Trying to narrow down new laptop options

strawdog

Hi, apologies, another new laptop thread, have done my best to look through recent threads here but I'm still finding it a bit overwhelming singling out a laptop. just a couple of general questions to narrow it down without getting too bogged down in specs.

Is it much of a muchness betweens the main brands? They all seem to come in around the same price for the specs I enter and I haven't heard of any particular brand that's currently way ahead of the others. Perhaps there's some to avoid?

From my reading here and elsewhere I'm getting the impression that about €600-€700 might be the sweet-spot in terms of value for money for my needs? This would be for a new machine that would be good for at least 5 years or so, with an i5 processor or higher, mobility not too important, no serious gaming, mostly lighter tasks such as web browsing/streaming/writing but occasional bigger tasks, eg working from home with Microsoft Office, amateur music recording/production etc. I'm thinking SSD would be better for it lasting a few years and then buying external hard drives if needed

I need one fairly urgently so getting close to hitting the button if I see something decent, suppose I really just want to be sure I'm not way off the mark or missing something. Below are a couple of examples of what I've been looking at

https://www.laptopsdirect.ie/hp-250-g6-core-i5-7200u-8gb-256gb-ssd-dvd-rw-15.6-inch-windows-10-professio-1wy59ea/version.asp
or
https://www.laptopsdirect.ie/-ps585e-00s015en/version.asp (big discuount tho only 4GB RAM)
or at a stretch
https://www.laptopsdirect.ie/fujitsu-lifebook-a557-core-i5-7200u-8gb-256gb-ssd-15.6-inch-windows-10-prof-vfya5570m25abgb/version.asp

Any advice appreciated!

Alanstrainor

Crap resolution screen on that Toshiba and Fuji. I wouldn't be wild about Fujitsu as a brand in laptops either. As for the HP, it looks fine, but I'm not a fan of HP either.

I like Asus the best:

https://www.laptopsdirect.ie/asus-x556ua-core-i7-7500-8gb-1tb-dvd-rw-15.6-inch-windows-10-laptop-x556ua-dm898t/version.asp

All of these options do strike me as old fashioned, big laptops. Which might be fine, but I know I would prefer something slimmer.

You mention you want 5 years out of it. It's possible but it all depends on how it will be used, I would say that a machine that is carried around and moved a lot will not last as long. But a laptop that sits on a desk for the majority of the time will last longer.

This price point would be considered the low-mid, so I wouldn't be expecting anything too premium out of these machines.

what I'd look for -

1080p screen (preferably IPS for better viewing angles)
If you're definitely not going to need it around much then 15.6 screen maybe, if not 13.3 or 14 inch screen
touch screen on a laptop is not very useful imo
SSD if you are ok with not having much disk space as you won't get a big ssd at that price
8gb ram (you won't get any more in that price range)
CPU - i3 finea for your tasks although the new 8250u i5 has some cool features.
as for chassis materials - you're not going to get a metal chassis laptop for this price range

This dell
http://www.dell.com/en-ie/shop/laptops/inspiron-15-5000/spd/inspiron-15-5570-laptop/cn57001

has all the above except ssd (1tb hd) for 650. although you could swap for ssd if you wanted and use the 1tb in an enclosure as an external hd.

Alanstrainor

glasso wrote: »

what I'd look for -

1080p screen (preferably IPS for better viewing angles)
If you're definitely not going to need it around much then 15.6 screen maybe, if not 13.3 or 14 inch screen
touch screen on a laptop is not very useful imo
SSD if you are ok with not having much disk space as you won't get a big ssd at that price
8gb ram (you won't get any more in that price range)
CPU - i3 finea for your tasks although the new 8250u i5 has some cool features.
as for chassis materials - you're not going to get a metal chassis laptop for this price range

This dell
http://www.dell.com/en-ie/shop/laptops/inspiron-15-5000/spd/inspiron-15-5570-laptop/cn57001

has all the above except ssd (1tb hd) for 650. although you could swap for ssd if you wanted and use the 1tb in an enclosure as an external hd.

+1 on this option. It's better than the Asus I mentioned anyway.

strawdog

Thanks for the replies. Yes I missed the low resolution on the last 2, seems to be 1080 is the minimum I should be looking for these days alright. The reduction seemed so big on the Toshiba that I assumed I was missing something but obviously not.

I think it would be sitting on a desk for most of the time, I got 10 years out of my now retired Toshiba (albeit a ropey last couple of years) so I'd be hopeful I'd eek out at least 5 on the next one!

I take the point about the price point but it seems to be a bit of a jump to get to the next level. Would pay a hundred or maybe 2 more if it meant significantly better value and it added on a couple of years. I did actually look at that exact dell page but ruled it out as felt SSD was important for the longevity and I wouldn't have massive storage needs. It jumps massively in price when combined with i5, which again might be slight overkill for my needs but I got the impression I should be going for it as a minimum but maybe i3 would do.

In terms of ASUS would something like this be worth stretching to?
https://www.laptopsdirect.ie/asus-vivobook-s-intel-core-i5-7200u-8gb-256gb-ssd-nvidia-geforce-gtx-940mx-s510uq-bq178t/version.asp

strawdog

strawdog wrote: »

Thanks for the replies. Yes I missed the low resolution on the last 2, seems to be 1080 is the minimum I should be looking for these days alright. The reduction seemed so big on the Toshiba that I assumed I was missing something but obviously not.

I think it would be sitting on a desk for most of the time, I got 10 years out of my now retired Toshiba (albeit a ropey last couple of years) so I'd be hopeful I'd eek out at least 5 on the next one!

I take the point about the price point but it seems to be a bit of a jump to get to the next level. Would pay a hundred or maybe 2 more if it meant significantly better value and it added on a couple of years. I did actually look at that exact dell page but ruled it out as felt SSD was important for the longevity and I wouldn't have massive storage needs. It jumps massively in price when combined with i5, which again might be slight overkill for my needs but I got the impression I should be going for it as a minimum but maybe i3 would do.

In terms of ASUS would something like this be worth stretching to?
https://www.laptopsdirect.ie/asus-vivobook-s-intel-core-i5-7200u-8gb-256gb-ssd-nvidia-geforce-gtx-940mx-s510uq-bq178t/version.asp

the dell with ssd is still cheaper than your asus above.
also the 8250u has 50%+ perf over the older generation i5 in the asus.
http://laptopmedia.com/comparisons/intel-core-i5-8250u-vs-core-i5-7200u-two-generations-collide/
although the discrete graphics (which come in the 780 euro ssd dell) are a bit weaker than the 940mx in the asus. not much in it tho in the graphics.
the asus does have a metal lid (not rest of chassis) but it's also Gold in colour - eek.]
also the 650 dell has the i5 8250u chip.

strawdog

glasso wrote: »

the dell with ssd is still cheaper than your asus above.
also the 8250u has 50%+ perf over the older generation i5 in the asus.
http://laptopmedia.com/comparisons/intel-core-i5-8250u-vs-core-i5-7200u-two-generations-collide/
although the discrete graphics (which come in the 780 euro ssd dell) are a bit weaker than the 940mx in the asus. not much in it tho in the graphics.
the asus does have a metal lid (not rest of chassis) but it's also Gold in colour - eek.]
also the 650 dell has the i5 8250u chip.

You're right, seems like a glitch on their website search as when I put in i5 and SSD together they were coming in well over a grand but there is one with SSD/i5 at 779 and theres also a 50 euro off code if I push the button before nov 2. Could be a runner, will have to have a think about trade off of storage space v speed

strawdog

strawdog wrote: »

You're right, seems like a glitch on their website search as when I put in i5 and SSD together they were coming in well over a grand but there is one with SSD/i5 at 779 and theres also a 50 euro off code if I push the button before nov 2. Could be a runner, will have to have a think about trade off of storage space v speed

you could have both.
buy the 650 dell with 1tb hd.
take out the dvd drive, buy a ssd enclosure that fits, buy a 120gb ssd sata type where you'll put windows on and your most used apps eg. office.
ssd 120gb = 50/60 euro. enclosure 8 euro.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/9-5mm-Universal-Drive-DVD-ROM-Optical/dp/B01MA20LMD/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1509470667&sr=8-1&keywords=ssd+dvd+caddy
https://www.amazon.co.uk/SanDisk-PLUS-Sata-inch-Internal/dp/B01F9G414U/ref=sr_1_2?s=computers&ie=UTF8&qid=1509470699&sr=1-2&keywords=120gb+ssd

you'd ideally do this at the start b4 you start installing lots of stuff.
http://windowsreport.com/move-windows-10-ssd/

so for less than 720 you'd have storage and ssd speed.
edit - actually for 670 or less (599 + 65 or so) with the 50 euro off - not a bad deal

by the way. the above is easy to do. nothing to it.

strawdog

glasso wrote: »

by the way. the above is easy to do. nothing to it.

Ok great thanks for that, does look like the best budget way of having cake and eating it. Would've been a bit nervous about adding an SSD but based on your link does look to be fairly straightforward and don't think I'd get the above specs off the shelf for much less than a grand, might go with it. Thanks again for the advice

last point - you could always buy a 240gb ssd instead of course - extra 26 sterling over the 120gb is probably worth it.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/SanDisk-PLUS-Sata-inch-Internal/dp/B01F9G43WU/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1509536594&sr=8-1&keywords=240gb+ssd