New laptop needed. Help

[scotty score]

Hi nuts. I need to get a laptop as I no longer have a work laptop to use
Just curious what brand / specs etc I should be looking at
Not looking to spend a ton and will use the laptop mostly for surfing, iTunes etc
Not a gamer so don't need to worry about that
Any tips are appreciated. Thx

[Slickstick78]

Re: New laptop needed. Help

I'm been shopping for a laptop myself for the last few weeks. Here's a few questions that I've been asked along the way:
Mac vs PC
touch screen vs non

Tips of things that I've been told to look for:
i5 minimum
1T minimum
12 GB minimum

That's all I got. Hopefully the TGN community can help further.

[AlfaGolfer]

Re: New laptop needed. Help

If only for tunes and surfing, why not get a tablet?

[newy]

Re: New laptop needed. Help

I'm been shopping for a laptop myself for the last few weeks. Here's a few questions that I've been asked along the way:
Mac vs PC
touch screen vs non

Tips of things that I've been told to look for:
i5 minimum
1T minimum
12 GB minimum

That's all I got. Hopefully the TGN community can help further.

Nice specs but overkill bigtime for surfing and email and itunes and the like. Typing now on my ACER that I bought from Shoppers a year ago on 20X point day. 500GB hard drive, 8GB RAM, Intel N2930 processor. I have a +30,000 song iTunes library on here and run Photoshop and Illustrator, all without issue. Not as fast as my work "machines" but it worked out to be around $225 after discounts if I recall correctly. Would do it again in a heartbeat and the spend the extra cash on a putter.

Then I would sell that putter and use the $ to buy another putter.

Then I would sell that putter and use the $ to buy another putter.

Then I would sell that putter and use the $ to buy another putter.

Then I would sell that putter and use the $ to buy another putter.

and so it goes..

[cuppa]

Re: New laptop needed. Help

I'm been shopping for a laptop myself for the last few weeks. Here's a few questions that I've been asked along the way:
Mac vs PC
touch screen vs non

Tips of things that I've been told to look for:
i5 minimum
1T minimum
12 GB minimum

That's all I got. Hopefully the TGN community can help further.

Here is another question to ask and look for

Keyboard type, is it a US keyboard or Canadian. If you do a lot of typing you may regret getting one with a Canadian style keyboard as it has a few more keys that are very anoying

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ye6WK0r2gI0

[cosmos411]

Re: New laptop needed. Help

Hi nuts. I need to get a laptop as I no longer have a work laptop to use
Just curious what brand / specs etc I should be looking at
Not looking to spend a ton and will use the laptop mostly for surfing, iTunes etc
Not a gamer so don't need to worry about that
Any tips are appreciated. Thx

Sorry for the long reply, but getting a laptop can be more involved than getting a turkey for Christmas. I've been a programmer analyst for 15 years and my opinions are on personal experience. I use my laptops to work on so they do get heavy processing done on them.

Even though you mention iTunes, I'm thinking you want a Windows laptop. The biggest impacts on price will be the screen size, the processor (Intel, AMD or Celeron), and the type of hard drive (solid state or regular).

Hard Drives:
SSD (solid state) is faster, but they are always pretty small in capacity because they're expensive. SSD gets to be a pain when you run out of space, and that will most definitely happen at some point. There is an option for a hybrid hard drive (part SSD and part regular) which is what I now have, but you have to replace the HD yourself (super easy to do) as I haven't seen any laptops for sale with a hybrid drive.

Processor:
As for processor, I would look at Intel first, then AMD. I wouldn't bother with Celeron, I've never been happy with them.

Brand:
I really would't be concerned over which one, as long as you recognize the name, e.g. HP, Lenovo, ASUS, ACER

Screen Size: That's a personal preference. I wouldn't necessarily go for a touch screen unless that's something you really want. It increases the costs and for a laptop is a pain in the arse and you'll end up using the mouse pad more anyhow.

Look at Bestbuy for sales as their normal prices can be high. Then check their refurbished laptops. Don't be scared by refurbished, I've had 2 over 10 years and both are still working.

Depending on what you have close by you can also look at Canada Computers, NCIX, Tiger Direct, even Walmart.

You asked about keyboard, I've only ever had the American keyboard and never had any issues. I think the Canadian one is only for the French character symbols on it.

You also want to consider if you want HDMI output or not. I haven't looked in a year so they may all have that now. You also want to consider if you want a DVD player built it.

Basic specs would be:
- RAM: Minimum 4 GB
- Hard drive: Min 500 GB
- DVD: your choice
- Screen size: I wouldn't go less than 14"
- Avoid laptops with the mouse nipple. Gets in the way while typing

Here's a decent looking one at Walmart of all places:

http://www.walmart.ca/en/ip/acer-aspire-156-sleek-notebook-in-black-with-intel-n3050-processor/6000195745930

Sorry for the long read, but there's lots to consider.

[Big Shooter]

Re: New laptop needed. Help

Here's THE ONE I'm considering....(my current laptop is an Acer)

http://www.bestbuy.ca/en-CA/product/acer-acer-aspire-e-15-6-laptop-black-intel-i5-7200u-256-ssd-8gb-ram-nvidia-940mx-windows-10-e5-575g-55nw/10497405.aspx?path=0cd901e6e3dfa28970b5d143aba0f175en02

Hits most of the check marks I'm looking for including Price ($700)

• 2.30GHz Intel Core i5-7200U processor and 8GB of RAM
• 256GB solid state drive
• NVIDIA GeForce 940MX graphics chipset
• 15.6-inch display with 1920 x 1080 resolution
• Integrated 802.11ac Wi-Fi
• Ethernet port
• Bluetooth connectivity and 3 USB ports (2 x USB 3.0, 1 x USB 2.0)
• HDMI output
• Optical drive and DVD burner allows you to load software and view content on DVD
• Windows 10 Home operating system

[Marty Canuck]

Re: New laptop needed. Help

Here's THE ONE I'm considering....(my current laptop is an Acer)

http://www.bestbuy.ca/en-CA/product/acer-acer-aspire-e-15-6-laptop-black-intel-i5-7200u-256-ssd-8gb-ram-nvidia-940mx-windows-10-e5-575g-55nw/10497405.aspx?path=0cd901e6e3dfa28970b5d143aba0f175en02

Hits most of the check marks I'm looking for including Price ($700)

• 2.30GHz Intel Core i5-7200U processor and 8GB of RAM
• 256GB solid state drive
• NVIDIA GeForce 940MX graphics chipset
• 15.6-inch display with 1920 x 1080 resolution
• Integrated 802.11ac Wi-Fi
• Ethernet port
• Bluetooth connectivity and 3 USB ports (2 x USB 3.0, 1 x USB 2.0)
• HDMI output
• Optical drive and DVD burner allows you to load software and view content on DVD
• Windows 10 Home operating system

Pretty solid value for those specs.

[multimut]

Re: New laptop needed. Help

Don't be scared by refurbished, I've had 2 over 10 years and both are still working.

I agree refurbished can be a very good deal. Note that most refurbished are "business class" machines (as corporations recycle laptops after three years -- so there is a large supply going to refurbishers). You can often find new consumer grade laptops on sale for similar price as refurbished business-class laptops. But the business class laptops have better build-quality, are more durable, are easer to repair, and may have advantages that are not visible (better keyboard, or magnesium chassis for Lenovo ThinkPads and HP Elitebooks).

I've been very happy with purchases from ca.refurb.io. They are Microsoft Authorized and their products come with a one year warranty (most refurbishers come with at most 90 day warranty). They are very hard to reach by telephone (which seems to be a common complaint), but I did have a minor issue with one purchase that was resolved by e-mail contact. Reviews on their e-bay store are 95% positive, 2.5% neutral, and 2.5% negative. You can use code "FREESHIP" to get free shipping if you order from their site.

[Ignatius Reilly]

Re: New laptop needed. Help

Here's THE ONE I'm considering....(my current laptop is an Acer)

http://www.bestbuy.ca/en-CA/product/acer-acer-aspire-e-15-6-laptop-black-intel-i5-7200u-256-ssd-8gb-ram-nvidia-940mx-windows-10-e5-575g-55nw/10497405.aspx?path=0cd901e6e3dfa28970b5d143aba0f175en02

Hits most of the check marks I'm looking for including Price ($700)

• 2.30GHz Intel Core i5-7200U processor and 8GB of RAM
• 256GB solid state drive
• NVIDIA GeForce 940MX graphics chipset
• 15.6-inch display with 1920 x 1080 resolution
• Integrated 802.11ac Wi-Fi
• Ethernet port
• Bluetooth connectivity and 3 USB ports (2 x USB 3.0, 1 x USB 2.0)
• HDMI output
• Optical drive and DVD burner allows you to load software and view content on DVD
• Windows 10 Home operating system

Interesting - my wife informed me this morning that we need a new laptop.

We talked about specs, I tried to talk her into Mac, no luck.

Anyway, she just called from BestBuy to ask my opinion about this:
http://www.bestbuy.ca/en-ca/product/...f2ae94b14ben02

Same price ($700).
Key differences are 12Gb vs 8Gb RAM
1TB HDD vs 250G SSDD
17.3" screen vs 15.6
Slightly lower resolution (1600x900 instead of 1920x1080)
Slightly faster processor (2.5 vs.2.3GHz)

She wants this for 2 main things (plus surfing, obviously!)
Bookkeeping software (+ Office or similar)
Photo editing

I figure the larger screen size will be better for the photos - I don't think the drop in resolution is significant.

Anyways, I thought I'd toss that into the mix as a slightly different alternative. Both this and Big's one are on sales which expire Dec. 15.

[Big Shooter]

Re: New laptop needed. Help

Interesting - my wife informed me this morning that we need a new laptop.

We talked about specs, I tried to talk her into Mac, no luck.

Anyway, she just called from BestBuy to ask my opinion about this:

http://www.bestbuy.ca/en-ca/product/acer-acer-aspire-e-17-3-laptop-black-intel-i5-7200u-1tb-hdd-12gb-ram-windows-10-e5-774g-582t/10497406.aspx?path=49b8e7d72493923e712730f2ae94b14ben02

Same price ($700).
Key differences are 12Gb vs 8Gb RAM
1TB HDD vs 250G SSDD
17.3" screen vs 15.6
Slightly lower resolution (1600x900 instead of 1920x1080)
Slightly faster processor (2.5 vs.2.3GHz)

She wants this for 2 main things (plus surfing, obviously!)
Bookkeeping software (+ Office or similar)
Photo editing

I figure the larger screen size will be better for the photos - I don't think the drop in resolution is significant.

Anyways, I thought I'd toss that into the mix as a slightly different alternative. Both this and Big's one are on sales which expire Dec. 15.

Very similar, you would get bigger screen & more RAM, but I really prefer the Solid State Drive (and I hook my laptop up to my TV most of the time already)

[Ignatius Reilly]

Re: New laptop needed. Help

Very similar, you would get bigger screen & more RAM, but I really prefer the Solid State Drive (and I hook my laptop up to my TV most of the time already)

Yeah, much like when I got my MacBook there were lots of tradeoffs to consider, and no one right answer. It depends...

[nomullies]

Re: New laptop needed. Help

I've had virtually every brand. Success with most. Currently using a Lenovo Ultrabook X250. But if I were in the market today I'd spring for a one generation older Surface. My son has one for work and loves it. And he's a techie. Great for travel, battery life, etc. And one gen old usually a decent price.

[hamiltonhacker]

Re: New laptop needed. Help

Whatever you buy I would highly recommend two things:

1. Get a SSHD, a regular hard drive WILL fail sooner or later. When I bought my current laptop, I had them swap out the 750 GB HD for a 256GB SSHD, that has plenty of memory for my needs and lightening fast bootup, about 15 seconds

2. Get Cloud backup, especially if you stick with a regular hard drive. There are a number of services available. I use sugarsync, https://www.sugarsync.com/en/ it is real time backup. I create a document, hit save and it is backed up to the cloud. Download pictures from my phone and they are immediately backed up.

[Ignatius Reilly]

Re: New laptop needed. Help

Yikes.

My normally cautious wife returned home with the Acer described above (17") and we're setting it up.

The FIRST challenge was connecting to WIFI - our password is a jumble of upper and lower case - and there is no caps-lock indicator on this thing so some errors were made. W.T.F.?

A quick stroll thru google and I've found the solution. Download an old app from the Acer website. You have to get the Win7 version and run it in compatibility mode. I'm typing this from my macbook which has a tiny green light on the caps lock key. How hard is that? Why is so much tech such crap?