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Author Topic: Laptop Upgrade  (Read 1618 times)

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Rods2

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Laptop Upgrade
« on: 22 April 2018, 16:33:42 »

I've got a reasonably fast Lenovo i5 laptop with a good high-res screen but it was being held back by only having 4GB of memory and a standard HDD running Windows 7 64 pro. I've also had enough of the issues with Google Chrome and got used to using Edge on my Windows 10 desktop.

As Churchill told us "You can rely on the Americans to try everything before they finally get it right" which was certainly true of IE and the mostly hate relationship I had with it, but they may have finally got it right with Edge. The fact it is very fast rendering is a good start.

So I've now updated the laptop to 16GB memory and a 500GB Samsung 860 evo SSD, and done a fresh Windows 10 64 pro install. This seems to have certainly dealt with the annoying performance bottle necks. The laptop has a display port connection and where I run at least two screens on my desk top I want to do the same on my laptop when I go on my warm weather travels next winter with an ASUS Zenscreen as they are very lightweight and portable second screen solution. https://www.ebuyer.com/787562-asus-zenscreen-mb16ac-15-6-portable-usb-monitor-mb16ac

I see this upgrade as a good cost effective update, but if I need a higher performance one I will be looking to get the new Gigabyte i7-8750 Aero 15x Laptop now it has been launched later in the year for my travels as it is a very good desktop equivalent. https://www.gigabyte.com/us/Laptop/AERO-15X--i7-8750H#kf

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TheBoy

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Re: Laptop Upgrade
« Reply #1 on: 22 April 2018, 17:11:12 »

SSD is pretty much a necessity with Win8 and later, so that's a worthwhile upgrade (most people don't need to splash out on the EVO ones though, bog standard Sandisk/Kingston/Crucial etc will suffice for most - in fact the laptop I'm typing this on has an old Crucual m4 SSD :)).

Most people won't need more than 4Gb (again, this laptop I'm typing on has a paltry 2Gb), but 4Gb is a shitty size - 32bit Windows will only see 3-3.5Gb, and the extra structure sizes on 64bit, which can fully utilise 4Gb, make it actually more memory stressed than running 32bit.

Neither Lenovo (consumer grade, the business grade stuff is OK) or Gigabyte are my favourites, following personal bad experiences.  If your laptop is consumer Lenovo, I'm surprised at your Rods2, given your Russian conspiracy theories ;D
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Rods2

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Re: Laptop Upgrade
« Reply #2 on: 22 April 2018, 21:56:57 »

SSD is pretty much a necessity with Win8 and later, so that's a worthwhile upgrade (most people don't need to splash out on the EVO ones though, bog standard Sandisk/Kingston/Crucial etc will suffice for most - in fact the laptop I'm typing this on has an old Crucual m4 SSD :)).

Most people won't need more than 4Gb (again, this laptop I'm typing on has a paltry 2Gb), but 4Gb is a shitty size - 32bit Windows will only see 3-3.5Gb, and the extra structure sizes on 64bit, which can fully utilise 4Gb, make it actually more memory stressed than running 32bit.

Neither Lenovo (consumer grade, the business grade stuff is OK) or Gigabyte are my favourites, following personal bad experiences.  If your laptop is consumer Lenovo, I'm surprised at your Rods2, given your Russian conspiracy theories ;D

I'm aware of their 'enhanced backchannel' loop hole, which is probably linked to the Chinese made ZTE BT ISP switches. :o :o :o

I'm aware of many of the Russian Cyber Active Measures that have been used on Ukrainian infrastructure as a testing ground since 2014 and a lot of people in Western countries are going to have their work cut out if Russia tries to use them here. When I was in Ukraine last June Russia crashed their airline booking system and many of the banks systems including ATMs. I had a few fun and games printing out my boarding pass before I left Ukraine for the UK, but the airline, to their credit,  were very helpful in getting this sorted out. :y
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deviator

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Re: Laptop Upgrade
« Reply #3 on: 23 April 2018, 11:25:28 »

An upgrade is always fun, can easily bring a computer back to life.

I'm due an upgrade at work, I have two i7's both with 128GB of RAM and multiple TB's worth of HDD's. Which due to current internal policies, one is purely being used for Winamp  :-X To be honest I've never known Winamp open so quickly  :D
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TheBoy

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Re: Laptop Upgrade
« Reply #4 on: 23 April 2018, 18:24:06 »

Blimey, is Winamp still around :o
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deviator

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Re: Laptop Upgrade
« Reply #5 on: 24 April 2018, 06:52:02 »

Blimey, is Winamp still around :o
Yes and I still prefer it to the Microsoft offering. Remember, 'It really kicks the lama's 455'
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aaronjb

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Re: Laptop Upgrade
« Reply #6 on: 24 April 2018, 09:05:39 »

Blimey, is Winamp still around :o

I was reading a thread about it (on a 2600 group) the other day .. apparently it still has a very loyal band of followers (for v2, not v3, at least..). Apparently it has now changed hands (out of AOLs) several times, and the company who owns it keeps promising a new version...
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TheBoy

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Re: Laptop Upgrade
« Reply #7 on: 24 April 2018, 17:57:05 »

Blimey, is Winamp still around :o
Yes and I still prefer it to the Microsoft offering. Remember, 'It really kicks the lama's 455'
You're showing your age ;D
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TheBoy

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Re: Laptop Upgrade
« Reply #8 on: 24 April 2018, 17:58:16 »

Blimey, is Winamp still around :o

I was reading a thread about it (on a 2600 group) the other day .. apparently it still has a very loyal band of followers (for v2, not v3, at least..). Apparently it has now changed hands (out of AOLs) several times, and the company who owns it keeps promising a new version...
Couldn't tell you the version numbers, but I stuck with the older one when the newer blue themed one came out.

I wouldn't bother with it now, as WMP is adequate enough for most of my needs.
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