• You are currently viewing our forum as a guest, which gives you limited access to view most discussions and access our other features. By joining our free community, you will have access to additional post topics, communicate privately with other members (PM), view blogs, respond to polls, upload content, and access many other special features. Registration is fast, simple and absolutely free, so please join our community today! Just click here to register. You should turn your Ad Blocker off for this site or certain features may not work properly. If you have any problems with the registration process or your account login, please contact us by clicking here.

Recommend me a laptop?

Lark

Active member
Joined
Jun 21, 2009
Messages
29,569
Anyone care to recommend me a laptop? Its been years since I renewed my laptop and I'm thinking of getting osmething new, presently I've got a Hewlett-Packard Pavilion with Beatsaudio sound and Windows 10, its been grand but I think the CD/DVD drive is kaput, its had some heating issues over the years but I think that was largely to do with updates and has corrected itself over time with further updates. At the minute its whirring and noisey so I think it could be reaching the end of its life.

My tech knowledge isnt great but I'm interested, I usually make a purchase on the basis of price and what the retailer tells me is on offer, although I'd be glad to hear what makes a good laptop for anyone else.

Also, is it just a better idea to have a separate device to watch DVDs on or play games with, has everyone gone so digital that it just makes sense to have one of those smaller notebook things? I dont know, do tell :)
 

Coriolis

Si vis pacem, para bellum
Staff member
Joined
Apr 18, 2010
Messages
27,230
MBTI Type
INTJ
Enneagram
5w6
Instinctual Variant
sp/sx
I have only a netbook - an Asus eee PC now at least 5 years old. I run Xubuntu on it, and it still does everything I need. What I lose in screen size I gain in how small the thing is, which means I am willing to take it with me almost everywhere, especially when travelling. I am not recommending you get one of these, and am finally considering getting something larger for more serious work, just providing an example of how one fairly simple device meets all my needs: emailing, web browsing, editing files, displaying presentations, even updating the websites I manage. The one thing I don't do online is game.

As for full size laptops, Lenovo ThinkPads have a decent reputation, though their desktops some of my coworkers now have are very buggy. There is a small company called Eluktronics that is relatively new but developing a good track record. They seem to be a bit more high end, but folks I know who have these say they are well worth the money.
 

1487610420

Permabanned
Joined
Apr 13, 2009
Messages
6,431
There're so many brands and models out there, it just depends on budget and location. Most modern laptops don't usually have a CD/DVD player anymore, so that's more an ancient compatibility tech choice if required, maybe even only on older models. Lenovo is an industry workhorse, I like the Macbook Air for the form factor and functionality.

You can buy a web-browsing light portable laptop for cheap these days.
 

ducks

Permabanned
Joined
Feb 25, 2018
Messages
172
If the cd drive is broken, it's not a big deal. I don't even have one in my desktop pc. Seems like everyone uses memory sticks now and external drives and everything else is downloaded through high speed internet. I remember cds and how annoying they were to use. And if the computer is overheating, you don't think the heatsink is full of dust? Usually isn't too hard to clean out. Just use some 90-100% alcohol, toothpicks, and might need new thermal paste to put it back in when done.

Supposedly they have eGPUs now. So in theory, you could buy a laptop with decent processing and memory specs and an integrated graphics card and use it like a laptop. And then when you come home you could plug it into some kind of dock and use it like a high end pc. But I'd be wary of laptops nowadays. I keep hearing about manufacturers running the CPUs close to their thermal limit; so they skimp on the cooling to make the laptops smaller and then keep them from running higher (turbo) clocks. And if you do go with a laptop, accept that it's probably going to break at some point. For some reason, I don't know anyone that has had a laptop last all that long without something breaking. Be it an ethernet port, sound, dedicated graphics chips, digitizer screens, motherboards going out, ram problems. And it won't be an easy fix because a lot of manufacturers won't give you instructions on how to take apart a laptop. Sometimes parts will be glued together, like an LCD screen to its digitizer panel and makes replacing something simple a real pain in the ass to avoid breaking other stuff. And then laptops usually bios blacklist hardware that could plug in and work, like upgrading a wireless card or cpu, because the manufacturer doesn't want you to do that. And the CPU and ram might be soldered to the boards as well...

I'm partial to desktops...if you buy quality, the hard-drives are the only things to worry about and those are easy to fix with a raid 1 configuration, but if I was going to buy a laptop that I needed for work or something I'd probably look at a toughbook, since they are usually easy to take apart and fix and should handle wear and tear better than some thin crappy laptop designed only to last for a couple years (or less if you drop them or rough handle them a bit). And then just have a separate desktop at home.

Ideally, you'd want something that's easy to fix, will last, and has options for changing out different parts, including using an eGPU. But none of those things are what laptops are known for...

gl
 

Agent Washington

Softserve Ice Cream
Joined
Jan 24, 2017
Messages
2,053
if it's a loud whirring sound it could be either the fan or the harddisk assuming you have a mechanical harddisk, which breaks fairly easily but also is fairly easily replaceable if you go to a hardwore shop. other stuff like gpu ... tough luck... but since you can afford it anyway (?) lenovo does seem like the best choice so far, in terms of specs for pricing. i'm running on a 4 year old acer laptop that is already kinda half dead, gpu broke leaving only integrated graphics, harddisk died at some point, the tech guy was like "this shit is hard to open" thanks to manufacturer, gpu i heard is glued onto the motherboard so not replaceable, at least i can still use it for basic office stuff
 

Tilt

Active member
Joined
Sep 18, 2015
Messages
2,584
MBTI Type
ENFJ
Enneagram
3w4
Instinctual Variant
sx/sp
The most popular all-around windows laptop seems to be Dell XPS. Lenovo ThinkPad series seems be pretty solid (I have read mixed reviews on lower/mid-tier Lenovo models). The best windows laptop/tablet hybrids seem to Microsoft Surface.

Apple laptops are pretty solid (but a small percentage of them seem to have keyboard issues).
 

The Cat

Just a Cat who hangs out at the Crossroads
Staff member
Joined
Oct 15, 2016
Messages
23,552
I have only a netbook - an Asus eee PC now at least 5 years old. I run Xubuntu on it, and it still does everything I need. What I lose in screen size I gain in how small the thing is, which means I am willing to take it with me almost everywhere, especially when travelling. I am not recommending you get one of these, and am finally considering getting something larger for more serious work, just providing an example of how one fairly simple device meets all my needs: emailing, web browsing, editing files, displaying presentations, even updating the websites I manage. The one thing I don't do online is game.

As for full size laptops, Lenovo ThinkPads have a decent reputation, though their desktops some of my coworkers now have are very buggy. There is a small company called Eluktronics that is relatively new but developing a good track record. They seem to be a bit more high end, but folks I know who have these say they are well worth the money.

Xubuntu the ever hungry; one of the more sinister of the great old ones; knowing the fall of Atlantis was at hand dread Xubuntu; the hunger of the void used the ancient technology of the Elder Races to travel forward in time. However, the Great Race of the Yith, made it so the gnawing emptiness of Xubuntu could not take corporeal form directly.

But Great Xubuntu forsaw this betrayal and with the aid of the Fungi from Yuggoth, found away to enter our reality in not coporeal, but digital form.

Now...

Poised at the edge of the end of this new Atlantis, this modern age of marvels, is built upon the digital, and ever restless, ever hungry, ever searching for a way in...there lurks Xubuntu.
 

Maou

Mythos
Joined
Jun 20, 2018
Messages
6,117
MBTI Type
INTP
Enneagram
5w6
Instinctual Variant
sx/sp
It depends on what you want to do with it. I recommend shopping online, and try "building" one. Ibuypower is a decent site. Newegg has a lot of selection for already built ones.

Do NOT buy computers at Best Buy, Walmart etc. Overpriced garbage. If you get pre-built get acer or aesus, or gigabyte.
 

rav3n

.
Joined
Aug 6, 2010
Messages
11,655
A whirring sound more likely points to a fan or power supply problem. Have you ever opened up your case to vacuum it out?
 

The Cat

Just a Cat who hangs out at the Crossroads
Staff member
Joined
Oct 15, 2016
Messages
23,552
Did you try turning it off and then on again?
 

Norexan

Quetzalcoatl
Joined
Jul 2, 2017
Messages
2,222
MBTI Type
ENTJ
Enneagram
8w7
Instinctual Variant
sp
At the minute its whirring and noisey so I think it could be reaching the end of its life.

Clan cooler from dust or replace it and there will be no heating noises.
 

ceecee

Coolatta® Enjoyer
Joined
Apr 22, 2008
Messages
15,908
MBTI Type
INTJ
Enneagram
8w9
I agree with everyone telling you to clean it before buying anything. I have a Lenovo ThinkPad T580, it's excellent. I also bought it from Lenovo directly, I've found the prices to be better from the manufacturer than anywhere else.
 

LucieCat

New member
Joined
Aug 2, 2017
Messages
665
MBTI Type
ENFP
Enneagram
6w7
Instinctual Variant
sp/so
I have an Asus that I got in about 2015. I don't know the exact model though. But I've been extremely happy with it.
 

Jaq

Remember, Humanity.
Joined
Apr 14, 2011
Messages
3,032
MBTI Type
ENTP
Enneagram
379
Instinctual Variant
sp/sx
What are you looking for in a laptop?
 

highlander

Administrator
Staff member
Joined
Dec 23, 2009
Messages
26,562
MBTI Type
INTJ
Enneagram
6w5
Instinctual Variant
sx/sp
Classic Macbook Air. I love em.
 

Red Memories

Haunted Echoes
Joined
Jun 3, 2017
Messages
6,315
MBTI Type
ESFP
Enneagram
215
Instinctual Variant
sx/so
So if you're looking for value but good working, I actually loved my Lenovo notebook laptop I had.

I currently have an Alienware 15 R3 now though since I wanted to play Sims 3. It is great too.

Kinda depends how intensive of a computer you need.
 

tony_goth

Pseudo-delusional Rebel
Joined
Sep 18, 2018
Messages
225
MBTI Type
ENFJ
Enneagram
487
Instinctual Variant
sx
My general advice is :

If you frequently play games or do anything else computationally intensive, high-end laptops.

If you don't, low-end to average-end laptops depending on the frequency of the use.
 
Top