New purchase - help required,

r3nu4l

My six year old Fujitsu is about to give up on me and I need to purchase again.

Usage: Netflix, Youtube, Browsing, Word, Excel (light use, small pivot tables/charts)

Budget: Absolute max spend is €600, less is better

Preferred: Windows 10, i5 processor (or similar), Full HD, 8GB RAM

Must have: USB 3 ports, 13 to 15.6 inch screen, HDD 1TB or greater (preferably not partitioned into a C and D drive)

Nice to have: Bluetooth, SD Card reader, HDMI connectivity, 2-in-1/touchscreen capability

Must not be: Celeron, i3 etc., low end chips.

Help please, it's a long time since I bought a laptop and things have moved on since 2012. Thanks in advance!

Alanstrainor

I presume you have a lot of files to store given what you have said? The only reason I ask, is that you should just about be able to squeeze in a 250GB SSD instead of a 1TB HDD. This will make any laptop lightning fast compared to an identical machine with a spinning HDD. It's worth considering.

If the 1TB disc is a must, then the option for 499 on this page is a good one:

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

It has all the specs you require.

The current generation core i5 processors really are a big jump forward compared to the last (7th generation) processors as they are quad core. 8GB of RAM should be plenty for your usage. The only slight concern is the size and weight of this machine. If this will be carried around often I think it would be worth trying to find one in a shop to take a look at.

MEGA BRO WOLF 5000

I have that exact laptop and the only fault I have with it is the trackpad, it's awful, I find myself bringing a mouse and pad with me everywhere I go.

The SSD really makes it, the 8th gen i5 is a great little thing too, the battery I can honestly say I can get over 6 hours out of a charge which is a monster compared to any other laptop I had...it was also closer to E900 when I bought it only a few months ago too so the price looks good.

Alanstrainor

Hunky Monster wrote: »

I have that exact laptop and the only fault I have with it is the trackpad, it's awful, I find myself bringing a mouse and pad with me everywhere I go.

The SSD really makes it, the 8th gen i5 is a great little thing too, the battery I can honestly say I can get over 6 hours out of a charge which is a monster compared to any other laptop I had...it was also closer to E900 when I bought it only a few months ago too so the price looks good.

Depending on how brave the OP was. It is possible to buy this machine with either the SSD or HDD option. And add either later. So that would mean there would be a SSD and HDD in the same machine. SSD for the OS and programs, and a large HDD for storage.

This machine takes a SATA HDD and an M.2 SSD. It might be a bit of a stretch, but it is possible.

r3nu4l

Thanks for the responses. I couldn't find a 499 option on that page. Cheapest seems to be 599.

It looks good. I have lots of files, mostly photos and backed up onto external hard drives too. I'd love the SSD but not at those prices for such tiny storage.

This appears to be a better option than most of what I've seen on the DID and PCWORLD type sites.

MEGA BRO WOLF 5000

r3nu4l wrote: »

Thanks for the responses. I couldn't find a 499 option on that page. Cheapest seems to be 599.

It looks good. I have lots of files, mostly photos and backed up onto external hard drives too. I'd love the SSD but not at those prices for such tiny storage.

This appears to be a better option than most of what I've seen on the DID and PCWORLD type sites.

The SSD really makes a differnce though... if you have external drives for storage I'd recommend using them for exactly that and get something with an SSD, I can't state how much more performance you'll get from one, night and day.

r3nu4l

Heh, having watched a couple of videos comparing SSD to HDD, I may be a convert...

So, the Dell above has an SSD option but what about the two below?

Slightly above my preferred budget I'll admit but just wondering what people think of these options.

HP option 1

HP option 2

Alanstrainor

r3nu4l wrote: »

Heh, having watched a couple of videos comparing SSD to HDD, I may be a convert...

So, the Dell above has an SSD option but what about the two below?

Slightly above my preferred budget I'll admit but just wondering what people think of these options.

HP option 1

HP option 2

It looks like the Dell was on some sort of sale at 499, back to 599 now!

The issue with the two HP machines is the processor. Now it is absolutely fine, and it should be more than capable for your needs. But the Dells have Intel 8th generation 8250 processors with have 4 cores, over the 2 cores of the two HP machines. They are a significant jump in performance.

The other issue with those HP models is that they are quite old school. VGA port, and a big clunky design. This might not be an issue to you of course. But worth noting all the same.

r3nu4l

Alanstrainor wrote: »

It looks like the Dell was on some sort of sale at 499, back to 599 now!

The issue with the two HP machines is the processor. Now it is absolutely fine, and it should be more than capable for your needs. But the Dells have Intel 8th generation 8250 processors with have 4 cores, over the 2 cores of the two HP machines. They are a significant jump in performance.

The other issue with those HP models is that they are quite old school. VGA port, and a big clunky design. This might not be an issue to you of course. But worth noting all the same.

That's good enough for me!
Looks like the Dell is stronger in every way.