air.
I found myself getting a gaming laptop, not ideal for portability The AMD Ryzen 4000 processors are good!
Dell do some good deals, as do HP / Lenovo. Maybe decide on hard drive (SSD is must for speedy boot) and screen size, then all much of a muchness. Need to think about the software, whether online or licence too. Chromebook decent option if you do all online, but no install.
Big fan of Asus ultrabooks here
As others saying: depends on budget - but SSD is quick boot. Get one with replaceable RAM & SSD - not soldered on - and you`ll be better off when climate crisis hits supply chains (replace bits not whole computer). Lenovo, Dell, HP all do decent repair manuals. M.2 SSD not 2.5".
Price to quality/specs ratio is unbeatable. Depends what you use it for, but don`t go cheap, 8G Ram, 512G SSD drive and i5 as an absolute minimum.
Mac or dont bother.
chromebook - v low maintenance, quick boot. my kids have had them - zero problems.
Budget? Quick boot = SSD. Rest depends on budget.
