Created a parallel thread on another forum.
https://www.avforums.com/threads/what-r ... t.2493332/
I'm not holding my breath that I'll get useful suggestions from over there. But you never know. Someone might even come up with the correct answer as to what sized laptop I should buy.
This is one of those areas that has parallels with hi-fi, in that people tend to suggest buying what they've bought.
==================================================================
What is your budget?
£2000. However, I would be delighted if I could get a great tool for my needs for a lot less.
What size laptop do you want? Does it need to be portable?
My usage profile is that it spends most of the time at home. When I travel it will be by car with short walks from where the car is parked to where I would use the laptop. I am a reasonably fit adult male.
Do you have resolution requirements?
1920 (FHD) for watching youtube videos.
Do you prefer a matte or glossy (reflective) screen?
Please note matte screens are harder to find these days, so may not be in budget.
Either is fine.
Touchscreen not required.
What will you be using the laptop for?
Browsing Firefox (including watching youtube videos), Chrome, Word Processing libre office, email Thunderbird, dslrdashboard, darktable (converting and manipulating 45 Mega Pixel RAW photos to JPG's), remote admin of servers, some simple web / application development, video conferencing, simple spreadsheets
No gaming. no video editing.
How long does the battery need to last?
10 hours of word processing
Do you require Blu-Ray player or need the ability to play older disc media?
No
Do you require HDMI output?
No. Intend using the screen of the laptop only. With no external monitors.
Do you have a preferred brand?
Dell, HP, Lenovo prefered for ease of getting spares in the future
Are there brands you would prefer to avoid?
Apple
Would you be happy with a refurbished laptop?
Yes. Doesn't even need to be refurbished. So long as it works. Not bothered about cosmetic condition.
Any other details you feel necessary... Colour; Webcam; Good quality speakers; general spec: CPU, RAM, HDD space, SSD; Operating System or anything else you can think of.
Webcam and built in microphone. Happy to run Linux instead of Windows
16 GB RAM would be useful, due to darktable and Firefox gobbling up RAM.
My old laptop died with a motherboard failure. I had used about 80GB hard drive space on that, so a 250 GB hard drive on my next laptop should be fine.
Prefer touchpads with thumb buttons (below the touchpad)
RJ45 socket would be nice, but not essential
We have a CompleteSavings.co.uk account that gives us 10% cashback from ebay plus a few other online stores
Edit, here’s the contenders for the poll:
£1030 new Lenovo Thinkpad E16 https://www.lenovo.com/gb/en/configurat ... NCTO1WWGB3
£725 New Dell Precision 7560 – 11850H CPU, Quadro T1200 GPU, 32 GB RAM, 512 GB SSD
£700 new HP455 G10 https://www.hp.com/gb-en/shop/product.a ... BU&sel=NTB
£530 Used Lenovo Slim Pro 14 https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/386899552102 ... em5a1502a7
£190 Used Lenovo Thinkbook 15 G2 – Ryzen 3 4300u cpu, 8 GB RAM, 240 GB SSD
£180 Used Dell Latitude 5520 – 1145G7 cpu, 16 GB RAM, 256 GB SSD. Paint has come off 4 keys on keyboard. Base plate is cracked and damaged
£170 Used Dell Latitude 5501 – 9400H CPU, 8 GB RAM, 256 GB SSD
£130 Used Dell Latitude 5591 – 8400h cpu, 16 GB RAM, 256 GB SSD. Needs new trackpad buttons (£10 from Dell plus a few mins to fit)
What laptop should I get?
- Lindsayt
- Posts: 4291
- Joined: Fri Jul 13, 2012 9:06 pm
- Has thanked: 1167 times
- Been thanked: 733 times
-
- Posts: 1029
- Joined: Mon Jul 29, 2019 8:16 am
- Location: Grimsby/Phnom Penh
- Has thanked: 1727 times
- Been thanked: 439 times
Re: What laptop should I get?
We like Lenovo laptops and having had a quick glance at your requirements, 10hrs battery life hit me first so I Googled 'long lasting battery laptops', and the 2nd was the thumb button below the touchpad (yes I like that to) but they all seem to come with just a touchpad, my new Lenovo does, but you can touch lower down on the touchpad, or my current (in use) Lenovo ThinkPad has the buttons above the touchpad. I'll be interested to see what recommendations you get. Good luck.
- Lindsayt
- Posts: 4291
- Joined: Fri Jul 13, 2012 9:06 pm
- Has thanked: 1167 times
- Been thanked: 733 times
Re: What laptop should I get?
Are there any specific Lenovo deals that you think would be pretty close to optimum for me?
Are there any bits of info that I've left out that would help determine what exactly I should get?
Are there any bits of info that I've left out that would help determine what exactly I should get?
-
- Posts: 1029
- Joined: Mon Jul 29, 2019 8:16 am
- Location: Grimsby/Phnom Penh
- Has thanked: 1727 times
- Been thanked: 439 times
Re: What laptop should I get?
Sorry I'm no computer expert, probably the same as you that I know what I like when I get it.
I let you decide if this fulfills all or most of your needs. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/386899552102 ... em5a1502a7
I let you decide if this fulfills all or most of your needs. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/386899552102 ... em5a1502a7
-
- Posts: 151
- Joined: Mon Apr 26, 2021 10:01 am
- Has thanked: 212 times
- Been thanked: 206 times
Re: What laptop should I get?
A Chromebook sounds ideal for your needs.
Cheaper than Windows for a similar performance so you'd have more money left to buy hifi.
Cheaper than Windows for a similar performance so you'd have more money left to buy hifi.
- Lindsayt
- Posts: 4291
- Joined: Fri Jul 13, 2012 9:06 pm
- Has thanked: 1167 times
- Been thanked: 733 times
Re: What laptop should I get?
Any specific Chromebook deals that you'd see as being a particularly good fit for my needs?
I've stopped buying hi-fi. Apart from replacing stuff that goes BER (Beyond Economical Replacement). Such as my AV receiver earlier this year (looking forward to watching Better Call Saul Season 3, blu-ray Disks 1 & 2 tonight).
Similar thing with the laptop. Motherboard failure leading to me looking for my next laptop deal.
I've stopped buying hi-fi. Apart from replacing stuff that goes BER (Beyond Economical Replacement). Such as my AV receiver earlier this year (looking forward to watching Better Call Saul Season 3, blu-ray Disks 1 & 2 tonight).
Similar thing with the laptop. Motherboard failure leading to me looking for my next laptop deal.
-
- Posts: 151
- Joined: Mon Apr 26, 2021 10:01 am
- Has thanked: 212 times
- Been thanked: 206 times
Re: What laptop should I get?
This looks a fair buy:
this dViKphZN9uIIVBGX05os4UlBeHDtA9R5kz-4t2XQc96sY5Zsf1EUdbzhofQ3G6Mue6gFTPEioNaTm9JSfu6l8nX3Ws9itlpXw.Mpm9WhN5oj4d27DeFwcoh3WFpANQNyZreH7s83YMRIc&dib_tag=se&keywords=lenovo+chromebook&pd_rd_i=B0C9LZKS83&pd_rd_r=f47339f3-09d4-452b-b4ae-2d17d1326a4a&pd_rd_w=HVc5A&pd_rd_wg=Bpzkr&pf_rd_p=ecc1ecf8-8d1c-4bbd-b655-da936e24b538&pf_rd_r=DAYWKQNBKAE9VS349W90&qid=1712163051&sbo=RZvfv%2F%2FHxDF%2BO5021pAnSA%3D%3D&sprefix=lenovo+chromebook%2Caps%2C97&sr=1-2-0723f66e-ff99-43ba-a202-1be1089a8603
I don't know about your familiarity with Chromebooks but whilst very secure against viruses they do have some limitations so best check carefully that one will fulfill your needs. They run well with lower powered processors and need relatively little memory as most tasks are cloud based.
Apologies if you are already knowledgeable of this.
this dViKphZN9uIIVBGX05os4UlBeHDtA9R5kz-4t2XQc96sY5Zsf1EUdbzhofQ3G6Mue6gFTPEioNaTm9JSfu6l8nX3Ws9itlpXw.Mpm9WhN5oj4d27DeFwcoh3WFpANQNyZreH7s83YMRIc&dib_tag=se&keywords=lenovo+chromebook&pd_rd_i=B0C9LZKS83&pd_rd_r=f47339f3-09d4-452b-b4ae-2d17d1326a4a&pd_rd_w=HVc5A&pd_rd_wg=Bpzkr&pf_rd_p=ecc1ecf8-8d1c-4bbd-b655-da936e24b538&pf_rd_r=DAYWKQNBKAE9VS349W90&qid=1712163051&sbo=RZvfv%2F%2FHxDF%2BO5021pAnSA%3D%3D&sprefix=lenovo+chromebook%2Caps%2C97&sr=1-2-0723f66e-ff99-43ba-a202-1be1089a8603
I don't know about your familiarity with Chromebooks but whilst very secure against viruses they do have some limitations so best check carefully that one will fulfill your needs. They run well with lower powered processors and need relatively little memory as most tasks are cloud based.
Apologies if you are already knowledgeable of this.
- Lindsayt
- Posts: 4291
- Joined: Fri Jul 13, 2012 9:06 pm
- Has thanked: 1167 times
- Been thanked: 733 times
- slinger
- Posts: 9640
- Joined: Wed Aug 22, 2012 4:30 pm
- Location: The Garden of England
- Has thanked: 5323 times
- Been thanked: 3389 times
Re: What laptop should I get?
You can't, to the best of my knowledge, load Thunderbird on a Chromebook. I believe you can get Darktable working on Chromebooks, but it may involve setting up a Linux development environment first. qDslrDashboard can be downloaded as an Android app, so it should work on most modern Chromebooks.
You can load Firefox on a Chromebook, but why would you? The clue's in the name, Chromebook. Everything runs via the Chrome browser.
I love Chromebooks, and I wouldn't be without one, but with the "specialised" software you're using they probably wouldn't be what you need.
You can load Firefox on a Chromebook, but why would you? The clue's in the name, Chromebook. Everything runs via the Chrome browser.
I love Chromebooks, and I wouldn't be without one, but with the "specialised" software you're using they probably wouldn't be what you need.
Amps - NVA P50, AP30, A40, Stanislav Palo Tube Headphone Amp BB 85
Speakers - Monitor Audio Silver RX2
Cables - NVA LS1+LS3, SSC, Gotham S/PDIF, IBRA Optical
Digital - NAD C516BEE, SONY ST-SDB900 DAB TUNER, TEAC UD-H01 DAC
Analogue - Pro-Ject Debut Carbon Esprit SB, Graham Slee Gram Amp 2 Phono
Cans - Grado SR80, ATH-M50X
Speakers - Monitor Audio Silver RX2
Cables - NVA LS1+LS3, SSC, Gotham S/PDIF, IBRA Optical
Digital - NAD C516BEE, SONY ST-SDB900 DAB TUNER, TEAC UD-H01 DAC
Analogue - Pro-Ject Debut Carbon Esprit SB, Graham Slee Gram Amp 2 Phono
Cans - Grado SR80, ATH-M50X
- Lindsayt
- Posts: 4291
- Joined: Fri Jul 13, 2012 9:06 pm
- Has thanked: 1167 times
- Been thanked: 733 times
Re: What laptop should I get?
A Google of "laptop buying forum" leads me to sites like this:
https://forums.overclockers.co.uk/commu ... ptops.111/
Which appear to give no useful information whatsoever when it comes to buying a laptop for someone with similar needs to myself.
https://forums.overclockers.co.uk/commu ... ptops.111/
Which appear to give no useful information whatsoever when it comes to buying a laptop for someone with similar needs to myself.