We need a new laptop for Mrs B, her three yr old Packard Bell just runs slower and slower. More memory might help but it'd be a gamble.
Basically it's a work machine. Her job is supply teaching and while she get's access to school IT on longer assignments she cannot rely on it doing daily stuff where she's rung before 08:00 and sent to school X for start of day. It needs to be able to show DVD and other interactive stuff on a whiteboard etc so probably better with integral player. No other fancy graphics though - she's not a gamer. Otherwise it's standard office stuff with email, word processing spreadsheets etc plus browsing etc at home
I'm thinking of something with i3 or i5 processor (but are there variations within those models) and a min of 4GB memory and 500GB hard drive. Does that sound plausible?
Ideally she'd want something a bit smaller than a 15.6" 'consumer' profile but that looks to add £££ to price. Don't want to pay more than £500, less if possible.
One possibility is this:
tinyurl.com/mp3ehm7 (Lenovo consumer form factor)
or tinyurl.com/llgl4wr (Dell office form)
What do the experts think?
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>> We need a new laptop for Mrs B, her three yr old Packard Bell just
>> runs slower and slower. More memory might help but it'd be a gamble.
Doing a compete disk format and reload would bring it back to its previous speedy self, and adding memory at the same time would make it snappier than when it was bought. (unless its because the fan is cruder up and forcing a thermal slowdown, but you would know that because the fan would be screaming at you.
Thats what I would do. You seem to not want to do that, so.
>>
>> I'm thinking of something with i3 or i5 processor
Both good choices
>> (but are there variations within those
>> models)
Don't worry about them all will be fine for your needs.
>>and a min of 4GB memory and 500GB hard drive. Does that sound plausible?
YEs sounds good
>> Ideally she'd want something a bit smaller than a 15.6" 'consumer' profile but that looks
>> to add £££ to price. Don't want to pay more than £500, less if possible.
>> One possibility is this:
>>
>> tinyurl.com/mp3ehm7 (Lenovo consumer form factor)
I personally would steer clear of Lenovo. I used to be a champion for them, but the last recommendations I made on that front nearly all came back to bite me with the things literally falling apart and now stuffed the gunwales with bloatware (recently some of it being a security risk)
>> or tinyurl.com/llgl4wr (Dell office form)
Never liked or recommended dell.
>> What do the experts think?
What does Toshiba have in that range?
www.pcworld.co.uk/gbuk/laptops-netbooks/laptops/laptops/toshiba-satellite-l50-b-235-15-6-laptop-white-10107515-pdt.html?intcmpid=display~RR#cat-0
Hmmm I like that.
Last edited by: Zero on Mon 20 Apr 15 at 11:11
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Thanks Z, that's useful as we can nip into PCW ( it's in stock at Northampton Riverside) and have look at one of those.
On fettling the PB it was never that fast and it's same model as Lad had. His lunched its hard drive twice (albeit once possibly due porn related malware) as mentioned previously here. He had to replace it for Uni and I'm now using it but it's only just cutting mustard. Both are PITA to pair with USB devices or with home NAS and generally just a bit off key.
While i relish the challenge of fettling that's not going to be acceptable to the user. I might play with it as a project later though......
Last edited by: Bromptonaut on Mon 20 Apr 15 at 13:55
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Son's machine was having issues with slow running.
Ran adwcleaner,exe and it whirred for 10 minutes or so and Bingo a rejuvenated PC.
Maybe worth 15 mins of your time to download and run
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Done all that FB, conclusion is that these 2 PB's were poor buys.
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>> Done all that FB, conclusion is that these 2 PB's were poor buys.
Missed edit. As they're only 3MB memory I might cannibalise hers to see if adding another module improves mine.
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>>3MB memory
Really?
I may have spotted your problem.
Last edited by: No FM2R on Thu 23 Apr 15 at 12:45
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If you are still looking and you are quick and very lucky, you're local Tesco home might have one of these
ASUS X555LA, 15.6" Laptop, Intel Core i5, 4GB RAM, 1TB - Black.
It came up on HotUKDeals over the weekend and I saw it yesterday and bagged one. It wasn't on display and everywhere showed it as £399.99 but it was scanning at £269.99. Very cheap for an I5.
www.hotukdeals.com/deals/asus-x555la-15-6-laptop-intel-core-i5-4gb-ram-1tb-black-269-00-tesco-instore-2193550
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>> If you are still looking and you are quick and very lucky, you're local Tesco
>> home might have one of these
>>
>> ASUS X555LA, 15.6" Laptop, Intel Core i5, 4GB RAM, 1TB - Black.
Bought the one Z recommended. User is struggling with Win8.1 but otherwise delighted.
Tempted for my own use though.....
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>> User is struggling with Win8.1
Then make it feel more like earlier Win versions
www.classicshell.net/
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>> www.classicshell.net/
Thats not the answer, follow that argument to its logically conclusion and we would all still be making our machines look like the dos command prompt.
Last edited by: VxFan on Tue 28 Apr 15 at 10:27
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>> Thats not the answer, follow that argument to its logically conclusion and we would all
>> still be making our machines look like the dos command prompt.
Well, Classic Shell works for me, on PC and laptop.
Last edited by: VxFan on Tue 28 Apr 15 at 10:27
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>>Thats not the answer,
I agree that it wouldn't be, if 8.1 was the way of the future. However, since it would appear that it is not, at least on non-touch screen laptops, then getting used to it is likely to be a waste of effort I should think.
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Re laptops our 6yr old Toshiba is just starting to suffer similar slow running as in the OP. The battery has failed totally and it comes up with the overheat shutdown warning sometimes. But it's been hard used both in terms of amount used and knocks and bumps being carried about the place. So totally happy to buy the same make again and we will probably do so very soon.
Re Windows 8.1 we have it on both the house PCs and I'm surprised folks don't find it easier to tame. There is no need for Classic Shell as 8.1 already has two "faces"... Metro app style and a normal desktop. These are toggled between with either the Windows key or the Windows icon bottom left of the screen.
All programs and shortcuts can be setup to open from the desktop or its taskbar in the old way. There is nothing that we need to access that isn't found via the trad desktop on our machines. It only takes a few minutes to set this up initially once you realise what's needed and as you add each extra item it is no more than an extra click or two to make sure it anchors to the desktop.
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>> Re Windows 8.1 we have it on both the house PCs and I'm surprised folks don't find it easier to tame.
Me too. I still use a combination of Win XP, Vista, Win 7, and 8.1 and have no problem switching from one to another.
I only recommended classic shell (above) for those who can't tame 8.1.
Last edited by: VxFan on Tue 28 Apr 15 at 14:04
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>> Thats not the answer, follow that argument to its logically conclusion and we would all
>> still be making our machines look like the dos command prompt.
Almost every time I use a pc - as in about fifteen hours a day - I at some point still use a "dos command prompt" or equivalent to do what I want to do in two seconds rather than four hours. I think I've used it three times today alone.
Last edited by: Crankcase on Tue 28 Apr 15 at 14:08
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Well whatever happens to the old laptop... which was better but is worse again now... Mrs F says time to spend so we wandered into PC World today.
In truth we'd thought the one Zero linked above would suit us also and expected to walk out with one....
www.car4play.com/redirect.php?http://www.pcworld.co.uk/gbuk/laptops-netbooks/laptops/laptops/toshiba-satellite-l50-b-235-15-6-laptop-white-10107515-pdt.html?intcmpid=display~RR#cat-0
However the first issue was they didn't have stock of that model... in fact they didn't have stock of many models which was frustrating but at least we got to give the possibilities a good prod.
Second issue they only sold white in that model which I didn't like and I wasn't sure about the overall feel either.
What I did like was this Lenovo...
www.pcworld.co.uk/gbuk/laptops-netbooks/laptops/laptops/lenovo-z50-15-6-laptop-white-10108704-pdt.html#cat-0
... which I preferred to use/handle and to me the white looked OK as it was all silver inside when open.
Specs to me looked comparable to the "Zero Toshiba" and setting aside or one moment Zero's recent concerns over Lenovo wonder what folks think. (BTW Mrs F gets 10% off at PC World so it comes down to £449).
Also in domestic user terms would there be much difference between Intel i3/i5 and AMD A10/Fx??
Last edited by: Fenlander on Sun 10 May 15 at 19:32
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>> Also in domestic user terms would there be much difference between Intel i3/i5 and AMD
>> A10/Fx??
Stick with intel, they are much better chipsets when it comes to power and heat, both key considerations with portable devices.
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OK will do... we were leaning that way so your comment will allow us to narrow the choice.
Actually thinking of going to John Lewis now for the free second year warranty.... the initial attraction of PC World was purely to take one home today.
Last edited by: Fenlander on Sun 10 May 15 at 20:05
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>> m.ebay.co.uk/itm/151524689469?_mwBanner=1
>>
Well, I've just ordered one of these - in purple - what else? :-)
In addition I'm getting, from Amazon, a Crucial 8GB RAM kit for £43.83, so for £283.82, I have a decently specced laptop, whose only real shortcoming is an ordinary screen resolution compared with much more expensive kit.
I'll also have 4GB of removed RAM to flog on eBay!
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Q. Should I replace the RAM before, or after, the 1st. run?
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After, just to make things a bit simpler:
- so you can return the laptop or RAM as-received should either have a fault
- so the machine can do whatever final installs/updates it needs to do after the OS is installed in its as-installed configuration.
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I admit to a FAIL.
My new ACER E15 series laptop arrived today and I happily set about installing my "stuff" - OK so far.
I'd pre-ordered an 8GB RAM pack from Amazon to upgrade from the supplied 4GB
So - I turned over the laptop to remove the RAM cover but, hey - wait a mo - there isn't one!
Google/Bing being your friend, I found that in this series one has to undo 18 screws to remove the top cover, inc. keyboard, undo various cables, remove the fan and finally the motherboard under which is plugged in the RAM!
No way José! On a brand new laptop, no way - and I'm not good with small electronic parts.
Idea abandoned. :-(
That'll teach me to pre-order stuff before the main item arrives.
On the other hand the RAM's from Amazon, so an easy return policy will see my money back apart from £3.99 postage.
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My old Fujitsu Siemens was similar Rog. One module was under a flap on base but other required removal of keyboard.
Not too difficult but half an hour plus faff. No way I'd have undertaken a task like that with a machine in warranty.
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At least RAM is user upgradeable. If this was an Apple laptop you'd find it soldered in.
I'd be sending the laptop back as well if it was me.
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The laptop is fine for the price of £240!
I'll defer extra memory, if I find I need/like it, until it's out of warranty. Then I'll get my son-in-law (REME Avionics Technician, who built his own gaming desktop) to do it for me.
AS an aside - I loathe Windows 8.1 tile format, so have installed "Classic Shell" to give me a "normal" desktop & start menu.
.
In addition I found gazillions of Windows "Apps", which are just bloatware I'll never use. I puzzled how to remove them from the laptop - particularly as I do not have the tiles showing.
Then - I found this -
www.poly-math.com/blog/2014/291/
Just three commands in Windows Power Shell, run as administrator, and the pesky things are history!
I've spent a good few hours getting rid of Acer bloatware and transferring all my programmes, password, email settings etc. and am now happy enough with it.
Certainly the speed is an improvement over my 6 yr. old AMD Athlon powered Acer - all I really need now is a flash drive to make a system recovery media as Acer, like others, are too tight to give a DVD recovery disc with the laptop.
Last edited by: Roger. on Tue 9 Jun 15 at 21:56
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>> media as Acer, like others, are too tight to give a DVD recovery disc with
>> the laptop.
Its not a matter of being tight. Its a matter of speed of recovery and the fact you never lose, break or scratch the recovery partition.
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>>
>> >> media as Acer, like others, are too tight to give a DVD recovery disc
>> with
>> >> the laptop.
>>
>> Its not a matter of being tight. Its a matter of speed of recovery and
>> the fact you never lose, break or scratch the recovery partition.
>>
Hard drive failure???
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>> Hard drive failure???
More likely to loose your recovery CD, but hey legally download a windows disk and use your key, you wont have all that Acer crap you were moaning about either.
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New Laptop Needed - Zero
