Forumite Members › General Topics › Tech › PC Talk › 17" Laptop advice please
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PlaneMan.
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January 25, 2018 at 6:23 pm #16190
Evening all
My mum has recently moved in to a flat and her previous set up is a bit too big to be practical (Intel NUC with a 23″ monitor, full keyboard/mouse).
She’s after a 17″ laptop with a good size keyboard, that would be used (mainly but not exclusively) on a table with a usb mouse. She’s not a gamer (!), and the specs just need to be up to browsing, office and YouTube. No fixed budget, but it doesn’t need to be a powerhouse.
SSD would be preferred but not esssential if it comes with a spinner that can be replaced as I have a couple kicking about. DVD not needed but guessing most that size still have them – so with/without no issue.
Suggestionsl please – ta!
January 25, 2018 at 6:36 pm #16192Laptopsdirect have a few decent refurbs for what seem to be decent prices. 2.02% back through Top Cash Back as well.
January 25, 2018 at 7:16 pm #16197There can be quite a premium for 17″ screens.
However, £350 HP 17-ak014na
AMD A6-9220 Dual Core Processor
17.3″ HD+ Screen
Microsoft Windows 10 Home 64-bit
4GB RAM
1000GB HDD
DVD RW
Integrated AMD R4 Graphics
USB3 | HDMI | BluetoothReplacing the HDD is not for the fainthearted, it’s not designed to be taken apart https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3sXpKViBw44&vl=en-GB
The AMD will be a bit of a slug. I would be more inclined to the i3 version £479 HP 17-x065na White
Intel Core i3-6006U Dual Core Processor
17.3″ HD+ Screen
Microsoft Windows 10 Home 64-bit
8GB DDR4 RAM
2000GB HDD
DVD Rewriter
Integrated Graphics
USB3 | HDMI | BluetoothJanuary 25, 2018 at 7:27 pm #16198Thank you both – will have a nose. I’m only bothered about the SSD as she des like to turn things off (properly off!) at the drop of a hat. The NUC boots up in no time so just a bit worried that if the spinner takes a while to boot she’ll be less inclined to use it. I’ll have a look at all these options though – ta.
January 26, 2018 at 3:19 pm #16221Thank you both – will have a nose. I’m only bothered about the SSD as she des like to turn things off (properly off!) at the drop of a hat. The NUC boots up in no time so just a bit worried that if the spinner takes a while to boot she’ll be less inclined to use it. I’ll have a look at all these options though – ta.
My gran was like that. Laptop took an age to boot and would then struggle as it tried to update everything. So she barely used it, which just increased the problem, which meant it was used less, ad infinitum.
My aunt and mum bought her an iPad and she’s not looked back since!
"Everything looks interesting until you do it. Then you find it’s just another job" - Terry Pratchett
January 26, 2018 at 3:48 pm #16224yeah we tried my android tab and my work ipad but mum didn’t get on with the touch screen at all on either – and I really did try!
January 30, 2018 at 11:32 am #16422any ideas if this one might fit the bill? – 10% code PAYDAY10 (right accross Argos Ebay) brings it just under £300 – no idea about the celeron processor though.
January 30, 2018 at 3:07 pm #16428They aren’t going to be snappy. The Celeron is a dual core SOC and runs at 1.1Ghz bursting to 2.4Ghz.
Intel have been bumping brand names downwards. These are Apollo Lake family which are derived from the old Atoms. The quad core ones are the new Pentiums, but in true Intel fashion there is a quad core Celeron too. None of this is to be confused with desktop Celeron and Pentium CPUs, although if course you do see these SOCs being put in desktop chassis.
This is firmly the entry level of the entry level family. I don’t think there is a CPU of a lesser spec.
January 30, 2018 at 4:22 pm #16432Thanks for the advice Dave – I’ll swerve it and keep looking, its not ultra urgent
Cheers
March 19, 2018 at 9:28 am #17867How does this one look – 20% off in the Amazon Warehouse sale today
Ta
EDIT: There was only one available and I ordered it at £272 – free returns but if its a definite no-no I can cancel
March 19, 2018 at 11:25 am #17871Too late to comment, but I would have taken her to a PC World outlet and let her look at the full range of makes and sizes. My wife thought that she wanted a large screen laptop until she got to play with a 13 inch screen then she decided weight and the i/o (keyboard feel, mouse pad function and or touch screen were) the most important elements.
In the end she settled on a Lenova MIIX that was on special (not at PCWorld), and loves its pad/laptop functionality.
March 19, 2018 at 11:54 am #17875Ed I should have added she has used my youngest’s 17″ laptop, as well as my work 15″ and personal 12″ – she definitely wants the 17″. It will be pretty static, and will be used with a mouse. Its definitely the right form factor, just concerned about the specs really. I’ve got a spare W10 key but might see if I can upgrade it (from 8.1) gratis first – seems to be possible for most still.
By the way I had a Miix for a while – really well made bit of kit. Was one of those things I bought but didn’t need (there’s a lot of ’em!). I re-sold it on ebay for what I paid for it, but it was a very nice bit of kit. Actually felt like a laptop when the tablet was docked, unlike most (including the Surface).
Thanks for the reply.
March 19, 2018 at 12:28 pm #1787713 inch screen then she decided weight and the i/o (keyboard feel, mouse pad function and or touch screen were) the most important elements. In the end she settled on a Lenova MIIX that was on special (not at PCWorld), and loves its pad/laptop functionality.
I wish someone would mention this to the corporate world. Got given a monster 15″ laptop that I’m expected to use on the train when I’m travelling.
No chance – I use my personal much smaller, half the weight, Lenovo 710S. Doesn’t give me back ache lugging it around London and will fit (just about) on the tables on the train if I don’t get a table seat.
"Everything looks interesting until you do it. Then you find it’s just another job" - Terry Pratchett
March 19, 2018 at 2:07 pm #1787813″ for senior management only bub. All my years in Corporate IT that’s how it works.
In the early days (the 90s) when I was the Computer Manager for South Wales & South West and we were still making it up as we went along I used to try and fit kit to needs. As I was the budget holder as well as the (only) support person I had only myself to answer to. Until senior management went to meetings and saw what other senior managers were turning up with.
At first that was just the fact it was a laptop, then we had dial up (to get your email), colour printers, etc. Thankfully I’d moved into networking and servers when the Blackberry years started.
March 19, 2018 at 3:57 pm #17879I agree with Drezha, back in the 90s when I spent more time travelling on planes than at home, weight was the premium item. Only auditors got lumbered with the really heavy 5kg+ bricks (we had to slow them down somehow!) .
My own preferred piece of travel kit in those days was a <1kg Toshiba Libretto – heaven knows how I managed huge spreadsheets on a 6 inch screen – my eyes must have been 500% better than they are today! That said iirc the Toshiba bricks for the auditors only had a screen size of ~12 inches. Everyone must have had really sharp vision in those days.
The other advantage with the Libretto was the battery life, full charge plus a spare (small) battery pack took me right across the Pacific giving me at least an extra 6 hours to get ahead of the game.
March 19, 2018 at 5:08 pm #1788012 or 13 for me. A 17 feels like a house. Though id always take an 8″ tablet over a 10″ for the same reasons.
Today it’s not about the weight as even the 17s are light enough. It’s the size that I dislike. Though my wife likes a 15″, or rather liked, over my 12″ thinkpad, cos her eyes are poor. If she upped the dpi to what she likes, hardly any text fits on a 12″. She would of probably preferred a 17″, but she fornd the 15″ to heavy. In the end she moved to my xps1330, hated thr 13″ screen, but was about half the weight of her 15″ dell.
She now doesn’t use a laptop at all. Phone and tablet only. Mostly phone.
March 19, 2018 at 5:38 pm #17882All true chaps but this laptop will sit on a table with a mouse connected 99.9% of the time and not go anywhere – anyone got an idea if it is worth £273 or not! Ta!!
March 19, 2018 at 6:05 pm #17883I used to travel with a Toshiba T3100 from the Middle East to the USA back in the 1980s It weighed t.5 Kg and the Graphics: 640×400; 640×200; Textmode: 80×25. Back then, I also took along a printer to print out agreements when they were concluded, now, anything less than a full 23inch screen feels like to much hard work – but I no longer travel.
I did take a 6.5lbs Dell on holiday back in 2009 mainly to store holiday pictures from the trip. That was our last holiday. I used a back pack to carry that beast and found that it eased my back problems by forcing me to stand up with better posture. A computing device is just a tool, like any tool it must match the job and the users needs and situation. Eyesight and mobility are key considerations along with the role the user requires to fulfil.
March 19, 2018 at 6:16 pm #17885Apparently the CPU is very close to the one in my Chromebook, performance wise. Of course Chrome OS and Android aren’t as lardy as Windows but I reckon you’ll be fine once booted up. OFC a SSD would be nice………
March 19, 2018 at 6:28 pm #17886Late correction, my earlier weight for the T3100 should have read 7.5Kg not the nonsense I typed in error.
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