Should I buy a new laptop?

I find my OLD computer still thinks FASTER than me any more!
 
pacergal said:
Well, I recently did a BTD moment--upgraded to new Apple MacBook Air with the M2 chip and upgraded to 1 TB storage, so hopefully I will never have any memory or storage problems.
Ordered online and it will be delivered in 1-2 weeks.
Can't wait.
Click to expand...

I'm about to order the same computer, only with 16BG of memory and 1 step down from you on storage. My computer software engineer son helped me figure out what to get...

My current computer (2017 Macbook) is good for me...the keys are sticking though and apparently I missed the warranty on that defect...and it's finally bugging me enough to just replace it. My justification is this: I am not a computer whiz. I don't want to try a different type of computer; I know how a Mac works. Yes, I am paying a lot of money for it. But I have ZERO interest in trying to get a "good deal" on a new computer b/c I will completely forget my cost savings when I have a new headache of learning how a different computer works. The only reason I've waited this long is because I know there will be little tweaks that I'll have to work through.

Thankfully I have the money to buy this. Once I buy it, I will forget what I paid for it. I will not have to think about it for at least another 5 years. That is worth every penny to me!!

Now with other things, I might choose to nickle and dime it to death, ha ha...
 
ERD50 said:
How much memory does it have?

My newest (DEC 2021) has 16GB, and it doesn't take long before that is filled and I'm using swap space (I keep way too many windows/tabs open).

But this model has an SSD, and I don't even notice that it is using swap space.

I'm running Linux (Xubuntu, the xfce version which is a more 'lightweight' version), which is probably much mroe efficient with memory use.

You might consider replacing the HDD with an SSD? And/or load a lightweight version of Linux, which usually runs much smoother on an older machine than Windows.

-ERD50
Click to expand...

8 gb. Specs here. https://www.staples.com/hp-15-dw336...memory-256gb-ssd-4z3a9ua-aba/product_24504670
 
Yes, buy a new laptop.
 
aja8888 said:
Buy a Chromebook and relive your pain of Windows. :cool:
Click to expand...
I love Chromebooks now, they boot up in seconds.
They're still a couple of things different from Windows but I'm used to them now. The only one that still gets me all the time is drag and drop when I want to move images around but I rarely need it these days anyway.
 
RetiredAndLovingIt said:
I love Chromebooks now, they boot up in seconds.
They're still a couple of things different from Windows but I'm used to them now. The only one that still gets me all the time is drag and drop when I want to move images around but I rarely need it these days anyway.
Click to expand...

I'm 5 years into this Chromebook. I don't even know where my old laptop is in the house.
 
Thanks, everybody, this thread has been great! I'm on my second run-through and will soon construct a morphological analysis of options - errrk - slight bit of breakthrough from the long-ago Work World, doo doo doo doo....

I'm willing to spend $600.00. Although I don't game, I do a lot of streaming.

I like the idea of getting the old machine up and running, as a spare. I mean, it boots up fine, screen is good, it connects to my Wifi - the only thing it won't do any more is browse.

Incidentally, when I run the Task Manager, I don't see what looks like tons of clutter, except...AVAST takes up a good chunk of space. I use their free antivirus, plus they've managed to suck me into subscriptions to Battery Saver and Avast Clean-up.
 
Have you ever done a fresh Windows install, that might resolve the problem, just be sure to backup everything first. Having said that when I reinstalled Windows on my old laptop I lost my touchscreen and can't find drivers to fix it even from HP.
 
I notice there's a big price jump to go from 8Gb memory to 12 Gb, and a huge jump to 16 Gb. Why, I wonder?
 
Amethyst said:
Thanks, everybody, this thread has been great! I'm on my second run-through and will soon construct a morphological analysis of options - errrk - slight bit of breakthrough from the long-ago Work World, doo doo doo doo....

I'm willing to spend $600.00. Although I don't game, I do a lot of streaming.

I like the idea of getting the old machine up and running, as a spare. I mean, it boots up fine, screen is good, it connects to my Wifi - the only thing it won't do any more is browse.

Incidentally, when I run the Task Manager, I don't see what looks like tons of clutter, except...AVAST takes up a good chunk of space. I use their free antivirus, plus they've managed to suck me into subscriptions to Battery Saver and Avast Clean-up.
Click to expand...
With a dated processor, just 8 GB, and a spinning hard drive, the antivirus "solutions" are a an incredible drag on performance. That is what you're seeing in task manager, the drag of old.

Your best option is to uninstall all of the antivirus thingies, and just make sure MS Defender gets re-activated. Since I've gone through that painful process, it takes some effort to complete. The #1 drag is Avast doing startup checks on your files. While that's happening, not much else can get processor time. Open a browser? It's like me trying to get up from the recliner. Lol.

Even when AV startup completes you'll notice that with just 8 GB memory the old slower processor needs to swap parts of applications in and out of memory to the spinning hard drive. Performance suffers again.

To do a partial computer resources upgrade, you'd copy the old drive to an SSD. Then check some settings, like virtual memory. But this machine's constraint of 8 GB with Windows 10 is a show stopper for me. Even as a backup I would remove Windows and install Linux Mint for web browsing, etc.

If you're budget is $600, and you continue to investigate specifications, you'll find reason(s) to spend $800. Good luck with your new system.
 
Looking to 5-7 years in the future, the minimum specs I would use for Windows 11 are 16-GB (32 GB), 512-GB SSD (1 TB), and i5 (i7) processor. In parentheses are specs I would actually choose. Between models that meet those minimums, I would then compare graphics card, screen resolution and technology.
 
Such specs would be in the $2000 and up category, though.

target2019 said:
Looking to 5-7 years in the future, the minimum specs I would use for Windows 11 are 16-GB (32 GB), 512-GB SSD (1 TB), and i5 (i7) processor. In parentheses are specs I would actually choose. Between models that meet those minimums, I would then compare graphics card, screen resolution and technology.
Click to expand...
 
Amethyst said:
What do y'all think? At $659, it's above my self-imposed limit, but really about the same as I paid for my 7-year-old Lenovo.
Is an ASUS likely to give 7 years of service?

https://www.amazon.com/ASUS-Vivoboo...H2QN/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_product_top?ie=UTF8&th=1
Click to expand...

I'm not sure, but when I looked at laptops at Amazon, it seemed like a lot of them were not real factory-fresh. I think some resellers take them, swap out the drive, add memory if applicable, and then re-sell. I could not find those same configuration on some of the offers (I didn't check this one) on the mfg site, or through some known outlet. Do you get the full mfg warranty?

This all seemed fuzzy to me. Anyone know?

-ERD50
 
Amethyst said:
What do y'all think? At $659, it's above my self-imposed limit, but really about the same as I paid for my 7-year-old Lenovo.
Is an ASUS likely to give 7 years of service?

https://www.amazon.com/ASUS-Vivoboo...H2QN/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_product_top?ie=UTF8&th=1
Click to expand...


From a hardware standpoint, certainly. That machine should have no problems running whatever Windows OS versions come out in the next 7 years and probably more (I have laptops running Windows 10, which is 7 years old, that ran Windows 7 - and even Windows XP - for years before that).

What changes most are the software applications. sadly IMHO few try to be efficient with system resources, so they tend to grow over time. Predicting that 7 years in the future is difficult. 8GB of memory was fine 7 years ago, today... I would not get a system with less than 12GB to run current Windows applications (Linux is another matter, not as much memory bloat on Linux apps plus Linux manages memory much better).

But, over 7 years the hardware and windows cost is about $100/year at that price... which is worth it.
 
ERD50 said:
I'm not sure, but when I looked at laptops at Amazon, it seemed like a lot of them were not real factory-fresh. I think some resellers take them, swap out the drive, add memory if applicable, and then re-sell. I could not find those same configuration on some of the offers (I didn't check this one) on the mfg site, or through some known outlet. Do you get the full mfg warranty?

This all seemed fuzzy to me. Anyone know?

-ERD50
Click to expand...

That does happen, but I would not be too concerned. The seller gets them brand new, so they are still considered new machines with the full manufacturers warranty. No different than a brick and mortar computer store buying from the manufacturer and adding components. I bought a HP laptop that the reseller reconfigured with more memory and a larger SSD 3 years ago and have not had any problems with it. It is more a issue of the reseller reputation/rating than anything else.
 
Amethyst said:
Such specs would be in the $2000 and up category, though.
Click to expand...

Very satisfied with the Apple MacBookPro 16" M1 Pro ordered back in May and delivered in late July. A bit less than $3k. Not helpful for your situation but - hey - YOLO / BTD. :D
 
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