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Started By
Message
New Laptop for In-Laws
Posted on 8/16/14 at 10:18 pm
Posted on 8/16/14 at 10:18 pm
Paging ILLSUT!
So I'm good with this stuff, but after reading everything on here, I trust you more. Here's the deal. My in-laws desktop is about 7 years old and is done. They want a laptop because they are about to retire and start traveling and want something to bring with them when they go camping, etc. and be reliable and last for a long while.
They're older and want a big screen to help with visuals: 17"
They'll be taking videos/pics and don't want anything external except for backup: 1TB HDD
Most of their activity will be online, email, video/pic uploads, some word/excel: i5 or equivalent.
Windows 8.1 w/ Easy StartUp
They're insistent on a CD/DVD R+W drive. I don't know how much they'll use it, but they're so used to having one, I couldn't talk them out of it. I had a good rec for them, but they turned it down for this reason. Same thing with touch screens; don't want one regardless of if they have to use it.
Here are the two we're looking at:
LINK
LINK
Comparison
I'm leaning Lenovo. It's not a refurb; it's lighter for travel; it already has 8.1 installed; 4th gen i5
Thoughts?
So I'm good with this stuff, but after reading everything on here, I trust you more. Here's the deal. My in-laws desktop is about 7 years old and is done. They want a laptop because they are about to retire and start traveling and want something to bring with them when they go camping, etc. and be reliable and last for a long while.
They're older and want a big screen to help with visuals: 17"
They'll be taking videos/pics and don't want anything external except for backup: 1TB HDD
Most of their activity will be online, email, video/pic uploads, some word/excel: i5 or equivalent.
Windows 8.1 w/ Easy StartUp
They're insistent on a CD/DVD R+W drive. I don't know how much they'll use it, but they're so used to having one, I couldn't talk them out of it. I had a good rec for them, but they turned it down for this reason. Same thing with touch screens; don't want one regardless of if they have to use it.
Here are the two we're looking at:
LINK
LINK
Comparison
I'm leaning Lenovo. It's not a refurb; it's lighter for travel; it already has 8.1 installed; 4th gen i5
Thoughts?
This post was edited on 8/16/14 at 10:35 pm
2
Posted on 8/16/14 at 11:31 pm to ell_13
Is $600-700 basically their top budget? The Lenovo is a good configuration for the money. I did find a very similar model for $10 more on Amazon that has 2GB of additional RAM, but it is apparently on backorder. They'd have to wait: LINK "Usually ships within 2 to 4 weeks."
The biggest limitation is the screen size. You have far fewer choices of mid-range laptops that are 17", so for the price and requirements, either of the Lenovos (the one you linked or the one I linked) will be the best configuration.
Have they ever owned a 17" laptop? They can get annoying for travel because of the weight and size, and you're looking at < 5hrs of battery life on most of them.
You know what I'm gonna suggest here, so the question is what is their max budget, and how much space they'd really need.
The biggest limitation is the screen size. You have far fewer choices of mid-range laptops that are 17", so for the price and requirements, either of the Lenovos (the one you linked or the one I linked) will be the best configuration.
Have they ever owned a 17" laptop? They can get annoying for travel because of the weight and size, and you're looking at < 5hrs of battery life on most of them.
quote:
be reliable and last for a long while.
You know what I'm gonna suggest here, so the question is what is their max budget, and how much space they'd really need.
Posted on 8/17/14 at 1:44 am to ILikeLSUToo
(no message)
This post was edited on 8/8/20 at 11:00 am
Posted on 8/17/14 at 2:40 am to TexasTiger39
I don't know enough about their usage to say, but I suspect they could easily get by with less. But my aim here, if it wasn't made obvious in the last post, is to suggest an SSD in place of the hard drive, as I pretty much do for anyone looking for a general use laptop, or really any computer. SSDs are the solution to most gripes about computers "wearing out" or slowing down. It would add a great deal of longevity to it, if ell_13 is willing to go through the trouble of making a rescue/recovery disk and reinstalling Windows for his in-laws.
However, the problem with these 17" lenovos is that despite their size, there's only one 2.5" bay. To add a second storage drive, you'd have to replace the optical drive with one of those HDD/SSD caddies, and that's not an option here. But since they're going to be taking this on the road a lot and storing media, I can't very well say "just swap out the terabyte hard drive with a 128GB SSD" or even a 256. Fortunately, 500GB is doable, those can be had for $200-220. With that in mind, an i3-based machine with 6GB of memory, paired with an SSD, might end up being a $750 machine after you buy the SSD, but would be solid in hardware performance and the SSD -- once set up properly -- would add years to the machine's perceived lifespan, particularly with the elderly folk who at least know their way around Windows but not well enough to check task manager/msconfig for bullshite they don't need to have running.
However, the problem with these 17" lenovos is that despite their size, there's only one 2.5" bay. To add a second storage drive, you'd have to replace the optical drive with one of those HDD/SSD caddies, and that's not an option here. But since they're going to be taking this on the road a lot and storing media, I can't very well say "just swap out the terabyte hard drive with a 128GB SSD" or even a 256. Fortunately, 500GB is doable, those can be had for $200-220. With that in mind, an i3-based machine with 6GB of memory, paired with an SSD, might end up being a $750 machine after you buy the SSD, but would be solid in hardware performance and the SSD -- once set up properly -- would add years to the machine's perceived lifespan, particularly with the elderly folk who at least know their way around Windows but not well enough to check task manager/msconfig for bullshite they don't need to have running.
This post was edited on 8/17/14 at 2:41 am
Posted on 8/17/14 at 7:16 am to ILikeLSUToo
$700 is the top.
They've never owned a 17. But when they're not traveling, my FiL is going to use it as a second monitor. He doesn't really want to buy two displays and dock the PC (otherwise, it would definitely be a 15); he just wants the extra screen space when he's working on multiple things and having two identical screens right next to each other isn't a necessity.
Thanks!
ETA: I think they can get by without having too much trouble with a heavier machine. When I say they will be traveling, very little will be done in airports. These people like to drive and bring the camper. I don't see them having to haul it around separately much. And as for the SSD, I agree that it would help with longevity, but I don't see how it would work right now with price and disc space being more important.
They've never owned a 17. But when they're not traveling, my FiL is going to use it as a second monitor. He doesn't really want to buy two displays and dock the PC (otherwise, it would definitely be a 15); he just wants the extra screen space when he's working on multiple things and having two identical screens right next to each other isn't a necessity.
Thanks!
ETA: I think they can get by without having too much trouble with a heavier machine. When I say they will be traveling, very little will be done in airports. These people like to drive and bring the camper. I don't see them having to haul it around separately much. And as for the SSD, I agree that it would help with longevity, but I don't see how it would work right now with price and disc space being more important.
This post was edited on 8/17/14 at 7:27 am
Posted on 8/17/14 at 8:23 am to ILikeLSUToo
Found this Dell
Biggest differences are the 4GB RAM vs. 6GB with the Lenovo and the battery: 4-cell 40 Whr for dell and 6-cell for Lenovo. I'm still leaning Lenovo, but the price of the Dell may mean more flexibility
Biggest differences are the 4GB RAM vs. 6GB with the Lenovo and the battery: 4-cell 40 Whr for dell and 6-cell for Lenovo. I'm still leaning Lenovo, but the price of the Dell may mean more flexibility
Posted on 8/17/14 at 8:34 am to ell_13
quote:
Paging ILLSUT!
should probably start putting this in thread titles
Posted on 8/17/14 at 8:44 am to Mr Gardoki
Or someone can make a post linking all of his advice and get it stickied. 
Posted on 8/17/14 at 8:54 am to ell_13
He already made a massive PC guide no one wants to read
Posted on 8/17/14 at 3:08 pm to ell_13
quote:
Biggest differences are the 4GB RAM vs. 6GB with the Lenovo and the battery:
I was trying to find better options last night that have 8GB of RAM actually. I'd put that as a priority above the CPU, as long as you aren't sacrificing significant CPU power for it.
I found this HP Pavilion on Amazon, and it looks to be a significant bang for buck, perhaps even more than the Lenovo due to price.
LINK
17.3" LED Backlit screen (1600x900)
i3-3130M
8GB DDR3
750GB Hard drive
DVD RW drive
802.11n
Windows 8.1
5-hr battery
It's $499
The weak points vs. the Lenovo are the CPU and the hard drive space. However, that i3 has about 90% of the single-threaded performance of the i5 in the Lenovo because it's an M-based CPU. There's even less of a performance disparity in multi-threaded applications because they have similar clock speeds, IPCs, and core count. The i5 just has a slightly better iGPU and lower power consumption, maybe some newer instruction sets that won't matter. You'll just have to decide whether 1TB is absolutely necessary.
Posted on 8/17/14 at 4:02 pm to ILikeLSUToo
Appreciate the help. I've emailed them that link and see what they say. 
Posted on 8/17/14 at 4:57 pm to Mr Gardoki
I'll read it if you provide the link.
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