Technology & Social Media Which laptop would you get?

for video editing you want as much ram as possible and ssd is a must.

 

@skyfall What do you need it to do? What software do you want to run?

You might be buying an expensive hammer when all you need is a nail....

Re the fast startup times anything with a SSD (solid state hard drive) will give you that.

 

After considering the Spectre, I recently purchased a similarly specced Asus Zenbook flip for $700 less and I am very happy with it.

 

Good point, the lappys are nice

 

Thanks for the replies. To elaborate a bit more, I've been buying 2nd hand Lenovo Thinkpads from Ebay (11.5" x230, x240 models for about $350-$550) because I like small and light for travel but had a few problems with these "refurbished" models so thought I'd treat myself to a new laptop.

I prefer 12-13" size and I'll plug in external monitor and keyboard if I want a desktop feel and I'm staying put in one place for awhile. I hate big laptops but most manufacturers seem to put high end specs in the 15-17" versions.

Don't like those small netbooks that were popular because they're woefully underpowered andd always freeze when I've got 18 tabs open on my browser plus Word or Excel running in the background.

I mainly use laptop/PC for web browsing (10-20 tabs open at once on Chrome or Firefox) with Office (mainly Word and Excel) plus other apps like Dropbox running in the background. Video editing is more a hobby but use big files (10GB up to 1TB) in size saved on external HDD with Adobe Premiere used as video editing software.

Where's the "dislike" button? I'm kidding fella but I hate the file directory on Mac's and why they make things so un-intuitive (is that a word) for doing things like moving vs copying files.

I've thought about it more and $2.5k is my limit.. yes need i7 for video editing (i5 won't do it) and it's a hobby.

I enjoy having that right-click-mouse-button on the keyboard which is to the right side of the space bar between the Windows and Ctrl button -- a lot of laptops omit this button which is annoying. I read Jamie's post about his Surface and how impressed he was with it. I think the lappy version is the "Suface Book" which looks good and the keyboard is very nice.

I think your link shows prices have just dropped so $2,000 $1,800 will buy a 256GB SSD + Core i5 CPU + 8 GB RAM and $2,500 $2,250 will get an i7 with 8GB of RAM. My sweet spot is 256GB SSD + Core i7 CPU + 16 GB RAM but looks like they don't make one unless you jump up to a 512GB SSD for $3,300 $2,970. I think I'll get that one.

Any comments about this choice from IT gurus appreciated.

Boo

Hi what do you have both of .. the XPS or Spectre?

I think 256GB SSD is enough for Win 10 Pro plus Office and a few other apps. All my video files would be on external drives.

@hammer I mainly use laptop/PC for web browsing (10-20 tabs open at once on Chrome or Firefox) with Office (mainly Word and Excel) plus other apps like Dropbox running in the background. Video editing is more a hobby but use big files (10GB up to 1TB) in size saved on external HDD with Adobe Premiere used as video editing software.

 

Cheers I'm at Harvey Norman now and just found out the Surface Laptop doesn't come out until July 2017. Not really into the touch screen or detachable tablet thing. Looks like I'll get the Dell XPS or wait until July for the Surface Laptop. Sim (and anyone else), which of Microsoft's 3 products would you go for?
1. Surface Pro
2. Surface Book
3. Surface Laptop

 

If I was looking for something good for Video/graphics I would be considering these:

Clevo Metabox
Alienware
Asus
Apple mac
MSI
probably in that order but this is without any research and no knowledge on current models. Just research heaps.

it does not mean other models are no good either. Surface might be good, spend some time comparing models and features and user reviews on amazon. newegg etc can be valuable.

 

I have a surface pro for work, i'm a coder by trade so I push this thing pretty hard.

When they first gave it to me (laptop hater, desktops all the way) I was convinced it would be in the bin melted within a week. 1 month later I was sold, I can't break this thing.

Now 2.5 years on, I am using the same surface pro and it kicks on as strong as ever, I am completely sold on these things and if it was possible to do some decent pc gaming on the thing, I would consider it for my next home device (although it is still considerably more expensive that what I can build a same specced pc for.)

 

Righto thanks, I now see what you meant was that you'd go for the laptop version once it's released.

Cheers, good info Dan. Not sure if you've seen Sim's link above but based on your earlier comment it sounds like you'd also hold out for the Surface Laptop which gets released in July 2017? If the Surface Pro has impressed you then I reckon the Surface Laptop will also make you smile

 

Yeah, I haven't looked into it too much so I don't want to say "yes go for the laptop" but specs wise, it looks good and coupled with my experience with the surface devices, I personally would go for it if I were looking for a laptop type device that had an I7 for video editing and I didn't need it for gaming.

 

Do you recommend a place for refurbished macbook pros?

 

Apple website, scroll down to the bottom were it says refurbished/specials. It's updated daily so work out what model you really want, then wait till pops up. Sometimes it might take a week or 2 till the correct model is there but you save 15% on specked up models so it's worth it. I love my new MacBook Pro, always liked apples products.

 

I had an Alienware.
Had its motherboard replaced 5x in 4 months. No exaggeration.
On the 6th time it died, i got a complete replacement.
The new one died - i got a refund.

 

While not as slim as the options being considered, if performance and bang for buck is a substantail consideration, perhaps look at more customisable options such as the Metabox Prime 14.0?
Metabox Prime Series Laptops

As their aimed at gaming they have higher spec CPU and Graphics options vs options discussed so should eat up video eating better than Dell, HP or a Surface. Bonus is 2 drives, Spec up a 2TB SDD + 2TB old school spinner in it if you like and forget external drives, which in reality negates the size difference anyways?

PS. No i don't work for them but have had a 15.6 Metabox for a few years now. For me it was performance for photography work + screen quality that was key. For 1/2 the price of Apple one got a better spec'ed machine with more storage+ a better display (wider more accurate gamut). Though the logo doesn't glow on the back . haha.

 

I use a 13" Dell XPS.... i really hate it.

I've got 2 USB ports, 1 Thunderbolt port and thats it.
To connect to my monitor i have to use a USB3 Port replicator and its laggy when I use it (most people who use a similar set up don't notice it, but i do - it's milliseconds lag... but i notice it and it annoys the hell out of me.

Also 4k resolution on a 13"??? That's just stupid. You need a damn microscope to see that. Sure you could use a higher resolution, but as its not native, its not as sharp.

The alternative is to use the zoom option, but when you're using multiple screens, it becomes annoying.

I'll happily take a different laptop that has 2 monitor outputs any day over this piece of crap.

Pros: It looks good and has decent battery life... that's it.

 

Whoah, that's a rotten bit of luck, I wonder if it was bad luck or if they have gone downhill?

 

I just bought this last night:
ThinkPad E570p $1099

• Intel Core i5-7300HQ (quad-core 6729 PassMark(cpubenchmark.net))
• Windows 10 Home
• 15.6" FHD (1920x1080) IPS display
• 8GB DDR4 RAM
• 128GB SSD
• NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 Ti 2GB

ThinkPad E570p $1099 (15.6" FHD IPS, i5-7300HQ, 8GB RAM, 128GB SSD, GTX1050ti 2GB) + 15% off Accessories from Lenovo

 

Ever since Dell bought them, they have steadily gone down hill. They were epic before then.