Buying a Laptop: The current Generation

glic83

glic83 wrote: »

Would the Lenovo mentioned above be the best bang for buck at the lower end? I need a new laptop, have a brand new 240gb SSD so could put this in a laptop if it comes with a 1 TB mechanical drive. Ideally a 1080p screen and an i3/i5 or Ryzen processor.

Any thoughts on this seems a solid price for the specs
https://www.hotukdeals.com/deals/lenovo-14-full-hd-laptop-v330-14arr-ryzen-5-2500u-256gb-ssd-8gb-ram-35478-ebay-ebuyer-ends-midnight-3218733

that's decent yes.

battery life the only thing that is not so great.

or spend a bit more (600) on lenovo.ie and get the 530s 14 which is all metal build for the ryzen 2500u version with 8gb ram and 256gb ssd.

glic83

glasso wrote: »

that's decent yes.

battery life the only thing that is not so great.

or spend a bit more (600) on lenovo.ie and get the 530s 14 which is all metal build for the ryzen 2500u version with 8gb ram and 256gb ssd.

Price is gone back up now, so the only difference between the 330 v the 530 is the metal build everything else seems to be the same, is the battery a higher capacity?

Suckit

Looking for a laptop for a relative in college, budget is €350.
I haven't looked much, but I am looking at the the HP 255 G7 - AMD R3-2200U/8GB/256GB SSD.
Almost exactly €350 delivered. Are there any better options available?

glic83

Suckit wrote: »

Looking for a laptop for a relative in college, budget is €350.
I haven't looked much, but I am looking at the the HP 255 G7 - AMD R3-2200U/8GB/256GB SSD.
Almost exactly €350 delivered. Are there any better options available?

Link? Can't see it anywhere for that price.

Suckit

glic83 wrote: »

Link? Can't see it anywhere for that price.

https://www.0815.eu/656566728 + mailboxde.com
UK/Irish Keyboard is on ebay for £10 - £15

I think that sale ends at midnight tonight. (11pm here)

glic83

Suckit wrote: »

https://www.0815.eu/656566728 + mailboxde.com
UK/Irish Keyboard is on ebay for £10 - £15

I think that sale ends at midnight tonight. (11pm here)

Do they ship to Ireland? Says for delivery outside of Germany you need to contact them. They also say they don't ship to packaging stations, I'm presuming that's the likes of mailboxde.com, looks a sweet deal to me if you can get it.

Suckit

glic83 wrote: »

Do they ship to Ireland? Says for delivery outside of Germany you need to contact them. They also say they don't ship to packaging stations, I'm presuming that's the likes of mailboxde.com, looks a sweet deal to me if you can get it.

I'm not sure, I've an account with them from a few months back and send things to a friend of mine in Germany. He then sends it to me with GLS or DPD, usually works out around €20.
But, I am almost 100% I've bought a laptop from them using mailboxde when he was in Italy. Just after Christmas.

You could try it anyway. Worst case scenario they refund you.

EDITED - https://www.mailboxde.com/faq.html#h15sizok1mu3krghx81x8hgb81mpahg5

The carrier doesn´t delivery to P.O.BOX – is it P.O.BOX?

Our warehouse isn´t P.O. BOX or DHL Packstation – we are a standard warehouse. All tracked shipments brought by the couriers are signed by the employees of the warehouse.

glic83

Price wise I don't think you can get it anywhere else for that kind of money, worth that price imo

Suckit

glic83 wrote: »

Price wise I don't think you can get it anywhere else for that kind of money, worth that price imo

Bought it. I only realised that the sale may end tonight when I checked at the earlier post, so I would be running out if time. Decided to go for it.

Suckit

I just realised that I bought it and used the mailboxde address, as i selected it to check the packing station message.
I'm too tired to try and figure out how to change it, but I think it will arrive as I have ordered a laptop before using mailboxde, obviously or the address wouldn't have still been there.
Anyway, I may consolidate so it could be handier.
Main reason I use my friends address is to make returns easier if I need to, but can still do it using mailboxde.

glic83

glic83 wrote: »

Price wise I don't think you can get it anywhere else for that kind of money, worth that price imo

so you plan on using an external keyboard to get the right UK/Ire layout?


sort of defeats the point of a laptop?

Suckit

glasso wrote: »

so you plan on using an external keyboard to get the right UK/Ire layout?
sort of defeats the point of a laptop?

An external keyboard, no. Remove the German keyboard and install the UK keyboard.

Suckit

Suckit wrote: »

https://www.0815.eu/656566728 + mailboxde.com
UK/Irish Keyboard is on ebay for £10 - £15

I think that sale ends at midnight tonight. (11pm here)

presume that is what was meant here?

or is it getting the exact model laptop keyboard and replacing it in the laptop?

same laptop here with uk keyboard as standard for £330

addresspal to get delivered

https://www.ebuyer.com/874549-hp-255-g7-ryzen-3-8gb-256gb-full-hd-15-6in-win10-laptop-6bn96ea-abu#

Suckit

glasso wrote: »

presume that is what was meant here?
or is it getting the exact model laptop keyboard and replacing it in the laptop?

Replacing the keyboard.

glasso wrote: »

same laptop here with uk keyboard as standard for £330
addresspal to get delivered
https://www.ebuyer.com/874549-hp-255-g7-ryzen-3-8gb-256gb-full-hd-15-6in-win10-laptop-6bn96ea-abu#

I thought the sale was ending last night, so I ordered it kinda quickly from the other site. The ebuyer one works out around €385 delivered. Not too bad either, and probably a lot less hasle if anything does go wrong.
I am also looking at some of the Lenovo, but they rarely have decent deals in Ireland.

although there may be issues with that ebuyer sites on letting you get it to Ireland apparently.

just be sure that you get the right keyboard. that G7 model name has been used for years afaik but the design will have changed and so possibly the keyboard part.

the 530s 14 lenovo with the better 2500u (more powerful and better graphics power with the vega 8 over the 2200u integrated graphics) in an all-metal build and portable size and weight was going for 599 on lenovo.ie - not sure if still the case

pretty decent value imo

Suckit

glasso wrote: »

although there may be issues with that ebuyer sites on letting you get it to Ireland apparently.

just be sure that you get the right keyboard. that G7 model name has been used for years afaik but the design will have changed and so possibly the keyboard part.

the 530s 14 lenovo with the better 2500u (more powerful and better graphics power with the vega 8 over the 2200u integrated graphics) in an all-metal build and portable size and weight was going for 599 on lenovo.ie - not sure if still the case

pretty decent value imo

Yeah the 255 G7, keyboard is L50000-031.

I think €599 is way out of budget unfortunately.

Suckit

Just an update.
The laptop was delayed because it was a bank holiday in Germany this week but it is being delivered now, so mailboxde is not considered a packing station (handy to know for any future deliveries). Also it is possible to get cashback using shoop.de (eu version of topcashback), but, regrettably I don't use any of those so I can't verify how muc/what percent.

Turbulent Bill

Looking for laptop recommendations, will be for general home use, no gaming:

14" (or slightly bigger) screen, must be decent quality.
i3 or i5
128GB+ SSD
8GB RAM
Must have Win 10 Pro (want to use BitLocker)
Budget is about €600

Any suggestions?

Turbulent Bill

Turbulent Bill wrote: »

Looking for laptop recommendations, will be for general home use, no gaming:

14" (or slightly bigger) screen, must be decent quality.
i3 or i5
128GB+ SSD
8GB RAM
Must have Win 10 Pro (want to use BitLocker)
Budget is about €600

Any suggestions?

lenovo ryzen 2500u (broadly equivalent to an i5 but with better integrated graphics e.g. can even play demanding games at 720p if wanted)
8gb ram
256gb ssd
all-metal build
14 inch full hd ips
light enough
windows 10
battery life 8 hours

currently down to 599 - not sure how long this offer will last - was more last week.

https://www.lenovo.com/ie/en/laptops/ideapad/500-series/Ideapad-530S-14-AMD/p/88IP50S1048

best deal going imo at the moment for a decent laptop

see it here - guy is a bit hard to understand but you get to see the laptop

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZBHRCJ1sx2A

by the way you won't find win 10 pro for sale on consumer laptops.

you can buy a cheap win 10 pro key on ebay though and then install it yourself.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=p2380057.m570.l1311.R1.TR12.TRC2.A0.H0.Xwindows+10+pro.TRS0&_nkw=windows+10+pro+key&_sacat=0

Roy Rogers

I'm looking for a 14-15.6" laptop for general household use: light office work, streaming, VLC (casting to Chromecast). Doesn't need to be very portable, and battery life isn't really a concern.

I'm looking at a few options in the €500-700 range:

Lenovo Ideapad 530S 14"
€625 for next 21 hours.
I've read some reviews saying the speakers are muck. Could be bad for watching TV/movies in bed.

Lenovo Ideapad 330S (14", i5 8250u)
€616 for next 21 hours. Is it much of a step down from 530S, or are the differences largely in build/finish?

Lenovo Ideapad 330S (15", Ryzen 5 2500U)
€537 for next 21 hours. Bigger screen, but numpad and off-centre keyboard

Lenovo Yoga 530 14" (i3-8130 model)
€599 for next 21 hours.
Only 4GB RAM. Not too bothered about 2-in-1 functionality, but tablet mode with the body as a kickstand might have better sound than the 530S.

ASUS Vivobook S430 14"
€560ish (i3, 4GB RAM)
€760ish (i5, 8GB RAM)
On the i3 model, I'm wary that 4GB RAM could be a problem in a year or so. On the i5 model, I'm not sure if it's worth the price increase.

Asus Vivobook S530 15"
€609. Price and spec seem decent. However, it has a numpad and off-centre keyboard.

Anything that recommends any of these above the others?

this posted by another poster in a recent thread is very good value

https://www.ebuyer.com/874549-hp-255-g7-ryzen-3-8gb-256gb-full-hd-15-6in-win10-laptop-6bn96ea-abu

8gb ram
i3 equivalent amd 2200u
8gb ram
256gb ssd
full hd screen

not a beauty but more than enough for your needs and superb value at £300

use parcelwizard / similar

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O3lgh7Ys2FU

glasso

glasso wrote: »

lenovo ryzen 2500u (broadly equivalent to an i5 but with better integrated graphics e.g. can even play demanding games at 720p if wanted)
8gb ram
256gb ssd
all-metal build
14 inch full hd ips
light enough
windows 10
battery life 8 hours

currently down to 599 - not sure how long this offer will last - was more last week.

https://www.lenovo.com/ie/en/laptops/ideapad/500-series/Ideapad-530S-14-AMD/p/88IP50S1048

best deal going imo at the moment for a decent laptop

see it here - guy is a bit hard to understand but you get to see the laptop

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZBHRCJ1sx2A

amazon de for 549 unless im missing something obvious. free delivery too

edit- keyboard layout different, right?

Deleted User

Deleted User wrote: »

amazon de for 549 unless im missing something obvious. free delivery too

you'll get a German keyboard layout from there tho

Roy Rogers

Roy Rogers wrote: »

I'm looking for a 14-15.6" laptop for general household use: light office work, streaming, VLC (casting to Chromecast). Doesn't need to be very portable, and battery life isn't really a concern.

I'm looking at a few options in the €500-700 range:


Anything that recommends any of these above the others?

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Huawei-Matebook-14-Inch-Laptop-Processor/dp/B07KV9J1PG/ref=sr_1_3?keywords=matebook+d&qid=1559128319&s=gateway&sr=8-3

fact that it's Huawei shouldn't be an issue

nice laptop - build and screen. 8gb. 256gb ssd

Roy Rogers

Actually, I'm really leaning towards this at the moment: https://www.ebuyer.com/855754-lenovo-v330-14arr-ryzen-5-laptop-81b1001euk

Seems to be a bit of a step up from the HP you recommended, glasso. (Thanks, btw.) Side-firing speakers and a centred keyboard (which seems impossible to find on 15.6 models), so that's two big ticks for me.

The screen seems to be the weak point but realistically, it will probably be fine for my needs. Not ideal for watching TV/movies but acceptable.

The price also seems good. The more I think about it, I'm really not going to need any sort of serious performance. Just need to get over my but what if I need to... tendencies.

Roy Rogers

Roy Rogers wrote: »

Actually, I'm really leaning towards this at the moment: https://www.ebuyer.com/855754-lenovo-v330-14arr-ryzen-5-laptop-81b1001euk

Seems to be a bit of a step up from the HP you recommended, glasso. (Thanks, btw.) Side-firing speakers and a centred keyboard (which seems impossible to find on 15.6 models), so that's two big ticks for me.

The screen seems to be the weak point but realistically, it will probably be fine for my needs. Not ideal for watching TV/movies but acceptable.

The price also seems good. The more I think about it, I'm really not going to need any sort of serious performance. Just need to get over my but what if I need to... tendencies.

Seems very good value alright and worth the extra £50.

The Ryzen 2500u with Vega 8 graphics can actually run a fair few mainstream games as the integrated graphics are more powerful than the Intel equivalents.

Battery seems small at 30 watt hours but if that is not an issue for you as said then go for it.

you should still get 4 to 5 hours video playback on a 30wh battery though.

Roy Rogers

Seems like a goer so. Thanks for the advice!