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Affordable laptop recommendations: budget £350-£450

UnderAnOpenSky said:
It appears so. You can run third party apps, but they have had to submit them to Microsoft and Google havnt bothered.

Happy to stand corrected, not a Windows PC so can't check the store.
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Just to clarify it is a piece of piss, and free, to switch out of S-mode but really best done at set up. Thanks for pointing it out as I hadn't a clue what the s meant and would have probably been bemused for days.
 
maomao said:
Just to clarify it is a piece of piss, and free, to switch out of S-mode but really best done at set up. Thanks for pointing it out as I hadn't a clue what the s meant and would have probably been bemused for days.
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thanks, I was gonna ask how easy it was.

How is the laptop performing?
Currently looking for a friend who needs to browse, vaguebook with the chat switched on and stream stuff, would this be future-proof for a few years you think?
 
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wemakeyousoundb said:
thanks, I was gonna ask how easy it was.

How is the laptop performing?
Currently looking for a friend who needs to browse, vaguebook with the chat switched on and stream stuff, would this be future-proof for a few years you think?
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Surely that's Chromebook territory?
 
Well I've ordered it anyway, price seemed too good (maybe to be true) and the supplier is an asset management company so it's somebody's old work computer that's been replaced not a return, but fuck knows really, hopefully it's not a bag of shit. Time will tell. PayPal'd money so if it is I can kick off to them
 
Proper Tidy said:
Thanks both. Yeah will be using it on battery quite often, probably only for an hour or two at a time though. Just work stuff but that means various bits of software not just Microsoft office stuff, some web based but some not. I dont really know completely cos I'm starting a new job which I have to have my own laptop for and dunno yet what software they will expect me to use.

Defo going for a recon and quite fancy a thinkpad, might look for a 5th gen or later
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If battery is important the best thing you'll be able to do for it is buy a new one.
 
UnderAnOpenSky said:
If battery is important the best thing you'll be able to do for it is buy a new one.
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Cheers. I went for a later gen in end anyway and did a bit of research on seller before hand, so ex work laptops not returns and reconditioned by microsoft accredited people, hoping this means it will be a decent enough machine and battery life will be ok. Tbh I will only ever need to run it without plugging in for a couple of hours at a time I think, three tops, rest of time I should be able to plug in.

I mainly want a laptop that doesn't take ages to do stuff, so not seeing 'not responding' constantly and wasting time waiting for it before I can do work even when I'm switching between different software. Do you think this will be ok for that?
 
I use a pimped Lenovo from WOC Home

Local, good hardware, long established and I have had no problems.

if youcan't see what you want, call and chat, they are not sell sell sell but actually talk to you.
 
Proper Tidy said:
Cheers. I went for a later gen in end anyway and did a bit of research on seller before hand, so ex work laptops not returns and reconditioned by microsoft accredited people, hoping this means it will be a decent enough machine and battery life will be ok. Tbh I will only ever need to run it without plugging in for a couple of hours at a time I think, three tops, rest of time I should be able to plug in.

I mainly want a laptop that doesn't take ages to do stuff, so not seeing 'not responding' constantly and wasting time waiting for it before I can do work even when I'm switching between different software. Do you think this will be ok for that?
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I think it's a great deal, but it's still a 4th gen. The i3/i5/i7 is the class of processor representing budget/mainstream/Manly and the first digit of the second number denotes the generation. But like I said, a Carbon at that price would be a good deal with an i3-2530 in it so don't worry it much.
If you think Intel's gone out of their way to make consumer processors a bit confusing, you should see the utter shitshow that the Xeons are. I've been doing this IT malarky for over 20 years and I don't know what the fuck a particular Xeon is without looking it up every single time.
 
Chz said:
I think it's a great deal, but it's still a 4th gen. The i3/i5/i7 is the class of processor representing budget/mainstream/Manly and the first digit of the second number denotes the generation. But like I said, a Carbon at that price would be a good deal with an i3-2530 in it so don't worry it much.
If you think Intel's gone out of their way to make consumer processors a bit confusing, you should see the utter shitshow that the Xeons are. I've been doing this IT malarky for over 20 years and I don't know what the fuck a particular Xeon is without looking it up every single time.
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Ah cheers, yeah I realised last night I had the gen thing wrong, but I figured an i7 will presumably be better than an i5 and SSD ok so hopefully will be alright. Just hope battery isn't shit.
 
On paper an i7 will be faster but in my experience there is often no real difference in speed, the i7's run hotter than the i5's which is fine in a desktop as you can have better cooling to cope with it, but on a laptop that's not really an option so under a heavy load it will turbo up to it's full speed then start thermally throttling until it's slower than the i5 under the same load.

Have tested this pretty extensively using identical dell laptops and getting the same results from gen 6 to gen 9. I would not recommend an i7 over an i5 if you have to pay any more, in real world usage it's really no faster, just noisier.
 
It depends. (Does it ever not?)
In the ultra-low power realm, like for the Carbon, it is much of a muchness. Bump your power budget (and the size of the laptop) a bit, and you can get actual quad core i7s and they represent a big upgrade from an i5.
 
Ah fuck it ordered now, will just see how it runs. Hopefully I'll get a bit flusher then in a year I can buy something new and nice (saw one of those Huawei mate book whatevers in shop, lovely)
 
Proper Tidy said:
Well I've ordered it anyway, price seemed too good (maybe to be true) and the supplier is an asset management company so it's somebody's old work computer that's been replaced not a return, but fuck knows really, hopefully it's not a bag of shit. Time will tell. PayPal'd money so if it is I can kick off to them
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Thinkpads are usually a safe bet buying 2nd hand; they’re sturdy old beasts and are designed to be relatively easy to upgrade.
 
My old laptop is in its final, terminal phase, regularly reminding me that "HARD DISK FAILURE IS IMMINENT!!".
I've burned all essential information onto a bunch of DVD's...

I help with organising a local film festival and have a lot of use for a new machine, starting pretty imminently.

Would be v. grateful for any advice on a replacement which:

  • - can be hooked up to make a multiple screen setup
  • - has plenty of grunt (super-graphical gaming grunt less important than a good processor)
  • - has optical drive (I hear lots of laptops don't have one these days)
  • - has a numberpad (can be combined with general keys... y'know what I mean)
  • - is fine if it is a little on the bigger side
  • - has decent connectivity to all the shizz you need these days
  • - do I need a memory card thingy?
  • - doesn't come filled with fucking annoying crapware
  • - won't report all of my doings to the Chinese Government

I used to know a lot about computers and these days I can't even properly articulate what I want - will hopefully know it when I see it. :D

Cheers, boffins!! :thumbs:
 
Chz said:
It depends. (Does it ever not?)
In the ultra-low power realm, like for the Carbon, it is much of a muchness. Bump your power budget (and the size of the laptop) a bit, and you can get actual quad core i7s and they represent a big upgrade from an i5.
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Yeah, true I was doing my testing on (top of the range) business class laptops not gaming laptops.
 
8ball said:
My old laptop is in its final, terminal phase, regularly reminding me that "HARD DISK FAILURE IS IMMINENT!!".
I've burned all essential information onto a bunch of DVD's...

I help with organising a local film festival and have a lot of use for a new machine, starting pretty imminently.

Would be v. grateful for any advice on a replacement which:

  • - can be hooked up to make a multiple screen setup
  • - has plenty of grunt (super-graphical gaming grunt less important than a good processor)
  • - has optical drive (I hear lots of laptops don't have one these days)
  • - has a numberpad (can be combined with general keys... y'know what I mean)
  • - is fine if it is a little on the bigger side
  • - has decent connectivity to all the shizz you need these days
  • - do I need a memory card thingy?
  • - doesn't come filled with fucking annoying crapware
  • - won't report all of my doings to the Chinese Government

I used to know a lot about computers and these days I can't even properly articulate what I want - will hopefully know it when I see it. :D

Cheers, boffins!! :thumbs:
Click to expand...
Optical drives and numpads are pretty cheap as peripherals, should you want a smaller laptop.
That being said, most - if not all - of the big, 17" models still come with both.
 
Reconditioned thinkpad arrived today, really like it. Has a few bumps and scratches but seems smooth and quick and battery seems to be lasting a while, gave it full charge about half six, have been using it since (just web stuff, downloading all the apps I need etc) and still 44% left so that'll do me. Have not had anything tell me it's 'not responding' yet which is a novelty.

Do get some symbols coming up on screen sometimes that I have no idea what they mean, they go after a couple of seconds.

Also audio and camera work but not great, not that arsed about that though.

Fucked cortana off obviously, annoying cunt
 
Proper Tidy said:
Reconditioned thinkpad arrived today, really like it. Has a few bumps and scratches but seems smooth and quick and battery seems to be lasting a while, gave it full charge about half six, have been using it since (just web stuff, downloading all the apps I need etc) and still 44% left so that'll do me. Have not had anything tell me it's 'not responding' yet which is a novelty.

Do get some symbols coming up on screen sometimes that I have no idea what they mean, they go after a couple of seconds.

Also audio and camera work but not great, not that arsed about that though.

Fucked cortana off obviously, annoying cunt
Click to expand...
Symbols on the screen...
I take it you're new to Thinkpads. Could be you were trying to use a function key, and by default they're mapped to their alternate uses - volume up/down, camera on/off, etc. It will flash something on the screen when you do that. This behaviour can (blissfully) be altered in the BIOS.

Just guessing, though.
 
Chz said:
Symbols on the screen...
I take it you're new to Thinkpads. Could be you were trying to use a function key, and by default they're mapped to their alternate uses - volume up/down, camera on/off, etc. It will flash something on the screen when you do that. This behaviour can (blissfully) be altered in the BIOS.

Just guessing, though.
Click to expand...

Yeah when I googled it said that but it isn't when I'm using a function key or anything, it would just flash up symbols when I opened it up or opened a browser or something. Fuck knows. But yeah it's mapped default like you say, will have a fiddle round with it at some point
 
Proper Tidy said:
Reconditioned thinkpad arrived today, really like it. Has a few bumps and scratches but seems smooth and quick and battery seems to be lasting a while, gave it full charge about half six, have been using it since (just web stuff, downloading all the apps I need etc) and still 44% left so that'll do me. Have not had anything tell me it's 'not responding' yet which is a novelty.

Do get some symbols coming up on screen sometimes that I have no idea what they mean, they go after a couple of seconds.

Also audio and camera work but not great, not that arsed about that though.

Fucked cortana off obviously, annoying cunt
Click to expand...

Which seller did you use? I'm looking at refurbished ThinkPad on eBay atm.
 
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