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New laptop again... (Read 4159 times)

El Mocho

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New laptop again...
June 22, 2016, 08:33:49 am
Bought a Dell one last time...

http://ukbouldering.com/board/index.php/topic,19302.0.html

Think it is starting to die. In general been happy with the it (got the business one from the outlet so had the 3 years warranty which I did use)

Will probably get another from the outlet store.

Main things:
Robust as I lug it around a bit and I am not always gentle.
Warranty etc - use it for work as well as life so bit buggered if it breaks.
Decent screen - watch iplayer n shit on it few times a week (we have no tv or other computer - may try to get a better way of watching tv at some point if ever have too much money...)
Otherwise just normal use, bit of photo/video editing, internet, word/excel etc.

I was gonna pretty much pick a random one off: http://outlet.euro.dell.com/Online/InventorySearch.aspx?brandId=3&c=uk&cs=ukdfb1&l=en&s=dfb

but is there anything I should be getting in particular. Would prefer to spend less ££ but is it worth getting the higher price ones (why do they cost more in general?)

thanks

sxrxg

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#1 Re: New laptop again...
June 22, 2016, 09:52:57 pm
What size and weight are you looking at? Is it mainly desk based usage or out and about where battery life is critical? Do you do any CAD, FEA, gaming and need a graphics card?

I have been through purchasing a new laptop recently and the above need thinking about before the market can be narrowed down.

fatneck

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#2 Re: New laptop again...
November 10, 2016, 02:26:42 pm
Bump!!

Our Dell laptop needs replacing as it's old and whilst we had it re-booted (or something) a couple of years ago it's started slowing down. Also I can't edit film on it (don't ask me why, I don't know).

We use an ipad for lots of stuff and have a Fire Stick so I only really need one for editing photos and video as I have shot a lot of footage recently and want to make it watchable!

Any advice appreciated...


El Mocho

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#4 Re: New laptop again...
January 20, 2021, 04:38:19 pm
It's that 5 year cycle... think my current laptop is on it's last legs. Last few I have had have been the reconditioned etc Dell ones and been happy. Think I tend to get the business ones as they seem tougher, which is good.

My current one: Dell Latitude 3550, intel i5-5200u, 8GB.

In general it's been fine. I tend to use it for writing stuff, internet, little bits of video/photo editing, watching tv, listening to music. I never play games and mostly I use it plugged in rather than on battery. When I do take it traveling it's mostly work stuff so mostly travelling by car so doesn't need to be super small (and watching tv/photos etc nice to have decent size screen.

I would like a few usb slots, and a micro card? slot (card from camera), and for the odd time I have to do lecture the ability to fit in the lead from a projector.

Don't think I'm bothered by touch screen or anything fancy and I've got a nice plug in speaker for sound.

Budget around £500 but happy to spend less and happy to go a bit higher.

Does anyone understand any of the numbers/recommendations from here:

https://outlet.euro.dell.com/Online/InventorySearch.aspx?brandId=3&c=uk&cs=ukdfb1&l=en&s=dfb&dgc=IR&cid=296386&lid=5667689

or have any other recs?

Ta

danm

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#5 Re: New laptop again...
January 20, 2021, 06:41:11 pm
I put together a non-geeks guide for a friend so they could understand what all the numbers mean.

Memory (GB of RAM) - more will speed up video editing etc think of it as the size of your desk.

Storage - how many filing cabinets you have got, and how quickly they open. An SSD makes booting up and starting programs much faster, check how much space your existing programs take up and get twice this size, data can go on a normal HDD if needed, generally cheaper that way.

Graphic card - will speed up video editing generally, so used by gamers and content creators alike. RAM size of the GPU is a good indicator of its potency.

CPU - faster clock speed (GHz) and more cores is better but most laptops overheat and throttle performance unless spending big bucks, so don't worry too much about this.

Usability - people focus on numbers and forget basic stuff. Do you do a lot of zoom meetings? If so, check position and quality of the webcam, as many are terrible and positioned to do an up the nose shot. Read some reviews! Do you need a backlit keyboard? Plan on sitting in the garden working? Check the screen brightness figures and reviews, cheaper machines often have a dull screen (300nits up is good).

When you get it, try and remove all the crappy bloatware you don't want and need.

T_B

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#6 Re: New laptop again...
January 20, 2021, 06:55:09 pm
Some useful comparison tools linked by crzylgs on this other thread
https://ukbouldering.com/board/index.php/topic,6137.msg604180.html#msg604180

El Mocho

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#7 Re: New laptop again...
January 20, 2021, 08:01:27 pm
Thanks Dan, Tom (and crzylgs etc on the other thread). Picked a random one off the dell site where all the numbers and letters seemed to match some of what folk said.


SamT

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#8 Re: New laptop again...
January 20, 2021, 09:34:31 pm
What exactly is wrong with your old one.  spec sounds fine for what you want.

Does it have an SSD hard drive, or an old school one.   Simply replacing the HDD with an SSD and a fresh install of windows and it should be like new, (or even faster than when you first got it on account of the ssd). 

(unless things are physically going wrong with it, such as screen cracked, usb ports knackered. keyboard being dicky etc).

iain

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#9 Re: New laptop again...
January 21, 2021, 09:56:54 am
Does it have an SSD hard drive, or an old school one.   Simply replacing the HDD with an SSD and a fresh install of windows and it should be like new, (or even faster than when you first got it on account of the ssd). 

(unless things are physically going wrong with it, such as screen cracked, usb ports knackered. keyboard being dicky etc).
This ^^^ exactly.

The spec of machines are so far above what's actually needed these days that if it's not frustrating you with what you're currently doing on it and isn't broken keep using it. Except for swapping out HDD for a new SSD.

Though if you just fancy something new go for it.

El Mocho

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#10 Re: New laptop again...
January 21, 2021, 11:57:18 am
No it's def getting pretty fucked. Keys don't work, various problems turning on etc and then the other day the fan failed completely. It had some major warning screen thing take over and after a couple of attempts and 24hrs rest it did start again. This morning a similar screen came up accompanied by repeated warning bleeps. Something about  'critical failure' of something. It did start after a bit. It is an old HHD not SSD but with the age, knackered other bits etc it doesn't really seem worth trying to repair/upgrade. I'm just happy I managed to get off the most recent, unbacked up docs and pics off it.


SamT

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#11 Re: New laptop again...
January 21, 2021, 12:06:13 pm
Fair do's.  Those kind of warnings can be related to hard drive failure though. (corrupt/missing files causing issues)

Even if you get a new laptop, Might be worth slotting an SSD in (50 quid of amazon) and putting a fresh install of windows on, you might surprise yourself, then you've got a spare for the kids or whatever.

 

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