Thread: Laptops

Just been looking at EBay.Plenty of Toshys on there
Saw this monster
16GB 2TB Full HD Toshiba Satellite S70 B PRO Quad I7 ATI R9 Video 17 3" Laptop | eBay
Andrew

Hey Andy,

I too am a mac user. I used to agree that they were overpriced for what they are but, apart from batteries and chargers failing i have had no problems with mine.

I currently have a 2011 15inch macbook pro i picked up 2nd hand in 2013 for $1300. Best bang for buck i have bought computer wise.

I have found that the performance of my mac has not changed over the years, unlike the windows machines i have owned and used. For general web browsing and youtube, a mac will generally stay just as snappy as when you bought it.

Something like this would probably suit (except for maybe a bigger screen) and, like the seller says, adding an ssd will make it fly. These days SSD's cost under 50c/GB.

If you're sold on windows then i would recommend an i5 processor with 4-8GB ram and an ssd. You can always upgrade the ram and hard drive, but if you want one that works out of the box spend a little extra at purchase. For what you use it for the SSD will make the single biggest difference to start up and general speeds.
Have fun shopping!

Cheers

Dan

Just to add to the confusion Andy... I do agree with Dan about MACs...

if you can find one in your budget - take a close look.

Unlike most MAC people I am not a total Mac evangelist - I look after a reasonably large windows environment so I can't live in a MAC only world...

However both my kids have hand me down from Dad highly specced Macbook Pros that would have to have been the best Laptop hardware I've ever owned...

I think I will stick with windows,I had problems using my mums apple,only just getting my head around a samsung smart phone and tablet at the moment.I can only take so much re-training.
The other use of the laptop would be to be a TV/entertainment unit in the camper trailer whilst travelling,assuming I complete it.
Do newer laptops take a sim card like tablets do,or would I use the tablet as a wifi hot spot for the laptop when travelling????
Andrew

Another upcoming use.
I may be taking over running the traffic counters for the boss.
Rather than go into the office and use somebody elses puter there I will use mine at home and be able to claim depreciation/home office expenses,seeing my bean counter on friday to get my tax done and sort out how I go about it.I wouldnt think the traffic counters take up alot of processing,you bring the unit to the puter and download its recordings.I already deploy the units and collect them from time to time,just dont do the paperwork.
Andrew

Some laptops take a sim card, others don't. You can usually get a data sharing sim from your mobile provider for a usb modem that uses the data plan of your mobile/tablet , or you can do the hotspot option, whether it is via wifi, Bluetooth or cable connection.

I would expect any computer that can run general office applications should run your counter software, as most commercial/industrial logging software I have come across will work on older generation (windows XP type era) machines.

Originally Posted by LandyAndy

Another upcoming use.
I may be taking over running the traffic counters for the boss.
Rather than go into the office and use somebody elses puter there I will use mine at home and be able to claim depreciation/home office expenses,seeing my bean counter on friday to get my tax done and sort out how I go about it.I wouldnt think the traffic counters take up alot of processing,you bring the unit to the puter and download its recordings.I already deploy the units and collect them from time to time,just dont do the paperwork.
Andrew

I am no computer guru, but even though I love my Mac some silly little tasks like this are designed to work on Bill Gates' products only.

Andrew, Also consider how long you keep your equipment for. The current lappy is 10 years old, if you plan on doing that again you should be aiming to get the best spec that you can afford - O/S and S/W is only going to get more CPU intensive and memory hungry.

PS I use Lenovo - as said previously, they manufactured for IBM and then bought the business from them. Very good equipment. You can order it online, choose your base laptop that suits your budget then modify to your spec.