Laptops – your views please

[dwynnehugh]

Ebuyer are currently offering the below
HP 255 G7 AMD Ryzen 3 Laptop         Ebuyer Q/Find 875173

AMD Ryzen 3 2200U 2.5GHz
8GB DDR4 + 1TB HDD
15.6 HD LED + DVDRW
Radeon Vega 3 Graphics
Windows 10 Pro

£370

My old Lenovo T410 lappy has died so I need a new one – mainly office requirements only – some web surfing – no games, no films etc. etc. mainly to run Office and such like. They are also offering a 3 yr extended warranty for £39 (i.e. 1 + 2yrs on site).

I appreciate that this is not an SSD m/c but is the benefit of 1TB worth the quick boot time of the SSD – I could add a portable HDD for storage.

Any views or opinions would be much appreciated – the ££ is not that much of an issue but then I don’t want to go OTT and use may be limited and less than my desktop can expect in the same time period.

The more you meet people the more you understand why Noah took animals instead of humans

[Drezha]

I would recommend an SSD over a hard drive for the reason you state – adding external storage is potentially easier to do than add an SSD (laptop dependant).

"Everything looks interesting until you do it. Then you find it’s just another job" - Terry Pratchett

[Richard]

I tend to agree with Drezha, though I would also add that you need to assess your own personal need profile as to what use you will really obtain from any portable given you expect to major on the desk top. It may well be that a very portable might be more suitable, or that a larger screen weigh in more heavily. My own portable must be about 10 years old now but it has not left the house in years. The battery suggests that it is failing but I am not sure it is worth spending even £20~30 on a new one. It has only been used on mains and only to perform back ups and updates for several years. The very last thing you want is an occasional use machine that takes so long to start up that it is time to put it back in the cupboard before it is ready or weighs so much and is so uncomfortable to carry or use that you wish you had not bothered.

It is a very personal issue.

[dwynnehugh]

One use it will get is by my daughter, she works at Bham University and is undertaking some course which will require a laptop – she was going to use mine until it died this AM (life’s a bi*ch innit!!). Anyway it was W7 etc. so it may now be time to upgrade via my business as I sometimes need a lappy for statement taking etc. The DVDRW is something inbuilt which alleviates the need for an ext DVD, a 1Tb HDD again alleviates the need for an ext HDD but weighed off against boot up time etc.

Once she has finished her course she will hand it back to me as she has a Chrome Book already.

Decisions, decisions!!

The more you meet people the more you understand why Noah took animals instead of humans

[Ed P]

If your daughter is going to be the main user for a time ask her for her ‘wants’ list. Weight or screen size may be important drivers in her eyes. Windows 7 is obviously not an option unless the laptop is second-hand (nothing wrong with that on a vfm basis except no long-term update support).

[dwynnehugh]

Ed P – not a question that I can really ask – this will allow her to work at home / weekends etc. If I ask she will say “No, I don’t want one” and probably go to work to do her course!!

I also think that most times it will be used in her flat so portability will probably not be a big issue I suspect.

The more you meet people the more you understand why Noah took animals instead of humans

[Ed P]

Fair enough but Dave always recommends going for a ‘used’ laptop as laptops lose a huge amount of money in the first year. The only advantage I can see in a brand-new job is that it may give better battery life.

[dwynnehugh]

Thanks one and all, I will hang on to see if Dave latches onto this one and see what he may suggest.

The T410 was a re-furbished unit which I purchased in 2014 from Aria – £200 I think it was. Has been used but was OK for my needs, so really hers will not differ a great deal. She has her Chrome Book for web  surfing and wasting time!! ???

The more you meet people the more you understand why Noah took animals instead of humans

[PlaneMan]

A Chromebook with Android support (even better Linux and Android) is as useful IMO as any Windoze laptop.

Having said that mum has a T420 that might be available, has a 120gb SSD (I think, would need to check) and it had a new battery when it was bought as a refurb. Hasn’t missed a beat. It’s hardly used anymore, sometimes for a bit of printing that’s it.

My X220 is only kept as sometimes I need to help people with Windoze and it helps me keep my knowledge up on it. Not used much either.

Android/Chrome OS pretty much all the way for me and mum.

[Dave Rice]

I’ve bought half a dozen of those HP Ryzens this year, but the 256GB SSD version. Very nice machines and cheaper with FullHD screens too! Link

Refurbished I’ve bought nothing but the HP EliteBook 840 G1 14-inch Ultrabook Laptop PC (Intel Core i5 4th Gen, 8GB Memory, 180GB SSD Now £300 at MicroDream.

Take your pick, they cost the same.

The G1 is a fantastic machine for those that want a small laptop or travel. The 256GB SSD Ryzen has a Full HD screen which is much better if you work with larger spreadsheets or documents. Note the 1TB one you linked to only has 1366 x 768

Both are very nippy and that is of course down to the SSD and helped by 8GB of ram and decent CPU. Customers of both, which includes my Mrs (a G1), are happy with their purchases and recommending them to others.

[dwynnehugh]

Hi Dave,

Very many thanks have gone with the HP Ryzen with their 3yr additional warranty (1+2) so hopefully all will be well.

Many thanks to you all for your inputs, suggestions and advice.

The more you meet people the more you understand why Noah took animals instead of humans

[Dave Rice]

Glad you noticed the warranty, knew I forgot to mention something!

For the others, basically after registration the HP app, which is worth keeping, offers you a very good extended warranty deal. Everyone I know has gone for it, I did the same with a similar offer from Lenovo. IIRC it’s <£90 for onsite and replacement if repair not possible.

MicroDream do an extended warranty for the G1 too, 3 years RTB for £30.

[dwynnehugh]

Thanks Dave.

The more you meet people the more you understand why Noah took animals instead of humans

[dwynnehugh]

An even better deal, I ordered mine yesterday at £249.98 + VAT, today £258.29 + VAT!!

The more you meet people the more you understand why Noah took animals instead of humans

[dwynnehugh]

Well it arrived and tbh it’s brilliant, great screen etc. etc and I’m very pleased with it.

Just one problem – my first forage into W10 – argh!!!!!!!! Now realise why I stuck to W7 but my days thereon are numbered!!

The more you meet people the more you understand why Noah took animals instead of humans

[Dave Rice]

Use the search facilities, they are very good. There is absolutely no need to wander through menus looking for things.

[JayCeeDee]

When I first moved from W7 – W10 I couldn’t get my head around it either. It was when I twigged that it can still use programmes in a PC fashion, but seems designed to integrate more smoothly with apps. Mine is currently split down the middle regarding programmes/apps, but more and more apps are going on there than programmes.

I now think of W10 as a desktop version of my phone/iPad, ( without the touchscreen ) rather than when I thought of the phone/iPads as a mini-desktop.

Hope that makes sense!!?

[blacklion1725]

must admit I still dislike the W10 menu. Searching works well, I just don’t like it. I have important stuff pinned to the start menu and/or task bar – but the absence of any text in the start menu (just icons) still grates…..don’t like it….never will….but can work round it/tolerate it.

[Boris]

blacklion1725 wrote:

must admit I still dislike the W10 menu. Searching works well, I just don’t like it. I have important stuff pinned to the start menu and/or task bar – but the absence of any text in the start menu (just icons) still grates…..don’t like it….never will….but can work round it/tolerate it.

Just use Open Shell ?  (Formerly Classic-Start) 4.4.135

https://www.majorgeeks.com/files/details/classic_start.html

Never trust an atom - they make up everything !

[The Duke]

I just picked up a referb 2015 thinkpad carbon for £250 it has an i7 (can’t recall which) , 8GB ram and a 240gb ssd.

To my surprise it has one of them led function key rows that changes to other keys. Thought that was an apple first? Lol.

The keyboard isn’t deserving of the thinkpad title, but it’s a snappy little thing, and also nice and slim. Looks a bit cooler than my normal Think pads I go for. However I may end up down grading back to my old one, cjidt for the keyboard. Time will tell. It is a nice little machine though.

[Author]

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