It is currently 28 Mar 2024, 19:32

Windows 10 laptop recommendations

Hang up your Chisels and Plane blades and take a load off with a recently turned goblet of your favourite poison, in the lounge of our Gentlemen's (and ladies) Club.

Windows 10 laptop recommendations

Postby 9fingers » 30 Aug 2019, 13:31

You might be aware of my Luddite tendencies when it comes to windows but the last straw has broken my resolve now that banks are starting to block online access to Win XP and vista.

I've decided that I might have to not only make the leap to Windows 10 but possibly buy a new/refurb laptop on which to run it.

I have been a great Dell fan over the years not only from the reliability but also the availability of spares online when eventually parts do fail but maybe there are others I should consider?

Hence asking for suggestions for makes and models that you would buy again if you needed to.

Requirements:
Physically small 13" screen is plenty
Windaz NO MACS please
Decent battery life but also tolerant of continuous charging.
Does not have to be particularly fast
USB, ethernet and wifi (or is ethernet out dated now for a lappy?)

Use: running office applications, text web-browsing and the odd youtube view
No need for gaming speeds or fancy graphics

Thanks

Bob
Information on induction motors here
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1dBTVXx ... sp=sharing
Email:motors@minchin.org.uk
User avatar
9fingers
Petrified Pine
 
Posts: 10038
Joined: 21 Jul 2014, 20:22
Location: Romsey Hampshire between Southampton and the New Forest
Name: Bob

Re: Windows 10 laptop recommendations

Postby Robert » 30 Aug 2019, 13:48

Budget?

easy to suggest makes/models but price comes into it. Recently replaced Mrs laptop. After lots of research decided on Hauwei. USA may have gone off them but the machine is impressive. Very fast, very slim and 12hrs battery life. Probably over your budget though.

There are bad experiences with all brands and those with problems make the most noise. I don't think there are bad makes any more. maybe the odd bad model but don't think generalisations stand up.
Robert
Old Oak
 
Posts: 2490
Joined: 21 Jul 2014, 19:31
Location: Woodford Green
Name: Robert

Re: Windows 10 laptop recommendations

Postby 9fingers » 30 Aug 2019, 14:01

Budget is a difficult one. I don't have one as such but do want good value for money.
Lets say under £500
I'm not prepared to pay a premium for the very latest model and more than happy with a refurb.
Battery life you quote is impressive but I have no need for speed.
An SSD is possibly worth adding to my wish list.

Bob
Information on induction motors here
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1dBTVXx ... sp=sharing
Email:motors@minchin.org.uk
User avatar
9fingers
Petrified Pine
 
Posts: 10038
Joined: 21 Jul 2014, 20:22
Location: Romsey Hampshire between Southampton and the New Forest
Name: Bob

Re: Windows 10 laptop recommendations

Postby Robert » 30 Aug 2019, 14:46

I bought from Amazon. The customer service is excellent as long as you buy from amazon and not a seller. Very easy to return if you don't like it.

Here is a search page with a couple of options ticked

https://www.amazon.co.uk/s?i=computers& ... e-asc-rank

This one for £349 looks OK

https://www.amazon.co.uk/HP-14-Inch-Ful ... rs&sr=1-23

M.2 type SSD is the faster sort so it will boot up quick and recent 7xxx and 8xxx series processors give excellent battery life.

Plenty of others to look at in the search results and reviews to read.

btw.. Windows 10 tries to get you to sign up for a microsoft account during set up. You can if you want an internet sign on that you can share with other MS products. I never do. There is an almost hidden option to proceed without a MS account and that lets you create a normal user and password (pass can be blank for no password). The no MS account option is more like you are used to with 7 and XP.
Robert
Old Oak
 
Posts: 2490
Joined: 21 Jul 2014, 19:31
Location: Woodford Green
Name: Robert

Re: Windows 10 laptop recommendations

Postby Woodster » 30 Aug 2019, 15:22

If you can’t do a Mac then what about a Chromebook? Prices start at £199.

https://www.google.com/intl/en_uk/chrom ... gLEB_D_BwE

Also, have you considered a Tablet? I borrowed a laptop from work over the Christmas break many years ago and really couldn’t get on with it at all. I have a desktop for some jobs but most of my stuff is done on a tablet - iPad Pro 10.5. Tablets are great for surfing, email, and YouTube etc.
User avatar
Woodster
Old Oak
 
Posts: 2558
Joined: 26 Jan 2017, 13:17
Location: Dorset
Name:

Re: Windows 10 laptop recommendations

Postby Robert » 30 Aug 2019, 15:49

A chromebook may not be a bad idea if your uses for it are fairly basic.

That said I tried one a couple of months back and couldn't get on with it at all. Couldn't find a way to do something as basic as connecting a phone and backing up pictures. Something that was dead easy on windows 10.

Depends what you are used to. An experienced chrome user could probably do it. For me as a long time windows user I'd find chrome too restrictive.
Robert
Old Oak
 
Posts: 2490
Joined: 21 Jul 2014, 19:31
Location: Woodford Green
Name: Robert

Re: Windows 10 laptop recommendations

Postby 9fingers » 30 Aug 2019, 16:13

Woodster wrote:If you can’t do a Mac then what about a Chromebook? Prices start at £199.

https://www.google.com/intl/en_uk/chrom ... gLEB_D_BwE

Also, have you considered a Tablet? I borrowed a laptop from work over the Christmas break many years ago and really couldn’t get on with it at all. I have a desktop for some jobs but most of my stuff is done on a tablet - iPad Pro 10.5. Tablets are great for surfing, email, and YouTube etc.


Thanks for the input. I have no desire for a tablet at all. A full qwerty keyboard is essential for my use.
I think I have to stay with windows as the older machines will still be needed to run legacy software and the new machine will need to interface to the home network and NAS drive.

Bob
Information on induction motors here
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1dBTVXx ... sp=sharing
Email:motors@minchin.org.uk
User avatar
9fingers
Petrified Pine
 
Posts: 10038
Joined: 21 Jul 2014, 20:22
Location: Romsey Hampshire between Southampton and the New Forest
Name: Bob

Re: Windows 10 laptop recommendations

Postby Andyp » 30 Aug 2019, 16:15

We did not get on well with HP. Not sure of model as it is in Canada now. Bought 3 years ago. It was forever updating either the HP software or windows. Caveat, this could have been the way my daughter set it up on day one.

The missus has Dell for work and they certainly seem robust and reliable. Would probably buy Dell for the twins come Xmas.

Watching with interest. Please let us know what you decide on.
I do not think therefore I do not am.

cheers
Andy
User avatar
Andyp
Petrified Pine
 
Posts: 11718
Joined: 22 Jul 2014, 07:05
Location: 14860 Normandy, France
Name: Andy

Re: Windows 10 laptop recommendations

Postby 9fingers » 30 Aug 2019, 16:18

Robert wrote:I bought from Amazon. The customer service is excellent as long as you buy from amazon and not a seller. Very easy to return if you don't like it.

Here is a search page with a couple of options ticked

https://www.amazon.co.uk/s?i=computers& ... e-asc-rank

This one for £349 looks OK

https://www.amazon.co.uk/HP-14-Inch-Ful ... rs&sr=1-23

M.2 type SSD is the faster sort so it will boot up quick and recent 7xxx and 8xxx series processors give excellent battery life.

Plenty of others to look at in the search results and reviews to read.

btw.. Windows 10 tries to get you to sign up for a microsoft account during set up. You can if you want an internet sign on that you can share with other MS products. I never do. There is an almost hidden option to proceed without a MS account and that lets you create a normal user and password (pass can be blank for no password). The no MS account option is more like you are used to with 7 and XP.


Thanks for your replies Robert,
Especially the guidance past the need for MS account. The least I have to interact with MS the better!

Many of the Amazon offerings seem to bundle a free 1 year subscription to something - could be just office365, which I wont be using. I certainly won't accept an annual cost in addition to the purchase price.

Bob
Information on induction motors here
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1dBTVXx ... sp=sharing
Email:motors@minchin.org.uk
User avatar
9fingers
Petrified Pine
 
Posts: 10038
Joined: 21 Jul 2014, 20:22
Location: Romsey Hampshire between Southampton and the New Forest
Name: Bob

Re: Windows 10 laptop recommendations

Postby 9fingers » 30 Aug 2019, 16:22

Andyp wrote:We did not get on well with HP. Not sure of model as it is in Canada now. Bought 3 years ago. It was forever updating either the HP software or windows. Caveat, this could have been the way my daughter set it up on day one.

The missus has Dell for work and they certainly seem robust and reliable. Would probably buy Dell for the twins come Xmas.

Watching with interest. Please let us know what you decide on.


Thanks for the HP heads up - I was looking at several on amazon.

Lenovo keep cropping up and with names like "Think xxxx" these remind me of the early IBM laptops.

I do agree about dell. I have several D420s including the one I'm typing on and they have been very good.

Cheers
Bob
Information on induction motors here
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1dBTVXx ... sp=sharing
Email:motors@minchin.org.uk
User avatar
9fingers
Petrified Pine
 
Posts: 10038
Joined: 21 Jul 2014, 20:22
Location: Romsey Hampshire between Southampton and the New Forest
Name: Bob

Re: Windows 10 laptop recommendations

Postby selectortone » 30 Aug 2019, 16:30

I have a chromebook and for simple online stuff like browsing forums, online banking, reading the news, getting the footy results etc, it is excellent. I like it so much I posted about it here.

However, I need a laptop for some unavoidable microsoft stuff and pushed the boat out a while ago and bought a Microsoft Surface Pro. It's really good. You can unclip the keyboard and use it like a tablet (I don't), it is really light, really fast, the battery lasts for ages, and although it cost quite a bit (I bought it in the Amazon Black Friday sale last year, so saved a good bit) I don't regret my purchase at all. Writing this on it.

edit: oh, and re the dreaded Windows 10 updates (which were interminable on my HP laptop, and were the reason I bought a chromebook); they are virtually seamless on the Surface Pro. I don't know if that's because it's a Microsoft product, but I hardly know it's updating and I've only had to reboot it a handful of times since I got it. And that reminds me of another reason I like it so much - with a solid state hard drive, 8GB of ram and a fast processor it fires up or reboots in literally seconds.
Last edited by selectortone on 30 Aug 2019, 17:20, edited 1 time in total.
User avatar
selectortone
Sapling
 
Posts: 288
Joined: 26 Jan 2017, 23:43
Location: Sunny Bournemouth by the Sea
Name: Terry

Re: Windows 10 laptop recommendations

Postby Robert » 30 Aug 2019, 16:47

Think Andy's comment illustrates what I said at the start - you'll find people that had a problem with every brand.

I've had a lot of aggravation with Dell over the years. mainly drivers that just don't work and updates that don't fix the problem.

As to unwanted bundled software you'll find that everywhere. it's not an added cost. The idea is you use it for a year and can't do without it so you then buy it. No up front added expense. just uninstall it all.

My advice - choose something with good genuine reviews that you like the look of whatever the brand. Fake reviews I class as those from people given it for free (vine on amazon) and Indian review spammers with poor English all posted within a couple of days.

Oh and Lenovo is the chinese company that bought IBM's laptop/PC business
Robert
Old Oak
 
Posts: 2490
Joined: 21 Jul 2014, 19:31
Location: Woodford Green
Name: Robert

Re: Windows 10 laptop recommendations

Postby RogerS » 30 Aug 2019, 17:36

We bought a Chromebook to take with us to Japan to back up photos etc and interface to the internet. It worked fine. I found the user interface a bit clunky TBH but it did what we needed.
Why not buy a really cheapo secondhand one on eBay to try out?
If opportunity doesn't knock, build a door.
User avatar
RogerS
Petrified Pine
 
Posts: 13291
Joined: 21 Jul 2014, 21:07
Location: Nearly finished. OK OK...call me Pinocchio.
Name:

Re: Windows 10 laptop recommendations

Postby 9fingers » 30 Aug 2019, 21:12

Its looking like a refurb Dell latitude E6430 8GB, 120GB SSD DVDRW 14" LCD for between £170 and £200 depending on cosmetics. I expect it will need a new battery for around £20 - its excluded by the warranty so almost certainly well used.
There is a similar one, E7240, with a 12.5" LCD which is more the size I'm used to with my latitude D420s. Makes the whole thing about the size of an A4 sheet so I might go for that - same sort of money.

I'll leave it a couple of days as my new financial year starts on Sunday and I'll be treating the business justified by needing it to deal with my bankers who drop XP on 30th Sept.

Bob
Information on induction motors here
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1dBTVXx ... sp=sharing
Email:motors@minchin.org.uk
User avatar
9fingers
Petrified Pine
 
Posts: 10038
Joined: 21 Jul 2014, 20:22
Location: Romsey Hampshire between Southampton and the New Forest
Name: Bob

Re: Windows 10 laptop recommendations

Postby MJ80 » 30 Aug 2019, 22:04

Hey Bob,
funny you should be looking into this. I have just gone through the same thing and I ended up getting a refurbished Lenovo Thinkpad T450s. It has an older i7 processor, expandable RAM ro 20 gig, SSD and a good screen, Windows 10 pro, twin battery setup. No DVD drive, but you can get an external one and they also have docking stations should you want to set up a desktop workplace. Really well built, I'm totally chuffed and it has a years warranty on it.
I needed a laptop that works, that wasn't expensive and will do the basic work I need it to. Word, Excel, outlook, T'interweb and sketchup...
Was on EBay german but they ship to the UK and I'm sure they can swap the keyboard. Also lenovo are really good for spares, which swung it for me.
I wouldn't have been able to get anything new with as good specification for the same money.
Drop me a message and I can send the eBay links etc.
Hope this helps.
MJ80
Sapling
 
Posts: 323
Joined: 13 Sep 2016, 19:21
Name:

Re: Windows 10 laptop recommendations

Postby 9fingers » 30 Aug 2019, 22:15

MJ80 wrote:Hey Bob,
funny you should be looking into this. I have just gone through the same thing and I ended up getting a refurbished Lenovo Thinkpad T450s. It has an older i7 processor, expandable RAM ro 20 gig, SSD and a good screen, Windows 10 pro, twin battery setup. No DVD drive, but you can get an external one and they also have docking stations should you want to set up a desktop workplace. Really well built, I'm totally chuffed and it has a years warranty on it.
I needed a laptop that works, that wasn't expensive and will do the basic work I need it to. Word, Excel, outlook, T'interweb and sketchup...
Was on EBay german but they ship to the UK and I'm sure they can swap the keyboard. Also lenovo are really good for spares, which swung it for me.
I wouldn't have been able to get anything new with as good specification for the same money.
Drop me a message and I can send the eBay links etc.
Hope this helps.


Interesting thanks. I will drop you a pm next.
My eyes are starting to glaze over reading reviews. Somewhere today I read a generally positive review of the lenovo but the conclusion that they could be let down by the commonly fitted display that was 1300 and something by 768 which they said was fuzzy?
Bob
Information on induction motors here
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1dBTVXx ... sp=sharing
Email:motors@minchin.org.uk
User avatar
9fingers
Petrified Pine
 
Posts: 10038
Joined: 21 Jul 2014, 20:22
Location: Romsey Hampshire between Southampton and the New Forest
Name: Bob

Re: Windows 10 laptop recommendations

Postby TrimTheKing » 31 Aug 2019, 00:18

We use Lenovo as our corporate suppliers, 20,000 machines in the UK and we're very happy with them Bob.
Cheers
Mark
TrimTheKing
Site Admin
 
Posts: 7567
Joined: 16 Jun 2014, 13:27
Location: Grappenhall, Cheshire
Name: Mark

Re: Windows 10 laptop recommendations

Postby 9fingers » 31 Aug 2019, 12:57

TrimTheKing wrote:We use Lenovo as our corporate suppliers, 20,000 machines in the UK and we're very happy with them Bob.



Sounds like a pretty good endorsement Mark. Thank you.

Seems like both Dell and Lenovo are solid machines so its down into the weeds to make a choice.

It is possibly coming down to whether I want/need an optical drive. Dell do have then and looks like Lenovo don't - at least on ones I've looked at so far.
Also Lenovo dont seem to offer USB 2 and I've got a lot of usb 2 stuff and leads etc in regular use. Dells (E6430 or its small screen brother) are offering a mix of usb2 and 3

Decisions!

Bob
Information on induction motors here
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1dBTVXx ... sp=sharing
Email:motors@minchin.org.uk
User avatar
9fingers
Petrified Pine
 
Posts: 10038
Joined: 21 Jul 2014, 20:22
Location: Romsey Hampshire between Southampton and the New Forest
Name: Bob

Re: Windows 10 laptop recommendations

Postby Duncan A » 31 Aug 2019, 14:05

You mentioned availability of spare parts. Well, most parts in laptops are fairly standard but some stuff like batteries, RAM and SSD's are not easily changed on the slim models. The RAM may well be soldered in nowadays and batteries would require the back of the laptop to be removed - not too difficult but not as simple as no-tool swapping. Basically, similar to modern smartphones.
Dell, to their credit, often have the maintenance manuals downloadable from their website with full instructions on how to change just about every single component.
My recently purchased Dell laptop had a faulty power button, so I was all set to have to return it for repair, but they sent an engineer to do it despite not having an on-site warranty. Took him about 1 minute!
Duncan
Duncan A
Seedling
 
Posts: 49
Joined: 09 Nov 2016, 17:31
Name:

Re: Windows 10 laptop recommendations

Postby Robert » 31 Aug 2019, 14:09

9fingers wrote:Also Lenovo dont seem to offer USB 2 and I've got a lot of usb 2 stuff and leads etc in regular use. Dells (E6430 or its small screen brother) are offering a mix of usb2 and 3


Bob


USB3 is fully backwards compatible back to USB1 so whatever you have will work....according to Google :)
Robert
Old Oak
 
Posts: 2490
Joined: 21 Jul 2014, 19:31
Location: Woodford Green
Name: Robert

Re: Windows 10 laptop recommendations

Postby 9fingers » 31 Aug 2019, 16:11

Robert wrote:
9fingers wrote:Also Lenovo dont seem to offer USB 2 and I've got a lot of usb 2 stuff and leads etc in regular use. Dells (E6430 or its small screen brother) are offering a mix of usb2 and 3


Bob


USB3 is fully backwards compatible back to USB1 so whatever you have will work....according to Google :)


I had a quick look before and saw the micro usb connector which looks radically different and drew the wrong conclusion. The full size USB socket has an extra 5 pins but it does look like the other 4 will line up with familiar usb 1-2 types.

Bob
Information on induction motors here
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1dBTVXx ... sp=sharing
Email:motors@minchin.org.uk
User avatar
9fingers
Petrified Pine
 
Posts: 10038
Joined: 21 Jul 2014, 20:22
Location: Romsey Hampshire between Southampton and the New Forest
Name: Bob

Re: Windows 10 laptop recommendations

Postby Andyp » 31 Aug 2019, 16:12

TrimTheKing wrote:We use Lenovo as our corporate suppliers, 20,000 machines in the UK and we're very happy with them Bob.


Is there likely to be a difference in build quality and components between the business spec office machines and the less expensive home user variants?
I am assuming as corporate customers you are able to obtain high end machines at a discount.
I do not think therefore I do not am.

cheers
Andy
User avatar
Andyp
Petrified Pine
 
Posts: 11718
Joined: 22 Jul 2014, 07:05
Location: 14860 Normandy, France
Name: Andy

Re: Windows 10 laptop recommendations

Postby 9fingers » 31 Aug 2019, 16:20

Andyp wrote:
TrimTheKing wrote:We use Lenovo as our corporate suppliers, 20,000 machines in the UK and we're very happy with them Bob.


Is there likely to be a difference in build quality and components between the business spec office machines and the less expensive home user variants?
I am assuming as corporate customers you are able to obtain high end machines at a discount.


Dell latitudes (professional) use metal chassis and are rock solid but I don't know if the consumer ones (Inspiron) also have metal chassis as I've always bought latitudes.

The outer casings are plastic on both.

No idea about the lenovo.

Bob
Information on induction motors here
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1dBTVXx ... sp=sharing
Email:motors@minchin.org.uk
User avatar
9fingers
Petrified Pine
 
Posts: 10038
Joined: 21 Jul 2014, 20:22
Location: Romsey Hampshire between Southampton and the New Forest
Name: Bob

Re: Windows 10 laptop recommendations

Postby 9fingers » 31 Aug 2019, 16:26

Duncan A wrote:You mentioned availability of spare parts. Well, most parts in laptops are fairly standard but some stuff like batteries, RAM and SSD's are not easily changed on the slim models. The RAM may well be soldered in nowadays and batteries would require the back of the laptop to be removed - not too difficult but not as simple as no-tool swapping. Basically, similar to modern smartphones.
Dell, to their credit, often have the maintenance manuals downloadable from their website with full instructions on how to change just about every single component.
My recently purchased Dell laptop had a faulty power button, so I was all set to have to return it for repair, but they sent an engineer to do it despite not having an on-site warranty. Took him about 1 minute!
Duncan


The most often changed item I've bee involved with changing has been the hinges which are bespoke. Nothing worse than a droopy lappy screen.
I've also changed screen tubes but thankfully newer models are LED illuminated and no nasty high voltage fluorescent tubes to insulate.

Bob
Information on induction motors here
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1dBTVXx ... sp=sharing
Email:motors@minchin.org.uk
User avatar
9fingers
Petrified Pine
 
Posts: 10038
Joined: 21 Jul 2014, 20:22
Location: Romsey Hampshire between Southampton and the New Forest
Name: Bob

Re: Windows 10 laptop recommendations

Postby 9fingers » 01 Sep 2019, 10:46

I've bitten the bullet.

Start of the month, a new FY for my little property business so OK to order a new laptop.

Refurbished Dell Latitude 7240 8Gb Ram 240GB SSD Win 10 home, used battery and charger £149.90 on the bay.

I'm quite expecting to need to buy a new battery for it (which seems cheaper than fitting new cells) once I have got it set up.

The biggest problem I envisage is getting it to play nicely with my other network machines or it might just surprise me :lol:

Thanks for everyone's input.

Bob
Information on induction motors here
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1dBTVXx ... sp=sharing
Email:motors@minchin.org.uk
User avatar
9fingers
Petrified Pine
 
Posts: 10038
Joined: 21 Jul 2014, 20:22
Location: Romsey Hampshire between Southampton and the New Forest
Name: Bob

Next

Return to The Woodmangler's Retreat

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: Bing [Bot], CHJ and 21 guests