New Laptop required?: Motoring Computer Related forum

Computer Related > New Laptop required?	Computing Issues
Thread Author: sherlock47	Replies: 12

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Mon 30 Oct 17 10:22

New Laptop required? - sherlock47

Wifes' 5 yr old Toshiba Satellite C660-1LD has expired following ( not sure if related?) Creators W10 update. Appears to have lost all drivers associated with Mouse and Touchpad and lost cursor. Would not normally be a problem, however over time she has managed to damage both USB ports and leave them not working. I have tried installing a BT mouse but that will not identify correctly _ I smugly thought that that would be a creative solution! Proprietary driver upgrade software does not run correctly so without keyboard/cursor use I appear to be bug......d!

Fortunately because it was networked I have manage to pull off all the critical data.

Because of its age I am reluctant to spend any money on it - but once she has a replacement I will do a clean w10 DVD install and then, if it resurrects, dismantle it and look to replace the USB ports if practical. I have been told that usb ports are part of motherboard - not a plug in daughter board. If it looks good a small SSD upgrade at that age may be worthwhile.

Meantime to buy a new one, but what make? Probably an I3 with hdmi port, possibly a SSD? Historically a Lenovo may have featured in the list but the word is that they are not what they used to be? From poor personal experiences HP do not attract me. Dell ? Dell desk tops have always served me well - particularly if purchased from the discount part of Dell or EuroPC.

What suggestions please?

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Mon 30 Oct 17 10:59

New Laptop required? - smokie

I'm a bit out of touch now but I think most major manufacturers are producing machines which are "not what they used to be" and I'm not sure these days that any one is better than any other. So I'd be looking more at the hardware spec than the manufacturer.

Your HP experience is probably perfectly valid but I always remember the IBM Deskstar (Deathstar) hard disc, which was very prone to premature implosion, and how people bad-mouthed IBM (later Hitachi IIRC) disks for many years, even after the manufacturing process had changed completely.

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Mon 30 Oct 17 11:00

New Laptop required? - sherlock47

IBM Deskstar (Deathstar) hard disc, - The Lancia Beta of the computing world?

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Mon 30 Oct 17 11:08

New Laptop required? - Hard Cheese

I'd go Dell though one of their business units, three years onsite support costs very little and means that any problems and an engineer comes to you. A massive benefit over "return to base" as most warranties usually say.

I'll still using an 2011 i5 Dell, problem free, it's now on W10, I upgraded to an SSD about 18 months ago and it's perfectly contemporary, it even has USB3.0.

I bought my son one the same in early 2012 for Uni, he had a couple of minor issues and the Dell engineer attended his halls and his campus, his is also still going strong despite a real battering.

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Tue 31 Oct 17 01:13

New Laptop required? - Stuartli

If you buy a "refurbished" Dell laptop through Europc, you get what is clearly a brand new product that's never been used (at least in my experience) and at two-thirds of the original Dell price...:-)

In the meantime, my Dell Inspiron 570 (seven years old) has been well and truly screw up display wise by the latest Windows 10 Creator update (different outcome for User and Administrator modes); took me quite some time to sort out the now AMD Radeon legacy display drivers as a result and return to the status quo.

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Tue 31 Oct 17 07:49

New Laptop required? - MD

Acer every time.

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Tue 31 Oct 17 11:11

New Laptop required? - Hard Cheese

>> Acer every time.
>>

I've had two Acers, one a hinge broke much too easily (though I ordered the part and fixed it myself) and the other was always a bit slow.

Dells have always been great though.

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Tue 31 Oct 17 11:13

New Laptop required? - Hard Cheese

>> If you buy a "refurbished" Dell laptop through Europc, >>

If you buy a "refurbished" Dell through the Dell Business outlet you can get the three year "on site" support that is great value and really ideal if you do have problems, the engineer comes to you, wherever you are at your convenience.

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Tue 31 Oct 17 12:55

New Laptop required? - Stuartli

>>..you can get the three year "on site" support that is great value and really ideal...>>

Yes, correct. It was included in the price!! Laptop taken away and returned if necessary.

By the way the Dell Vostro 15-3559 I bought has the best audio performance of any laptop I've ever come across to date - it has the MAXX audio software utility to make the most of it.

Last edited by: Stuartli on Tue 31 Oct 17 at 12:59

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Tue 31 Oct 17 10:03

New Laptop required? - movilogo

>> From poor personal experiences HP do not attract me.

I have poor experience with HP too. The broken laptop I mentioned in other thread (about Linux) is an HP laptop which had hinge broken physically (used very gently, never carried outside home) after just 3 years of use!

I'd suggest Toshiba, Samsung, Acer, Asus, Lenovo over HP.

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Wed 15 Nov 17 19:43

New Laptop required? - sherlock47

DELL Inspiron 13-5378, 2-in-1, Windows 10 Home 64-bit, Intel Core i3-7100U 2.4GHz, 4GB RAM, 1TB SATA, 13.3" 1920x1080 FHD Touchscreen, Dell 3 Year Premium Onsite Warranty - 120536

Bought from Euro PC - refurb (as new) incudes 3 year NBD warranty for Â£435 - so far so good.
And cheaper than JL with a 2 year warranty.

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Wed 15 Nov 17 20:14

New Laptop required? - Hard Cheese

Happy days!

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Thu 16 Nov 17 00:24

New Laptop required? - Stuartli

Bought from Europc earlier this year a Dell Vostro 3559 i5 with 500Gb hard drive, 15.6in laptop, Dell three year business warranty, supposedly refurbished but clearly in mint condition, for just Â£335 plus delivery....:-)

Even better value I would suggest as it's a business machine. Even so the sound quality is beyond reproach for a laptop thanks to larger than usual speakers and the MAXXAudio3 utility.

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