Help Needed To Choose A New Laptop

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Rookery

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Oct 17, 2010
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  • #1
    Hello, non-techie person here looking for advice to replace my 3.5 year old Toshiba laptop. I only use it lightly but I get the feeling it's going to break down soon. Sky internet connection drops and sometimes some not even large spreadsheets take ages to load etc. I don't play games or do social media stuff on it, it's mainly a bit of MS Office, a bit of web surfing, the occasional forum and eBay. Looking at Currys/PC World there are brands I've never heard of and techie stuff I don't understand. I don't want to spend too much but it's got to be reliable. I've seen one called an HP 15 described as an all rounder, which comes with Windows 10 (I'm using that currently), AMD Ram, 4GB processor and 1 TB hard drive. It's a good price as far as I can tell but is it a good machine?
    Opinions greatly appreciated.
     
    A

    arnydnxluk

  • #3
    I would recommend going for SSD over HDD storage. SSD = Solid State Drive, modern storage. It's super fast and has no moving parts, so it doesn't deteriorate in the same way as older HDD storage. The difference is very noticeable, just look for "SSD" in the specs.

    I really don't know what kind of specs are required for your usage these days. I'd have thought 4GB RAM would be enough but I'd probably feel more comfortable with 8GB. Although I'd take SSD + 4GB RAM over HDD + 8GB RAM.
     
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    ffox

  • #11
    Rookery said:
    90%, I'd have thought higher still but hey ho. Anyway, Assuming I've bought myself a new laptop, how do I transfer all the programmes, documents, pictures, files, folders etc from the old laptop to the new one?
    Click to expand...

    Okay. From that statement I take it that you run your current laptop with no backup. If you had a backup of your files you would just restore then to the new machine. With no backup, you run a high risk of losing everything should your current machine fail, be lost, or stolen.

    You can back up to USB memory stick, SSD card, external HDD, or the cloud. The files can be copied back to your new machine from any of these. You will need to re-install MS Office on the new machine, unless it comes pre-installed. You will also have to re-install any other software you have.

    The specification you have listed is quite high for your usage. For instance, If you use cloud storage you don't need !Tb storage on the machine.

    I would take a look at some of the tablets that are available as well as laptops. Many tablets now come equipped with lightweight detachable keyboards. Tablets usually out perform similar specification laptops.
     
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    Rookery

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    Oct 17, 2010
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  • #12
    Oooer. Your suggesting an old man and change in the same post :D. No I've never done a back up but the other day I bought a Sandisk Ultra USB 3.0 in readiness for the event. I believe it to be plenty big enough to do the transfer. When I bought my current Toshiba laptop 3.5 years ago I also bought MS Office Home & Student for 1 PC and I have the product key but don't know if this will work again and take care of the Word & Excel side of things. I use Avast anti-virus which is a free down-load. I cant think of anything else. I only use the laptop for domestic things and always at home. I am nervous of cloud anything, worried that anything stored 'off-site' could be pinched by someone. Speed is not really important. I don't really want a tablet or a machine that comes in 2 pieces. I would have preferred a 15.4" screen as I have now rather than anything smaller. Blimey, it's hard work this shopping isn't it.:D
     
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    ffox

  • #13
    Rookery said:
    No I've never done a back up but the other day I bought a Sandisk Ultra USB 3.0 in readiness for the event.
    Click to expand...

    Okay. The first step is to get a data-file backup. Attach the Scandisk USB to the Tosh and launch File Explorer and copy the entire Documents folder under This PC to the USB device

    Do you use email? If you do and you store mails in folders, you may need help in copying that from one machine to another.

    When you get your new machine install Office (should be okay using your product key, though you may have to de-register it from your old machine) plug in the Scandisk USB and copy the documents folder back to the "Documents" folder under "This PC".
     
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    T

    The Byre

  • #14
    Rookery said:
    Oooer. Your suggesting an old man and change in the same post :D.
    Click to expand...
    I get old geezers trying to understand how to do things on-line or using a computer all the time. I show them what to do and they say yes and nod their heads and still don't get it, half the time.

    Most of the time, I discover that they are considerably younger than me!

    Come on Grandpa, get with the programme!

    (I shall now log off to practice my twerking moves!)
     
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    Rookery

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  • #17
    Yes it's me again. It occurs to me that my old Toshiba laptop does have some value in it. According to one of the retail sites, they estimate £30 so obviously the true value is higher, maybe even £50 and I could put this toward my new laptop. Assuming I've copied everything correctly from the old laptop to a new USB stick, and then on to new laptop, how 'clean' is the old laptop? There is nothing sinister on it just things like on-line banking, Paypal, work stuff, shopping, family and medical stuff. Obviously I don't want people getting hold of personal data, but is there a way of 'cleaning' the whole thing before I eBay it?
     
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    F

    ffox

  • #19
    Rookery said:
    Yes it's me again. It occurs to me that my old Toshiba laptop does have some value in it. According to one of the retail sites, they estimate £30 so obviously the true value is higher, maybe even £50 and I could put this toward my new laptop.
    Click to expand...

    For the sake of £30 - £50 less the cost of packing and shipping, I would keep it as a backup machine. If you copy all of your files to USB stick, clean your old laptop HDD, sell it, then buy a new laptop, you have no rollback point for recovery should anything go wrong.
    Keep the old laptop and you can fall back on it's use should anything go wrong with configuring the new machine.
     
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    Rookery

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  • #21
    Well I bought the HP15 from Argos. It seems quite a bit faster than the old one which I think confirmed it was on its way out. Mrs R did the data transfer for me onto the usb and she will do the other transfer at the end. I take your point about the back up so will probably keep the old machine jic. Thanks to all who contributed to my tale.
     
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    Rookery

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  • #24
    The HP 15 machine was from Argos but I could also have bought it from Curry's/PC World for the same £299. The Toshiba it replaced was bought by me new in April 2014 from Staples and this also cost £299. I think its fair to assume I've now got a machine that's a more modern and faster spec with greater storage for the same money. Now it's 'set up' to my liking, the desk top looks exactly like the old one so I'm pleased. I'm also pleased that Mrs R was able to remove the paid for MS Office from the old machine and add it to the new one. Everything is working well, it starts a bit faster and programmes open a bit faster. At first, the number lock key wouldn't work but that seems to have resolved itself, although I still cant find a light that says it's on or not. The touch pad is very sensitive but I daresay I'll get used to it.
     
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    Alan

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  • #27
    Well said slightly tongue in cheek, but unless you actually need windows, there are alternatives that
    Use less resource so you get better performance
    1. Are more secure
    2. Are cheaper
    3. Are more reliable
    The box pushers push Windows bundled with everything, but people should be aware there are (better) alternatives.
     
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    Alan

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  • #28
    I would say, now the OP has a new laptop, they have the older Toshiba to play with.

    They could now create a bootable USB on the new machine, with a Linux OS like lubuntu and boot the Toshiba up and see that they now have a very usable laptop that runs well. 15 minute job if you can follow basic instructions, and an introduction to the world without windows
     
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    AllUpHere

    AllUpHere

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  • #29
    Alan said:
    Well said slightly tongue in cheek, but unless you actually need windows, there are alternatives that
    Use less resource so you get better performance
    1. Are more secure
    2. Are cheaper
    3. Are more reliable
    The box pushers push Windows bundled with everything, but people should be aware there are (better) alternatives.
    Click to expand...
    I hear that all the time, but I really can't see how I would benefit. I use a cheapish (about 800 quid) Lenovo laptop with 16 gig ram and a ssd (with windows 10 pro) and fail to see how it could be much better. It starts within about 15 seconds or so and all applications start instantly and run flawlessly. I run bitdefender antivirus with occasional checks with Malwarebytes and super anti spyware.

    I've never once had a reliability problem, a security problem, or ever spent more than one day's takings on a laptop.

    I have put Ubuntu on a couple of old desktops just to have a play, but much prefer windows.
     
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    Alan

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  • #30
    At least you have tried it.

    The benefits to you are probably minimal. Maybe the £40 per year on bit defender ( assuming you are a business so paying ) if it's not broke for you why fix it?

    The OP had an old ( 3 and a half years isn't old ) laptop that was struggling. If they are not power users they could have saved the cost of a new laptop, if they are ok using libre office, or indeed created a chrome book ( see neverware ) if they are happy just using google docs drive sheets.

    Personally, as a developer it makes no sense for me to have a different desktop OS to my servers. I don't really want to 'fight' the OS all the time, use slightly different command syntax etc.
     
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    AllUpHere

    AllUpHere

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  • #31
    Alan said:
    At least you have tried it.

    The benefits to you are probably minimal. Maybe the £40 per year on bit defender ( assuming you are a business so paying ) if it's not broke for you why fix it?

    The OP had an old ( 3 and a half years isn't old ) laptop that was struggling. If they are not power users they could have saved the cost of a new laptop, if they are ok using libre office, or indeed created a chrome book ( see neverware ) if they are happy just using google docs drive sheets.

    Personally, as a developer it makes no sense for me to have a different desktop OS to my servers. I don't really want to 'fight' the OS all the time, use slightly different command syntax etc.
    Click to expand...
    The Op had never heard of a SSD and didn't know how to move programs from one machine to the other. I think he'd struggle with Linux in any form and would guess he doesn't even know what a command prompt is. At least with windows such a user can turn it on and use it.

    I completely understand your point of view. I'm sure if I were as savvy a computer user as you I'd use Linux too, but I'm not and Windows does everything I need it to do with no fuss.
     
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    F

    ffox

  • #32
    AllUpHere said:
    I completely understand your point of view. I'm sure if I were as savvy a computer user as you I'd use Linux too, but I'm not and Windows does everything I need it to do with no fuss.
    Click to expand...

    Sensible. Two years ago Windows was the OS of choice for 50% of users world wide. This market share has fallen slightly, though the market place has grown. Android went from less than 30% market share two years ago to over 40% last summer and has now fallen back slightly to around the same share as Windows. Linux enjoys just 0.7% of the market share.

    Linux is great, but it's not for the average user. The user interface will always play 'catch up' to the commercially driven MS and Google products.
     
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    Alan

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  • #33
    Just for clarity I wasn't pushing Linux as a viable solution for the OP - but the discussion sort of moved on.

    Basically a non tech savvy user is better off with a simple a solution as possible, turn it on and not have to do anything, and to that end perhaps a chrome book could possibly be a simple solution. I would also say the a Mac book is also a simple solution, and indeed so can a Linux machine ( see my later anecdote ).

    My personal experience with Windows machines turned out for consumers by the high street names, is there (at least was I haven't bought one for 5 years ) quite a lot of technical work to do to remove all the unnecessary bloatware, trial ware etc and then the need to procure an appropriate antivirus etc. Certainly wan't easy.

    ffox said:
    Linux is great, but it's not for the average user.
    Click to expand...

    In 2017 in terms of user interface the average user uses a browser for 90% of their work, and Chrome / Firefox look exactly the same on Linux, Mac & Windows. I would also say my 85 year old totally non techy mum uses a Ubuntu laptop and has been for the last 8 years - yes 8 years and it hasn't become unusable / slow down ... . ( I had nothing to do with the choice - my brother-in-law did ) and she never has a had a problem doing what she needs to do, which is basically email / searching on the web / looking at photos and printing the odd doc.

    When you say Linux is not for the average user, I think you are thinking of command line interface, and yes that is just a inappropriate for an average users as using the cmd prompt or PowerShell in Windows.
     
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    ffox

  • #34
    Alan said:
    My personal experience with Windows machines turned out for consumers by the high street names, is there (at least was I haven't bought one for 5 years )
    Click to expand...

    Windows 10 is a different animal to anything that has gone before. It has user interfaces that are similar in many ways to Android. It's populated with apps for specific functions. Easy to add new apps, easy to remove old apps.

    This is what most users want. When something stops on the machine, just chuck it out and replace it. If the machine itself slows down, or fails in some way, just reset it to factory settings, reinstall your apps (each one is usually just a one click install) and off you go.

    You'll excuse me if I point out that your mum has two technically capable support technicians in the family if she needs them.;) Most ordinary users have to pay for support, or do it themselves.

    Android and Windows provide simplicity.
     
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    Alan

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  • #35
    ffox said:
    You'll excuse me if I point out that your mum has two technically capable support technicians in the family if she needs them.;)
    Click to expand...

    Actually rather ironically all I have done on my mum's machine is replace a failed hard drive. However my 88 year old dad - that is a different matter every time I visit, practically the whole time is taken up fixing his Windows 7 machine, basically uninstalling things that he has installed like multiple anti-virus programs on top of each other, he is technically competent ( or should that be he thinks he is )and a perennial fiddler, he subscribes to computer magazines etc drives me mad!
     
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