Team-BHP - The Laptop Thread: Configs, deals & questions

Quote:

Originally Posted by bluevolt (Post 4885601)

Is there shortage of laptops in the market? I was casually browsing to look for a student based laptop but there are hardly any good options under 30-35k?

Flipkart/Amazon seems to have everything out of stock.

What other options do we have for buying a laptop online? How trust-able online portals of chain stores like vijay sales usually are?

Quote:

Originally Posted by PPS (Post 4885992)

I went to Croma the other day & I was told by the salesman that there is a huge demand for laptops and their stocks are running out fast due to the work from home situation. I am myself looking for a laptop, will post later with more details. I'm not sure if there will be better offers during Diwali in stores like Croma,etc.

WFH, online classes and supply chain interruptions have made things somewhat harder. That said, there are still options available if you know what to look for/where.

If you're comfortable shopping at a physical store, its worth checking out as even when laptops are priced correctly online, they tend to be between 1-2k cheaper when bought in person. Is it worth it? That would depend how accessible the store is to you and how quickly you need the computer. From a support perspective, I don't see any issues buying from Vijay Sales/Chroma online however their order fulfillment/returns and logistics will somewhat lag behind the likes of Amazon.

Both of you should check out the options on this list:- https://nextpc.co/2020/08/25/entry/

If you're looking for something cheaper still, navigate to the Netbooks page, although I don't recommend it unless you're absolutely sure that the limited performance won't be an issue later. Any laptop that's priced close to its actual MRP right now will not stay in stock for very long.

Quote:

Originally Posted by RavSam (Post 4885605)

Not shortage really. The work from home situation has increased demand for the entry level to mid range laptops and hence the laptops which used to cost 25-35k previously cost almost 5-15k more. If it's not urgent, would suggest you to wait for Diwali sales.

There is huge shortage of laptops and compute devices in the market. This is a well known fact in PC industry. The back to school demand supply situation this year in US is so one sided that many schools and parents are not able to get the devices for their kids. The shortage in US itself is estimated to be 5m units
The OEMs are trying to put out what ever they have in inventory, they are even churning out products with processors 3-4 generations old and market is guzzling them up.

So as customer you will have to pay huge premium for even junk category laptops. The demand is not going to go down until Q1 of next year is what we hear internally. So expect no improvement during Diwali sales.

Guys, need some help in finalizing a laptop. I'm currently using a 11yr old Compaq Presario CQ40. This laptop is still working & I've spent quite a bit on its wear & tear parts like battery,etc. It has always had heating issues, but it doesn't make sense now to spend any further on this old machine! After doing some research and browsing the last 40 pages on this thread, following seems to be my main criteria for a new laptop:-

- Core i5 10th gen
- 256gb SSD (Must)
- FHD screen
- 8gb RAM
- MS Office
- Windows 10

This laptop will mostly be used at home & my budget is upto 60k. Usage will mostly be for browsing, watching youtube/netflix,etc & Office work on MS Word. Portability is not that important. Important for the laptop to be niggle free & last 5+ yrs atleast. We have another HP Laptop bought from the US in 2012 for 200$ which is still working though it hasn't been used much. As a brand preference, I would prefer HP. Initially I wanted to try out Dell, but I'm alarmed to see so many members having faced problems with Dell in the other thread started by GTO !

Below are some of the options I came across.

1. https://store.hp.com/in-en/default/h...u-172v6pa.html

2. https://www.croma.com/hp-14s-cr2000t...lack-/p/223839

3. https://www.reliancedigital.in/hp-14...hoCbXcQAvD_BwE

4. https://www.reliancedigital.in/hp-14...hoCcr4QAvD_BwE

5. https://www.reliancedigital.in/dell-...h-/p/491894359

I'm not comfortable buying online. Would prefer to buy from Croma,etc. Infact, I took a look at option 1 at Croma the other day & they had an offer of free printer with that laptop. Not too sure if option 1 is a FHD screen or not. I'm willing to wait till Diwali for better offers but I'm doubtful that will be the case since laptops are in huge demand. Please advice.

Quote:

Originally Posted by PPS (Post 4886880)

I'm not comfortable buying online. Would prefer to buy from Croma,etc. Infact, I took a look at option 1 at Croma the other day & they had an offer of free printer with that laptop. Not too sure if option 1 is a FHD screen or not. I'm willing to wait till Diwali for better offers but I'm doubtful that will be the case since laptops are in huge demand. Please advice.

What you're looking for is a Lenovo Thinkpad E14 or E/T15 if you want a full-size display/keyboard.

I generally try to stay away from the base series HPs unless they're priced well enough to offset the mediocre package and chassis. None of the ones you've linked are. HP Pavillions are a good choice if paired with the new 7nm AMD CPUs. You've already cut down your options by being restricted to offline purchases, no point reducing them further with inferior parts.

Even if you buy in-person, prepare for a possible return for any issues that may arise as you get hands-on with the machine. Try to test the laptop thoroughly after purchase to expose any such issues.

Just wanted to share that the Macbook Pro 16 has seen a price cut. On Amazon for 1.8 lakhs and Vijay Sales for 1.85. Amazon is giving an exchange bonus (10k average) and if you run a business, buying through a business account on Amazon will enable GST input tax credit of approximately 27,000. Club both and you are looking at a price of 1.5 lakhs for Apple's flagship. Not bad when you consider that Dell & Lenovo high-end laptops cost the same (or a little more).

I am still holding out to see what the Apple India store (launch on 23rd) brings. Am also keen on 32 GB RAM & 1 TB SSD.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Amien (Post 4886910)

I generally try to stay away from the base series HPs unless they're priced well enough to offset the mediocre package and chassis. None of the ones you've linked are. HP Pavillions are a good choice if paired with the new 7nm AMD CPUs.

Came across the below HP with the AMD Ryzen 5 processor at a much cheaper price point. It matches some of the other criteria which I'm looking for.

https://store.hp.com/in-en/default/l...u-9vv61pa.html

Quote:

Originally Posted by PPS (Post 4892343)

Good choice :thumbs up. Upgrade the RAM for dual-channel operation and it should handle just about anything you throw at it.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Amien (Post 4892357)

Good choice :thumbs up. Upgrade the RAM for dual-channel operation and it should handle just about anything you throw at it.

Shouldn't 8GB RAM be enough for my kind of usage?
I quite liked HP Pavilion (option 1) from my earlier post but now after comparing, it may not justify the extra 16k premium since the specs are more or less similar except maybe the 1TB HDD.

Quote:

Originally Posted by PPS (Post 4892914)

A 2nd stick is recommended not necessarily for capacity but to allow the total memory bandwidth of the CPU to be used. Integrated Radeon graphics will also reserve some system memory for itself and will also see a performance increase from dual-channel memory.
'Good enough' is subjective. You can add it now or later but the system will not reach its full potential until you do.

The premium for the Pavilion comes from its chassis, general build and thermal management. The one you linked to is not the one to buy even if you want those things however.

Quote:

Originally Posted by PPS (Post 4892914)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Amien (Post 4892931)

A 2nd stick is recommended not necessarily for capacity but to allow the total memory bandwidth of the CPU to be used.

Hi PPS,

8GB of RAM can definitely be enough depending on your use-case, but the point that Amien is making isn't about the total RAM you have in the laptop, it is about the configuration of that RAM. So, to simplify: 2x4GB RAM sticks is better than 1x8GB RAM stick, because requests sent to your RAM can run through two channels (2x4GB) instead of one (1x8GB), thereby not getting bottlenecked by being crammed into one channel. Makes sense? :)

This is not to say that performance will be bad with a single 8GB stick of RAM. It will still run just fine. The suggestion to add a 2nd stick of RAM is so that you extract all the performance that the laptop has to offer.

Also, you don't need to go for a higher model laptop just for the extra RAM, you can confirm whether this laptop has another RAM slot free to add another 8GB after getting it, or ask HP if they can add one for you.

Hope this information helps!

Cheers