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-   -   The Laptop Thread: Configs, deals & questions (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/gadgets-computers-software/67390-laptop-thread-configs-deals-questions-443.html)

Update.

Got the drive delivered in morning. Got it installed from a nearby vendor. Also got Windows 11 installed as earlier it was Windows 10. I should have get this done earlier. It's like a new Laptop now. Blazingly fast.

Have ordered a hard drive enclosure so I can convert the 1TB internal drive to an external one.

When I got my XPS 9570 in August 2018, I upgraded the SSD to a 1TB Samsung 970 EVO.

The 1TB SSD cost me $248 at the time (2018).

Have always wanted a 2TB, so i can have ALL my data with me - but it was just too expensive back then.

So I set a camelcamelcamel price watch for the 2TB version:


And finally bit the bullet last week.

Got the 2TB = $194

Will probably put the old 1TB up for sale in the Classifieds once i'm done transferring my stuff, in case anyone is interested.

Your location shows Bombay. Are you importing this? Where are you buying this from?

Got a friend to get it from the USA, just like I did last time as well.

I use a 860 EVO 500 GB since 4.5 years, and so far it has not given any problems. 870, I guess, is just the next update in the same lineup. :thumbs up

For others who are looking to buy SSDs, it seems prices have come down a bit lately. The Crucial MX500 1TB was selling for around 6.7k yesterday on Amazon, and WD Blue 1TB was around 7.5k. Both these models are TLC with DRAM (usually the 2 most important qualities to look for in an SSD), and as good/ reliable in real world usage as the Samsung which is a bit pricey in comparison for not much real gains.

Here is a SSD comparison excelsheet from the web that can be bookmarked (use your own filters).

Any one here knows about the ASUS Vivobook pro 14 OLED
The variant with GTX 1650,16gigs of RAM and 512ssd weighs less than 2kgs which making me interested, though it is costing about 71k.
Is it worth the price or should i go for the gaming laptops with similar specs for 60-63k.

My personal experience is that finish and keyboard click quality of vivobook is much inferior to other series like tuf, zephyrus, based on of device ownership within friends and family. I would suggest you to check out any brick and mortar store for the comparison.

Please research a bit more on OLED, as we had dropped the idea of ASUS OLED laptop recently after coming to know about lower screen life and pixel loss in OLED screens from internet research.

Also you may look at post 6613 in the same thread.

My personal opinion is that the tuf is more versatile due to additional free ssd slot, dual fan cooling etc vs vivobook, though it is slightly heavier.

How is the battery life of Asus TUF?

It is decent, about 2-3 hours for moderate usage on windows for our 48WHr laptop battery. Also tuf comes with a software called armory crate to manage the device.
You should check battery capacity, in some models, battery capacity may be higher.

Guide to Buying A Laptop in the USA


Post my initial post here about getting Laptop from US, updating that I finally zeroed in on the "Lenovo - Yoga 7i 16" WQXGA Touch 2-in-1 Laptop - Core i7-1260P - 16GB Memory - 512GB SSD - Arctic Grey" - Link

Purchased from BestBuy as part of a 04 July Sale : Link

Specifications:

• Intel Core i7-1260P (12th Gen)
• 16 GB LPDDR5 RAM (Soldered)
• 512 GB SSD
• 16 inch Touchscreen, 2.5K IPS LCD, Dolby Vision, 400 nits
• Weight: 1.89 kg

Went for an "Open-Box Excellent" rated item as the List Price was going beyond my budget. Landing Price at $880 + Tax = $960. If things are not as good as promised my friend would return it. New sells for $999 + tax = $1090 as part of the 4th July Sale.

Product Tour

Should get it here in India when my friend visits on 17-July. Did lot of research between my previous post and the purchase. Literally browsed to thru multiple laptop specifications and even considered purchasing a refurbished Alienware X14 for sometime :D

Documenting some of my learnings:

2-in-1 models:
These are light weight and the way they are advertised makes you feel that you can use it like a tab. But when I went to the store and checked the feel in hand - it was far from it. Tablets are way lighter. Even at 1.5 to 1.6 kilos these are portable but I could not visualize myself using this like a tablet.

The various bending angles might be useful such as tent mode and full fold for viewing from different angles but I felt these are best used on stable seating on a table or desk.

Also the Dell model I had initially selected had compromised heavily on the screen quality to support the touch part. The rated color accuracy was bad and the brightness was 250 nits as well which is mediocre. Asus & Lenovo offer better options with display in this form factor. Asus in fact has OLED displays but I am not sure of the durability.

Finally when I bumped up the screen size to 15.6 to 16 inches, the specs for the display quality drastically improved from the 250 nits to 300 and 400 nits screens.
I also had a good look at the Dell Inspiron 7610 16 Plus Laptop
This laptop seemed to tick many boxes with 300 nits of brightness and the option to add a nVidia RTX 3050 as well. But after seeing some Youtube reviews and online reviews found that people are facing lots of issues with the Clickpad. Hence this model was dropped.

Finally found the Lenovo Model which I purchased. Every laptop comes with some cons - the con here is that the RAM is not expandable and Lenovo gives 16 GB of DDR5 RAM but is soldered. Well - you win some and you lose some.

Also this article on ZDNet titled "Why your next laptop is going to be 16-inches" also made me consider the 16 inch form factor - while keeping an eye on the weight to be below 2 kg.

Gaming Laptops
I also searched thru some Gaming laptops keeping in mind a 2.0 kg barrier and was surprised to see some excellent ones available even there.
Asus makes the some of the best Light Weight Gaming Laptops, the Rog Zephyrus G14 series are really light and all in the < 2 kg weight and they include a RTX 3060 GPU as well. The 2021 Asus model misses a webcam though which seems like a big miss.

Similarly the Alienware X14 series are also in the same league weight wise, but price wise are more premium. Was really tempted for sometime to buy one of these. There were some deals on these on the Dell Outlet store for refurbished models (for ~1.05 L)


Other Laptop Buying Tips
1. It is important to check at least similar models in the store even if we plan to buy online or from US. I did visit the Dell store twice to get an idea on the weight of the laptop and the practicality of the 2-in-1 Models.

2. It is important to go thru the reviews of the models both on websites as well as on YouTube. There were many "Aha" moments and "Oh No" moments I went thru as I understood more on the pros and cons of each of these Laptops.

3. Deals in USA are of a higher value than here, here most deals are restricted to ₹3000 - ₹5000 range, since its a direct dollar value conversion when viewed in Rupees the deals seem higher (like $200 OFF would mean: ~15K Off), so it is important to literally glean multiple websites for offers and deals. Dell and HP have deals for students which is an additional 10% from the Hp.com and dell.com websites. So, if you have relatives that can help - then that is another option. Also students can generate a new coupon every month.

4. Specifically the Ports, RAM Slots and outputs, need to be double checked. Some laptops are still putting in some USB 2 ports. Also some of the Dell Inspiron series despite having the Intel Xe graphics limit the Display output to 1080P only. These need to be validated. Some laptops come with soldered RAM - limiting the ability to upgrade - so better to choose the higher RAM variants here.

5. Also, every brand has their Outlet stores where they have refurbished models of their laptops at a lower price- they also list the condition of the laptop as "New", "Like new" or "Scratches and Dents". The pricing on these sites are considerably lower and excellent option to explore. Some links below:

• Dell Outlet: https://outlet.us.dell.com/ARBOnline...4635114&~ck=mn
• HP Outlet: https://www.hp.com/au-en/shop/hp-outlet-clearance
• Lenovo Outlet: https://www.lenovo.com/us/outletus/en/laptops/

Thanks for reading, hope it was helpful - will post a more detailed review once my Laptop arrives.

Do ask him to check the build quality. Because, I had bought one from US (Brand new - Lenovo) and the quality was bad. Meaning, it looked ok but the hinge mechanism was bad (the screen didn't shut flush - had a gap when the lid was closed), this silver color started to darken and chip off and in 3 years I had to purchase 2 more additional chargers).

And few months back, 3 IC's burnt and now it's dead. So especially check the hinge mechanism.

I did check few other brands here but I somehow feel all have that plasticky feel. Waiting for July 8th to check the new laptop that's coming out.

A few years back, I had puchased the M series Thinkpad from Lenovo, (the so called military spec) brought back by my relative from the US.

Within 2-3 years, the hinge conked out, the plastic frame of the screen and body started cracking. Keyboard keys started failing.

That was my last Lenovo. Amen.

FWIW, I think dells are to expensive for what they offer especially the latitude series. This is coming from someone who has bought close to 300 laptops from various vendors over the last 5 years.
You can get a decently specced laptops like
Core i5 processor
8 GB RAM (Get one with an additional slot and add 8 GB later.. it is much cheaper)
512 GB SSD
14 inch full HD IPS display (not full sRGB though and somewhere between 250-300 nits)
Finger print reader
Windows 11 pro
with 3 year onsite warranty

for less than 1 lakh.

Try lenovo thinkpad L14 or Lenovo Thinkbook.

There are options in ASUS (not the OLED ones), HP etc which are more value for money than DELL. All laptops are equally good or bad depending on how you look at them.

I have no idea why dell prices their laptops at such a premium for the same spec. I have bought over 50 dell laptops but stopped buying them about 2 years ago and switched mainly to lenovo.

Getting a laptop with the below configuration for aprox. 800$ including taxes. Do suggest if this is a good buy. I do not play games nor am I interested in a 2-in-one laptop.

Brand: HP
Model15-eg2073cl
Color: Blue

Features: Backlit Keyboard
Features: Integrated Webcam
Features: Numeric Keypad
Generation: Intel 12th Generation
Graphic Card: Integrated Graphics
Memory (RAM): 16 GB
Operating System: Windows OS
Optical Drive: No Optical Drive
ProcessorIntel: Core i7
Resolution: 1920 x 1080
Screen Size: 15.6 in.
Screen Type: Touchscreen
SSD Size: 512 GB
Storage Drive Type: SSD
Wireless Networking: Wi-Fi 6 (2x2) Gig+ and Bluetooth®

I had shortlisted this one during my search and its selling on CostCo at a really attractive price of $749 + Taxes (Link)

Finally dropped this - after reading this post here: Link



This maybe a one off but I got worried reading it from someone who purchased from the same place where I was looking at, which was Costco.

Agree with you on the Latitude series - those are really durable. Same does not seem to be true about the Home Series which includes Inspiron. Some say, they kind of did cost cutting deliberately on Inspiron to promote XPS series. The XPS series is supposed to be very good but then the price is way high.

Sure will do. Fingers crossed as of now - in the US, the Laptop will reach him on 7th July and comes with a 15 days Return Policy from BestBuy. So if it is not up to the mark - he will return it.


Hinge seems to be an issue across all the major brands including HP and Dell - just type a laptop brand and type "hinge issue" on Youtube and you will see people having issues. Let us see how this one holds up.