Spec help as I'm out of touch and starting to work towards turning our old Netbook into a ChromeBook based on my thread a week or two back. Looking for:
- Home laptop running Windows
- MS Office
- Might do some action cam/photo light editing in future but nothing too whizzy.
- Most of files go to OneDrive
- No gaming (kids have own hardware for that)
Needs a 4-5 year sensible working life
I'm working on:
- 16GB RAM
- 1TB SSD
- AI processor - not so sure but nearly all seem to have one
- Somewhere between 14 and 16inch
Am I hitting the right spot here?
Any brands to avoid/favour?
We are careful with our stuff but I don't want something fragile.
As a quick example of what I think might be about the right spec.
Stay away from that ASUS would be my advice. Look at a business quality DELL, Lenovo, HP in that order. Bear in mind that new prices are about to go up by at least 15-20 % in the next week or so because of AI demanding all the chips for compute power. I would look at refurbished probably but i7 not i5.
The one you linked to is reletivley expensive for it's specifications, but it has an OLED screen so you're paying for that... It's that intentional?
I have a similar spec and it's great for general use but I wanted an OLED screen.
It might help you to first decide if you want to pay for that but also decide whether you want 14"(13.9) or 16"as they are the most common two sizes as that will help narrow down your search a lot.
. I would look at refurbished probably but i7 not i5.
That 13th gen i5 is 8 cores, 12 threads, better than an 11th gen i7 for example - it's important to look at what age/generation the cpu is, you can't really say i7 is better than i5, unless you're comparing CPUs from the same generation. It sounds more than capable for the intended use.
It sounds more than capable for the intended use.
Yeah, obviously need to look at actual specs re i5/i7 - We’re finding that even 13th gen i5 are beginning to struggle with anything ai related. OP wants 5 years use so a better than 13th gen i5 would be my recommendation but clearly budget will be a factor.
It sounds more than capable for the intended use.
Yeah, obviously need to look at actual specs re i5/i7 - We’re finding that even 13th gen i5 are beginning to struggle with anything ai related. OP wants 5 years use so a better than 13th gen i5 would be my recommendation but clearly budget will be a factor.
Sure, my interpretation from the OPs requirement is they are not running LLMs or whatever on the machine though.
They said they want an 'AI' processor maybe the OP can clairfy what they mean by that? the usage case is only listed as 'office and a bit of casual video editing'.
Hi all
Thanks.
Noted re the brands. I've had two Asus machines. One was excellent (15 years ago) the other more recent one not so much. I was hoping to avoid this time.
Not fussed re OLED that example was more an example of the processing / memory / storage space features that might fit my needs (see also Asus comment).
I'm not sure I want an AI processor at all. Other than search engine results I never really use AI at home.
What I didn't know was if it would help with a bit of speedy action cam/phone photo editing or if it was a nice to have to future proof.
Noted also on the price hikes. My kids have been saying this but I just assumed it was a load of rot they'd picked up from some alarmist YouTubers! Apparently teenagers do know something (but don't tell them I admitted that!).
I think in this context, Ai is just a marketing term.. Manufacturers are plastering it all over everything.
You can 'run' AI' apps on any computer, how good it will be will depend on the specification of the PC, generally speaking.
This might be worth a look, for teh same price, it lacks the OLED screen, but has a much beefier CPU if CPU power is a concern?
They sell it at Currys too:
Long answer short (see previous thread you searched for😁),
I bought a laptop last year for my girlfriend and it was this, or the equivalent from several months ago:
https://www.lenovo.com/gb/en/configurator/cto/index.html?bundleId=21MVCTO1WWGB1
I've managed fleets of laptops and the only ones I'd pay actual money for (and have) are Lenovo and Dell. Most consumer-grade laptops are garbage, look for something targeted at business use.
Long answer short (see previous thread you searched for😁),
I bought a laptop last year for my girlfriend and it was this, or the equivalent from several months ago:
https://www.lenovo.com/gb/en/configurator/cto/index.html?bundleId=21MVCTO1WWGB1
I've managed fleets of laptops and the only ones I'd pay actual money for (and have) are Lenovo and Dell. Most consumer-grade laptops are garbage, look for something targeted at business use.
I'd agree generally, but the 'office drone' issue lenovos have crap washed out looking screens (op mentioned photo/video editing)- the one you linked to looks better than the old thinkpads though.
That said it's £50 quid more expensive, with a slightly worse CPU than the Samsung above, and half the amount of RAM. That Samsung has an aluminium body rather than plastic too...
That Samsung has an aluminium body rather than plastic too...
Which flexes quite a lot when you press on it because it just has 4 feet in the corners rather than being a fully supported continuous strip like the think book has. I'd rather take a well built plastic laptop than a thin aluminum one any day.
Anyway, OP, this is currently a bargain. 14" screen so a bit smaller but excellent specs. £619 for a ryzen 9/32gb/1tb machine with a bright and color-accurate screen. Vivobook S is a significant step up in build quality compared to the standard vivobook.
ASUS Vivo books are shite build quality, lol! I used to have one!
I currently have a ASUS expertbook and it's brilliant in comparison.
I'm typing on an HP Omnibook 7. No OLED, but I prioritised touchscreen as I often need to sign stuff on the screen.
Paid around £1300 for a mid-upper specced large screen model. For my needs, it's easily as good, if not better than the very expensive Dell XPS 17 it's replaced
Thanks for all the comments. I think I might stretch the budget (maybe not as far as £1300 though 😉) and take some of the guess work out.
Need to sort this but also dealing with a sudden bereavement in the family so spending some extra £ vs. hours of research deal hunting/tech spec reviewing is probably a better answer. The new road bike can wait a few weeks. The roads are potholed garbage anyway.
Bit late to this, I’d echo @cougar ‘s comments. I’ve used probably every brand of laptop over the years, the only brand that has survived is thinkpads, they’re not sexy, but they work and work and work. You could buy a year old model for under your budget.
For work I have a current model 14” thinkpad (work) and a touchscreen full fat all singing dancing hp (also for work) but some muppets at hp decided the delete key would be next door to the power off button, outstanding design decision. It works but it’s not great and I’d never buy one using my own money. 😗YMMV
Assuming work hasn't locked it down, you should be able to knobble the power button in Power settings. The last time I had this problem - an oversized Caps Lock key in a deeply stupid position - I prised off the keycap with a screwdriver. 😁
I managed circa a thousand Thinkpads. The only failures were moving parts - system fan, spinny hard disk, shutting the lid with a pen on the keyboard, flinging it across the car park. My 'sacrificial lamb' development laptop today is a T420 from 2011 and it throws around W10 like a new machine. You pay a premium but, well, you get a premium product for your money.
IMHO, etc etc etc.