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

Would like to disagree with this. I'm using a mid 2012 MBP which is supported even today, in - fact a security update is waiting to be installed as I type.

Though, I'm still on Catalina, I do not miss many any feature from big Sur.

Just for completeness, I have upgraded both ram and storage to 16gb and SSD myself.

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Originally Posted by Aroy (Post 5296710)

Another grouse against Apple is their phased obsolescence, so you have to change devices within 4-5 years.

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Originally Posted by girishv (Post 5296728)

Just for completeness, I have upgraded both ram and storage to 16gb and SSD myself.

Memory and storage are soldered on the board now, so upgrade is not that easy anymore.

Even in windows ecosystem in some of the laptops, especially the ultra portables these are soldered on the board to keep thin profile.

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Originally Posted by joslicx (Post 5297192)

Yes that is the problem with ultra compact devices. Even Phone batteries are soldered. I have 3 Mackbooks and 4 Ipads. The older ones were fine, but the new ones have everything soldered for the sake of compactness and to take out one more point of failure.

At least with some Windows Laptops the memory and Disks are still upgradable by users.

All - I am looking to buy a basic laptop for sparing home use (No gaming so no need for special graphics card).

I have seen the usual Dell (Inspiron 15 3211), HP (HP 15s) and Acer (Aspire 3) laptops in their stores. The price is in the range of 40K or 45K just for Intel i3 core processor 11th Gen + 8 GB RAM + 512 GB SDD in 15.6 FHD size. They come with Win 11 Home edition + MS office. Any laptop with i5 core starts above 50K. Are these prices are as expected?

I have an 2015 purchased Dell Inspiron 15 which had i3 (not sure which gen) + 4 GB RAM + 512GB HDD in 15.6 normal display but with Ubuntu OS. It costed 25K at that time. It is still working fine but my son sat on it some time ago and it got black dots on the center of screen. It is a bit of a struggle, so instead of repairing I thought I will replace it with a new laptop.

Is Dell still a good buy now? I had couple of poor experience with Acer years ago and they have to be scrapped with data loss. I have a good opinion about Dell being rugged but is HP equally good?

Does anyone has any idea about the cost involved with Dell screen replacement? Or is it better that I buy a basic HDMI monitor and permanently connect the laptop to it to overcome this screen issue.

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Originally Posted by thanixravindran (Post 5298153)

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Does anyone has any idea about the cost involved with Dell screen replacement? Or is it better that I buy a basic HDMI monitor and permanently connect the laptop to it to overcome this screen issue.

Screen replacement is expensive and not worth it for older machines (and mostly not available). If you can do with an external monitor, then go for it, it will cost less than replacement.

Quote:

Originally Posted by thanixravindran (Post 5298153)

Is Dell still a good buy now? I had couple of poor experience with Acer years ago and they have to be scrapped with data loss. I have a good opinion about Dell being rugged but is HP equally good?

The prices we are experiencing today are normal considering the chip shortage.

Dell offers the best customer service but their quality control and driver and software stability out of the box is atrocious. That said, because of their excellent customer service, you can expect a replacement or resolution if you have any issues with your machine.

I would personally recommend a Lenovo or an Asus as they offer a much better out of the box experience. Better quality control, no driver or software instability issues and decent value in the case of Asus, and good spares availability in the case of Lenovo. :thumbs up

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Originally Posted by Luke1972 (Post 5295697)

Thanks for all the responses. Well the overwhelming favorite seems MacBook AIR. Well my organisation's SAP client / VPN works on the MacOS and would need MS Office apps and am set. The only grouse seems the lack of ports on the machine as it has only 2 thunderbolt 3 ports.

Been partial to Lenovo ThinkPad's because of the build quality, after sales service maybe time has come to consider a Mac which would also offer the same if not higher levels. One more question should i get the 256/16gb or the 512/8gb variant of the same. Next task remains finalising the colour options :cool:.

My 2 cents (I have a personal Mac Book + Office Windows laptop)
Couple of points to consider if you would be using some Win based apps ...

The latest Ms Office ver on Windows is miles ahead of the Ms Office ver on Mac. Many features are missing on the Mac ver.

If you go for 16gb Ram , you can always run Oracle VirtualBox and load Windows in case you have some apps that have compatibility issues.
(cheap Windows licenses are now available)

Unless you are into a lot of Multimedia, I feel these days the experience is almost the same on Windows as well once you are on an SSD + 16 gb ram.

:thumbs up

Quote:

Originally Posted by thanixravindran (Post 5298153)

All - I am looking to buy a basic laptop for sparing home use (No gaming so no need for special graphics card).

Is Dell still a good buy now? I had couple of poor experience with Acer years ago and they have to be scrapped with data loss. I have a good opinion about Dell being rugged but is HP equally good?

I am happy with my Dell XPS 13. You can explore the XPS range.

Quote:

Originally Posted by thanixravindran (Post 5298153)

I had picked up a Dell Inspiron with similar specs last year for 46k. Took their 3 year warranty for an additional sum for peace of mind. So far the user experience has been good.

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Originally Posted by Fillmore (Post 5298713)

Well after reading all the replies and especially that MS Office is much better in Windows I am having second thoughts regarding the Macbook Air. Visited a Reliance digital shop and did browse through the collection of Mac and Win laptops on offer. The HP, Asus and Lenovo Yoga felt good but sadly they did not have the x series from Lenovo which I was looking to compare vs the Macbook Air. Lets see how this journey goes.

About an year back had purchased an entry level hp laptop with 4 Gb ram, recently i purchased another 4gm ram module to add in the second slot but after installing the second ram laptop does not boot up, i even tried by swapping the slots but the computer failed to boot.

Then i installed the new ram module in the 1st slot and removed Hp one from 2nd slot and the computer booted, then i tried installing the Hp Ram on second slot without the any ram in in the 1st slot and the computer failed to boot.

So looks like an issue with the second slot.

Is there some sort of hardware lock that HP has started or am i doing something wrong ?

Dear mods, please delete this thread if it isn't appropriate, I thank each and everyone who have made such a great website. Highly appreciated:Cheering:

Greetings everyone!

I currently use a 2013 Lenovo B310 idea Center all in one desktop, from the past 1 year it’s giving me a lot of issues like Overheating, USB ports not working, videos not playing etc. Finally, I have decided to get an upgrade. I couldn't find any proper guidance, so I decided to come here as I have seen quite a few people sharing about Gadgets.
My usage
I am a student and watch videos for my education. I also do casual gaming like Forza Horizon; in future I might also do some designing.
SO basically, if it’s a Gaming Notebook then it will be good.

My budget is around 80K-85K max. I am open to any brand. I am also planning to sell my HP laptop; I have got a quote of 15K for it.

My requirements:
-Thin and light (less than 2.0Kgs)
-Should look like a notebook
-14- or 15-inch screen size
-Should have a camera
-GTX 1650 graphics card only
-i5,i7,Ryzen 7,Ryzen 7 processors only(i7 Ryzen 7 better)
-Should run games like Forza Horizon on medium settings
-Planning to keep it for 5 years minimum
-8 GB ram, 512 GB SSD (if upgradable better)
-Adequate battery with 5 hours of backup is enough

Options considered
ASUS ROG Zephyrus G14
A perfect laptop for me, it's ticking all boxes, but the lack of a camera is a deal breaker for me, Unfortunately I can't get an external camera
I am waiting for the 2022 Zephyrus G14, but there are no updates on it being launched. Also, it might not fall in my budget

Now I turn to you dear BHPians, please guide me on my new Gadget.
Thanks.