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Need to Buy a Windows Laptop - Page 2
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Need to Buy a Windows Laptop

2

Comments

  • @codelock said:

    @mhosting_in said:

    @raindog308 said:
    Everything I buy for myself is either Mac or old laptops I turn into Linux.

    But now my daughter needs a Windows-based laptop for school and other projects. If you were going to buy a laptop today, where would you look?

    I don’t have any preset notions or brand preferences – just something that won’t fall apart, has an SSD or NVME drive, and is an i3+ (she needs more horsepower than an Atom).

    If I asked her about requirements, she'd add "can play Sims 4 and Minecraft".

    Acer Swift 3 Laptop **16-17 hours battery backup **
    8 Gb Ram [ ram is solder so don't go with 4gb ram]
    i5 processor
    512 GB SSD
    Nvidia graphic cards

    very positive reviews about this laptop.
    this laptop battery may be 1+ days or 2 days battery.
    I think its world-first laptop which claim16-17 hours battery backups.

    That's not possible unless it runs on arm also advertised is not always true most intel laptops can last 10 hour in best case scenario

    Acer mentions in their website also https://www.acer.com/ac/en/IN/content/series/swift3
    you can confirm with the Acer company.

  • pedagangpedagang Member
    edited August 2020

    for common user, especially boy and girl, still recommend Dell, better sound and graphic, etc
    but for me, i am satisfy with toshiba

  • letboxletbox Member, Patron Provider
    edited August 2020
  • UnixfyUnixfy Member
    edited August 2020

    @mhosting_in said: I know Asus is cheaper but not good reviews.
    battery backup 4-5 hours in Asus.

    I suggest you read some reviews on this laptop before making a comment. I understand ASUS has some bad devices, but this is not one of them.

    Additionally, I was able to get 9 hours of battery life streaming YouTube at 4K on my machine. Again, please conduct some research before attempting to make claims.

  • debaserdebaser Member
    edited August 2020

    I understand why a lot of people are suggesting to buy a Thinkpad, however this is just a laptop for a (young) teenager. So the use case is not really that it has to last for 10+ years. Also, I don’t think a teenage girl would want that kind of beast. Ideapad range by Lenovo is okay, but has its downsides.

    In my opinion a Dell Inspiron 15 5000 (The 15 5505 to be specific) would be very good in this particular case. Pretty solid, without getting heavy or bulky and they’re pretty to look at too.

    A Huawei MateBook D 15 AMD might be a good deal too, as are various Asus VivoBook laptops with a Ryzen. In that last case you’d want to check them out in store as the build quality varies a bit.

    I normally go for a BTO/tailor made laptop, which usually means a good deal as well. Might be worth to look around a bit in your area.

    Thanked by 1raindog308
  • doghouchdoghouch Member
    edited August 2020

    @jar said:
    Because of MacBooks I’ve had a really hard time with trackpads on windows laptops. None of them are anywhere near as comfortable and accurate, they’re just not. After trying again and again I found one laptop brand that I enjoyed using the trackpad, and everything else about it’s build quality as well: Razer.

    I really regretted going cheaper with an ASUS Ryzen laptop that was just as good as my Razer on paper, but the build quality wasn’t great. If I picked it up while it was on, the case would actively bend to its weight and the fans would hit against plastic, making an awful noise. Trying to accurately click on things with the trackpad made me look like an old man trying to use a computer for the first time. It cost less, and I paid a lot more for having to replace it because I made a mistake by buying it.

    That was my most recent venture into Windows laptops and my purpose was gaming, so it’s not a 1:1 comparison. Hopefully it’s some interesting data points though.

    This. I switched from a 2012 MBP to a near max spec IdeaPad 730s (i7-8565U, 2 TB3 ports, 512 GB NVMe) and I still find myself longing for the smooothness of an Apple trackpad.

    Windows Precision trackpads have come a long way but even ten year old MBPs have nicer trackpads than 99% of current-gen Windows laptops.

    tl;dr I’m probably going to sell this laptop and replace it with a quad core MBA.

    Thanked by 2jar raindog308
  • XPS 13

  • JustVPSJustVPS Member, Host Rep

    I will give my opinion in support of the macbook trackpad. There is no such level of interaction with the system and the cursor as on a macbook on any windows laptop. However, if you set the task of buying an undersized laptop and basically on windows, then this is definitely Dell XPS, since there is no point in overpaying for a MacBook and installing windows on it. You won't get the full trackpad implementation.

    Thanked by 1raindog308
  • TejyTejy Member

    MacBook Pro 16" 2020.
    No, I would recommand a Thinkpad, with an amazing manufacturing quality...
    Thinkpad X1 is just perfect.

  • raindog308raindog308 Administrator, Veteran

    @Tejy said: Thinkpad X1 is just perfect.

    They're also 30%+ more than my stated budget...

  • elliotcelliotc Member
    edited August 2020

    Ultrabook is suggested if weight and size is important. Zenbook or xps is my personal pick.

    Thinkpad E series is not "ThinkPad".

  • TejyTejy Member

    @raindog308 said:

    @Tejy said: Thinkpad X1 is just perfect.

    They're also 30%+ more than my stated budget...

    Old generations are still really good!

    Thanked by 1poisson
  • @Tejy said:

    @raindog308 said:

    @Tejy said: Thinkpad X1 is just perfect.

    They're also 30%+ more than my stated budget...

    Old generations are still really good!

    Second this. The X1s look good too, and super light!

  • nbnnbn Member

    I just got the new acer swift 3 with a ryzen chip. . . geekbenches higher than new macbook pro's at $650

  • nbnnbn Member

    @mhosting_in said:

    @raindog308 said:
    Everything I buy for myself is either Mac or old laptops I turn into Linux.

    But now my daughter needs a Windows-based laptop for school and other projects. If you were going to buy a laptop today, where would you look?

    I don’t have any preset notions or brand preferences – just something that won’t fall apart, has an SSD or NVME drive, and is an i3+ (she needs more horsepower than an Atom).

    If I asked her about requirements, she'd add "can play Sims 4 and Minecraft".

    Acer Swift 3 Laptop **16-17 hours battery backup **
    8 Gb Ram [ ram is solder so don't go with 4gb ram]
    i5 processor
    512 GB SSD
    Nvidia graphic cards

    very positive reviews about this laptop.
    this laptop battery may be 1+ days or 2 days battery.
    I think its world-first laptop which claim16-17 hours battery backups.

    Why on earth would you buy the intel chip version when they make a ryzen for basically the same cost and 1.5x the performance. . . literally. . . compare the intel swift 3 geekbench to the ryzen swift 3, the ryzen destroys the intel.

  • verovero Member, Host Rep

    Some Lenovo, Dell models have the ability to use one PCIe drive and one traditional 2.5" disk. I find it quite convenient. Looks like 10th gen Intel laptops are getting slightly cheaper, but that may be only few models I found. Still Ryzen U4500 destroys them. Perhaps worth to wait a bit for laptops with 4000 series Ryzens to become more widespread (at least in my region there aren't many available yet).

  • mhosting_inmhosting_in Member
    edited August 2020

    @nbn said:

    @mhosting_in said:

    @raindog308 said:
    Everything I buy for myself is either Mac or old laptops I turn into Linux.

    But now my daughter needs a Windows-based laptop for school and other projects. If you were going to buy a laptop today, where would you look?

    I don’t have any preset notions or brand preferences – just something that won’t fall apart, has an SSD or NVME drive, and is an i3+ (she needs more horsepower than an Atom).

    If I asked her about requirements, she'd add "can play Sims 4 and Minecraft".

    Acer Swift 3 Laptop **16-17 hours battery backup **
    8 Gb Ram [ ram is solder so don't go with 4gb ram]
    i5 processor
    512 GB SSD
    Nvidia graphic cards

    very positive reviews about this laptop.
    this laptop battery may be 1+ days or 2 days battery.
    I think its world-first laptop which claim16-17 hours battery backups.

    Why on earth would you buy the intel chip version when they make a ryzen for basically the same cost and 1.5x the performance. . . literally. . . compare the intel swift 3 geekbench to the ryzen swift 3, the ryzen destroys the intel.

    ryzen is good for gaming. but if you compare for apps open like firefox, chrome intel i5 is better performance.

  • I don't look at Geekbench scores for laptops because I think their main role is to be able to last for as long as possible on battery. If I want to game, I am going with a desktop. As long as the processor is good enough for heavy multitasking of typical working applications, I would look at the power consumption and battery life.

  • TheKillerTheKiller Member
    edited August 2020

    Ideapad slim 7 is available on Staples.
    http://www.staples.com/lenovo-ideapad-slim-7-14-laptop-intel-i5-8gb-memory-512gb-ssd-windows-10-home-slate-grey-82a4000mus/product_24435793

    I would say excellent device for $699. Metal built, Color accurate screen, thunderbolt, USB C charging, slim profile and good battery life.

    Thanked by 1pedagang
  • raindog308raindog308 Administrator, Veteran

    @TheKiller said: Ideapad slim 7 is available on Staples.

    http://www.staples.com/lenovo-ideapad-slim-7-14-laptop-intel-i5-8gb-memory-512gb-ssd-windows-10-home-slate-grey-82a4000mus/product_24435793

    I would say excellent device for $699. Metal built, Color accurate screen, thunderbolt, USB C charging, slim profile and good battery life.

    That's nice.

    @debaser said: In my opinion a Dell Inspiron 15 5000 (The 15 5505 to be specific) would be very good in this particular case. Pretty solid, without getting heavy or bulky and they’re pretty to look at too.

    I've had a variety of Dells and they have been pretty solid.

    @TheKiller said: IdeaPad Slim 7 selling at BHphotovideo for $769.

    Very close to what I ended up getting:

    https://www.newegg.com/gray-lenovo-flex-5-everyday-value/p/1TS-000E-0JS09?Item=9SIA686BF38809

    Largely because it's nearly identical to one her sister bought on her own and sis is happy with it. Considered this ThinkPad:

    https://www.newegg.com/black-lenovo-thinkpad-e15-20rd005hus-mainstream/p/2WC-000J-00B46?Item=2WC-000J-00B46&Description=lenovo laptop&cm_re=lenovo_laptop--2WC-000J-00B46--Product&quicklink=true

    If it had been for me, I probably would have gotten the ThinkPad...OK, if it was me I would get a Mac or an X1 LOL. Anyway, I value ruggedness (I still have a T7200-era ThinkPad that is a tank), but my daughter wants to play some games as well (e.g., Sims and Minecraft) so the more consumer-style graphics is better. Also 16GB of RAM. Touchscreens on laptops are silly and lack of an ethernet irks me but these things won't matter in this case.

    She's a pretty responsible kid so hopefully ruggedness won't be an issue...she's been struggling along with an ancient Acer Atom but all the at-home-zoom-meeting classroom stuff this year kind of pushed it over the edge.

    Thanks for all the advice, folks!

  • The ThinkPad E14 Gen 2 is pretty close to what you ended up getting: https://www.lenovo.com/us/en/laptops/thinkpad/thinkpad-e-series/ThinkPad-E14-Gen2-AMD/p/22TPE14E4A2

    Lenovo's Thinkpad business class notebooks are legendary in terms of being lasting and also with really comfortable keyboards for typing. No other laptops I have used come close to the Thinkpad's keyboard, which I think is really important for studies but well, the overall look is certain a bit boring compared to the Flex.

    The Lenovo E class entry-level Thinkpads are really a good deal now especially the Gen 2s because they are crushing much more expensive Intels in terms of price-performance ratio. Highly recommended if anyone is in the market now for a new and durable Windows-based notebook. The price is really good for the performance you are getting.

  • I love the keyboards of the Thinkpads. I've been left with the impression they're very long lasting devices with good upgradeability. However, every time I give Windows a chance, I just can't help but feel like it was all made with bare minimum attention to detail and lack of consistency.

    Even their office software, the industry standard, simple things like character corruptions with German letters when a CSV file is imported.. They still haven't natively sorted that, you have to correct it yourself. It does not just work like I am so comfortably used to with Pages, Numbers.

    These are not things I used to care about it until I got a Mac 8 years ago. Since then, it's been hard to like anything else. As for value, the Macs will retain it for longer than any other branded computer.

    Try to setup bootcamp or VMWare maybe? I occasionally fire up a VMWare Windows machine for work.

    Though, it's probably a bad time to buy a Mac too, as all of them will be upgraded to Apple Silicon very soon.

  • Recently got this - https://www.bestbuy.ca/en-ca/product/acer-aspire-5-15-6-laptop-silver-intel-ci5-1035g1-512gb-ssd-20gb-ram-windows-10/14655796

    Solid performance, good battery backup. Volume is pretty decent (usually other laptops I found give really poor volume). It is 800 CAD, probably cheaper in USD. What wowed me was the 20GB RAM (not upgradable though). Relatively light weight (as compared to other 15.6" laptops I saw).

  • I would go with a used chrome book or a Dell latitude E Series. you can find them on craigslist or a good price.

  • Everyone suggesting Lenovo but for some reason you're scared of Huawei.

    Anyway if that Lenovo comes with windows pre-installed Wireshark the hell out of it. Not to mention Microsoft's own little spying here and there

  • Good choice. Ryzen 4k is high-performance beast for low-end price...

  • darkimmortaldarkimmortal Member
    edited September 2020

    @JustVPS said:
    I will give my opinion in support of the macbook trackpad. There is no such level of interaction with the system and the cursor as on a macbook on any windows laptop. However, if you set the task of buying an undersized laptop and basically on windows, then this is definitely Dell XPS, since there is no point in overpaying for a MacBook and installing windows on it. You won't get the full trackpad implementation.

    Unfortunately the achilles heel of macbook trackpads is their forced mouse acceleration. The tight integration of scrolling etc is amazing, but the acceleration ruins it for me - I can get stuff done more quickly on a windows precision trackpad with acceleration disabled (registry tweak), as linear movement is possible to develop muscle memory for

    Relating to the OP, macbooks are not great to run windows, for a given model at least make sure it supports precision touchpad drivers and that battery life is not nerfed too badly compared to macos. The old touchpad driver for macbooks on windows is worse than classic synaptics drivers etc

  • netomxnetomx Moderator, Veteran

    I am using a ASUS ZenBook with a Ryzen 5 series 4000... works very good

  • ClouviderClouvider Member, Patron Provider

    Buy Mac, go for Parallels for her, she’ll be fine :-)

  • Get her a Thinkpad with an i3... great battery life and the most durable model.

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