Which laptop to buy?

yartin · Post by **yartin** » Mon Apr 13, 2020 4:11 pm

Hi

My 2nd Tosh laptop is on the way out, shame, it is 9 years old but high spec intel i7 and only SSD is missing.

I have narrowed my options to 2 brands, Dell and HP both of similar price and spec, i5, 8GB mem and 256GB SSD. HP comes with 512GB SSD and has and 1hr longer battery life and also lighter and better looks. Which one do you recommend?
Thanks

OchAye · Post by **OchAye** » Mon Apr 13, 2020 4:36 pm

Assuming you may want to use it from time to time or all the time on the battery, which one has a removable battery? Many/most now seem to have an internal battery only and if that is the case, check the tech. support of each company whether they give diagrams etc to replace the battery etc. (Lenovo for example for Thinkpads has that info). Just a thought.

Bob225 · Post by **Bob225** » Mon Apr 13, 2020 5:09 pm

90% of laptops now have built in batteries and no cd/dvd drive

The Dell is a better built machine and has a better upgrade path 2 memory slots and space for another 2.5" vs the HP's 1 slot for memory

not 100% but the dell is 1080p vs the HP is the older standard definition the HP tends to be 14" vs the dells 15 or 17"

yartin · Post by **yartin** » Thu Apr 16, 2020 2:05 pm

Update:
I went for Dell, the new Inspiron range, 2GB Video memory, 8GB RAM, i5 and 512GB SSD, 12 months 0% Paypal credit. Delivery is on 21 May!

Kany · Post by **Kany** » Wed Apr 29, 2020 4:39 pm

Hi, You haven't chosen it, but have looked at ASUS laptops? I am currently using an HP that has similar specs to the one you mentioned, and I am not exactly happy with it. It works fine for regular work like a word document, but it can't handle anything more. If you like playing games on your laptop, make sure that it has a graphics card. If you are going to be any graphic designing work on it, you might want to buy a laptop with better specs.

yartin · Post by **yartin** » Wed Apr 29, 2020 5:38 pm

I only buy Dell, HP or Tosh when buying laptop, don't bother with inferior brands Asus, acer.....etc. The Dell I went for has dedicated graphics memory (not shared), the specs is more than what I need for browsing and streaming. I don't do CAD/CAM or games which should work fine anyway with this one.

Bob225 · Post by **Bob225** » Wed Apr 29, 2020 6:32 pm

Sorry I didn't see your update I supported a lot of hp and Acer notebooks, Acer's were a mare and always had issues

the only thing this dell is missing is is a Numpad (5580)

marleeond1980 · Post by **marleeond1980** » Sat May 02, 2020 4:27 pm

I am currently using an HP that has similar specs to the one you mentioned, and I am not exactly happy with it. It works fine for regular work like a word document, but it can't handle anything more. If you like playing games on your laptop, make sure that it has a graphics card.

Argyll · Post by **Argyll** » Sat May 02, 2020 7:17 pm

I bought a Lenovo with fantastic specs (so I'm told) for £270. It should have been posted this week but had two emails to say delivery delayed until end of May. I'm thinking about cancelling.

The specs are:

Processor - AMD Ryzen 5 3500U Processor (2.10GHz, Max Boost up to 3.70GHz, 4 Cores, 4MB Cache )
Operating System - Free-DOS
Operating System Language - Free-DOS
Onboard Memory - 4GB DDR4 2400MHz Onboard
Selectable Memory - 4GB DDR4 2400MHz SoDIMM
Total Memory - 8GB DDR4 2400MHz Onboard
Second Hard Drive - 256GB Solid State Drive, M.2 2242, PCIe-NVMe, TLC
Display - 15.6" FHD (1920x1080), TN, 220nits, Anti-glare, No touch
Graphic Card - Integrated Graphics
Camera - 0.3M Camera with Array Microphone
Color - Platinum Grey
Keyboard - Keyboard Grey English (UK)
Wireless - Wireless 2x2 AC, Bluetooth Version 5.0 or above
Surface Treatment - IMR
Palmrest - PC/ABS
Battery - 2 Cell Li-Polymer Internal Battery, 35Wh
Power Cord - 65W Wall Mount AC Adapter (2pin)-UK
Language Pack - Publication-English
Warranty - 1 Year Courier or Carry-in

I cn get windows 10 from work so it's no big deal.

yartin · Post by **yartin** » Tue May 05, 2020 4:53 pm

My Dell laptop arrived today but it's going back, arranged return and will be collected on Monday.

The main reason is the screen, it's matte, I am used to glossy screens, matte is dull.
Also didn't like the keyboard, touch pad. The battery gets very hot when charging.

I will wait for my refund, takes 2 weeks and then start looking again.

yartin · Post by **yartin** » Tue May 05, 2020 4:54 pm

Argyll wrote: ↑Sat May 02, 2020 7:17 pm I bought a Lenovo with fantastic specs (so I'm told) for £270. It should have been posted this week but had two emails to say delivery delayed until end of May. I'm thinking about cancelling.

The specs are:

Processor - AMD Ryzen 5 3500U Processor (2.10GHz, Max Boost up to 3.70GHz, 4 Cores, 4MB Cache )
Operating System - Free-DOS
Operating System Language - Free-DOS
Onboard Memory - 4GB DDR4 2400MHz Onboard
Selectable Memory - 4GB DDR4 2400MHz SoDIMM
Total Memory - 8GB DDR4 2400MHz Onboard
Second Hard Drive - 256GB Solid State Drive, M.2 2242, PCIe-NVMe, TLC
Display - 15.6" FHD (1920x1080), TN, 220nits, Anti-glare, No touch
Graphic Card - Integrated Graphics
Camera - 0.3M Camera with Array Microphone
Color - Platinum Grey
Keyboard - Keyboard Grey English (UK)
Wireless - Wireless 2x2 AC, Bluetooth Version 5.0 or above
Surface Treatment - IMR
Palmrest - PC/ABS
Battery - 2 Cell Li-Polymer Internal Battery, 35Wh
Power Cord - 65W Wall Mount AC Adapter (2pin)-UK
Language Pack - Publication-English
Warranty - 1 Year Courier or Carry-in

I cn get windows 10 from work so it's no big deal.

I think the screen is matte, if it doesn't bother you
What's the model number?

dewaltdisney · Post by **dewaltdisney** » Tue May 05, 2020 5:13 pm

My laptop had started charging erratically. I decided it is time for a new one and bought another HP 17" screen, more or less same for same. I ended up buying it from Argos as Amazon did not have any in stock and, too late, read Wino's post about his one being dodgy from there. But it arrived okay and I have it set up now but I have been too lazy to transfer the data at the minute as my old one has had a second wind. I looked in my records and my existing one was new from May 2015, I thought I had had it longer but it is still 1831 days or 261 weeks. This works out at 2.6p a day or £1.82 a week. When I think of all the time I spend on it a laptop is such good value. As you know I keep a sinking fund for stuff like this so there is no pain when I have to renew. I do not need anything fancy as I watch a bit of TV, play some games as well as all the other sh*t we all do on a laptop.

DWD

Argyll · Post by **Argyll** » Wed May 06, 2020 4:56 pm

yartin wrote: ↑Tue May 05, 2020 4:54 pm
Argyll wrote: ↑Sat May 02, 2020 7:17 pm I bought a Lenovo with fantastic specs (so I'm told) for £270. It should have been posted this week but had two emails to say delivery delayed until end of May. I'm thinking about cancelling.

The specs are:

Processor - AMD Ryzen 5 3500U Processor (2.10GHz, Max Boost up to 3.70GHz, 4 Cores, 4MB Cache )
Operating System - Free-DOS
Operating System Language - Free-DOS
Onboard Memory - 4GB DDR4 2400MHz Onboard
Selectable Memory - 4GB DDR4 2400MHz SoDIMM
Total Memory - 8GB DDR4 2400MHz Onboard
Second Hard Drive - 256GB Solid State Drive, M.2 2242, PCIe-NVMe, TLC
Display - 15.6" FHD (1920x1080), TN, 220nits, Anti-glare, No touch
Graphic Card - Integrated Graphics
Camera - 0.3M Camera with Array Microphone
Color - Platinum Grey
Keyboard - Keyboard Grey English (UK)
Wireless - Wireless 2x2 AC, Bluetooth Version 5.0 or above
Surface Treatment - IMR
Palmrest - PC/ABS
Battery - 2 Cell Li-Polymer Internal Battery, 35Wh
Power Cord - 65W Wall Mount AC Adapter (2pin)-UK
Language Pack - Publication-English
Warranty - 1 Year Courier or Carry-in

I cn get windows 10 from work so it's no big deal.
I think the screen is matte, if it doesn't bother you
What's the model number?

I think it is but I use mine outside quite a lot so I'm told it's best for anti reflection.

It's model number 81W1CTO1WW - IdeaPad 3 15ADA05