Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
People who actually prefer high quality audio and video?
True.... People stuck in the previous decade who haven't kept up with technology. There's nothing wrong with that. Sometimes it's not practical to be modern.
I have an HP Touchscreen, I believe it's the "Envy" line. Paid about $600 a year or so ago.
15.6" 800/500, Quad core. cd/dvd/rw runs cool and has a good battery, probably lasts 2-4 hours, and it picks up wifi very easily. Lightweight machine too. Decent enough sound on its own and really good hooked up to speakers. Streams movies and videos perfectly. Its a fast machine too.
The other day I DROPPED it because I was trying to get a recording of my horrible upstairs neighbors and I was standing on the couch holding it above my head.
It fell on a heavy stain glass lampshade and, absolutely nothing happened. Not a crack, working perfectly. Whew!!
The only thing I don't like about it is a few keyboard letters are wearing off.
I ordered some stick on letters from ebay problem solved, although I have a 3 year parts and labor warranty it's too much trouble to send it in over some letters.
Before that I had a Toshiba that ran for about 5 years but it had overheating problems and sometimes ran very slowly even on a cable.
I am sure it's not the best nor is it the worst but I am very happy with it and I have it in white, which is a nice soothing color.
Btw I never use the touchscreen and think it's kind of an unnecessary feature.
Last edited by Cozy&Mommy; 01-08-2016 at 02:14 AM..
Apologies if I have put this in the wrong forum, If I have could one of the moderators move to the proper forum please.
That said- My old laptop is nearing the end of its effective life. The screen doesn’t work anymore so I have to use an external monitor which means the laptop really isn’t a laptop anymore. The CD/DVD drive won’t open anymore and the fan is sometimes makes noises which worries me. So the time has come to seriously consider getting a new laptop.
What I would use the laptop for is some limited work (Microsoft word/excel) at home, internet surfing, streaming internet video (Amazon Prime/Netflix/Hulu), emails, personal writing, video calls and watching blu rays/dvds on the back porch. Maybe in the near future I might start editing some videos on it for fun.
The purchase won’t be made immediately, probably sometime in the next 3-6 months.
It has been suggested I look at Toshiba/Dell computers. Which suggestions does the peanut gallery have for what particular laptops I should consider?
I've bolded the section that should set the minimum requirements for your future purchase. It should have a i5, Core 2, 2 GHz or higher. It should have 8 GB RAM or higher. CD/DVD have become an item of the past, so don't expect one to be there. If you must have one, go to ebay and purchase a slimline external and software to play movies since Windows no longer includes it.
As to manufacturer, stay away from the currently made Toshiba and Dell. Massive quality control issues. Go for Lenovo, HP, Panasonic and Samsung.
Not sure if this is a joke... Yes, I would not recommend a lay user to get an SSD unless they need it for some purpose (this user has not offered any usage that will gain much if any benefit from an SSD.)
Why would you promote a technology that typically lasts 2-3 years to a user who wants to keep their laptop for a bit longer than that?
Yes, I consider that NOT future proof.
LOL, some purpose like extending battery life (it IS a laptop), increasing performance during video editing (you do know the output file has to be written somewhere....), decreasing bootup time, etc
2-3 years? I guess if you slum it with an off brand model.
Quote:
A multi-threaded processor, eh? Hmm... Maybe you mean a processor which has cores that support multi-threading?
Have no fear though, almost EVERY SINGLE modern processor support multithreading. It's not really a rare technology. You'd struggle to get anything done without it.
The i5 performs relatively well on multithreaded processes. Especially considering the user is wanting to just do some video editing for fun. He will not have any troubles.
almost no i5 support multi (hyper)threading to each core. what in the world are you talking about? the i7 does, however, which is why if the user really wants to do video editing, an i7 is a significantly better option.
{note, I already conceding there are like 3 exceptions out of the whole lineup of i5s}
Quote:
Ah, yes. The user was probably talking about 4k video when they said editing some videos for fun. I bet they're planning on using Sony Vegas Studio and putting together a movie with their 4k cameras. They definitely gave that impression when they said they wish to do some video editing for fun. Or maybe you're expecting their video editing to ramp up from maybe a measly 1080p to 4k and 16 or 32gb of ram is your idea of future proof?
YOU are the one who raised the issue of going future proof. Do you think 4k is not going to be the norm in the future?
Quote:
Oh yeah... I forgot that to have a quality build you HAVE to have DDR4... Who could survive without DDR4? Well, something in me tells me a user who is asking what the best laptop is for document editing is NOT concerned about if their laptop has DDR3 or DDR4 memory and besides that, suggesting that quality is dependent on the generation of DDR ram they have is ridiculous. I simply said they have a crisp display (Go ahead, argue that retina displays are not crisp. I'm ready.) I did not say they're the only laptop that has a crisp display.
You can find a Macbook rated second best laptop of 2015 here: Best Laptops | Digital Trends
ddr4 will significantly extend battery life. you should really just not talk if you don't understand this.
further, I did not say the retina display is not crisp. I said your post implied that there are no alternatives with comparable displays (which IS false) LOL @ a website on "laptop" reviews that includes a tablet, by the way.
Quote:
The OP said he wants an optical drive. Fortunately several thinkpads meet all of his criteria and most of the things I said to look for while still being reasonably priced.
"Configuring" an extra bay? Do you realize an extra bay is just space in the laptop? It's not something you have to configure. You literally just slide the extra hard drive right in and call it a day.
not if you are swapping it into the sata bay for the optical drive. (well unless you potentially want it to fall out) you mentioned dual HDDs, I was referencing a way to achieve it in the models you mentioned.
Quote:
All in all, I think this is pretty ridiculous. You're gonna end up causing the user to buy a laptop he doesn't need out of fear that WMM won't run on it. I think this is pretty dishonest given what the OP asked for.
given that you seem to think most i5s support hyperthreading, I wouldn't cast the "honesty" stone if I were you.
given that you claimed a machine with a HDD is "future proof" , I wouldn't post anything more really, if I were you.
Quote:
What?
What stream?
Um, you mentioned services that stream, and then doubled down by posting a link that optical media is dying. How else is the content to be delivered?
LOL, some purpose like extending battery life (it IS a laptop), increasing performance during video editing (you do know the output file has to be written somewhere....), decreasing bootup time, etc
2-3 years? I guess if you slum it with an off brand model.
You're building a strawman here. The answer is no, performance during video editing will not be increased unless you are working on a fairly large video that can not fit in RAM and must be loaded and saved in chunks during editing. While processing and exporting, you may see slowdowns when the video is actually being written to a file. This is NOT a hit to performance during video editing. Video processing is another thing entirely and for a casual user doing video editing just for fun, I would not recommend spending the extra $50-100+ it's gonna cost you getting an SSD.
Quote:
Originally Posted by LeaderOCola
almost no i5 support multi (hyper)threading to each core. what in the world are you talking about? the i7 does, however, which is why if the user really wants to do video editing, an i7 is a significantly better option.
{note, I already conceding there are like 3 exceptions out of the whole lineup of i5s}
Multi-threading. What you said.
This might help you: What is multithreading? - Definition from WhatIs.com
I'm a computer programmer and a network administrator. I'm well aware of what multi-threading is and I'm well aware of what hyper-threading is and they are NOT one in the same. Hyper-threading is a method of handling multi-threaded processes. Any multicore CPU that don't support hyper-threading is capable of multi-threading as well. The difference with hyper-threading is that in hyper-threading a single core contains two logical cores enabling it to process two commands at once.
Quote:
Originally Posted by LeaderOCola
YOU are the one who raised the issue of going future proof. Do you think 4k is not going to be the norm in the future?
Yes, I do not think 4k is going to be that important in the future to this user.
Quote:
Originally Posted by LeaderOCola
ddr4 will significantly extend battery life. you should really just not talk if you don't understand this.
further, I did not say the retina display is not crisp. I said your post implied that there are no alternatives with comparable displays (which IS false) LOL @ a website on "laptop" reviews that includes a tablet, by the way.
This is just ridiculous. Did you read what I said about macbooks? Did you read how this user plans on using their laptop?
Are you a native english speaker? I simply said they are good quality laptops. Whether DDR4 lasts longer than DDR3 is entirely irrelevant. Apple is known for good build quality. This means sturdy frames, quality glass, nice keyboard, etc. etc.
And yeah, that was the first link I saw after looking up Best Laptops of 2015. Feel free to conduct the search yourself.
Quote:
Originally Posted by LeaderOCola
given that you seem to think most i5s support hyperthreading, I wouldn't cast the "honesty" stone if I were you.
given that you claimed a machine with a HDD is "future proof" , I wouldn't post anything more really, if I were you.
Um, you mentioned services that stream, and then doubled down by posting a link that optical media is dying. How else is the content to be delivered?
Hmm.. Yes, I said i5's can't support hyper-threading where?
Probably right after you said that i5's can't support multi-threading, right?
This is dishonest. You're building another strawman and attacking that.
You're recommending a user who is a casual, non-gamer, non-programmer, not planning on seriously processing video or audio, who uses their laptop for web, documents and maybe video editing for fun to get a laptop that has an i7, more than 8gb of ram and an SSD. Will this laptop work? Yes, it will definitely cover his needs. In fact, it could power about 3 or 4 more clones of him working on it at the same time comfortably.
Will a laptop with a much more reasonably priced i5, 8gb of ram, nice sized HDD, and a blu ray drive cover all of his needs too? YES. IT WILL.
I'm not the only one saying this, even Pruzhany's suggestion has striking resemblance to mine:
Quote:
Originally Posted by Pruzhany
I've bolded the section that should set the minimum requirements for your future purchase. It should have a i5, Core 2, 2 GHz or higher. It should have 8 GB RAM or higher.
I didn't infer that ONLY people who write use Macs, I wrote that people WHO DO focus on writing tend to favor MacBooks. Educators, graphic artists, and some sofware engineers also favor the Apple universe - to each his own.
I'd ding you for the mis-interpretation, but I totally missed the Blu-Ray DVD requirement.
Seriously? Not to beat a dead horse:
Originally Posted by DJMilf everyonewho is doing 'personal writing' seems to own and love their MacBooks.
People who focus on writing tend to use MICROSOFT WORD available on both MAC AND WINDOWS and really not better on either form. I still disagree. A LOT of people write. As Apple still doesn't have double digit market share I have a hard time believing "writers" prefer Mac.
Originally Posted by DJMilf everyonewho is doing 'personal writing' seems to own and love their MacBooks.
People who focus on writing tend to use MICROSOFT WORD available on both MAC AND WINDOWS and really not better on either form. I still disagree. A LOT of people write. As Apple still doesn't have double digit market share I have a hard time believing "writers" prefer Mac.
I am not slamming Macs here. I like Macs.
Kinda off topic, but I remember doing research on if Macs were actually better for art than Windows, and one of the reasons I saw was that Macs are more aesthetically appealing which is inspirational for the artist. If that's a real point, I'm sure it'd apply to creative writing too. Just an interesting thought :P
You're building a strawman here. The answer is no, performance during video editing will not be increased unless you are working on a fairly large video that can not fit in RAM and must be loaded and saved in chunks during editing. While processing and exporting, you may see slowdowns when the video is actually being written to a file. This is NOT a hit to performance during video editing. Video processing is another thing entirely and for a casual user doing video editing just for fun, I would not recommend spending the extra $50-100+ it's gonna cost you getting an SSD.
you mean like how 10-15 minute clip of 4k video would eclipse 8GB ? or a 30-40 minutes clip of 1080p would?
?
Quote:
Multi-threading. What you said.
This might help you: What is multithreading? - Definition from WhatIs.com
I'm a computer programmer and a network administrator. I'm well aware of what multi-threading is and I'm well aware of what hyper-threading is and they are NOT one in the same. Hyper-threading is a method of handling multi-threaded processes. Any multicore CPU that don't support hyper-threading is capable of multi-threading as well. The difference with hyper-threading is that in hyper-threading a single core contains two logical cores enabling it to process two commands at once.
"Hyper-Threading, also referred to as simultaneous multithreading (SMT)",
In fairness, I *DID* forget the "S"
you do know the "hyper" part is just intel's branding of it, right? Since you are a programmer? And you realize that in your instance of 'don't support HT' the only multi-threading is being done in the OS/program level, , not at the hardware level, right?
Quote:
Yes, I do not think 4k is going to be that important in the future to this user.
given that there are already many options that do this at less than $1000.....
I disagree. In 2-3 years they will probably be numerous sub $400 options (other than the gopro types)
Quote:
I'm not the only one saying this, even Pruzhany's suggestion has striking resemblance to mine
what is an" i5, core 2"? since you want to use that post as evidence you are right?
Last edited by LeaderOCola; 01-08-2016 at 10:53 AM..
Multi-threading is not an intel term. Hyper-threading (what you linked to) is an intel term. You can not expect anyone to know you are referring to hyper-threading when you say "multi-threading."
Quote:
Originally Posted by LeaderOCola
In fairness, I *DID* forget the "S"
you do know the "hyper" part is just intel's branding of it, right? Since you are a programmer? And you realize that in your instance of 'don't support HT' the only multi-threading is being done in the OS/program level, , not at the hardware level, right?
Yes, Multi-threading can happen at the hardware level or software level. It's still multi-threading either way.
Quote:
Originally Posted by LeaderOCola
what is an" i5, core 2"? since you want to use that post as evidence you are right?
I'm simply saying that you are living in your own wonderland where the only computer's capable of editing documents and watching movies have i7's and 16GB of RAM. This is nonsense. The average user is not editing 4k video either and that's a hell of an assumption to draw from someone saying they may want to edit some videos for fun.
Knowing that user is almost certainly not a native English speaker makes guessing the meaning of what he said trivial. I'm not sure if you're attempting to be blatantly disrespectful to that user or if you actually are incapable of guessing what he's meaning.
I would suggest 13"-14" 1080p or higher, i5, 8gb ram and a 480gb/500gb/512gb+ SSD (solid state drive.) I would not consider a mechanical hard drive in a modern computer even for casual use, mechanical drives are a huge bootle neck in any system. If extra storage is required, then external usb 3 hard drives are pretty cheap. Optical disks are become obsolete pretty quick, few computers feature an internal drive these days, an external is pretty much your best bet.
Mac side: I would suggest a 13" macbook pro retina. Or possibly the air IF it gets a retina display in the next upgrade.
PC side, some nice models i've seen recently: Lenovo/Thinkpad yoga, Lenovo U430, Dell XPS 13, HP Spectre x360, ASUS zenbook ux303 or Samsung ATIV book.
Thinkpads used to be the most reliable on the PC side, apparently thats no longer the case. Apple have the best customer service BY FAR.
Last edited by archineer; 01-08-2016 at 01:44 PM..
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
