Purchasing new laptop this month

[Tilt]

Have asked advice before but asking for any updated advice from those in the know as i need to finally take the plunge and purchase new computer.

 

Fairly set on 15.6" windows 10 laptop as not very technically minded and at least i'm used to windows via windows 7 platform.

Prefer to spend max £400 ish. I like Asus and HP as had these before (X53E and HP Pavilion) but willng to look at others.

Obviously looking for the best / most i can get for the money. Thoughts on this...........

https://www.laptopsdirect.co.uk/hp-250-core-i5-8gb-256gb-ssd-15.6-inch-windows-10-home-laptop-6mp21es/version.asp

or other recommendations worth looking at will be gratefully received.

Also recommendations / links where to look.

 

Cheers guys.

 

 

[Tilt]

Also, would like 'office', as a starter or basic, ideally f o c.............is my best bet word online?

[NJRJ]

If you install Classic Shell you can set it to look like Win7 in style so everything is familiar.

Don't bother with M$ Office just use Libre/Open Office, great program and free.

Install Malawarebytes and spybot to take care of malware.

I use Windows Defender for anti-virus and I've never been bothered by bad stuff even though I have been known to travel some murkier bits of the internet.

Lots of well known AV programs are available as free version if you don't mind their resource hogging and upgrade nags.

 

 

[LLCC1975]

On 02/01/2020 at 17:07, Tilt said:

Have asked advice before but asking for any updated advice from those in the know as i need to finally take the plunge and purchase new computer.

 

Fairly set on 15.6" windows 10 laptop as not very technically minded and at least i'm used to windows via windows 7 platform.

Prefer to spend max £400 ish. I like Asus and HP as had these before (X53E and HP Pavilion) but willng to look at others.

Obviously looking for the best / most i can get for the money. Thoughts on this...........

https://www.laptopsdirect.co.uk/hp-250-core-i5-8gb-256gb-ssd-15.6-inch-windows-10-home-laptop-6mp21es/version.asp

or other recommendations worth looking at will be gratefully received.

Also recommendations / links where to look.

 

Cheers guys.

 

 

I'm in a similar position to yourself + a similar budget. I have been mooching around Laptops Direct at their refurbished. sadly, other than Amazon, Argos and Currys I've struggled to find anything exciting.

 

I'm starting to look at Chromebooks. No experience of them. It would be a second computer, and I can just about live with Chrome as a browser. There does seem to be decent reviews of Office products via the Android and Chrome stores - should you need word.

[io1901]

Have a look at the new Ryzen laptops, they seem to be better value. I think Ebuyer had one for about £350.

https://www.ebuyer.com/901659-lenovo-v155-15api-amd-ryzen-5-3500u-8gb-256gb-ssd-15-6-inch-full-hd-81v50008uk

[camelspyyder]

I just put Win10 on a 2009 (yes 11 year old) dell 1525 dual pentium and it runs perfectly. It was even a free upgrade because the ex-Toshiba harddrive in the machine had licenced OEM Win7 on it.  

 

Cant believe an ex-Vista laptop still works so well. Why buy new? Save your money. This is a 15.6 inch wide-screen Windows 10 machine for 0 (zero) pounds. It's no good for gaming, but for surfing and Office it's ideal, and it's much faster running 10 than it was with 7. Probably wouldn't try it with a much lower spec though. 2x 2.13Ghz Pentium. 2GB Ram. seems just enough for 32-bit Windows.

 

 

 

Edited 7 January, 2020 by camelspyyder

[LLCC1975]

1 hour ago, camelspyyder said:

I just put Win10 on a 2009 (yes 11 year old) dell 1525 dual pentium and it runs perfectly. It was even a free upgrade because the ex-Toshiba harddrive in the machine had licenced OEM Win7 on it.  

 

Cant believe an ex-Vista laptop still works so well. Why buy new? Save your money. This is a 15.6 inch wide-screen Windows 10 machine for 0 (zero) pounds. It's no good for gaming, but for surfing and Office it's ideal, and it's much faster running 10 than it was with 7. Probably wouldn't try it with a much lower spec though. 2x 2.13Ghz Pentium. 2GB Ram. seems just enough for 32-bit Windows.

 

I have an old 15.6" HP kicking around. I've also considered bringing it back to life. 120GB SSD can be bought for £15. Pop it in and hopefully it will run nicely. It has 8gb of RAM. Was thinking that £15 would be cheaper than buying a new laptop.

 

 

[Aspman]

It's hard to get a 15.6 laptop these days. The market has driven down the screen size so that 13" screens are far more common. If you work on the go that isn't a bad thing but if you're using it as your main machine it's a bit small (as is the matching keyboard.

 

I needed a desktop replacement so ended up buying a Lenovo workstation 'laptop' which is not small or light but had a bigger screen and a good keyboard.

 

Ryzen processors are very good indeed right now and maybe even better than Intel. Most laptops are competant enough so look for features that will matter like a large enough SSD drive (avoid spinning rust HDs), remember the operating system will take up 20-40Gb of whatever figure is quoted (128Gb is a minimum).

Win 10 likes memory so get 8Gb.

 

An old laptop with an SSD, 8Gb of ram and Win10 will do surprizingly well. Processors have been monsterously powerful for years and only games and video editing really tax them now. But still avoid the Celeron crap if it pops up.

[cheezemonkhai]

Most businesses laptops are 14” these days and there are a surprising number available second hand or on offer new.

 

New chips are upon us, so potentially and older one cheap or a newer one for longevity.

 

Plus SSD and ram upgrade on older laptops are typically easy, but newer ones can be a no go.

[KenONeill]

1 hour ago, cheezemonkhai said:

Most businesses laptops are 14” these days

True; most of ours' also have one or two 21" widescreen monitors for use when we're at our desks,

[cheezemonkhai]

Pair of 24/27” here, but yes.

 

14 is light enough, but big enough to use, although most dock into keyboard and screens.

 

i would say at 13” the latter is almost a requirement.

[Aspman]

Yep work laptop is a 13" but I have two 24" monitors and a dock at the office. Out of the office if the data isn't sensitive I'll often email it to myself to use my larger laptop with the better keyboard. My PC is in storage for the forseable future.

[Tilt]

Finally decided on this

https://www.currys.co.uk/gbuk/computing/laptops/laptops/hp-15s-fq1505na-15-6-laptop-intel-core-i5-256-gb-silver-10198289-pdt.html?intcmpid=display~RR#tab3

Though purchased from Curry's clearance on Ebay for just over £340 (opened / unused so hopefully no issues).

 

Other option was this Asus

https://www.laptopsdirect.co.uk/asus-ryzen-5-3500u-8gb-256gb-ssd-15.6-inch-windows-10-laptop-m509da-ej034t/version.asp

 

Not sure if best decision made as not seen either of them and I wasn't sure about the 8GB vs the 4GB with 16GB Intel Optane either, but hey ho, done now anyway.

Seems that both have Anti Glare screen which I didn't really want but some reviewers complained about the screen on the Asus whereas a few reviews mentioned that the Hp screen was particularly good.

 

Any thoughts, and thanks all for your input.

[Confused_Cheese]

If you're running windows 4GB RAM is a little low. It's the minimum I'd buy a chromebook with, with windows a few chrome tabs and you're going to be getting close to using swap which is going to slow the machine down considerably. That being said, its all based on perception and previous experience.

 

Optane as far as I know is a cache for loading frequently used files from the hard drive and isn't related to ram at all. It will however make the PC feel a little quicker IF the thing you're loading/using is in its cache.

Edited 15 January, 2020 by Confused_Cheese

[PetrolDave]

53 minutes ago, Confused_Cheese said:

If you're running windows 4GB RAM is a little low.

+1

 

When I increased the RAM in my Windows PC from 8GB to 16GB the performance gain was very noticeable (I tend to have several programs/apps open simultaneously).

[Tilt]

Yes, I hope I don't live to regret changing my mind from the Asus..........It was almost decision made until I saw the Hp and noticed the comments on the quality of the screens.....even the one I've got now Asus X53E has 6GB (4+2 however that works)......

 

If Microsoft updates the operating system again (inevitable) I will definitely look at installing it when / if offered free again, assuming I get on with the new Hp.

[Tilt]

If anyone has any advice on setting up the new machine (when it arrives) I would be most appreciative.

 

Mostly security wise. At least I still have this computer to use this time to help, unlike last time as the motherboard got fried on previous Hp

 

.https://www.cnet.com/how-to/6-security-settings-to-change-in-windows-10-because-the-defaults-arent-enough/

[PetrolDave]

I always install extra security programs. all our PCs have both Malwarebytes and Avast - it's surprising how much malware one finds that the other misses...

[LLCC1975]

2 hours ago, Tilt said:

If anyone has any advice on setting up the new machine (when it arrives) I would be most appreciative.

 

Mostly security wise. At least I still have this computer to use this time to help, unlike last time as the motherboard got fried on previous Hp

 

.https://www.cnet.com/how-to/6-security-settings-to-change-in-windows-10-because-the-defaults-arent-enough/

 

Aside from the obvious Internet Security software, and the settings like you have in the link - always good to think about which browser you are going to use. 

 

I have a big thing about trackers and the like. I mainly use Brave, and occasionally Firefox. Both have extensions on to help reduce ads, trackers and other sneaky things. I'm sure it could spark a whole new discussion on which browser to use. Aside from security - important to consider your privacy too. 

 

This is video gives a decent overview of such issues. 

[PetrolDave]

3 minutes ago, LLCC1975 said:

Aside from the obvious Internet Security software, and the settings like you have in the link - always good to think about which browser you are going to use. 

I normally use Firefox with the No Track option set, but some (mainly financial) websites don't work correctly with Firefox so for them I use Chrome.

 

Internet Explorer and Edge are to be avoided unless absolutely necessary, IE has had open security flaws for MANY years which M$ don't seem at all interested in sorting - typical of their arrogant approach IMHO.

[Aspman]

I'd get another 4gb in there if you can it will make a difference.

 

256Gb storage is a bit small for me (lol remembering having a 2Gb HD in my first PC) . If it's got a reader I'd get an SD card to give you more space.

[KenONeill]

On 16/01/2020 at 17:39, PetrolDave said:

I normally use Firefox with the No Track option set, but some (mainly financial) websites don't work correctly with Firefox so for them I use Chrome.

 

Internet Explorer and Edge are to be avoided unless absolutely necessary, IE has had open security flaws for MANY years which M$ don't seem at all interested in sorting - typical of their arrogant approach IMHO.

True, but it's useful to have a method of downloading Firefox or Chrome pre-installed...

[Tilt]

4 minutes ago, Aspman said:

I'd get another 4gb in there if you can it will make a difference.

 

256Gb storage is a bit small for me (lol remembering having a 2Gb HD in my first PC) . If it's got a reader I'd get an SD card to give you more space.

 

Yes, maybe should have listened to you in the first place, Lol.

It was the matter of a few folk mentioning a poor screen that put me off the 8GB Asus.........

 

So many better things to do than set up a new laptop.................Like pulling teeth, for me, Lol.

[PetrolDave]

1 hour ago, KenONeill said:

True, but it's useful to have a method of downloading Firefox or Chrome pre-installed...

And that's the ONLY time I use IE!

 

For good reasons... https://techcrunch.com/2020/01/18/internet-explorer-security-flaw/?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ29vZ2xlLmNvLnVrLw&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAKcC9t_ITq79ldSlthCehnmShcXPd1XCTNcJCzohot9Ybwjh3RcpbIks6wqyf3WAgLFur_wwwGkkzW2z_y46em82K-tiq9h5cKnfuJ26AvzDcPMLn9Jdqtvncht5QegivnzY4aZbYgT1cO9Qsgf2j5IQbrXVSnzSBobE-vr9NULF

 

M$ won't fix this zero day exploit immediately, but will delay a fix until their regular February update cycle 

[Aspman]

23 hours ago, Tilt said:

 

Yes, maybe should have listened to you in the first place, Lol.

It was the matter of a few folk mentioning a poor screen that put me off the 8GB Asus.........

 

So many better things to do than set up a new laptop.................Like pulling teeth, for me, Lol.

 

If it's easy to add more (it usually is) then it's really not a big deal. You might find adding a bit more memory plus the better screen will give you what you were after but couldn't get in one package.