OT: ? for the computer hardware guys...

[QQ_CEO]

Hello,

I just started a new job that is a bit entrepreneurial in nature (I need to buy my own laptop for work). I don't use my laptop for anything crazy beyond MBA classes and normal MS office tools and general internet browsing. I'm not a high performance gamer nor am I downloading mega huge files or mining bitcoin.

I'd like to get a good idea on what I should be looking to purchase from a specification standpoint, RAM, Processing speed, etc. Any thoughts on brands and/or model #'s would be appreciated as well.

Many thanks and GBR.

 

[Anon1727835823]

i5, 8gb ram. go with a SSD for the HD if you can

 

[Blackshirts4life339]

Second the solid sate HDD^^^ it will last longer. Pretty much the simplest computer you can buy new will work for what you need. I’d try to stay north of 2.0 GHz though.

 

[Suhrreal]

Second the solid sate HDD^^^ it will last longer.

That's not true. SSDs are all limited by the number of writes they can make to the cell. Numbers I have seen recently suggest the older spinning platter disks actually last longer than SSDs as well. With that said, the speed of an SSD alone is worth it.

I'd suggest the cheapest laptop you can find with a good warranty QQ_CEO. For the tasks you describe, anything top of the line is overkill. 4GB RAM and an older processor should be enough. The biggest issue for me when I bought my laptop actually turned out to be display quality. That will probably be something you will want to go into a store and take a look at if you're going to use the laptop a lot.

 

[RedMyMind]

That's not true. SSDs are all limited by the number of writes they can make to the cell. Numbers I have seen recently suggest the older spinning platter disks actually last longer than SSDs as well. With that said, the speed of an SSD alone is worth it.

I'd suggest the cheapest laptop you can find with a good warranty QQ_CEO. For the tasks you describe, anything top of the line is overkill. 4GB RAM and an older processor should be enough. The biggest issue for me when I bought my laptop actually turned out to be display quality. That will probably be something you will want to go into a store and take a look at if you're going to use the laptop a lot.

I'd go with 8 gigs of RAM. 4 limits the operating system you can install and programs you can run.

 

[otismotis08]

Amazing how affordable these laptops have become. As long as you stay with the basics.

 

[Child of the Corn]

That's not true. SSDs are all limited by the number of writes they can make to the cell. Numbers I have seen recently suggest the older spinning platter disks actually last longer than SSDs as well. With that said, the speed of an SSD alone is worth it.

I'd suggest the cheapest laptop you can find with a good warranty QQ_CEO. For the tasks you describe, anything top of the line is overkill. 4GB RAM and an older processor should be enough. The biggest issue for me when I bought my laptop actually turned out to be display quality. That will probably be something you will want to go into a store and take a look at if you're going to use the laptop a lot.

SSDs are much cheaper now than when they were first released. IMO, they are worth the money based on the performance increase and this talk of SSD longevity is blown out of proportion. I have had several HDD failures but never had a SSD die on me yet from writes. One of my SSDs, a Samsung 840 pro, is a few years old with several terabytes or writes on it and it is still going strong. Then again Samsung says these are built to handle 150 terabytes. If you can afford a little extra in your budget make sure the laptop you get has a SSD. They aren't necessary but they save you time in booting and loading.

 

[RedMyMind]

SSDs are much cheaper now than when they were first released. IMO, they are worth the money based on the performance increase and this talk of SSD longevity is blown out of proportion. I have had several HDD failures but never had a SSD die on me yet from writes. One of my SSDs, a Samsung 840 pro, is a few years old with several terabytes or writes on it and it is still going strong. Then again Samsung says these are built to handle 150 terabytes. If you can afford a little extra in your budget make sure the laptop you get has a SSD. They aren't necessary but they save you time in booting and loading.

I can attest to that. I have a 250 Samsung SSD from 2013 and it is still going strong. Have had a few platters die in that time period.

 

[Tyante]

I would also recommend the 8 GB of RAM. Most cheaper laptops don't have dedicated video cards so the RAM is shared. An SSD won't last as long as an old platter HD, but it is well worth the money. The speed increase is very noticeable and it is quieter. Also there are no moving parts which is a good thing for a mobile laptop.

As far as brands, ASUS, Acer, and Lenovo are good. Dell isn't a bad choice. I would stay away from HP. They are usually built cheaper and don't last as long. Samsung, LG and Toshiba are nice but usually are more expensive.

 

[cornhustler]

entrepreneurial

Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon accept no substitute! You are a business man now.

... to round out the look:
- Genesis G70 (AWD)
- Autodromo Group B series 2 watch
- Tom Ford cologne (NSFW)
- Zero Halliburton premier aluminum plus attaché
- Boetje mustard
- Write upside down pen
- couple bumps of cocaine

 

[NikkiSixx_rivals269993]

just get a chromebook

 

[TruHusker]

just get a chromebook

Oh heavens NO! Schools have them everywhere! They are made to be cheap, connect to WiFi and have some features through extensions, that's about it. We have had all sorts of problems storing MS Office docs on a Google drive. May just be us but I avoid it at all costs.

 

[TheBeav815]

Agree on the 8 GB of RAM and the SSD. My work laptop would absolutely gag trying to run just Office 365 software on Windows 10 with the old HDD, I got them to put an SSD in it and it's been great. The time it will save you on boot up and Windows updates alone is worth it.

An underrated thing to look at is what kind of ports the laptop has on it. If you like to plug a lot of stuff in the way I do, it could make a difference in what you want. I hook mine up to an extra monitor, a full-size keyboard and a mouse most of the time I'm using it. So if your monitor only takes a VGA or a DVI cable you either need a converter or a machine that has those ports. Converter is obviously the cheaper option than altering an entire laptop purchase over a VGA port but you get the idea.

In fact when DirecTV would crap out due to rain I used to stream the Husker game and plug the HDMI cable into the tv to watch off the laptop.