Hey y’all,
My Late-2011 model HP Pavillion DV6 is starting to die on me and before I end up attending a 4 year university in the fall I need to get a new laptop; possibly earlier because my laptop is really on its last legs. It probably needs at least a new fan assembly, keyboard/track pad (all these things are my fault haha). What computers lately have you guys gotten that have been good?
Just so you have a reference point, I enjoyed some of these hardware specs for the last 5+ years:
2nd generation Intel® Core™ i7-2670QM (2.2 GHz, 6MB L3 Cache) with Turbo Boost up to 3.1 GHz
• 1GB Radeon™ HD 6770M GDDR5 Graphics [HDMI, VGA]
• FREE UPGRADE to 8GB DDR3 System Memory (2 Dimm)
• 750GB 5400 rpm Hard Drive with HP ProtectSmart Hard Drive Protection
• 15.6" High Definition HP LED Brightview (1366x768)
I quite liked how fast it worked with the 8GB of RAM, and the quad core i7. I’d like it to have good battery life, so I imagine not having a separate GPU would be good, but I also like to play basic games on it (command and conquer generals for example) so I don’t want the graphics performance to be totally dismal. I hear that new generation RAM is more efficient? Is there a way to tell whether it’s new or old RAM? I don’t care too much if it’s a super ultra HD screen, I was perfectly happy with my 1366x768 screen. However, I’d like to switch to a SSD. I use a desktop for my movie/music storage anyways, so I could handle a 500ish GB SSD or perhaps even a 320 GB.
Perhaps most importantly, my budget is DEFINITELY under 1500, and PREFERABLY under 1200 USD.
You probably won’t need something so high end for finance. However you should be able to get a machine with those specs for less than $1.5k. If you’re tied to Windows, I’d recommend looking at lenovo - probably my favorite PC brand. My current lenovo is going strong three years into a CS major.
If you’re not so tied to Windows you can consider installing a Linux OS onto your current PC (I’d recommend Ubuntu or Linux Mint). A Linux OS will greatly extend the life of the computer (for free).
I need a new trackpad, keyboard, and fan assembly anyways. Also, my computers trim pieces have started to come off slightly so I definitely want to take advantage of this offer to get a new computer.
I’ve used both Fedora or Ubuntu but I’d rather keep windows. I might install linux onto the old one once I get a new one just for practice. I was looking at Lenovos for sure - which one do you recommend?
My son and husband tout Lenovo’s X1Carbon (new one coming out in Feb.) & T460 (T470 coming in Feb.) husband is a lawyer and son (high school senior) is a heavy user for programming and other things (nongaming).
I’ve decided I’m going to get a HP Omen 15t laptop.
HP OMEN - 15t Laptop
4-cell, 63.3 Whr Lithium-ion polymer Battery
Security Software Trial
16 GB DDR4-2400 SDRAM (2 x 8 GB)
Intel® Core™ i7-7700HQ (2.8 GHz, up to 3.8 GHz, 6 MB cache, 4 cores) + NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 1050 (4 GB GDDR5 dedicated)
512GB PCIe® NVMe™ M.2 SSD
No Internal ODD
Windows 10 Home 64
15.6" diagonal FHD IPS UWVA anti-glare WLED-backlit (1920 x 1080)
HP Wide Vision HD Webcam with Dual Digital Microphone
No Additional Office Software
Full-size island-style backlit keyboard
Intel® 802.11ac (2x2) Wi-Fi® and Bluetooth® 4.2 Combo
However, I’m stuck on one thing. I decided to go for a 512GB SSD because that’s going to save battery life over a traditional rotating drive. The thing that I’m stuck on is should I stick with 2GB of GDDR5 ram or go with 4? Does that have an effect on battery life?
In addition, I could opt to have just a 1TB 7200RPM drive + 128GB SSD and then also have a GTX 1050i instead. Any thoughts on that?
4GB of RAM is too low for a professional machine.
8GB of RAM is best for the majority of people buying a Windows 10 laptop.
16GB of RAM is only needed for high-end gaming, 4K video editing and professional music production.