Help me pick a new laptop

[WuDu]

Hi guys,

I'm sure all of you know that situation: You had a great time together in the past, however over the last few weeks, your old computer is giving you signs that it might be time to part ways. Be it that the hard drive starts making clicking noises :scared: or that the screen turns green :puking: or that you have to use an ordinary fan, just to get that thing to run again! Point is, it's time to get something new before ❤️♥️❤️ gets ugly! I still have not spent my "Donald Trump will be president" money, so I decided to make my computer equipment great again and I'd like to recruit your help!

I'm looking to buy a new laptop, mainly to do work with Ms Excel (nothing too fancy, but a lot of data and formulas, so I need some power), play Unibet poker, browse the internet, watch some videos. Nothing too fancy, so there's no gaming involved or complicated software. I'm looking for a regular laptop, no tablet, no 2 in 1 solution. I'll carry the laptop around at home, however not outside of it. If possible, I'd like to have a 17 inch screen and I'm always looking for quality and a little bit of style. I'm looking to spend around 500 Euro, but I could also go up a little if really necessary (Thank you, Donald!). So, I'm looking forward to your suggestions, especially if you can

1. Recommend a specific brand (had Toshiba and Acer before)
2. Recommend a specific CPU
3. Recommend a specific graphic card

Thanks guys for reading and I'm looking forward to your suggestions.

[Livertool]

Others maybe can give better answers, i´m not geek with computers but i know something and had some experience of different lap tops.

Acer and HP have served me well, i would stay away from lenovo and fujitsu (if they are even making lap tops anymore)

Definitely intel processor, not amd.

And rather going store or buying online store new computer, i would look place in internet when people sell used stuff. There you can find good stuff, almost new with warranty so you get lot more value for your money. Ofc you must buy it face to face, so you can test it first and don´t get fooled :)

[psrquack]

I'm not a notebook guru, so I can help with a link:
oh, those forum motor doesn't allow a word b-i-s, so read this link: http://www.chip.de/artikel/Notebook-Testsieger-2018-Der-beste-Laptop-b-i-s*-500-Euro_139998927.html

*together

 

[WuDu]

@psrquack@Livertool

Thank you for giving your input! 👍

@psrquack

Chip.de is a good source, however they focus more on 2 in 1 laptops (computers where you can use the screen as a tablet) and smaller mobile devices (13 inch screens) in their list. I don't use tablets and my current notebook has 15 inches, I want to still see something when I multi-table here.

@Livertool

I already have an online shop where I bought a decade ago, so I'm good in that regard. I just want to make sure not to buy a good looking notebook with a big screen that severly lacks power and/or graphics.

What's positive about HP? I was thinking the same thing, my father has an HP notebook as well, albeit a small one, and that looks pretty tight! Why are you against Lenovo? Not trusting Chinese quality???😃

[Livertool]

I bought one lenovo last year, was it about 400€ and it was very slow, felt cheap and weak and didn´t even have removable battery, it never even crossed my mind checking it at store. But it was store where you can test device for 30 days and get money back if you don´t like it so back it went :D

I just never had any issues with Hp and the ones i have had, felt more better build than lenovo for example.

One thing you might want to consider is to get 15,6 inch. At that price range, 17 inch ones don´t have too good processor. I only found some pentium when i had quick look and don´t know if they are good for nothing.

[WuDu]

@Livertool

Really interesting, so I think, I'll put Lenovo to the side. I liked my old Toshiba, however after a few years, videos in 720p couldn't be played anymore, the battery was almost unusable and in the end the hard drive clicked to death. Those were a little too many mistakes for me. 17 inches would be important, as it might enable me to play more tables here at Unibet, at least temporarily. So, what about this one:

 

CPU: AMD Quadcore with 4* 2,5. 8 GB RAM. Graphics: Radeon R5 DDR3.

 

[WuDu]

And a similar one, this time with a dual core CPU and a different Radeon:

 

 

 

[psrquack]

What about this one?

There are a searching option laptops under 600 euro and when you choose the 17 inch then you can see one more laptop a little bit more than 500.

[WuDu]

Great find @psrquack, let's spread the love:Di_TAQOWwAI5gMs

 

Lenovo seems to sell their notebooks at a 50 Euro discount all over the net right now. What I don't really like about the one you found is that it doesn't have a speedy hard drive. 1 TB is nice for people who have an extensive -let's call it- "movie collection", however I barely need hard drive space, I need speed. The first customer review also complained about the slow hard-drive. The other one for 580 Euro is a little too expensive for me, especially since @Livertool has a bad opinion about Lenovo.

However, thanks to @psrquack I'm now looking at the Lenovo V320-17 series as well.

 

[Livertool]

@WuDu

 I would still try to find something with intel processor. This ain´t probly the absolute truth but i´ve had two with amd proseccors and never again. Although they seemed to have ok specs in paper, reality was different and they were lacking performance big time, even struggling with youtube videos :D It has been couple of years though so they have maybe improved with that newer apu graphics too but i would at least test the one you are going to buy first :)

[psrquack]

I googled all your suggested parameters MR President and it seems the top of the laptop is 17 Zoll, 256 GB SSD and 8GB Ram. I find many HP and Lenovo products around your budget. If you want to check it, please check this link: https://www.idealo.de/preisvergleich/ProductCategory/3751F205900-1039484-2682415-7612871.html

[Livertool]

You really seem to have shortage in used laptops in Germany as i had mine for sale while ago and got offer:

Obviously it was some kind of hoax, just couldn´t get how could they just use my bank account and email to get money out of me. So i asked moderators of the site i was selling it and they told me not the first time it happens and the way that they try to hoax is after someone sends them those information, they send you back fake receipt that they have paid. Then they say that have arranged delivery already and i would have to pay courier via western union that they come get product. And since they have already showed the receipt that they have paid and money will be in my account soon, i would have to use my own money to pay western union.

Nice try but no 🤣

[Livertool]

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@psrquack wrote:

I googled all your suggested parameters MR President and it seems the top of the laptop is 17 Zoll, 256 GB SSD and 8GB Ram. I find many HP and Lenovo products around your budget. If you want to check it, please check this link: https://www.idealo.de/preisvergleich/ProductCategory/3751F205900-1039484-2682415-7612871.html

---

And here is where you cab check some reviews : https://www.notebookcheck.net/

Took a look couple of those that can be found in psrquack link. First lenovo but it seems to have same "problems" i said, no removable battery and sluggish case :https://www.notebookcheck.net/Lenovo-V320-17IKB-7200U-FHD-Laptop-Review.246360.0.html

But this hp seems good to me, if you are not planning to use it outside. Just under 500€ :) :https://www.notebookcheck.net/HP-Pavilion-17-2015-Notebook-Review.142789.0.html

[BonusPater]

Haven't read any of the comments, but considering your use, here my recommendation:
- ❤️♥️❤️ the GPU (graphic card). An on-board GPU should do the trick
- Focus on the CPU. With a € 500 budget, I'd aim for an I5 by Intel, or perhaps a low-range I7, but that's likely going to break the budget
- SSD

If you find one and think it's it, feel free to post a link, and I'll see if I can't find something better at the same price.

EDIT: I assume it has to be an American brand!? :)

[WuDu]

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@Livertool wrote:

@WuDu

 I would still try to find something with intel processor. This ain´t probly the absolute truth but i´ve had two with amd proseccors and never again. Although they seemed to have ok specs in paper, reality was different and they were lacking performance big time, even struggling with youtube videos :D It has been couple of years though so they have maybe improved with that newer apu graphics too but i would at least test the one you are going to buy first :)

---

Again, thanks guys for your help so far. Especially when you told me about the non-removable battery. At the online shop I'm planning to buy, they have a 30 day, no questions asked, return policy. 

The HP pavillion series looks really nice (my dad has one of those), however it's a little out of my price range and I don't really trust those amazon sellers for high priced products.

@testuser1Can you or anyone tell me the difference between AMD and Intel CPU? Because I heard the same thing that AMD is slower than Intel for maybe over 20 years now. Can I completely disregard those quad core CPUs?

[WuDu]

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@testuser1 wrote:

Haven't read any of the comments, but considering your use, here my recommendation:

- ❤️♥️❤️ the GPU (graphic card). An on-board GPU should do the trick

- Focus on the CPU. With a € 500 budget, I'd aim for an I5 by Intel, or perhaps a low-range I7, but that's likely going to break the budget

- SSD

 

If you find one and think it's it, feel free to post a link, and I'll see if I can't find something better at the same price.

EDIT: I assume it has to be an American brand!? :)

---

 

:laugh: American brand? What's next, travel to Denmark to eat Beijing duck?

OK, with the help of @psrquack's list, here's the link to the only I5 laptop in my price range with a 250 GB SSD, 17 inch screen and 8 GBs of RAM I could find on the German market right now:

https://www.notebooksbilliger.de/notebooks/lenovo+v320+17ikb+81ah005lge

Intel I5 basically kicks any HP out of my price range, leaving Lenovo.

As a benchmark, would that notebook get the @testuser1 stamp of approval?

 

[psrquack]

@WuDu:

You can also check this one:

http://outlet.euro.dell.com/Online/SecondaryInventorySearch.aspx?c=uk&cs=ukdfh1&l=en&s=dfh&sign=PXhcOSHtr1T4IOw%2fPR7UdSj30k8mIO%2b93B5TtQbPTHw5GOBCJZYm1UpI63Rd8sIFF8u0bjF0eprSOTy7SGKw9fTF5t2SLKkEw%2bqpC4fIBcWIcqat3eVVT3UIdvkE5mm5BhNCZxl6PaakJUlnbs7cDT7D8hRTa2DK1O9rmpfXwK6kcfDMgOLMFxhoDwUd57wf2RGKrSkhHpZBDxO6Ik7u9zN%2fjMl9Ue1m%2fFa3QYiWtW3Gynab8mfCXgXKmG04X8f%2f

I  know it has a little small screen , but had i5 processor.

[WuDu]

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@psrquack wrote:

@WuDu:

You can also check this one:

http://outlet.euro.dell.com/Online/SecondaryInventorySearch.aspx?c=uk&cs=ukdfh1&l=en&s=dfh&sign=PXhcOSHtr1T4IOw%2fPR7UdSj30k8mIO%2b93B5TtQbPTHw5GOBCJZYm1UpI63Rd8sIFF8u0bjF0eprSOTy7SGKw9fTF5t2SLKkEw%2bqpC4fIBcWIcqat3eVVT3UIdvkE5mm5BhNCZxl6PaakJUlnbs7cDT7D8hRTa2DK1O9rmpfXwK6kcfDMgOLMFxhoDwUd57wf2RGKrSkhHpZBDxO6Ik7u9zN%2fjMl9Ue1m%2fFa3QYiWtW3Gynab8mfCXgXKmG04X8f%2f

I  know it has a little small screen , but had i5 processor.

---

Dell Inspiron and HP Pavillion look great, but unfortunately, they're a little out of my price range for the configurations I want.This Dell is great if you're in university and you have to go from auditorium to auditorium without constant access to a power socket but 13 inches is really small...

Maybe in 2021 after Trump gets re-elected...:Cheeky:

Btw, while we're at it, can anyone of you recommend a mouse in the 10-20 Euro range? The 9 Euro I won in the @psrquack freeroll are going to be spent as well! :Cash: Connected by cable, via USB and with a few extra buttons so I can put the forward/backward browser buttons on my mouse as well.

[Livertool]

This hp is in yous price range: https://www.notebooksbilliger.de/products_id/376252?nbb=8f14e4

i3 @2,3 but that should be good enough for your tasks :)

[BonusPater]

I'll have a look at it all tomorrow, when I'm at a computer again :)

[psrquack]

Forgot it Livertool found a better one.👍

[WuDu]

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@Livertool wrote:

This hp is in yous price range: https://www.notebooksbilliger.de/products_id/376252?nbb=8f14e4

@i3 @2,3 but that should be good enough for your tasks :)

---

Nice find! I haven't seen that one yet and I browsed the site daily over the last few days! :Thumbsup:

Let's see what @testuser1 says tomorrow about the differences between i3 and i5.

[BonusPater]

Had a look at the two posted above.

https://www.notebooksbilliger.de/notebooks/lenovo+v320+17ikb+81ah005lgePrice: € 549CPU: i5-7200U, 4637 passmark scoreRam: 8GB DDR4 2133 MHzHDD: 256 SSD (unspecified model)GPU:  HD Graphics 620https://www.notebooksbilliger.de/products_id/376252?nbb=8f14e4Price: € 499CPU: i3 7020U, 3589 passmark scoreRam: 8GB DDR4 2133 MHzHDD: 256 SSD (unspecified model)GPU:  HD Graphics 620

 

Specs are pretty close to identical, with exception of the CPU where the I5 is quite a lot better than the I3 - definitely worth the extra € 50!

Also looked at a German price comparison site for alternatives, and I have to say that Lenovo is a great find. There're a lot of similar units in the € 500-600 price range, but not really that any are beating the Lenovo. To get a noteable specs boost you need to look at units around € 750. 

[WuDu]

@testuser1

Thanks for putting the work in! So you'd say the Lenovo for 550 Euro is a good choice for my needs and price range and you can endorse me buying it? If so, I'd order it later today and report back early next week once it arrives!

Anybody having an opinion about this mouse?

https://www.notebooksbilliger.de/zubehoer/maeuse+zubehoer/cherry/cherry+mc+3000+kabelgebundene+optische+maus+weiss+grau

 

[BonusPater]

@WuDu, go ahead and click that buy button :) the IPS screen should also be pretty decent, and I personally think the case looks pretty sleek. It’s not the newest model, but who cares about that :)

NB know nothing about that German site, so only recommending the laptop :)