Is it time for a new laptop?

[Blaby Loyal]

Following a conversation I had with a brilliant bloke from Microsoft when he was working on setting up my Office 365, a seed of thought has been planted in my mind as to whether or not I need a new laptop.

My current machine must be about eight years old now and runs a Pentium P6200 which drew a "wow" from the Microsoft man when I told him.

I have a very limited budget (£200-£250) so what benefit do you think I'd see in buying a new laptop for that kind of money?

I haven't really noticed any defiencies with my present laptop but then again I don't demand all that from them, simply reliability, USB ports and ability to run MS packages. I wouldn't mind Bluetooth compatibility though for a decent keyboard and mouse.

What do you folks reckon?

 

[arnydnxluk]

I have a very limited budget (£200-£250) so what benefit do you think I'd see in buying a new laptop for that kind of money?

I suppose it depends on the specs of your current laptop.

Most likely the battery will last longer.

If you can find something with an SSD (Solid State Drive) for storage, the laptop should be noticeably snappier to respond. Again it's difficult to say for sure without knowing details of your current machine but I'd definitely expect faster boot times and faster wake from sleep.

I think your budget may be a tad under the requirement for an SSD (probably £300+) but there are huge advantages to SSD's so I would perhaps recommend waiting a bit longer if you don't need a machine immediately and could increase your budget in future.

 

[Blaby Loyal]

Thanks Mike.

The battery isn't an issue for me as I very rarely use the laptop away from a power source.

The spec on my current machine is:

Intel Premium P6200
15.6" 16:9 HD LCD
Intel HD Graphics
3GB DDR3 Memory
250GB HDD (I use portable storage mainly and increasingly in the 'cloud')

 

[CriticalThinker]

Given the limited budget have you considered a refurbished machine?

 

[kulture]

I would not do anything at present. If you have not noticed any deficiency then keep using the laptop. Start saving to increase your budget when you eventually need to change. Laptops are more than the chipset. Build quality is also vital for long term use. The more you spend, the better it is likely to be built. There is little point in investing in a cheap better spec laptop it it breaks in a year.

 

[Blaby Loyal]

Given the limited budget have you considered a refurbished machine?

Yes, I've had a look on laptopsdirect.co.uk. They seem to offer some good refurbed models.

 

[CriticalThinker]

There is a poster on this forum who provides refurbished models, I spoke with him the other week in fact @JC1 . Very pleasant chap and sounds like a great business.

Here's the website link https://www.pyramid.com

 

[arnydnxluk]

I agree with @kulture , it doesn't sound as though you want or need a new laptop.

For your budget, the new laptop wouldn't be much better than your current one. I definitely agree that spending more for reliability is well worth it and for SSD storage.

I'm surprised your HDD hasn't massively slowed down after 8 years. If you wanted to get technical, you could actually replace the HDD in your current model with an SSD.

 

[Blaby Loyal]

There is a poster on this forum who provides refurbished models, I spoke with him the other week in fact JC1 . Very pleasant chap and sounds like a great business.

Here's the website link https://www.pyramid.com

Cheers pal. That site looks good.

 

[Blaby Loyal]

I agree with @kulture , it doesn't sound as though you want or need a new laptop.

For your budget, the new laptop wouldn't be much better than your current one. I definitely agree that spending more for reliability is well worth it and for SSD storage.

I'm surprised your HDD hasn't massively slowed down after 8 years. If you wanted to get technical, you could actually replace the HDD in your current model with an SSD.

How would I notice any slowing down? I don't think I use it hard enough and I'm conscious not to load it up with crappy programs etc.

As regards to replacing the HDD, basically if I can't stick it in a lathe or milling machine or bolt it on to my car then it's not going to be something I'll be doing anytime soon!

 

[ffox]

Extend your search to low price Tablets.

The Linx 12x64 looks good for under £200 on Amazon. Comes complete with keyboard for a laptop experience. Being totally solid state you'll find that it is faster than any similarly spec laptop, and very much lighter.

You're a bit limited on disk capacity, but if you store in the cloud, that shouldn't be an issue.

 

[Blaby Loyal]

Extend your search to low price Tablets.

The Linx 12x64 looks good for under £200 on Amazon. Comes complete with keyboard for a laptop experience. Being totally solid state you'll find that it is faster than any similarly spec laptop, and very much lighter.

You're a bit limited on disk capacity, but if you store in the cloud, that shouldn't be an issue.

Looks nice that, the screen is too small for my liking though at 12.5". Very tempted to replace my Tab2 with one. Better give Barclaycard a call and see if I'm still a member!

 

[Nico Albrecht]

Your budget is not sufficient to get any decent mid range laptop. Spending 200- 250 is a waste of time on new hardware. You will need to increase you budget by a bit to get something decent in mid range. 8-16GB ram, SSD , full HD screen, i3 - i5 cpu , some decent battery life. You are looking £500 - £1500

 

[ffox]

8-16GB ram, SSD , full HD screen, i3 - i5 cpu , some decent battery life. You are looking £500 - £1500

Hi Nico. Why would an ordinary user need that much processing power?

 

[Blaby Loyal]

Your budget is not sufficient to get any decent mid range laptop. Spending 200- 250 is a waste of time on new hardware. You will need to increase you budget by a bit to get something decent in mid range. 8-16GB ram, SSD , full HD screen, i3 - i5 cpu , some decent battery life. You are looking £500 - £1500

Thanks Nico but what you've got to remember is that not everyone can afford "Premier League" stuff. By way of example, my car is probably worth £1,500.

 

[Nico Albrecht]

Hi Nico. Why would an ordinary user need that much processing power?

I don't think an i3 cpu with 8GB ram and sata ssd is high performance. Mostly people like to use chrome and that eats a lot of resource and don't wanna go through the hassle of a linux system. Below £500 there is only crap on the market and even than you trade off some stuff.

 

[Nico Albrecht]

Thanks Nico but what you've got to remember is that not everyone can afford "Premier League" stuff. By way of example, my car is probably worth £1,500.

The reality is in your price range there is only crap on the market. Refurbished stuff would still kill it. Save money and wait instead of buying stuff in your budget range.

 

[ffox]

I don't think an i3 cpu with 8GB ram and sata ssd is high performance. Mostly people like to use chrome and that eats a lot of resource and don't wanna go through the hassle of a linux system. Below £500 there is only crap on the market and even than you trade off some stuff.

That's a bootless argument. Most people like to use Chrome, most people also like to use old and relatively low power computers, but they still get done what they need to do.

Buying a mid range, or high powered computer only becomes a necessity when moving into the use of software that requires it. Most smart phones and tablets can stream audio and video, run spreadsheets and word processors and browse the internet. Why pay for more when it's not needed?

 

[lazypbx]

I haven't really noticed any defiencies with my present laptop

I think you answer your own question. If you don't have any issue with your laptop then why upgrade?

If you have a spare slot for extra RAM that can be cheap upgrade, it will help keep speed up when you have a number of tabs or applications open because it reduces disk caching. Hard disk drives are the first point of failure because they rotate and get worn. If your laptop has a spare slot you could add a new SSD for the OS which will be more reliable and give you some extra speed (keeping the old 250 for some data storage).

 

[alan1302]

That's a bootless argument. Most people like to use Chrome, most people also like to use old and relatively low power computers, but they still get done what they need to do.

Buying a mid range, or high powered computer only becomes a necessity when moving into the use of software that requires it. Most smart phones and tablets can stream audio and video, run spreadsheets and word processors and browse the internet. Why pay for more when it's not needed?

I don't think most people do like to use old hardware - most people would like to use all powerful ones but have to make do with older ones due to costs.

A decent mid-spe PC is much nicer to use for day to day stuff as Windows/browsers are not waiting for the PC to loads up the date - they can just work smoothly

 

[ffox]

I don't think most people do like to use old hardware - most people would like to use all powerful ones but have to make do with older ones due to costs.

There's an advert currently running on FM radio that irritates me every time I hear it. The voice says - "Everyone listening to this would sooner be driving a BMW..." It's annoying because I'm listening and I certainly wouldn't want to be driving a BMW, the guy in front of me, driving a McLaren, wouldn't either, though his choice of motor is driven by vastly different motivations to mine.

As with motors, so with computers and software, over thirty years of IT work tells me that for every person you could find who likes 'shiny, new, faster and full of features', I could find another who would fight tooth and nail to delay or avoid a change away from 'old, staid and comfortable'.

A decent mid-spe PC is much nicer to use for day to day stuff

'Nicer' is a very subjective term. I use a Windows 10 PC and a Windows 10 Tablet for most of my work and find Windows 10 and Edge browser to be 'Nice' to use. But, even 'Nicer' (for me) is using an Android tablet or Smart Phone with Office 365 tools. The least 'Nice' is using my wife's IoS device to do the same work (having said that it is still useable).

Incidentally I do lots of SharePoint and Dynamics 365 development work through my machines for overseas clients, but as the development studios are cloud based I don't need huge amounts of processing power.
In fact, for the last six months I've almost entirely stopped using Windows Client based Office products, preferring instead to use the browser versions. Used with cloud storage, these are much faster than client based products, even on machines with very modest specification, provided, of course, there is a reasonable Internet connection.

Again - why pay more in a machine than you have to?

 

[Nico Albrecht]

That's a bootless argument. Most people like to use Chrome, most people also like to use old and relatively low power computers, but they still get done what they need to do.

Buying a mid range, or high powered computer only becomes a necessity when moving into the use of software that requires it. Most smart phones and tablets can stream audio and video, run spreadsheets and word processors and browse the internet. Why pay for more when it's not needed?

I am not arguing, I am stating facts, the recommended specs for chrome are quite high same goes for for W10, min specs wont cut it if you wanna get work done in my life time. Fact is there is nothing on the market in his price range that would make any difference. This is a business forum and if you are serious about business you invest some money. No need for £1500 but you should spend £500 - £750 for a decent spec one to get some work done.

 

[ffox]

I am not arguing, I am stating facts, the recommended specs for chrome are quite high same goes for for W10, min specs wont cut it if you wanna get work done in my life time.

- That's funny. I use Windows 10 on a PC that cost £200, I also use W10 on a Tablet that cost £350. Both of these run Edge browser. I also run an elderly Asus Android tablet which runs Chrome and a Samsung Galaxy J3 Smart Phone which runs Chrome. I don't seem to have any problems with speed or efficiency with any of these.

The low price tickets also mean that if one should break, I can pick up another and keep running my business. It's all eggs and baskets.

 

[Ian J]

I don't think most people do like to use old hardware - most people would like to use all powerful ones but have to make do with older ones due to costs.

A decent mid-spe PC is much nicer to use for day to day stuff as Windows/browsers are not waiting for the PC to loads up the date - they can just work smoothly

I'm not sure that you're right. I bought my Toshiba laptop second hand about three years ago and my PC new about four years ago and am happy with both as they do exactly what I want them to do

 

[Carly Swinson]

i will recommend you to raise a little budget and look for HP Elite Book 8470p.

 

[comperio]

for laptop HP is Best choice and About Configuration i3 6th gen with 4gb ram is in budget

Coincidentally I just got a new laptop and it is a HP. I am very happy with the brand, this must be my 4th in the past few years. And they are getting lighter each time, love it. No brainer to setup.

 

[Blaby Loyal]

for laptop HP is Best choice and About Configuration i3 6th gen with 4gb ram is in budget

Do you reckon something like this one?

 

[alan1302]

Do you reckon something like this one?

I would not recommend anything with 4GB of RAM - 8GB is really the minimum you would want now.

 

[ffox]

I would not recommend anything with 4GB of RAM - 8GB is really the minimum you would want now.

Why?

 

[alan1302]

Why?

Windows itself uses a big chunk of RAM and browsers like Chrome take a lot to work well. 8GB will give you much better performance over a 4GB system.

 

[Scalloway]

I would not recommend anything with 4GB of RAM - 8GB is really the minimum you would want now.

That was my thought too. I increased the RAM on my Windows 10 desktop to 8GB and noticed the difference.

 

[ffox]

Windows itself uses a big chunk of RAM and browsers like Chrome take a lot to work well. 8GB will give you much better performance over a 4GB system.

Of course it will. Like a Ford Fiesta ST will go faster than a Ford Fiesta 1.1. The question is will it deliver a decent RoI?

If Chrome grabs so much memory it slows the system down, simply don't use Chrome. Edge is much lighter, much faster and more reliable than Chrome. And it's cheaper than upgrading the RAM in a PC.

 

[Scalloway]

Edge is much lighter, much faster and more reliable than Chrome.

I tried it and was unimpressed. Various things that just seem to work in Chrome and Firefox were a PITA.

 

[ffox]

I tried it and was unimpressed. Various things that just seem to work in Chrome and Firefox were a PITA.

Each to his own I guess. I often use the Chrome on my phone and on my wife's IoS tablet. I tried it on Windows for a while, when there were still teething troubles with Edge. It's certainly more responsive than IE 11, but I soon switched back to Edge once they sorted the copy/paste issues. I never think twice now.

FF is still pretty good.

 

[alan1302]

Of course it will. Like a Ford Fiesta ST will go faster than a Ford Fiesta 1.1. The question is will it deliver a decent RoI?

If Chrome grabs so much memory it slows the system down, simply don't use Chrome. Edge is much lighter, much faster and more reliable than Chrome. And it's cheaper than upgrading the RAM in a PC.

Yes, a very decent ROI - RAM is pretty cheap but the extra performance and lack of waiting times as well as generally better and smoother all round use.

I would suggest a SSD for the same reason.

Personally I'd not recommend Edge - Chrome is a lot ore versatile and has many add ons and extras and most websites work properly with Chrome and I have had a few issues with Edge in the past although you sound like you are happy with it.

 

[ffox]

Yes, a very decent ROI - RAM is pretty cheap but the extra performance and lack of waiting times as well as generally better and smoother all round use.

I would suggest a SSD for the same reason.

You would have to quantify that for me.

Let's be clear. IT is a cost and in most business the level of that cost is driven more by gadget desire and 'geekism' (low level interest and knowledge in IT, rather than professional analysis of IT needs). Most business massively overspend on IT, in both hardware and software, provision.

 

[Nico Albrecht]

What is the best laptop manufacturer today? I use Toshiba and it is good but old maybe. Do you recommend me HP or Apple ?

Neither HP or Apple, some high end HP laptops are ok but the below £750 got dodgy build quality. Apple is poor as usual, poor build quality and poor value for money. Dell builds very well at the moment.

 

[alan1302]

Neither HP or Apple, some high end HP laptops are ok but the below £750 got dodgy build quality. Apple is poor as usual, poor build quality and poor value for money. Dell builds very well at the moment.

Agree about Dell - have one at the moment which is very good and never had a problem with a Dell in the past.

Can't agree about Apple though - value wise they are certainly not the best but are generally of a good build quality. I know they had an issue with some of the MacBook keyboards but overall they do build some quality bits of kit.

 

[Nico Albrecht]

Agree about Dell - have one at the moment which is very good and never had a problem with a Dell in the past.

Can't agree about Apple though - value wise they are certainly not the best but are generally of a good build quality. I know they had an issue with some of the MacBook keyboards but overall they do build some quality bits of kit.

Not sure if you talk about the same Apple company but if you talk about the one building imacs and macbooks than you buy the cheapest components on the market. The quality of components is a cheap as it can gets starting from the cooling paste on gpu to cpu going into mainboard capacitors etc.... poorly designed cooling systems and so on. They look good on the outside but the inside us shocking cheap stuff meant to fail. The list is never ending. Lenovo seems to be as good as Dell. For all the Apple issues go on youtube and search for rossman group

 

[alan1302]

Not sure if you talk about the same Apple company but if you talk about the one building imacs and macbooks than you buy the cheapest components on the market. The quality of components is a cheap as it can gets starting from the cooling paste on gpu to cpu going into mainboard capacitors etc.... poorly designed cooling systems and so on. They look good on the outside but the inside us shocking cheap stuff meant to fail. The list is never ending. Lenovo seems to be as good as Dell. For all the Apple issues go on youtube and search for rossman group

Yes, that Apple - never had any issues with the hardware side of things and have had iPhones/iPads/iMacs and MacBooks and always been very happy with the quality of the hardware on any of them. I'm sure over the many years they have been going there have been times where issues have been but overall they are very good quality - just expensive. Just touching and feeling an Apple product you can see it's not the cheapest materials in the world.

Personally never been a fan of Lenovo - most items I have had from them seem to often have niggling little problems which always makes me wary of them.