Looking to get a new Laptop PC, looking for advice, opinions, help

cheaterslick said:

Yeah, I've heard manufacturers use that excuse before. Business laptops don't need to be "sleek and thin".

Click to expand...

Why not? I've worked in IT for 25+ years and I carry a laptop to and from the office every single day. I've been on small form factor ultrabook like Latitudes and stuff for years. I don't want to lug around some big bulky laptop. I look at some of these huge screen gaming laptop monstrosities and I'm like....geeesh, I certainly hope nobody has to carry that thing around.

cheaterslick said:

The Windows industry trend is to follow Apple and their way of getting you to buy something new every couple of years, which is total bullsh*t.

Click to expand...

The industry trend has been smaller, lighter, better battery life for quite a while now. Yes, apple does it, but then so does everybody else. It was like the old cell phone days, I preferred the blackberry with a physical keyboard, a user replaceable battery and ability to add memory cards. But as time went on, all the keyboards went away, user replaceable batteries haven't really been much of an issue, and with cloud storage for my pictures and all my music streaming these days, storage on my phone is no longer an issue. Times change. I still don't love iPhones, so I am still rocking an Android.

And cell phones don't have to be replaced. My Galaxy S21 is 3+ years old and I had a cell phone store replace my battery. Hope to get 4-5 years out of it, as I don't have any real need/reason to change.

cheaterslick said:

This is all how they make money at your expense. I don't like the idea of giving advice about future proofing RAM but that's the only way some people will be able to stay ahead of the game. Especially with the way Windows 11 and future AI versions of Windows is going. They'll suck up even more RAM in order to be able to run their bloated adware garbage even more.

Click to expand...

I hate the term futureproofing. It's a dumb term because there is no way to futureproof. Things change. Just because you overspend today on something doesn't necessarily mean it's going to be of better use to you for a longer period of time. Like the old intel extreme CPU's,, yeah it was way more expensive and it was more powerful, but either way modern cpu's of today crush it...extreme edition or not.

I think anybody on Windows 11 for basic tasks and some photo editing will have 0 problems getting by with 16GB of RAM for the next 5-10+ years. Heck, I remember when I bought my MacBook Pro in 2014 with just 8GB of RAM and my current mac mini 2020 still has 8GB of RAM and Apple is just now getting 16GB of RAM standard in new machines.

pparks1 said:

Why not? I've worked in IT for 25+ years and I carry a laptop to and from the office every single day. I've been on small form factor ultrabook like Latitudes and stuff for years. I don't want to lug around some big bulky laptop. I look at some of these huge screen gaming laptop monstrosities and I'm like....geeesh, I certainly hope nobody has to carry that thing around.

Click to expand...

It doesn't have to be "sleek & stylish" either. I'm not carrying around some status symbol ya know. I want something that will reasonably hold up when I'm doing work. Not something sleek and fancy and fragile that will break easily. I want something tough that will last.

pparks1 said:

And cell phones don't have to be replaced. My Galaxy S21 is 3+ years old and I had a cell phone store replace my battery. Hope to get 4-5 years out of it, as I don't have any real need/reason to change.

Click to expand...

4 or 5 years isn't much, IF you get that far. Maybe 5 - 8 would be better.

Besides, I'm not gonna get into phones. That's another topic.

pparks1 said:

I hate the term futureproofing. It's a dumb term because there is no way to futureproof. Things change. Just because you overspend today on something doesn't necessarily mean it's going to be of better use to you for a longer period of time.

Click to expand...

Doesn't necessarily mean it won't, either. Years ago I future-proofed with Crucial going to 16GB of RAM and here we are. I manually did it myself, or I could have taken it to a shop and have them do it for me. And I didn't have to buy a whole new machine to do it, either

What I said still stands. In principle, soldered RAM is a rip-off. It gives the consumer less choice than what they formally had.

Soldered storage will be next. No surprise there when it comes. And I firmly believe it will.

pparks1 said:

I think anybody on Windows 11 for basic tasks and some photo editing will have 0 problems getting by with 16GB of RAM for the next 5-10+ years. Heck, I remember when I bought my MacBook Pro in 2014 with just 8GB of RAM and my current mac mini 2020 still has 8GB of RAM and Apple is just now getting 16GB of RAM standard in new machines.

Click to expand...

I don't agree with that at all. Incremental RAM upgrades of the OS are still with us as they get more and more powerful. And they inevitably will if running AI with 24H2 is any indication trend. 16GB won't cut it in a year or two.

And I still remember the Vista debacle 15+ years ago where machines struggled on 4GB of RAM, maxed out and were not upgradable. What a mess. Not pleasant. Not pleasant at all.

We'll just have to agree to disagree, that's all.

stay with Dell I had to upgrade from my older Dell laptop. Today storage is a must hard drive and RAM is a must Win 11 needs 12 ram. I bought a new one this past August here it is
Device name DESKTOP-AGKHGMI
Processor Intel(R) Core(TM) Ultra 7 155H 3.80 GHz
Installed RAM 16.0 GB (15.5 GB usable)
Device ID A006EABF-0486-4122-89EF-ECD120A72DB8
Product ID 00342-21224-95251-AAOEM
System type 64-bit operating system, x64-based processor
Pen and touch Pen and touch support with 10 touch points

I am impressed really FAST launches quickly battery is 10 to 12 hours charges with in 45 minutes lasts for a long time. Upgradable ram. Kept watching best buy website got it a good price. I highly recommend

cheaterslick said:

It doesn't have to be "sleek & stylish" either. I'm not carrying around some status symbol ya know. I want something that will reasonably hold up when I'm doing work. Not something sleek and fancy and fragile that will break easily. I want something tough that will last.

Click to expand...

Yeah, I didn't really mention sleek and stylish, i focused more on size and weight. But those two things do somewhat go together. A lot of these laptops, like MacBook's, Dell XPS, Microsoft Surface laptops aren't really super fragile or break easily. My MacBook Pro is 10+ years old now and it's still going.

cheaterslick said:

4 or 5 years isn't much, IF you get that far. Maybe 5 - 8 would be better.

Besides, I'm not gonna get into phones. That's another topic.

Click to expand...

Who keeps their phones for 5-8 years? nobody that I know. Most people upgrade when their 2 years are up. Most of em look at me like I'm nuts when I mentioned I just got the battery replaced and hope to keep it for a few more years. They all would have just upgaded

cheaterslick said:

What I said still stands. In principle, soldered RAM is a rip-off. It gives the consumer less choice than what they formally had.

Soldered storage will be next. No surprise there when it comes. And I firmly believe it will.

Click to expand...

Well, people speak with their money. If these machines with soldered in ram weren't selling, they wouldn't make them. But they do sell, apparently, because it's not just apple, it's getting to be everyone. People are accepting the trade-off's I believe as they value the smaller form factors, more power and nearly day long battery life. Trust me, I don't love it either, but it's happening and the only way to stop it is to not buy it. But people are buying it.

cheaterslick said:

And I still remember the Vista debacle 15+ years ago where machines struggled on 4GB of RAM, maxed out and were not upgradable. What a mess. Not pleasant. Not pleasant at all.

Click to expand...

I do remember, but that was 17 years ago now when Vista released. And in that time, we have gone from mostly 32-bit to almost all 64-bit and now moving towards ARM and we are just getting to the point where 16GB is considered more of the sweet spot starting point. I'm certain Windows 11 machines 2 years from now doing basic tasks will be fine with 16GB of RAM. Enthusiasts will want more, I have 32GB in my Beelink mini PC (because it came with 16gb x 1, and i wanted dual channel) and I have 64GB (32x2) in my 4 year old desktop (because I run lots of VM's).

cheaterslick said:

We'll just have to agree to disagree, that's all.

Click to expand...

Nothing wrong with that. It's important that people can talk civil towards each other and express their thoughts and opinions. I appreciate you sharing yours.

mickey52 said:

stay with Dell I had to upgrade from my older Dell laptop. Today storage is a must hard drive and RAM is a must Win 11 needs 12 ram. I bought a new one this past August here it is
Device name DESKTOP-AGKHGMI
Processor Intel(R) Core(TM) Ultra 7 155H 3.80 GHz
Installed RAM 16.0 GB (15.5 GB usable)
Device ID A006EABF-0486-4122-89EF-ECD120A72DB8
Product ID 00342-21224-95251-AAOEM
System type 64-bit operating system, x64-based processor
Pen and touch Pen and touch support with 10 touch points

I am impressed really FAST launches quickly battery is 10 to 12 hours charges with in 45 minutes lasts for a long time. Upgradable ram. Kept watching best buy website got it a good price. I highly recommend

Click to expand...

I agree! I too am getting 12 hours of battery life. This is my 6th Dell XPS and I've always been happy with both the quality and the support. That's why I keep coming back to Dell.

Deex2 said:

I will likely load my Adobe Premier Elements/Photoshop... and other software (my cannon scanner...) onto this PC, as my current one has it. I will be editing mostly photos once I get them scanned, but the 10 or so family videos will likely be edited cleaned up with Adobe. The video and photo editing will be for family not a business if that matters. I also have an external CD/DVD player... id like to be able to plug in. Believe me I don't want to shell out a lot of money

Click to expand...

@andrew129260 what's your, or anyone's opinion of Dell outlet or refurbished Latitude laptops?? I'd prefer new, but I was just curious what you/others think.

Deex2 said:

@andrew129260 what's your, or anyone's opinion of Dell outlet or refurbished Latitude laptops?? I'd prefer new, but I was just curious what you/others think.

Click to expand...

I've purchased from the Dell Outlet a number of times when they had what I was looking for. I always choose the option "Like New" and in every instance that is what I got, not a mark on it and indistinguishable from a new PC. When you get delivery, you have 30 days to determine if it's exactly what you want. If you decide to return it, no questions asked, Dell even pays for the return. You get a full refund and it costs you nothing. If you decide to keep it, you get a full warranty just as if you bought it new. You can't go wrong and I've never been disappointed.

pparks1 said:

Yeah, I didn't really mention sleek and stylish, i focused more on size and weight. But those two things do somewhat go together. A lot of these laptops, like MacBook's, Dell XPS, Microsoft Surface laptops aren't really super fragile or break easily. My MacBook Pro is 10+ years old now and it's still going.

Click to expand...

I've also had experience in the past with Dell XPSs with many a cracked screen and being sent back in for repairs at work. Nice, pretty laptops that don't hold up being taken in and out of laptop bags all the time.

I miss the days of the old HP nc business series where the chassis were like Tupperware, tough, strong and durable.

pparks1 said:

Who keeps their phones for 5-8 years? nobody that I know. Most people upgrade when their 2 years are up. Most of em look at me like I'm nuts when I mentioned I just got the battery replaced and hope to keep it for a few more years. They all would have just upgaded

Click to expand...

I don't really care. Like I said, this is about Windows 11 laptops, not phones.

pparks1 said:

Well, people speak with their money. If these machines with soldered in ram weren't selling, they wouldn't make them.

Click to expand...

Well if they weren't forced down the public following Apple's styling, they wouldn't sell with some people. I for one don't like the way it's headed, but at least there's still a few of the older options out there for now.

pparks1 said:

People are accepting the trade-off's I believe as they value the smaller form factors, more power and nearly day long battery life. Trust me, I don't love it either, but it's happening and the only way to stop it is to not buy it. But people are buying it.

Click to expand...

Oh I'm sure they are. When there's fewer and fewer choices out there.

pparks1 said:

I do remember, but that was 17 years ago now when Vista released. And in that time, we have gone from mostly 32-bit to almost all 64-bit and now moving towards ARM and we are just getting to the point where 16GB is considered more of the sweet spot starting point.

Click to expand...

Yeah and they'll be getting rid of them in two years when they struggle to run on their own. Just like after Vista was released. The past will repeat itself.

Again, either find one of the fewer & fewer models that can still be physically RAM upgradable, or future proof with extra soldered RAM. That's what I recommend. Don't buy a 16GB soldered RAM machine that you'll just throw away in a year or two. The biggest rip-off con out there of them all.

pparks1 said:

I'm certain Windows 11 machines 2 years from now doing basic tasks will be fine with 16GB of RAM.

Click to expand...

I don't agree with that at all, but whatever....

As I said, I predict soldered storage will be next, if it hasn't started already (beyond the Macbook Pro where upgrading the soldered SSD is expensive), and unless you're handy with a soldering gun (and most people aren't) then you're stuck with what you got. And since OEMs are faithful Apple copiers, then expect this to happen to Windows machines as well.

pparks1 said:

Enthusiasts will want more, I have 32GB in my Beelink mini PC (because it came with 16gb x 1, and i wanted dual channel) and I have 64GB (32x2) in my 4 year old desktop (because I run lots of VM's).

Click to expand...

Oh I have a 32GB RAM Lenovo as we speak. Doesn't choke at all and there's plenty of room for running virtual machines on there if I have to. I'm impressed with how smooth it is running 23H2. Things barely register in Task Manager. And it still has tactile mousepad buttons!

And yes, you get what you pay for. Some manufacturers come with financing and I've used it in the past for brief periods.

pparks1 said:

Nothing wrong with that. It's important that people can talk civil towards each other and express their thoughts and opinions. I appreciate you sharing yours.

Click to expand...

You're right. Nothing personal. But I don't cut OEMs a break, here. My cynicism about them has grown in the last 20 years, in case you haven't noticed....

cheaterslick said:

I've also had experience in the past with Dell XPSs with many a cracked screen and being sent back in for repairs at work. Nice, pretty laptops that don't hold up being taken in and out of laptop bags all the time.

Click to expand...

With all due respect, this has not been my experience. This is my 6th Dell XPS laptop in the past couple of decades. I'm 100% mobile and take my XPS laptop in and out of my backpack daily, I've never had a cracked screen or sent an XPS in for repairs. The build quality of XPS laptops is legendary. That's why I keep coming back.

TraderGary said:

With all due respect, this has not been my experience. This is my 6th Dell XPS laptop in the past couple of decades. I'm 100% mobile and take my XPS laptop in and out of my backpack daily, I've never had a cracked screen or sent an XPS in for repairs. The build quality of XPS laptops is legendary. That's why I keep coming back.

Click to expand...

My experience was different although I was dealing with work laptops at the time. Track records can vary.

As multiple people have already said, this is all a personal choice. There are thousands of computers out there. You will need to do research to find what's best for you.

I have seen crappy dells and good dells. Same with any other brand.

I would look at the best laptop lists for the year online and read reviews. Make sure the laptop has the ports you need and want as well. Make sure they are on the side you want as well. (Many people forget this.)

But as I have said, I would not spend a ton of money on something like this. No reason to buy the Lamborghini when the Toyota can serve you just fine.

I linked you some random laptops but it's up to you. I can tell you I really like my dell g15 gaming laptop. Its nice.

Any name brand I feel would be fine. Just do some research. But I think you would be fine with pretty much any nice computer thats over $500.

andrew129260 said:

I would look at the best laptop lists for the year online and read reviews.

Click to expand...

The problem with "best laptop" lists and reviews is that one is never sure of the provenance.

Several sites will admit that:-
"When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission."
or similar disclaimers, but it really is a minefield.

I am also about to buy a new laptop, which is why I am following threads like this and similar because I think on a well-respected Forum like this you are more likely to get honest opinions.

trevo said:

Several sites will admit that:-
"When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission."
or similar disclaimers, but it really is a minefield.

Click to expand...

That's pretty much true of every site, regardless if they have best lists or not. That's why you read reviews from multiple sources. I usually agree with the best of lists though, I never see anything recommended that's a hugely bad buy or anything. So I think they are generally trustworthy to a point.

Rtings is a website I recommend.

Deex2 said:

So that being said looking for recommendations for a good/decent laptop (most of my PC's have been Dell or HP), I'm NOT a gamer, although my current laptop i believe is a gaming computer, I will likely just do browsing, social media, some office work and most likely be scanning and editing home videos and photographs.

Click to expand...

Sorry I'm late to this discussion because I'm a SERIOUS shopper and think outside of the box. For instance --

-- I'd ask you to consider how often you need to be out and about with your laptop. If you rarely use you PC home, you should probably ignore this advice. If you're mostly home, consider these two purchases --

1. A reasonably powerful Mini PC and reasonably nice large desktop monitor. That with a mouse and keyboard and speaker will be under $600.

Here's an example, minus keyboard, mouse, and bluetooth speaker. I added a three year warranty.



2. For out and about moments, either a Xiaomi or Redmi tablet (Global Versions) from AliExpress. With Redmi earbuds. Under $350.

For instance --



I can't talk about 8 years on either. I'd count on 4 for each.

andrew129260 said:

As multiple people have already said, this is all a personal choice. There are thousands of computers out there. You will need to do research to find what's best for you.

I have seen crappy dells and good dells. Same with any other brand.

I would look at the best laptop lists for the year online and read reviews. Make sure the laptop has the ports you need and want as well. Make sure they are on the side you want as well. (Many people forget this.)

But as I have said, I would not spend a ton of money on something like this. No reason to buy the Lamborghini when the Toyota can serve you just fine.

I linked you some random laptops but it's up to you. I can tell you I really like my dell g15 gaming laptop. Its nice.

Any name brand I feel would be fine. Just do some research. But I think you would be fine with pretty much any nice computer thats over $500.

Click to expand...

Looks at the specs on this laptop, if you are familiar with the different components as I'm not, tell me what you think goid/bad. https://www.bestbuy.com/product/del...-platinum/6575148/openbox?condition=excellent

Deex2 said:

Looks at the specs on this laptop, if you are familiar with the different components as I'm not, tell me what you think goid/bad. https://www.bestbuy.com/product/del...-platinum/6575148/openbox?condition=excellent

Click to expand...

I think that price for only 16GB of system ram isn't great, but otherwise that is insanely more than you will need. If you want to spend it, more power to you.
Looks like the touchpad isn't great on it. But that only matter if you would actually use it.

andrew129260 said:

I think that price for only 16GB of system ram isn't great, but otherwise that is insanely more than you will need. If you want to spend it, more power to you.
Looks like the touchpad isn't great on it. But that only matter if you would actually use it.

Click to expand...

Yeah I was just wondering, one of the main things i like is that it has discrete graphics which Id like to have. Yes the price is up there but it is an open box and it could be much higher. I also believe this PC can be upgraded unlike some others. Are you familiar with the various components or not really? I looked at the reviews on the Dell G??? gaming laptop you recommend but that series from what I read have a lot of bad reviews. Reading reviews on most anything can just cause confusion and indecisiveness as they are always so mixed.

Deex2 said:

Looks at the specs on this laptop, if you are familiar with the different components as I'm not, tell me what you think goid/bad. https://www.bestbuy.com/product/del...-platinum/6575148/openbox?condition=excellent

Click to expand...

The specs and the FAQ contradict one another.
Specs say LPDDR (soldered). FAQ says the user can upgrade the RAM. Ignore the FAQ, but keep in mind you're locked in and if you ever need more than 16GB of RAM, you're out of luck.



Here are the guts. Not much to be serviced by the user. The cooling solution looks more than adequate for the 130W of power it draws.

This isn't a powerhouse of a machine, but it should be enough for most people that aren't heavy gamers or video editors.

abactuon said:

This is just an example (for $1500-$2000 a great selection), but

"The Dell Inspiron 16 Plus 7640 impressed us with a well-calibrated 120Hz display"

I understand there may be two displays. You have to choose
"2560 x 1600, 120 Hz, Non-touchscreen, Matte"

It's not a gaming laptop. The components are not the fastest, but they are reliable. The screen is matte, if that's important.

Click to expand...

Thank you i appreciate the info. I think I'd like to have a laptop with discrete graphics, not sure if this one has that but ill look again

Deex2 said:

Yeah I was just wondering, one of the main things i like is that it has discrete graphics which Id like to have. Yes the price is up there but it is an open box and it could be much higher. I also believe this PC can be upgraded unlike some others. Are you familiar with the various components or not really? I looked at the reviews on the Dell G??? gaming laptop you recommend but that series from what I read have a lot of bad reviews. Reading reviews on most anything can just cause confusion and indecisiveness as they are always so mixed.

Click to expand...

According to Dell, its RAM is not upgradeable.


Maybe having 16GB was why it was returned.

Dell could sell you a 64GB machine, though.

The RTX 4050 is the lowest end nVidia 4000 series GPU. Still better than an integrated GPU.