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Author Topic: Which laptop ?  (Read 4056 times)

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TheBoy

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Re: Which laptop ?
« Reply #15 on: 03 December 2019, 18:19:37 »

Does she use it on her lap, or on a desk.  Essentially, there are 2 formats, those that have a numeric pad on the keyboard, larger screen, the touchpad offset left a bit.  These tend to be heavier, more consumer orientated.  The other is a bit smaller, no numeric pad, smaller screen, touchpad central, ignoring the very budget ones like Chromebooks, these tend to be budget business (in your pricerange).

I can't use the former on my lap, due to extra weight and the offset mouse.


So you need to sort that bit first.


Spec wise, forget AMD powered ones.  Needs to be a minimum of an i3 CPU, worth spending a little extra on i5 if your budget will stretch. 4Gb RAM is fine for all general office application tasks and email and browsing, but may need more if using Photoshop or CAD type tools. Disk wise, I'd personally sacrifice disk space for an SSD. A 120Gb SSD is the absolute minimum really, and is comfortable enough for Windows, Office and so on.  If you store all your photos and music, or do any video work, larger will be needed.

For the most part, if its sold in PC World, its junk, and will do well to outlive the warranty.

Most of these will be Windows 10 Home, which is good enough unless you want to connect to large work networks.

Ones to avoid are things like HP Pavillion, Dell Inspiron and anything Acer or Asus.  Better options are HP <number>, Dell Latitude etc. If you want the larger style, something like an HP 250 g7 i5, 8Gb RAM, 250Gb SSD, Win10 Home is under £400.  I'm struggling to find something similar in the smaller size...   ...I know because I'm on the lookout myself ;)



I agree with the Mac remarks.  Mrs TB was using mine after she let some pixie smoke out of her (funnily enough, HP 250 G1) laptop.  I had to take it off her before she smashed it in frustration.
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TheBoy

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Re: Which laptop ?
« Reply #16 on: 03 December 2019, 18:20:46 »

Eboy will be along in a minute to let you know that they're all crap. HTH :y
Though not as crap as the Vaio she currently has.  How that has lasted 10yrs I'll never know, never seen one past about 4 years.
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TheBoy

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Re: Which laptop ?
« Reply #17 on: 03 December 2019, 18:26:14 »

Except the one from the mid 2000s that he's still using because it's better than anything produced in the last 15 years. Hm, so the same as cars, then?  ;D
Don't dis the mighty HP 6720s (I think).  Its been an excellent machine, though Core2 Duo is definitely showing its age now. And the machine only has 2Gb RAM.  But still is my day to day machine...   ...based on the fact that the other options not in use are a late 2016 MacBook pro and a circa 2010 Lenovo i5.

The HP Envy laptops look nice but are expensive (decent spec, though)
But with woeful reliability. Really bad.  But consumer oriented, so built to fail.

Look at the Microsoft Surface range, too - small, light, decent build quality and most of them are more powerful than my 9 year old MacBook Pro.
Bro has a Surface Laptop, which is brilliant, but out of Alb's stated range for a decent spec.  And they are not upgradable (easily)
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Migv6 le Frog Fan

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Re: Which laptop ?
« Reply #18 on: 03 December 2019, 18:28:24 »

Thanks for all the info and opinions. Have now showed her this thread so she can digest it and draw conclusions from it.
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TheBoy

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Re: Which laptop ?
« Reply #19 on: 03 December 2019, 18:32:25 »

As an example of that HP I mentioned for under £400, Ebuyer have it - https://www.ebuyer.com/879510-hp-250-g7-15-6-full-hd-intel-core-i5-laptop-with-windows-6mp21es-abu - but might be worth going through a cashback site first ;)

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TheBoy

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Re: Which laptop ?
« Reply #20 on: 03 December 2019, 18:34:49 »

That said, just looked at the actual specs of it, and the wifi is a bit wank, and with only 1 antenna, might struggle with speed and range.
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Re: Which laptop ?
« Reply #21 on: 03 December 2019, 19:47:26 »

She uses it on her lap. Don't think she will mind if its a bit on the heavy side as the Sony is bloody heavy and she is well used to that.
Budget could possibly be pushed to close to £1k.
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Lizzie Zoom

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Re: Which laptop ?
« Reply #22 on: 03 December 2019, 21:15:12 »

Eboy will be along in a minute to let you know that they're all crap. HTH :y

With no exceptions. :)



Seriously though - don't go Apple; it is a whole new way of working that you'll either love or hate but to be honest, if it's just for browsing the t'interwebs, stick with what you know. I wouldn't like to go back to Windows now but even I'll admit that (as a tech bod) there was a learning curve when I moved to Apple a decade ago just as there'd be a (less steep) learning curve to go back to Windows 10 now.


Yes Apple does take some getting used to.

What really gets me down, when using an iPod, iPad or iPhone, is the constant need to enter, re-enter, and re-enter again both your ID and password.  As I have found recently, heaven help you if you forget any of that; you end up being locked out of your account, with the “account recovery” process taking days to be satisfied it is you trying to get back in! ::) ::)

Yes it is my fault to forget / mis-enter the details, but why the hell does it take sooooooo long to recover your account? :(
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Re: Which laptop ?
« Reply #23 on: 03 December 2019, 21:20:54 »

Eboy will be along in a minute to let you know that they're all crap. HTH :y

With no exceptions. :)



Seriously though - don't go Apple; it is a whole new way of working that you'll either love or hate but to be honest, if it's just for browsing the t'interwebs, stick with what you know. I wouldn't like to go back to Windows now but even I'll admit that (as a tech bod) there was a learning curve when I moved to Apple a decade ago just as there'd be a (less steep) learning curve to go back to Windows 10 now.


Yes Apple does take some getting used to.

What really gets me down, when using an iPod, iPad or iPhone, is the constant need to enter, re-enter, and re-enter again both your ID and password.  As I have found recently, heaven help you if you forget any of that; you end up being locked out of your account, with the “account recovery” process taking days to be satisfied it is you trying to get back in! ::) ::)

Yes it is my fault to forget / mis-enter the details, but why the hell does it take sooooooo long to recover your account? :(
I show my iPad my thumb and it's done.
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Re: Which laptop ?
« Reply #24 on: 03 December 2019, 22:14:11 »

Eboy will be along in a minute to let you know that they're all crap. HTH :y

With no exceptions. :)



Seriously though - don't go Apple; it is a whole new way of working that you'll either love or hate but to be honest, if it's just for browsing the t'interwebs, stick with what you know. I wouldn't like to go back to Windows now but even I'll admit that (as a tech bod) there was a learning curve when I moved to Apple a decade ago just as there'd be a (less steep) learning curve to go back to Windows 10 now.


Yes Apple does take some getting used to.

What really gets me down, when using an iPod, iPad or iPhone, is the constant need to enter, re-enter, and re-enter again both your ID and password.  As I have found recently, heaven help you if you forget any of that; you end up being locked out of your account, with the “account recovery” process taking days to be satisfied it is you trying to get back in! ::) ::)

Yes it is my fault to forget / mis-enter the details, but why the hell does it take sooooooo long to recover your account? :(

I have a policy. I never buy anything with a small i in front of the name. It will get complicated.
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Lizzie Zoom

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Re: Which laptop ?
« Reply #25 on: 05 December 2019, 13:03:34 »

Eboy will be along in a minute to let you know that they're all crap. HTH :y

With no exceptions. :)



Seriously though - don't go Apple; it is a whole new way of working that you'll either love or hate but to be honest, if it's just for browsing the t'interwebs, stick with what you know. I wouldn't like to go back to Windows now but even I'll admit that (as a tech bod) there was a learning curve when I moved to Apple a decade ago just as there'd be a (less steep) learning curve to go back to Windows 10 now.


Yes Apple does take some getting used to.

What really gets me down, when using an iPod, iPad or iPhone, is the constant need to enter, re-enter, and re-enter again both your ID and password.  As I have found recently, heaven help you if you forget any of that; you end up being locked out of your account, with the “account recovery” process taking days to be satisfied it is you trying to get back in! ::) ::)

Yes it is my fault to forget / mis-enter the details, but why the hell does it take sooooooo long to recover your account? :(
I show my iPad my thumb and it's done.


Yes indeed, I have found that facility to be very good, and easy, on my new iPad 8) 8) :y

That is after I had sorted out all my troubles with ID details first :D :D ;)
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aaronjb

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Re: Which laptop ?
« Reply #26 on: 05 December 2019, 13:32:02 »

As I've seen others say - you can change your passwords when they are (inevitably) breached and leaked. Good luck changing your fingerprints.
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Lizzie Zoom

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Re: Which laptop ?
« Reply #27 on: 05 December 2019, 15:25:34 »

As I've seen others say - you can change your passwords when they are (inevitably) breached and leaked. Good luck changing your fingerprints.

I cannot see the risks are greater with finger print recognition, but to be safe anyway I do not view my bank accounts on my iPad.  I do those on a fully protected PC, with full bank security also loaded for their web sites.

However, I think we must accept that no matter what "security" we all employ, there will always be some clever IT sod (like TB ;D ;D ;)) who will find a way around it eventually. :D ;)
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78bex

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Re: Which laptop ?
« Reply #28 on: 06 December 2019, 00:38:55 »

Got her indoors a  Macbook pro, 18 months later it needed summat replacing  :P
I tried too fix it & failed after she managed to launch it down the stairs.
Surprising how little there is under the plastic   :o so I removed the drive & flogged it on Ebay as "spares or repair with original box & charger" & it made £85  :)
« Last Edit: 06 December 2019, 00:42:58 by 78bex »
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TheBoy

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Re: Which laptop ?
« Reply #29 on: 06 December 2019, 18:00:21 »

Eboy will be along in a minute to let you know that they're all crap. HTH :y

With no exceptions. :)



Seriously though - don't go Apple; it is a whole new way of working that you'll either love or hate but to be honest, if it's just for browsing the t'interwebs, stick with what you know. I wouldn't like to go back to Windows now but even I'll admit that (as a tech bod) there was a learning curve when I moved to Apple a decade ago just as there'd be a (less steep) learning curve to go back to Windows 10 now.


Yes Apple does take some getting used to.

What really gets me down, when using an iPod, iPad or iPhone, is the constant need to enter, re-enter, and re-enter again both your ID and password.  As I have found recently, heaven help you if you forget any of that; you end up being locked out of your account, with the “account recovery” process taking days to be satisfied it is you trying to get back in! ::) ::)

Yes it is my fault to forget / mis-enter the details, but why the hell does it take sooooooo long to recover your account? :(
Because Apple are the 3rd worse arseholes of the universe. After Google and Arsebook.

If you want to do it instantly, it *has* to be from an Apple device, even if its not your Apple device.  The delays if you use a non Apple device is for security reasons, not technical.

Quite how this is more secure is slightly beyond me.


Don't ask how I know this pain. Its been a Lady bits of a week, and its still too raw to talk about it.
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