New Laptop: Dell or HP?

rdeb13

Previously posted about getting a new laptop.

Considering buying a new laptop and looking for some advice.

Currently have a 14in HP Pavilion with Intel Centrino Duo that is nearly 5 years old. Pretty slow and a bit worried that it may die on me as currently doing a Masters.

Battery is completely dead in it (no longer charges) so use it plugged in the whole time.

Looking for something that will be fast and portable (reasonably light not too much more than 2kg.). Like the 14in screen so would be hoping for something similiar. Think it's the perfect compromise between 13in and 15in.

Normally have multiple documents and applications open at the same time so processor needs to be able to handle this.

Was considering HP Pavilion Beats Edition http://www.pixmania.ie/ie/uk/1175967...2ea-enter.html. Is this a good deal?

Also considering getting a Dell Inspiron 14z. Anyone have any experience with either PC?

Which would you choose?

Nearly five years since I bought a laptop so any advice would help!

Thanks

sdanseo

Google docs for storage for the masters stuff - you can never be too safe, make many backups.

As for the laptop, I've had a HP and it's still going strong several years later, it was also a Pavilion - that said, it was massively underspecced all along but served me well nonetheless, couldn't fault it. The battery did fail relatively fast though through being charged all the time. My Mam uses it now. The main laptop is an Acer 5738G - fantastic piece of kit, again couldnt fault it. Acer's really are underrated although the keyboard has lost a button or two - mind you I think I'm more to blame for that than the manufacturer :P

Dells are more customisable but can be a bit more expensive, make sure to check out this thread if you're considering one, or check if your employer is eligible for the EPP (Employee Purchase Programme) or Groupshceme.

Torqay

This is too expensive, 800 yoyos will buy you a Core i7 with discrete graphics.

Dell? Traitors to this country, buy HP they employ lots more people in Ireland and the Laptops are just better!
Got HP i5 laptop a few months ago. Was using it on battery for about 2 hours and went to check to see if i needed to plug it in. It said I Had 6 hours battery left.
Saying that.... I did have a Dell which lasted 10 years and only went to the scrap heap cos it could not be upgraded to more than 256meg RAM lol. Was a long time ago but i was proud of my Dell back then.

Torqay

Torqay wrote: »

This is too expensive, 800 yoyos will buy you a Core i7 with dicrete graphics.

Be sure to shop around cos prices vary so much.

rdeb13

Having looked around getting a 14 inch, i5 is all I've spotted for that price. Got a 10% off code for Dell which would make it just over 700 but don't think it's quite comparing like with like

Torqay

Are you tied to 14"? Because not all manufacturers offer laptops with this particular size, it's not exactly common.

13" isn't too far off and neither is 15".

rdeb13

Well as I said above I don't want it to weigh much more than 2kg & from what I've seen going up to a 15 inch or 15.something inch seems to put about a half kilo onto it which I don't want.

Also in terms of working on it constantly for Masters I prefer the 14 over 13 inch just offers a little bit more room. Just a preference from experience & the portability side of things.

I'm aware not all manufacturers do 14 but like I said think it's a good compromise between 13 and 15.

mordeith

rdeb13 wrote: »

I'm aware not all manufacturers do 14 but like I said think it's a good compromise between 13 and 15.

Probably fair to say that 14 is the ultimate compromise between 13 and 15 :P

For Forks Sake

Torqay wrote: »

This is too expensive, 800 yoyos will buy you a Core i7 with discrete graphics.

On a 14"? Please show examples?

Torqay

For Forks Sake wrote: »

On a 14"? Please show examples?

If you're in the business of paying more for less, then I'm aifraid, I can't help you.

Jarren

Op

Get yourself a decent Ultrabook, should cost circa €800 .
It should be perfect for your needs ,don't forget that usually they'll come with SSD on board which means handling multiple docs/apps without any issues.

Torqay

Jarren wrote: »

Get yourself a decent Ultrabook, should cost circa €800 .

Where do you find the "decent ultrabook" for 800 yoyos?

(Even the "cheapo" Sammy Ultrabook costs almost 1,000 around here)

Jarren

Initially I had the Asus in mind

http://www.amazon.fr/s/ref=sr_nr_scat_429879031_ln?rh=n%3A429879031%2Ck%3AUltrabook&keywords=Ultrabook&ie=UTF8&qid=1334389489&scn=429879031&h=b9983473e48eadd6b5abe2dbecfc08c51f54e416

But it seems that got the size wrong.


Not SSD on that one http://www.amazon.de/Samsung-Serie-Ultrabook-NP530U3B-A01DE-Notebook/dp/B006M0KHJQ/ref=sr_1_4?s=computers&ie=UTF8&qid=1334390347&sr=1-4

Not real deal but it's a possibility to get a 128g SSD for €120/130 to make a total cost for just over 800 yoyos


This one may actually fits the bill

http://www.novatech.co.uk/laptop/range/nfinity2467.html

I don't think that size 14 should be classified as Ultrabook though


This one has a hybrid drive. SSD +HDD
http://www.amazon.fr/Samsung-NP530U3B-A02FR-Ultrabook-i5-2467M-Windows/dp/B006IM967C/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1334389489&sr=8-2

and obviously there is much more choices from US, your usual Amazon,EBay etc.

Calculate your vat/customs/duties charges in the link below

http://www.dutycalculator.com/

In short words speaking it would be impossible to get a decent Ultrabook from Irish based retailers within the budget .


Getting back about Sammys , the current promo -vat cash back

http://www.samsung.com/uk/vatback/

cgarrad

I fix my friends laptops / desktops all the time, about 200 so far I would say.

Dell are the best compromise of quality vs cost, HP are just not as good.

MarkR

Lenovo are quite good. I have one now. Second gen i5, 15.4" screen. Hdmi. Only downside is no usb 3. Was 600 IIRC. It's a G570

rdeb13

Still really unsure.

Also looked at Samsung http://www.elara.ie/productdetail.aspx?productcode=ECE2337347. With the VAT back should be closer to 800.

What do ye think?

_AVALANCHE_

sdeire wrote: »

or check if your employer is eligible for the EPP (Employee Purchase Programme) or Groupshceme.

Up untill bout two months ago anyone could buy through that, their was no checks at all, probably still isin't but I don't know anyone that's used it since they redesigned the page.

Prices are definitely not as good anyway.

rdeb13 wrote: »

Well as I said above I don't want it to weigh much more than 2kg & from what I've seen going up to a 15 inch or 15.something inch seems to put about a half kilo onto it which I don't want.

What's a half kilo!

mordeith wrote: »

Probably fair to say that 14 is the ultimate compromise between 13 and 15 :P

Jarren wrote: »

http://www.amazon.fr/s/ref=sr_nr_scat_429879031_ln?rh=n%3A429879031%2Ck%3AUltrabook&keywords=Ultrabook&ie=UTF8&qid=1334389489&scn=429879031&h=b9983473e48eadd6b5abe2dbecfc08c51f54e416




Not SSD on that one http://www.amazon.de/Samsung-Serie-Ultrabook-NP530U3B-A01DE-Notebook/dp/B006M0KHJQ/ref=sr_1_4?s=computers&ie=UTF8&qid=1334390347&sr=1-4




http://www.amazon.fr/Samsung-NP530U3B-A02FR-Ultrabook-i5-2467M-Windows/dp/B006IM967C/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1334389489&sr=8-2

Are z french and germans delivering here?

rdeb13 wrote: »

Still really unsure.

Also looked at Samsung http://www.elara.ie/productdetail.aspx?productcode=ECE2337347. With the VAT back should be closer to 800.

What do ye think?

16GB SSD!!?:rolleyes: I thought their was a spec requirement that these "computers" had to have SSDs to be branded Ultrabooks but their isin't so I don't know why they bothered putting this yoke in it.

God awful expensive for what it is, even with VAT back.

I wouldn't anyway.

Torqay

_AVALANCHE_ wrote: »

I don't know why they bothered putting this yoke in it.

Only to make it look good when it comes back from hibernation. They are actually hybrid disks, expect more of them soon, Acer is using them as well.

Jarren

Avalanche

It would be the exact same story like with Amazon UK.

Some third party sellers won't /will deliver from Amazon.de or Amazon.fr

However you won't get Super free delivery from them.

The things to watch out for is layout of a keyboard, always is advised to email them first before making a payment.

I'm sure that you knew about that anyway.

I have purchased previously from all based European Amazon companies and never had any major issue.

_AVALANCHE_

Torqay wrote: »

Only to make it look good when it comes back from hibernation. They are actually hybrid disks, expect more of them soon, Acer is using them as well.

You'd get away with less but unless it was a 60GB-ish flash then I wouldn't look at them, the HDD would be constantly used with a poxy 16GB SSD.

Claimed benefits

Manufacturers claim several benefits of the hybrid drive over standard hard drives, especially for use in notebook computers. Samsung claims the chief benefits are speed of data access and consequent faster computer boot process,[17] decreased power consumption, and improved reliability.
URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Hybrid_drive&action=edit&section=4"]edit[/URL

Claimed drawbacks

There are some inherent drawbacks to the use of hybrid drives:[14][18][19]

• Lower performance (access time) for non-cached data. If the data being accessed is not in the cache and the drive has spun down, access time will be greatly increased since the platters will need to spin up.

• Lower performance for small disk writes. Flash memory is significantly slower for writing small data, an effect that is amplified by use of journaling file systems.[18]I][URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Disputed_statement"]dubious[/URL] – [URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:Hybrid_drive#Dubious"]discuss[/URL][/I

• Slightly increased cost. Hybrid hard drives are currently slightly more expensive than their non-hybrid counterparts, because of the higher cost of flash memory.[18]

• Reduced lifetime. A hard drive, once spinning, suffers almost no wear. A significant proportion of wear arises during the spin-up and spin-down processes.[14] Indeed, the number of spin-ups is often given as the indication of the lifetime of a hard drive. Also, flash memory allows far fewer write cycles than a hard disk.

• Increased perceived noise production. A hybrid hard drive, spinning up and down, may make drive noise more noticeable, especially with varying usage conditions (i.e., fans and hard drive spinning up on usage).

• Increased power usage with spin-ups. A hybrid drive requires spin-up and spin-down more often than a normal hard drive, which is often spinning constantly. Hard drives also draw more power during spin-up.[14][20]

• Lower recoverability. Hybrid hard drives, based on storage to both a flash component and a hard drive component, and bound to use by a specific OS (i.e., Windows Vista). Data recovery often requires specialized data recovery services which are expensive, and sometimes the data stored within the NAND flash may be unrecoverable. A traditional hard drive can be tapped with a hammer or placed in the freezer, often getting it running long enough for do-it-yourself recovery.

Lower recoverability aswell.

Torqay

_AVALANCHE_ wrote: »

Lower recoverability aswell.

Backups, they are highly overrated.

rdeb13

_AVALANCHE_ wrote: »

What's a half kilo!

It actually does make a difference when you are lugging around papers and books for Masters & ac adaptor and all the rest. I'm used to a 2kg laptop so would like to stay around that weight.

Was looking at Vaio C series too but the fact that it's 2.3kg for 14" has put me off. Anybody have any experience with them?

Good offer with screen upgrade at the moment on Irish site.

Also anybody know if there is a Sony education store in Ireland. Know that there is one on the UK site but they only deliver to the UK

Jarren

http://www.deliverme.ie/ is highly recommended on boards.

Jaafa

This sony would suit you OP, 2KG weight 15.5 inch screen, full HD, i5 processor, 700 euro.

rdeb13

That does seem like a really good offer.

Is the Hard drive going to be a bit slow though 5400rpm?

Also seems to be a slightly older 2nd gen i5, how does that compare?

I don't really know these things so that's why I'm asking

Jaafa

rdeb13 wrote: »

That does seem like a really good offer.

Is the Hard drive going to be a bit slow though 5400rpm?

Also seems to be a slightly older 2nd gen i5, how does that compare?

I don't really know these things so that's why I'm asking

5400rpm is normal, fine for your needs. Not fast but not slow either.

There is little difference between this i5 and the older 2nd gen ones. In any case it's still more than enough for your needs.

Jaafa

Here is a review of the laptop, also included is a back lit keyboard which I didnt notice before, only downside to the laptop seems to be the poor speakers. Other than that this is an excellent deal.

rdeb13

Ya will definitely think about it.

Now that I see it, not sure about the USB all being beside each other. It's the same on my current laptop and is very annoying at times.

Torqay

Jaafa wrote: »

Here is a review of the laptop

They don't shed any light on this Radeon HD 6470M either... an addon GPU that's actually a lot slower than the on-chip Intel HD3000? What gives?

Jaafa

Torqay wrote: »

They don't shed any light on this Radeon HD 6470M either... an addon GPU that's actually a lot slower than the on-chip Intel HD3000? What gives?

The 6470m isn't slower than the HD3000.

Torqay

Jaafa wrote: »

The 6470m isn't slower than the HD3000.

No?

Jaafa

Torqay wrote: »

No?

Yes?

Torqay

May that as it be, neither GPU is worth writing home about. Adding the 6470M to a 2nd gen Core iX laprtop is rather pointless, playing Crysis at 10 or 20 fps is no fun.

Jaafa

That's not really relevant, the OP said nothing about gaming. You wont find a similar spec Vaio for that price, even if you remove the discrete GPU.

Torqay

Yep, the deal is OK, free battery and all... still baffled by that HD 4670M though.

Francie Barrett

Historically, I would have said that IBM/Lenovo produced the best quality laptops, however I have been left cold by their recent offerings. HP on the other hand have come on quite well and while not as good as the IBM laptops of old, they're very durable. I find Dell laptops to be of poorish quality, Asus worse still.

Torqay

Francie Barrett wrote: »

Historically?

You mean, before they have entered the race to the bottom?

If you buy a budget laptop, you'll get what you pay for: cheap!