Need to replace my laptop

vectra

Well,
After getting good advice on here especially from Alanstrainor through the years with doing an ssd upgrade.
I feel the need to replace my Samsung RC520 that he and others recommended
in this 6 year old thread >https://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056393963

Reason to change is simply the Battery died about a year ago and bought a replacement one from Ebay,
That now is grand for browsing and emails, facebook etc.
But if I do some photo editing it can be frustrating when it suddenly dies half way through doing something.

Anyhow
I need a replacement that is
fast
Pretty powerful for the same reasons in the above thread.

Do I go i5 ??
i7 ?

Definitely want ssd after getting used to it in this one.
Budget is little over €600

What would be your thoughts on something like these??
all advice very welcome.

Dell

OR

HP

The above two are just two I looked at from my own point of view.
as I said
Please suggest others if you think they would be more suitable.

Thanks

Alanstrainor

Check out this link:

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

There's one there for 749 the spec is great for the money:
8th Generation Intel® Core™ i5-8250U Processor
Windows 10 Home 64bit English
8GB, DDR4, 2400MHz
256GB SSD

Much better machine than that Vostro. Both are missing USB C, but that's not an issue really. And the processor in the one I've linked is significantly better as it is a quad core, over a dual core.

EDIT: Use coupon SAVE50 to knock that price down to 699. Tempted myself for that money.

vectra

That looks decent Alan.
Thanks,
The only thing is I have aphobia about Dell laptops.,,!

What would you think of one of these??

Apple Macbook Air 13.3 Dual-Core i5 1.8GHz 8GB 128GB Silver - MQD32 [US Keyboard] ??
Would the US keyboard be a pain?

vectra

vectra wrote: »

That looks decent Alan.
Thanks,
The only thing is I have aphobia about Dell laptops.,,!

What would you think of one of these??

Apple Macbook Air 13.3 Dual-Core i5 1.8GHz 8GB 128GB Silver - MQD32 [US Keyboard] ??
Would the US keyboard be a pain?

dell laptops are fine and more reliable than most brands.
any phobia is irrational
mac air dual core 5th gen vs quad-core 8th gen...
mac screen is old and lo-res also.
same weight as air pretty much

vectra

glasso wrote: »

dell laptops are fine and more reliable than most brands.
any phobia is irrational
mac air dual core 5th gen vs quad-core 8th gen...
mac screen is old and lo-res also.
same weight as air pretty much

Thanks

On the Dell option then
Have you looked at the page linked?
As far as I can see
from the left
the first two are
€629
€749
The only difference I can see is the SSD
If so
would I be better off buying the cheaper one and adding a 256 ssd myself?
Surely cheaper and would have the added benefit of a 1tb external?
Thanks again

actually I was mixing it up with the 13.3 inch (same screen size as mac air) as assumed you'd want a similar size and weight laptop
with that one you'll see the difference. also 50 off. the 15 is obviously heavier

link to 13.

http://www.dell.com/en-ie/shop/laptops/inspiron-13-5000/spd/inspiron-13-5370-laptop

with 15 you'd save a little bit getting a bit but a quality similar sized ssd costs 90 to 100 euro. add cost for the holder for the spinning hd and the hassle of transferring (plus may need ssd usb holder to do it) and not a lot in it

actually if you were going to buy the 15 you'd take out the dvd drive and slot in the ssd there.
buy a cheaper smaller ssd (120gb) and you'd have a big hd and ssd in the one machine.

if you want a portable laptop tho go for the 13.

vectra

glasso wrote: »

actually if you were going to buy the 15 you'd take out the dvd drive and slot in the ssd there.
buy a cheaper smaller ssd (120gb) and you'd have a big hd and ssd in the one machine.

if you want a portable laptop tho go for the 13.

True, as I never use the dvd drive anymore.
I probably used it 10 times over the past 6 years in this one.
I would prefer the 15" I think though as I dont use it for portable use.

vectra

vectra wrote: »

True, as I never use the dvd drive anymore.
I probably used it 10 times over the past 6 years in this one.
I would prefer the 15" I think though as I dont use it for portable use.

you could still use the dvd drive with a cheap usb enclosure.
120gb ssd + ssd dvd bay holder you'd get for 60 to 65 euro on amazon.

only thing is that the screen on the 13.3 is ips (better viewing angles and probably brighter). doesn't seem to be on the 15. it's probably ok tho.

15 is cheaper in any case.

Alanstrainor

vectra wrote: »

That looks decent Alan.
Thanks,
The only thing is I have aphobia about Dell laptops.,,!

What would you think of one of these??

Apple Macbook Air 13.3 Dual-Core i5 1.8GHz 8GB 128GB Silver - MQD32 [US Keyboard] ??
Would the US keyboard be a pain?

I'd agree with glasso on that Air. The Air is old stock at this point, outdated design and poor enough screen. Don't get me wrong, I do like Macs, and I'd have a Pro if money was not a consideration, but this is just not the best deal. I prefer US layout keyboards... maybe I'm just used to them from work though!

vectra

Alanstrainor wrote: »

I'd agree with glasso on that Air. The Air is old stock at this point, outdated design and poor enough screen. Don't get me wrong, I do like Macs, and I'd have a Pro if money was not a consideration, but this is just not the best deal. I prefer US layout keyboards... maybe I'm just used to them from work though!

Thats the thing,
There are other purchases I was hoping to make but would have to put on the long finger if I buy a Laptop.
As said in original post.
Battery is the problem with this one. Other than that it flies.

Would it be wrong to just buy a new original battery for this and let it plug away for maybe another year or so?

OE Battery

vectra

vectra wrote: »

Thats the thing,
There are other purchases I was hoping to make but would have to put on the long finger if I buy a Laptop.
As said in original post.
Battery is the problem with this one. Other than that it flies.

Would it be wrong to just buy a new original battery for this and let it plug away for maybe another year or so?

OE Battery

if you're happy enough with the laptop no reason to upgrade.
if buying the battery definitely buy the original one, not an ebay knockoff as it's unlikely to work well for long.
although if a new one with better screen and faster cpu would benefit you then you could get the new one - only you can decide!

vectra

glasso wrote: »

if you're happy enough with the laptop no reason to upgrade.
if buying the battery definitely buy the original one, not an ebay knockoff as it's unlikely to work well for long.
although if a new one with better screen and faster cpu would benefit you then you could get the new one - only you can decide!

Thats the thing.
I am happy enough as to how this works.
The battery I linked to is an original ( I think?)
I know about the ebay ones. Grand for a month and bye bye..

vectra

Back at this again lads.

Looking at the Dells again Alan,

Would the third one over be a better option with the 17 processor?
8th Generation Intel® Core™ i7-8550U Processor

Alanstrainor

vectra wrote: »

Back at this again lads.

Looking at the Dells again Alan,

Would the third one over be a better option with the 17 processor?
8th Generation Intel® Core™ i7-8550U Processor

The other difference with that one is that it comes with a 128GB SSD + a 1TB HDD. Which is a decent combo, I think I would prefer the 256GB SSD in the cheaper model though. I would imagine you can add a hard drive if you wanted without much difficulty.

That being said, 128GB would be for the operating system and main applications, and the HDD for music/photos etc so it's definitely not a bad arrangement.

As for the processor, the i7 8550 is better but the question is whether or not it would be noticeably better for most. I would argue that it wouldn't be. Photo editing is not hugely processor intensive, and the i5 processor is a very good processor as it stands.

It's totally up to you really! Looks like the i7 model has 100 quid off too which is nice!

Save €100 on PCs from €799 with code SAVE100. Offer ends 14 January.

vectra

Last question I hope lads.
Comparing the two Dell options
( 1tb hard driver Vs 256 ssd )

I really could do with keeping the cost under 600 if possible.
So,
Question is.
My current RC520 has an ssd I fitted.

Would the 1tb version of the Dell be faster than mine? ( this boots to desktop ir around 15 seconds ) I understand a HDD probably will not boot that fast, but would it perform tasks etc.faster being a newer more powerful laptop?

Would there be any pitfalls of buying that one for now and replace the hdd to an ssd when the warranty runs out?

Alanstrainor

I would say that the HDD is definitely a bottleneck. And I would also say that I would expect it to feel slower without an SSD. An SSD is the biggest speed boost you can get in a laptop these days, even though the processor is very good in the Dell, it simply can't read/write quickly enough to make it feel snappy.

This machine has one standard size HDD slot (your SSD would fit into this if need be). And one M.2 SSD slot. So this is how they cram in the 128GB SSD + 1TB disk in the more expensive option. Just in case you were thinking of trying to fit your SSD + the 1TB disk... this wont work.

vectra

Alanstrainor wrote: »

I would say that the HDD is definitely a bottleneck. And I would also say that I would expect it to feel slower without an SSD. An SSD is the biggest speed boost you can get in a laptop these days, even though the processor is very good in the Dell, it simply can't read/write quickly enough to make it feel snappy.

This machine has one standard size HDD slot (your SSD would fit into this if need be). And one M.2 SSD slot. So this is how they cram in the 128GB SSD + 1TB disk in the more expensive option. Just in case you were thinking of trying to fit your SSD + the 1TB disk... this wont work.

Sort of what I thought alright.
I did toy with the idea of settling for the hdd for 12 months and replace it with an SSd then, But if you sat rhat HDD would bottleneck it, then I guess there is only one option.
Thanks.

Billy86

https://www.laptopsdirect.ie/hp-250-g6-i5-7200u-2.5ghz-8gb-256gb-ssd-15.6-inch-full-hd-windows-10-laptop-2sy46es/version.asp?tref=hptile

Stealing this off another thread, but at under €520 it's a great price (€505 if you do their €1 trial of whatever-it-is?) - i5 7200U, 256GB SSD, 8GB RAM, 15.6" screen. That said I don't know much about screen quality which has never been a priority for me as just don't have a fine eye for detail for that kind of stuff so a second opinion there mightn't hurt.

vectra

Billy86 wrote: »

https://www.laptopsdirect.ie/hp-250-g6-i5-7200u-2.5ghz-8gb-256gb-ssd-15.6-inch-full-hd-windows-10-laptop-2sy46es/version.asp?tref=hptile

Stealing this off another thread, but at under €520 it's a great price (€505 if you do their €1 trial of whatever-it-is?) - i5 7200U, 256GB SSD, 8GB RAM, 15.6" screen. That said I don't know much about screen quality which has never been a priority for me as just don't have a fine eye for detail for that kind of stuff so a second opinion there mightn't hurt.

I think that is almost identical to the one I linked to in my original post , except for i5 vs i7 cpu.

I dont think anyone had a view on them yet?
Price looks good.
Thoughts Alan?

Luap

Was looking at the Dell for €848.99. I used the 100 off code but when I went to purchase there was 23% thats not included in the price.

vectra

Luap wrote: »

Was looking at the Dell for €848.99. I used the 100 off code but when I went to purchase there was 23% thats not included in the price.

You mean there was another 23% off along with the 100?
I just checked there now and it says coupon expired.

Alanstrainor

Luap wrote: »

Was looking at the Dell for €848.99. I used the 100 off code but when I went to purchase there was 23% thats not included in the price.

Were you buying through the Dell business site which quotes ex vat?

Vectra, I'd have any of the Dell ones over that HP. It's grand on paper, but that's a low end model really.

Luap

The code on the site was expired so I contacted the website support team, where the lady sent me a quote with the 100€ off but still came too just over 800€.

Billy86

Alanstrainor wrote: »

Were you buying through the Dell business site which quotes ex vat?

Vectra, I'd have any of the Dell ones over that HP. It's grand on paper, but that's a low end model really.

What's the issue with HP? Actually pretty curious since I'll probably be in the market for a laptop somewhere around late spring/early summer and while I know how to read hardware components from desktops, some of the aspects unique to laptops completely pass me by.

vectra

OK
Decision made.
Thanks to all the replies and advice on here. I sat last night and thought hard about this.
My current laptop does every thing I need it to do, especially with the ssd installed,.
Boots to desktop is less than 15 seconds
opens apps quickly enough etc etc.
Battery is the main issue.
So, I ordered a new Duracell battery last night, >> THIS

I am sure this laptop will last another year, ( Fingers crossed )
I am going to double my budget then and buy a new Macbook ( Pro or Air ) Not sure just yet but be assured I will be back for advice.
Thanks again guys.

vectra

vectra wrote: »

OK
Decision made.
Thanks to all the replies and advice on here. I sat last night and thought hard about this.
My current laptop does every thing I need it to do, especially with the ssd installed,.
Boots to desktop is less than 15 seconds
opens apps quickly enough etc etc.
Battery is the main issue.
So, I ordered a new Duracell battery last night, >> THIS

I am sure this laptop will last another year, ( Fingers crossed )
I am going to double my budget then and buy a new Macbook ( Pro or Air ) Not sure just yet but be assured I will be back for advice.
Thanks again guys.

they are selling a bigger capacity battery 73 watt hours for cheaper than that one linked - why not buy that one?

vectra

glasso wrote: »

they are selling a bigger capacity battery 73 watt hours for cheaper than that one linked - why not buy that one?

The one i bought has better cells i assumed.

Billy86

To each their own, but just a heads up that Apple's laptops have the exact same hardware as PCs only with a mark up of several hundred Euro for the logo, was pretty surprised by that when I went about building my PC last year. There's also an issue that their physical parts if I am correct are attached in such a way to make if very difficult to add more ram, switch SSD/HDD or whatnot yourself, though that might not be something you would have been comfortable doing yourself anyway in which case it's no big difference.

Of course some prefer their OS, the look of the laptop and if I'm correct their screen quality has a very good reputation so I'm not saying for you not to. Really just a heads up on the hardware bit since I had always figured that was a big part of why Apple's laptops cost so much more.

Alanstrainor

vectra wrote: »

OK
Decision made.
Thanks to all the replies and advice on here. I sat last night and thought hard about this.
My current laptop does every thing I need it to do, especially with the ssd installed,.
Boots to desktop is less than 15 seconds
opens apps quickly enough etc etc.
Battery is the main issue.
So, I ordered a new Duracell battery last night, >> THIS

I am sure this laptop will last another year, ( Fingers crossed )
I am going to double my budget then and buy a new Macbook ( Pro or Air ) Not sure just yet but be assured I will be back for advice.
Thanks again guys.

Tbh, not a bad shout. If it does what you need then there is no harm spending a little to get a battery and seeing how your fair. Even if in 6 months you decide you need something, you can still come back and buy a mid priced Dell.

As for Macs, keep in mind that the Air is for all intents and purposes, dead. Yes they still sell it, but it's very outdated. The screen is quite poor these days and the design is old school (large screen bezels). It would have to be between the Pro and the confusingly named Macbooks (natural successor to the Air, slim & light).

vectra

Alanstrainor wrote: »

Tbh, not a bad shout. If it does what you need then there is no harm spending a little to get a battery and seeing how your fair. Even if in 6 months you decide you need something, you can still come back and buy a mid priced Dell.

As for Macs, keep in mind that the Air is for all intents and purposes, dead. Yes they still sell it, but it's very outdated. The screen is quite poor these days and the design is old school (large screen bezels). It would have to be between the Pro and the confusingly named Macbooks (natural successor to the Air, slim & light).

Cool.
I will reportback when the time comes.
If a really good Dell would suffice then thats what i would go for.
Thanks again

vectra

vectra wrote: »

The one i bought has better cells i assumed.

they are all 1 year guarantee batteries on that site - would there be any difference on the cell quality?
they say the 2power ones are as good?
even then another duracell branded one cheaper than your link with higher mah than your link.
http://www.duracelldirect.ie/laptop-notebook/samsung/np-rc520-battery--tvn29p.html

vectra

glasso wrote: »

they are all 1 year guarantee batteries on that site - would there be any difference on the cell quality?
they say the 2power ones are as good?
even then another duracell branded one cheaper than your link with higher mah than your link.
http://www.duracelldirect.ie/laptop-notebook/samsung/np-rc520-battery--tvn29p.html

I see what you mean, but I just assumed the other pack would be more OE, ?
Maybe I should have gotten the higher mah ones. ?

beauf

Check out the screen on the Dell before buying. A lot of their mid to low price machines have some poor screens in my opinion.

vectra

vectra wrote: »

I see what you mean, but I just assumed the other pack would be more OE, ?
Maybe I should have gotten the higher mah ones. ?

more mah, more battery life.
of course 9 cell if it's a 9 cell will be heavier.
if it isn't dispatched yet you could ring them to get it changed maybe.

Luap

Luap wrote: »

The code on the site was expired so I contacted the website support team, where the lady sent me a quote with the 100€ off but still came too just over 800€.

Was onto another adviser and was able to use the codes with no extra VAT.

That would bring the laptop down to €750.

My question is would it be worth my while paying the extra 50 for the more expense one?