What are /r/laptops' favorite Products & Services?

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if one key becomes unresponsive on a laptop, the whole keyboard would needed to be replaced. I don't know if this is the correct replacement part for your laptop but it should cost you around $20-50 without labor costs

Just get this a lot cheaper and it has better thermals according to dave 2 d. Here is his video review

Hope you got actual workstation and $500 is not suppose to be your main place of operation.

Anyway $500 is low balling consumer shit not something used for work... unless that just bosses free money thrown at you for your own notebook, not companies...

anyway you need extra $300 to have 4 core / 8 threads + decent graphic card + decent IPS panel.. no ssd for ya though

If it's got a lot of bloatware, preferably install a fresh copy of Windows. Before you do this, download the Windows media creation tool on their website and sign into your Microsoft account to activate digital licensing (your product key will bind to your MS account).

Once you've done that (or not if you didn't reinstall Windows), get yourself a good anti-malware program. I recommend either Malwarebytes or Bitdefender. Those are arguably the two best anti-malware software currently in the market and don't take up a lot of system resources.

Type appwiz.cpl into the search bar to uninstall any applications you do not want installed on your computer.

You could install numerous useful software such as Steam, Spotify and Discord from a single website called ninite.com or you could install those applications directly from their respective websites. Do note that Ninite does not allow you to pick which drive you would like the application to be installed and defaults to the drive where your OS is installed (C drive).

If your laptop has got an Intel CPU, you could undervolt it using Throttlestop or Intel XTU. This would allow your CPU to run cooler and save some battery life.

This happened today but sold out really quick.

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https://slickdeals.net/f/12313249-dell-xps-15-9570-laptop-i7-8750h-16gb-ddr4-512gb-ssd-gtx-1050-ti-restocked-1250

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No it is not. Here are the specs on that computer:

Intel Core i3 6006u (6th gen)

8GB DDR4 Ram

1366 x 768 resolution

Up to 8 hours battery life

This unit here from amazon is cheaper, with a better display (1920 x 1080), better battery life (up to 12 hours) and better processor (8th gen, i3 8130u). It trails the other with only having 6gb of ram but is still upgradeble to 32gb. You wont notice the 2gb difference. Additionally, ram is one of the few things you can upgrade in a laptop. The processor and screen are generally not upgradeable and would require a new laptop to replace. Better to go with one with higher specs in the things you cant replace, and take a small hit on the things you can replace (ie Ram). Hope this helps.

I just got the Acer Aspire E15 a couple of weeks ago and it's been great. Don't expect to play newer games at 1080p at 60FPS, but it'll do Fallout 4 at 720p medium settings at around 40-50fps. The processor should handle just about anything you throw at it unless you are doing CAD or something like that.

if you are not carrying it around a lot the Dell G3 is a better deal at half the price, the bigger size and i5 also helps with thermal throttling

I'd just go the simple route and grab a USB audio interface like this one:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B06XBZ38ZJ/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_glt_fabc_TRWZPVDBTX56654GEGNA?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1

Edit: just saw you're also asking about making sound play internally also. That means the system thinks there's something still stuck inside that audio jack. I'd open it up and see if there is a way to push the remainder of the plug out from the inside. But for your quick fix to get you a jack back, USB is an OK option. Might sound better, actually.

Well, technically you only really need the cable to make it work, but I would highly suggest getting a bracket rather than just relying on tape because there's going to be a bit of give and you don't want that getting loose inside.

I did find something on Amazon that's similar. However, it doesn't list your specific model so I'm not 100% sure it's compatible with your laptop. I'm just linking it so you know what you roughly need: https://www.amazon.com/Caddy-HP-Omen-17-w000-17-w250TX-Compare-862964-001/dp/B077JNMZ28

Asus vivobook 15 with ryzen 5 3500 is the only one i know in that price range. It's the one I have too.

here's the 8gb ram version, buy there's a 4gb one available too, which can later be upgraded till 12gb. It comes with an ssd, an extra SATA slot if you want to thrown in another hdd/ssd later on.

The 8gb ram version is 560$ on Amazon, but I'm quite sure that you'll find it for cheaper in a store. However, if you can't go to a store and don't want to pay more than 500$, you can buy the 4gb ram version, but you'll really need to upgrade down the line to 8 or 12 gb.

How much Defective macbook pro worth???

Hmmmm.... well there is a market for broken macbooks on ebay. I believe people by them for parts.

I think going rate is between 100-200$ depending on if it's more expensive or cheaper model as well as condition and issues.

Fixed maybe depending issue I believe macbooks around this time had GPU issues. Either replacement GPU or new motherboard would exceed value of a used macbook from around this time though so it's scrap.

You can try some stuff listed below though as nothing to lose I guess.

http://osxdaily.com/2014/11/22/fix-macbook-pro-booting-black-screen/

You can do better, your motherboard has an M key M.2 slot, So you can keep your HDD as a secondary drive and just add an NVME drive. I would take it to best buy or microcenter to make sure you get the right thing. My recommendation would be a samsung 980 1TB NVME.

Sure! You can check Lenovo Legion 5 15 Gaming https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08YKG5K7F/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glt_fabc_B2CT7MXAYJ0P8F83Q2EP?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1, that’s where I bought it. I can show more pictures of it if needed :)

The Acer Swift 3 with an i5-8250U and MX150 has popped up on Amazon, purportedly shipping in 1-2 months, so I'd guess during the month of September we'll be seeing more laptops available.

I feel like people are being just too broad generic not really giving answer, or too paranoid.

• you have win10, you dont need to install antiviurs, it comes with defender and currently it ranks well on av-test and on av-comparative with only issue being false possitive.
• ublock origin browser extension mentioned is a good idea

Dont bother with anything else. Not even malwarebytes that is mostly fine, but it still tries to sell you pro if you dunno where to click.

Anyway, safest place is in the cold calculated embrace of linux. btw I am using arch.

I think with your price range, the best GPU that you're gonna be able to find is the MX150, and maybe a gtx 1050 if you get a killer deal.

ATM the Acer Aspire E15 has everything that you're asking for as well as the MX150. This one is a pretty much universally recommended budget gaming laptop and also has a pretty good battery life for $600 or ~£454 on amazon.

I'd look around for sales because a GTX 1050 is much more powerful than the MX150. Depending on the games that you'll be playing this might not be super necessary though.

They provided to reason at all. Even after I pressed them. Amazon would be a great option but I dont think they have any of the i7 models in stock.

Edit: hang on looks like you can go here: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07CTHN94Z/ref=od_aui_detailpages00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 and then select amazon shipping on the side and its actually cheaper and fulfilled by amazon. I dont know why it isnt defaulting to that but I just ordered one. Thanks!

I think i3-4130T(2.9GHz) is similar to i7-5500U.

I often watch the single thread scores of Passmark as a reference.

PassMark CPU Benchmarks - Single Thread Performance

http://www.cpubenchmark.net/singleThread.html

i7-5500U seems to be underestimated here though (I guess it can reach 1630).

> My first instinct was the Dell XPS, but its only configurable to 8gb of RAM.

Actually, that's not really accurate.

You can get it up to 32GB of RAM, as seen here and here.

And, you simply buy the 8GB model and swap your own 16GB or 32GB of RAM in for cheaper than Dell's upgrade cost, making it a win/win all around.

You could compile and install Chromium OS on it. Better though, would be just to reinstall Windows or, the easiest and the best way, switch to Linux - choices are many.

its possible that wires connecting screen to mobo are crushed pretty bad.

try bootable usb with windows or linux distro and check if visual glitch persists

https://www.pendrivelinux.com/yumi-multiboot-usb-creator/

The Dell Outlet site has the XPS 15 in stock with the 960m for $949 and includes Dell's XPS-exclusive Premium Support which gives you on site repair and replacement and a dedicated support line. XPS results on the Outlet site

The XPS is going to be a nicer, much more powerful laptop than the one you're looking at there, and via the Outlet it's cheaper than the current retail ones.

The Outlet has a great reputation on SlickDeals.net and I bought my XPS 14 there in 2012 and it came in brand new perfect condition - it must've been an open box return, because it was good as opening it new myself. 4 years later it still works great and is an awesome laptop.

My $0.02

Something like this should do the trick.

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I use similar adapters for old MSATA drives and the work wonderfully.

It'd be hard to buy anything from Amazon without tax now a days. States were losing a lot of money from items being sold to their residents and not collecting the usual state tax. Amazon was being hounded by states for paying millions for years of uncollected taxes. As a compromise, Amazon started collecting tax if the state would forgive any back taxes not collected.

It used to be that you would have to pay a state tax on goods if you had a physical store in the state. Since the advent of the internet though, that was a major loophole for online stores. It created an unfair market where local businesses could not compete with out of state stores due to a cheaper price they provided.

At this point, working with out of Texas small online businesses would be your best bet to get a laptop without some sort of sales tax. Keep in mind though, just because you don't pay sales tax up front, some states will ask you to pay a use tax at the time when you're doing your yearly tax returns. So it's not entirely avoidable.

That being said, there's this HP Pavilion that I recommended the other day to someone on here who wanted a powerful laptop under $700. I think the max sales tax in Texas is 8.25%, so after that it'd still be $725. Sadly, there's no SSD on this one, but it's hard to find a cheap laptop with an SSD, since the SSD will literally be half the price of the laptop. (A good SSD anyway.)

The seller on the page I linked says it's sold by Flash Deals (No Tax). I don't know if they'll honor the no tax thing or not. But the item will be fulfilled by Amazon.

Hope this helped.

> Dell Inspiron 7559

No OP, but I have actually been eyeing that one. It's on sale for $660 on Amazon. Seems decent enough and has good reviews.

Gaming-capable, new and under 500 dollars is tough.

Worth considering - some BBY and Costco have gift cards you can buy for either eBay or Amazon (with no upcharge) which broadens your horizons a bit.

I'd also consider trying to scratch together an extra 100 to 200, which will make all of the above possible.

if limited to best buy or costco, find the best CPU and largest amount of RAM, followed by the biggest SSD you can find. HD 620 can do a few things (on low quality) but don't expect much more.

This is a good choice if you can get them to consider Amazon, it's new, should last a while and you can do some games like FIFA on it. It's also easy to upgrade

Not sure if accurate but according to amazon it releases on the 22nd. I'm personally leaning towards the gram since this model fixes minor gripes i had with most ultrabooks.

The Gigabyte Aero 14 seems to fit what you’re looking for. It’s a thin and light (1.9 kg) gaming laptop, but doesn’t look gamer-y. It has a GTX 1060 and a 7700HQ CPU. It also has a huge battery and gets around eight hours of battery, and costs $1650 here, putting it squarely in your price point. You could also get one with a 1050Ti for $200 cheaper, which puts it at an even more affordable price. Not really sure how Amazon shipping works internationally, but you could always try and find other places that sell it if it’s unavailable.

I didn't analyze the laptop properly, but a 4th gen CPU is TOO old for 2018. I'd pay $300-500 for that, unless it has some property I missed (like 15 hours battery or some black sorcery like that).

If you want Asus + Amazon...

This

Review

Yes, you can use a USB to HDMI Converter/Adapter. Make sure it has a driver to download.

Here's a quick example I found on Amazon. https://www.amazon.com/USB3-0-Adapter-Converter-Windows-Computer/dp/B078P9CF28/ref=mp_s_a_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1528774135&sr=8-3&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_FMwebp_QL65&keywords=usb+to+hdmi+adapter&dpPl=1&dpID=51XNpuXtY%2BL&ref=plSrch

If I'm correctly look at the laptop that you have (i7 4700 hq and gtx 765m) I am confident to say that both the processor difference and gpu difference it quite substantial looking at modern laptops. From doing some research, the 765m performance an peform as well or worse than an mx150 gpu that is found in laptops at like 600 dollar. I couldnt exactly find a laptop for 1600 but Ill refer to one for 1200 on amazon. https://www.amazon.com/Acer-Predator-i7-8750H-Overclockable-PH315-51-78NP/dp/B07CTHLX8C/ref=lp_565108_1_8?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1538671430&sr=1-8

This laptop has a way better gpu, cpu and a 144hz display while costing less than previously. Basically my point is laptops have gotten a lot better while becoming cheaper also.

This Ryzen 5 is 449 and should meet these requirements easily; and this is a nice device to boot. You can get some hands on time with it at some OfficeDepot or OfficeMax locations.

>Same could be said for many gaming laptops

Bought a Dell 5577 Gaming in 2017 and it came with a TN panel that rendered text indistinguishable unless you bent the screen at the right angle within 10-degree. To make it worse, it was glossy so I couldn't see shit in the evening with the lights on.

I ended up reading one of those weird old phpBB forums where people discussed finding compatible replacement screens. Now it's rocking a $70 beautiful matte IPS panel that's manually overlocked to 100hz. Luckily I didn't need the manufacturer warranty.

https://www.amazon.com/Lenovo-1920x1080-Processor-Windows-82B1000AUS/dp/B08BB9RWXD/ref=pd_gwm_ci_mcx_mr_hp_m_1?pf_rd_s=grid-5&pf_rd_t=Gateway&pf_rd_i=mobile&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pd_rd_wg=Pi4sx&pd_rd_r=1KZQ0HAK2FFTPVCXY6Z1&...

If anyone is still interested this went up in price

https://www.amazon.com/Razer-Blade-Gaming-Laptop-Thunderbolt/dp/B087LW2KFG/ref=pd_gwm_ci_mcx_mr_hp_m_0?pf_rd_s=blackjack-experiment-2&pf_rd_t=Gateway&pf_rd_i=mobile&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pd_rd_wg=e08Qv&pd_rd_r=0Q9XV55SD0EQ8WVTQ...

Not sure if it is still a good deal at that price point

You can connect it if your laptop has USB type C port with DP alternate mode...

I'm currently looking for this adapter, which can solve my problems

https://www.amazon.com/Cable-Matters-Multiport-DisplayPort-Ethernet/dp/B06Y5N3YCD

but only thing why I'm not owning it yet is because of slow LAN(only 100mbps)...

What's the priority? Battery life? Weight? Processing power and discrete video? The recommendations really diverge based on one or more of those. If I had to recommend an all-rounder, i'd recommend this one. Solid CPU, Discrete GPU, decent amount of RAM, an SSD in a mediocre to average build with a passable screen.

Here's a good article comparing SSDs: http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/pcie-vs-sata-type-ssd-best/

Truth be told, I've never used a PCIe, so I can't speak from personal experience. However, the article seems to say the same thing as above: it's good for huge data files, not needed for normal day-to-day.

As refurbished goes, the answer is cliche, but true: it depends. I've bought some refurbished appliances that I use around the house, and they're as good as new. My wife, on the other hand, got a refurbished phone from Verizon when she dropped hers, and it's been awful from day 1, with constant crashing and freezing. But I ultimately go back to what I said originally: I wouldn't want to risk that on a work computer.

Now, open box from best buy is a bit different, and that's because of the warranty. Refurb items get 90 (100 w/ Lenovo) days warranty. I believe best buy gives a full 1-year warranty in the case of defects. If your heart is set on trying to save some money with a gently used machine, open box should offer you a lot more protection than a manufacturer refurbished model.

As for the computer itself: what office products do you need? There's a not insignificant gap between regular and professional. Do you need things like Access, or will the standard Word/Excel/Powerpoint/Outlook do?

I'd stay away from Chromebooks if you're concerned about cloud based storage, those live and breathe the cloud. I'd probably recommend you pick up something like the HP stream 11/14 that will let you keep office offline. The stream 14 has about 10 hours of battery life, it comes with office for a year, and it has an SD card slot to expand the offline storage. https://www.walmart.com/ip/HP-Stream-14-Laptop-Windows-10-Home-Intel-Celeron-N3060-Processor-4GB-RAM-32GB-eMMC-Storage/54056480?action=product_interest&action_type=title&item_id=54056480&placement_id=irs-302-m3&strategy=PWVUB&v...

>I forget how much more expensive tech is in Australia

Yes, all our stuff is way more expensive. It's pretty standard for laptops like these to cost ballpark $800.

>A used T450s seems to run about ~$800 in Australia and is generally a MUCH better overall system

Compared to the 510-GV listed at Harvey Norman, this is;

• Same price
• 2 years old, used condition, basically no warranty
• 20-30% slower CPU (comparison)
• 50% less storage space (1TB vs 500GB, arguably irrelevant if you buy an SSD)
• 30% lower screen resolution (1600×900 vs 1920×1080, both seem to be IPS)
• 40-50% weaker GPU (no discrete GPU, neither here nor there) (comparison)
• 4GB of extra RAM (value ~$40-50)

I must be missing something here. How is this a better option?

@OP, look on eBay for laptops with these processors, you could find a better option, especially if you can find some certified refurbished listings.

If your budget is around $800, then how about this one?

https://slickdeals.net/f/11774639-lenovo-yoga-730-15-2-in-1-15-6-fhd-ips-touch-i5-8250u-8gb-ddr4-256gb-pcie-ssd-gtx-1050-4gb-thunderbolt-3-win10h-810-f-s

It's a pretty good deal. Has a nice CPU and a good GPU for light gaming. Would be able to play rocket league and light games at 60fps max settings without much trouble.

The 1050 in this is much better than the mx130, which is honestly a really bad GPU. I don't know if it could even give you a consistent 60 fps in rocket league on low.

You mentioned Razer- saw one on sale recently, though with an older generation CPU:. https://slickdeals.net/share/android_app/t/11530403

They seem a bit expensive, but do have a premium build and 14" form-factor (brother has one and he likes it.) The new Asus Zephyrus line looks pretty nice too and has all of the latest tech (BB has a non-gsync 1060 model for $1500.) I've had both MSI and Asus laptops, and tend to lean towards Asus for a bit better build quality and less bloatware.

https://www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu.php?cpu=Intel+Core+i7-6700HQ+%40+2.60GHz

http://www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu.php?cpu=intel+core+i7-4700mq+%40+2.40ghz&id=1923

The 6700hq is better by a bit. Not really a big difference.

While a i7U would probably work... I'd still strongly suggest a 6700HQ or at least 6300HQ for the stuff you're doing. The 6300HQ is still better than the i7U despite it's lack of hyperthreading.

For fan noise, it depends on the model of the laptop you're looking at. But I wouldn't worry too much about the fan noise.

The 6600U would however be a downgrade from your 3612MQ. The 6300HQ would also be.

See here for a comparison between all three chips.

Same situation here. If you are ok with upgrading RAM by yourself with xps 15, check this one out: https://slickdeals.net/f/11132687-dell-xps-15-9560-15-6-fhd-ips-i7-7700hq-8gb-ddr4-256gb-nvme-ssd-gtx-1050-thunderbolt-3-win10-1147-with-f-s?src=catpagev2
I may buy this after CES (which is today) ends.

According to SlickDeals, this is the lowest price it's ever been and it beat their front-page deal post: https://slickdeals.net/f/10849779-hp-envy-x360-2-in-1-15-6-laptop-ryzen-5-2500u-vega-8-8gb-ddr4-1tb-hdd-575-free-shipping

You can get actual screen cleaners at Pc stores or TV stores. don't use Windex thought. that stuff isn't good for your screen.

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Monster+Cable+-+TV+Screen+Cleaning+Kit/5774879.p?id=1069297113224&skuId=5774879&st=Screen%20Cleaner&cp=1&lp=1

1. In the out-of-box experience, I disable all the options except for location and speech recognition. The rest is just an excuse for sneaking in telemetry.
2. Open windows update and install the latest patches.
3. Uninstall bloatware from the computer. Basically, just get rid of all the programs on your computer installed by the manufacturer. Sometimes they install antivirus software that isn't great, background processes, etc...
4. Bit more advanced, but I also get Winaero Tweaker and disable the "Ads and Unwanted Apps" tweak in windows.

Drivers are little peices of software that let the operating system interact with the computer's hardware. So theres a driver for your keyboard, display, trackpad, etc. Most laptops have the proper drivers already pre-installed when they ship (windows will auto detect your hardware and install the nessecary drivers), so no worries.

I'm a math and physics major in university, so I've run into this problem a lot as well. Like /u/SuspiciousShirt said, Overleaf is amazing for LaTex. It's basically Google Docs but for Latex, and they don't own what you write in it (unlike Google Docs). For charts, I'd recommend looking into python's matplotlib library, which lets you generate almost any chart type available with a very small learning curve. It's really easy to use and install too. I use it every time I need to graph something.

Look it up on the internet. For most cards they only use one generation of ddr, there are exceptions like the gt 1030 which can have ddr4 or ddr5. If your card could have different memory GPUz can tell you which, or you can look at the memory chips themselves under the cooler. Unless you suspect it's being faked looking in software is good enough.

You can use something like PassMark DiskCheckup, from their website:

> SMART monitors elements of possible long term drive failure, such as 'Spin Up Time', the number of start/stops, the number of hours powered on and the hard disk temperature.

You could check out CPU-Z and GPU-Z for info on the CPU and GPU, here's CPU-Z for example.

Others might have some other suggestions for an "all in one" type utility, but those are some that quickly come to mind...

Matebook.

Macs are pricey and have a fair amount of problems with their boards (PC's do too, but they're not as expensive). You'd expect to get premium when you pay premium, but you don't. Macs are also very restricted, they don't play nice with a lot of non-apple products. For example, you can't connect to a wireless display (like a smart tv) without apple tv. On windows, it's 3 clicks and done. You also have less I/O ports on a mac and you need a dongle for everything that's not USB-C, which still is pretty much everything.

If you want to try something new OS wise, get the Matebook and dual boot linux on it - there are distros that have a very similar UI to OS X, elementary for example.

Firstly, dust off any fans with a brush. Then get a temperature monitoring program such as open hwmonitor then run a game with hw monitor open and what temperature your cpu and gpu reach and how fast they reach it. If the temps are jumping right up to 90C+ quickly then you need to repaste the heatsinks/chips. If its taking a while to reach 90c then you need to give the insides a thorough clean and maybe repaste the chips while you're at it. Also, you might wanna have a look at undervolting the cpu, its easy to do and doesn't affect performance but underclocking too much will make your system crash, gotta find the sweet spot with trial & error. If the temps aren't hitting above 90C then heat is not the issue, at least not on the cpu/gpu anyway.

Also, check to see if your laptop has a button that allows you to turn the fans to 100%, if it does, make sure they're on 100% when you're testing it. if putting your fans to 100 fixes the problem then your fan curve needs adjusting or you can just do what I do and turn them to 100 whenever you play a power hungry game.

I have a zenbook with an 8th gen processor and mine doesnt. You might feel that way because the ultrabooks dont trubo too much on battery to save power, but turbo really hard when plugged in and then they overheat and start getting toasty. You can get a hardware montior like openhardwaremonitor or HWMonitor to check if the cpu is running hot.

Ok. grab your mom's Thinkpad and an USB stick. with the laptop, flash fedora linux on the USB. boot up your computer with that USB (search on the internet how to open the boot menu for your laptop). let the new system boot up, and when ready, click to "try fedora". open the file manager and look if detects your disk and can read it. if not, send me a direct message so i can help you better.

Install CPU-Z and check the exact model number of your laptop. Download link. If that’s the correct manual, then you have it, return your purchase and buy another 8GB stick clicked at 2400 MHz.

To take screenshots of anything, I use LightShot. Very small program that runs in the background and captures your screen when you hit the print screen button. Probably need to use the function key to do "fn+prnt scrn" on a laptop. Just click and drag a box on your screen to crop the picture and then save to desktop. Easy.

Windows automatically keeps a battery report and you can get it by opening the terminal or "cmd" and typing "powercfg/batteryreport". It makes an HTML file in your C:/users/(username) folder called something like batteryreport.html. Open that and it shows you a whole list of specs about your battery history.

The exact perfect laptop exists to your specifications - the XPS 15 with the 100% Adobe RGB 4K display and a 960m or GTX 1050 4GB. Unfortunately, a brand new one is outside your budget ($2,100+) but the good news is you can get a factory refurbished one within your budget.

I got a factory refurbished XPS 14 back in 2012 and it still runs perfectly today. It came in brand new condition - must've been an open box return.

If you can settle for a Core i5 quad core instead of the Core i7, you can get the exact laptop you asked for, for under $1k! https://www.screencast.com/t/lWK88eMIb

The other one listed there is fully loaded with a Core i7, 32GB of RAM, and a 1TB SSD, and it's still under your budget.

Keep an eye on Dell's Outlet because deals come and go as stock comes and goes. If I needed a laptop today I'd personally buy one of these.

Link to those two models.

Yup, I just checked at it's literally the only page on Google from the past month - went up yesterday. Looks like they released it without fanfare, announcement, or anything. How bizarre.

https://www.screencast.com/t/xxZCIBos

No, no laptops will "turn off" NVIDIA GPU when they transition to battery power. There is a feature, that does provide a functionality that kinda does that (which your laptop looks like it would use) called NVIDIA Optimus. This does allow it to on an application-by-application basis decide to use the Intel GPU or the NVIDIA GPU, however, it does not change when on battery power and even changing the setting (in NVIDIA control panel) will not affect the game if it is currently running, you will need to start the game.

Although, they will turn the graphics card down. Part of this is to save battery, you can find this feature in the GeForce Experience software under the name "Battery Boost" which you can see where to configure here in the program. However, it is worth noting that your specific laptop, provided it is the version with the 1060 instead of the 1050ti, draws up to about 162W on load from the wall and the battery is 48Wh. That is, around 17 minutes of gaming time, which is exactly why so many battery saving technologies exist.

Finally, it's worth nothing that, at least as far as I am aware, there will also be a limit based on how much power your battery can actually throw out at once safely. And I don't mean like it will damage or degrade your hardware, I mean it will, but I mean that's because if the battery allowed itself to discharge too fast it'll catch on fire. It won't do that as the battery will be designed to limit itself, however, that may limit your performance.

Does your college allow you to access their computers remotely? Mine does, and it allows me to use the heavier software on a potato laptop. This can save you a lot of money, but there is some hassle with lag and unstable connections, but it's a compromise. Just something to consider.

Alternatively, a subscription service like Shadow allows you to access a powerful desktop system to be able to run more demanding software: https://shadow.tech/int/

> tired of watching youtube in 480p i want to watch stuff in 1080p without video freezing lol.

Is this your internet connection or your processor? Go to SpeedTest.net or Fast.com and see if your connection is 20 Mbps+. There could be other issues going on - are you physically very far from your router?

> Gaming PC worth it for non gaming needs?

Gaming machines are purpose built. They're heavy with small batteries, sometimes underpowered processors, and they prioritize nice 1080p displays and the most powerful video card you can fit in a small box. Video cards draw a lot of power and therefore put off a lot of heat, so gaming machines are going to be oversized with big fans to cool them.

Long story short, gaming laptops make lots of sacrifices to get good framerates.

I backup KingGa's suggestion for an XPS. They're small, powerful, reasonably priced, have exceptional battery life. You might want to consider getting external storage because adding internal storage will be very expensive.

It is a bit more involved than that if the laptop only has a single hard drive and you want to copy everything over to the new hard drive including the operating system.

The process of transferring the operation system to a new hard drive requires cloning software. Macrium Reflect Free is an example.

I got this Woolnut Leather Sleeve like 3 years ago and it’s held up amazingly plus unlike the Apple one this one has a wool insole built in.

How effective a cooling pad is basically depends on the internal airflow of the laptop. I have two Deepcool Multi Core X6 that I have used to cool multiple laptops since 2014; all of which have vents underneath the laptop.

https://www.amazon.com/DeepCool-Cooling-Multi-Core-X6/dp/B00B3RZ298/ref=mp_s_a_1_3?dchild=1&keywords=deepcool+multi+core+x6&qid=1629681826&sprefix=deepcool+multi&sr=8-3

2014 Dell Latitude 3540 = No change in temps

2016 Dell Inspiron 7559 = 5c cooler

2018 Acer Nitro 5 = 1c cooler, but internal fans are much quieter.

2018 Overpowered 15+ = 4c cooler

Basic SSD https://www.amazon.com.br/120GB-SATA-SU650-ASU650SS-120GT-R-Armazenamento/dp/B07KQXKK12/ref=sr_1_216?__mk_pt_BR=%C3%85M%C3%85%C5%BD%C3%95%C3%91&dchild=1&keywords=500gb%2BSSD&qid=1628018307&sr=8-216&ufe=app_do%3Aamzn1.fos.4bb566...

Ram 4gb ddr3 1.5v

https://www.amazon.com.br/Mem%C3%B3ria-Notebook-DDR3-1-333MHz-KVR13S9S8/dp/B008CP5QJK/ref=sr_1_1?__mk_pt_BR=%C3%85M%C3%85%C5%BD%C3%95%C3%91&dchild=1&keywords=4gb+ddr3+1333mhz+sodim&qid=1628018173&sr=8-1&ufe=app_do%3Aamzn1.fos.d...

Roughly r$444 or $87 USD

I'd say the above configuration or combo of both dual channel ram and ssd is sufficient for everyday use

Good luck - best wishes from USA

It doesn't have a full size keyboard, but Acer Swift X might be a good choice.

It's got a Ryzen 7 5800U and a 3050 Ti. The 5800U is a low wattage processor, but is still quite performant. The 3050 Ti in this laptop is running at a lower wattage (~40W), but should be able to handle light editing tasks like you mentioned.

Oh and probably the most important part: it's not a gaming laptop.

This laptop has two RAM slots. One is occupied by the 8GB RAM the system comes with, and the other one is empty. It's very easy to take the back off the laptop and add another 8GB of RAM, for a total of 16GB.

You just have to make sure it's the right type of RAM. This would work:

https://www.amazon.com/Crucial-DDR4-Laptop-Memory-CT8G4SFRA32A/dp/B08C4Z69LN

8GB is what I would consider the bare minimum acceptable amount of RAM these days. 16GB will help the system stay more responsive, especially if he plans to use the laptop for several years.

Hi there,

I checked on the laptop and I have a few cons to it.

1. It doesn't have a keyboard. The keyboard would cost you $100 extra (as far as I know).

2. The processor is pretty bad for the price. You could get something much better for less.

This laptop here costs $749 and has a really good processor for its price. This will work very well for the tasks that you mentioned.

https://www.amazon.com/Lenovo-Touchscreen-Processor-Fingerprint-R7-4700U/dp/B0989RMLVJ/ref=mp_s_a_1_1_sspa?dchild=1&keywords=laptop+r7&qid=1626279858&sr=8-1-spons&psc=1&spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUEyODdOVkhOUUs0UlJKJmVuY3J5c...

If you want something that is cheaper and very powerful, I would suggest this laptop here:

https://www.amazon.com/HP-Portable-Micro-Edge-Anti-Glare-14-fq1021nr/dp/B091D9652Z/ref=mp_s_a_1_3?dchild=1&keywords=laptop+ryzen+5&qid=1626280069&sprefix=laptop+ry&sr=8-3

It is really powerful. The downside of this is the storage capacity, but you can add some to it afterwards and it will be a real beast!

Hopefully this helped!

My Swift 7 came with:

Acer Product Registration Acer Documents (a 30mb PDF, fair enough though) Acer Legal Information ExpressVPN Norton 360 PowerDirector PhotoDirector Acer Control Panel (think that's what it's called) Remote Desktop Translator

I think there may have been more. I've removed most of it. Still got the documents and legal, ExpressVPN, and the Power/PhotoDirector. Made a full image of the laptop when it was new, so if I sell it, I can easily get the old drivers back.

Laptop coolers can help, but how effective it can be actually depends on the airflow inside the laptop itself. I have two DeepCool Multicore X6 coolers that I have used to cool multiple laptops (all have dedicated GPUs) over the years with varying results. All of the laptops have intake vents on the bottom oldest 1st released in mid 2011 to the most recent last released in late 2018.

1. Lenovo Ideapad Y470 = 2c cooler
2. Dell Latitude 3540 = No change in temp
3. Dell Inspiron 7559 = 5c cooler
4. Acer Nitro 5 (model AN515-51) = No change in temps, but internal fan spins slower which greatly reduces noise
5. OverPowered 15+ = 4c cooler.

​

Link to the cooler I use:

https://www.amazon.com/DeepCool-Cooling-Multi-Core-X6/dp/B00B3RZ298

You could something like this for a total of 12GB:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07KGMS67T/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_glt_fabc_2XT534R0H0A3TD1VK8KN

Or something like this for a total of 20GB:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07KGM4W57/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_glt_fabc_X1Z1ZJS4DSSM3TP1H9VS?psc=1

For this pricepoint did you get it with Win10 Installed? If yes then it's great if no then in this pricepoint you can already hunt for RTX 2060 without Win or this model:

https://www.amazon.com/GeForce-IPS-Level-Windows-Notebook-Computer/dp/B08TCDWSHQ/ref=sr\_1\_4?dchild=1&keywords=RTX+2060+Notebook&qid=1625049449&sr=8-4

Toshiba Satellite Fusion 15 L55W-C5259 15.6-Inch Convertible 2 in 1 Touchscreen Laptopmy laptop

I’m rocking the Asus TUF F15 (fx505/fx506 series) and it’s absolutely worth it. Add in a 16 gigabyte stick of so-dimm and a 2.5” hard drive and it’s a very formidable gaming machine in your budget

Edit - Here is the model I have

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08NBC698F/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glt_fabc_3PSDM1W7SJ9Q235K03QE

Thank you kindly! Would you happen to know of any cheaper alternatives to this RAM or should I stick with it? I bought the SSD I mentioned above, as per your advice.

https://www.amazon.com/Acer-SFX14-41G-R1S6-Creator-LPDDR4X-Keyboard/dp/B093TK1PXF/ref=mp_s_a_1_3?dchild=1&keywords=acer+swift+x+5800u&qid=1623597803&sr=8-3

Amazon taking preorders on this. 8 core CPU, 16GB RAM, dedicated video card, and a decent screen

> do u really think its the ram that makes it lag?

Yes. I'd suggest buying something like this and putting it in:

https://www.amazon.com/TEAMGROUP-PC4-21300-Unbuffered-Notebook-Computer/dp/B07QMMZ79V

Yep! Looks like your laptop has two RAM slots, and supports a max of 16GB DDR3L-1600 RAM. Something like this would work:

https://www.amazon.com/1600MHz-PC3L-12800-Unbuffered-Notebook-Tech/dp/B07JGSPGGZ

As for the SSD, any 2.5" SATA SSD should work. Like this:

https://www.amazon.com/PNY-CS900-Internal-Solid-State/dp/B07Y5VDNT9

If that's USD, no, it's expensive for what it is.

This GF65 Thin is brand new and has a much better graphics card and an operating system for less than the price of that unit. https://www.amazon.com/MSI-GF65-Thin-9SD-836-GTX1660Ti/dp/B08BZQTCXK?ref_=ast_sto_dp

Not enough money. If it's at all possible, keep saving. You'll need at least $400 to get something respectable.

I just upgraded from this Asus Vivobook. Absolutely dog shit processor, but the laptop itself was very pretty and distracted me from the fact that I was poor. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07JBJM275/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_glt_i_Z79FBX1AJX950X5YQSEE

Even less, this model of the Acer Aspire 5 costs around 800 USD, even though it has Intel Iris Xe Max integrated graphics and not a dedicated graphics card.

Looking at the brand, it's probably pretty old (in computer terms) so it probably contains a 2.5 inch HDD. You should be able to unscrew the bottom of the laptop and take out the drive. You can then hook it up to basically any desktop computer using a sata cable or to a laptop using a HDD enclosure, something like this. This way you can retrieve your data.

Thanks, I wasn't aware if there was another slot for RAM on this laptop for memory upgrade, I guess I will check when I open it up..

We're not planning to install a lot of games, so my guess is that 1TB SSD which seems to be reasonably priced these days, should be workable. If it has regular SSD bay (I checked some youtube videos and they have the NVMe already attached, and they add new SSD 2.5"), is this a good one to get? https://www.amazon.com/Crucial-BX500-NAND-2-5-Inch-Internal/dp/B07YD5KCB5/

https://www.amazon.com/Acer-Display-Graphics-Keyboard-A515-43-R19L/dp/B07RF1XD36/ref=sr_1_3?dchild=1&keywords=laptop&qid=1621034916&sr=8-3

Price is good and the specs are good for the money

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0815SGMTW/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o08_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I'm not sure if they sell yours, but I have an old Dell Inspiron 7559 that this worked well for

> I can connect two monitors to this dock without issue, at HD res, but when I try to connect a third monitor, its resolution is limited to a very very low one, and it cannot really be used. The dock's website says it can support 3 HD monitors - whats going on?

It depends on your laptop (and what version of DisplayPort it supports over USB-C). For USB-C with DisplayPort 1.2, this dock (Lenovo 40AS) will only work for dual 1920x1080 60Hz. For USB-C with DisplayPort 1.4 machines, it could do more.

One way to squeeze more out of USB-C with DP - a dedicated DisplayPort MST hub like https://www.amazon.com/Cable-Matters-201375-BLK-Docking-Stations/dp/B0874V465W (should work with triple 1920x1080 60Hz even on USB-C with DP1.2, but has no USB). If the laptop supports Thunderbolt 3 or Thunderbolt 4 - some TB3/TB4 docks can do triple 1920x1080 60Hz + USB3 (e.g., Lenovo 40AN).

get a clear case and you can put stickers, photos, whatever underneath. Protects the stickers and allows you to change them easily, anytime.

Short answer: Just take the back off and stick it in. Long answer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xw7f9A9Y4Y0

I did it with my wife's laptop and it took less than 10 minutes. Here's the RAM I ordered, works like a charm: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08KTQFZ9P

Legion 5 Ryzen 7 4800H RTX 2060 - $1100

If weight isn't first priority to you, this is the way to go. It can handle any CPU Intensive Work quite well, any game 60 fps+ wouldn't be a problem, the display is nice too, a webcam is present (unlike some Asus Laptops) too with a privacy filter.

Sadly, the touchscreen isn't here. in fact, no gaming laptops have a touchscreen.

Regardless you buy this laptop or not, please don't buy Intel Laptops right now, as they are pretty far behind AMD in current the market situation.

Edit: RAM is 16GB, so Chrome Tabs shouldn't be any problem as well.

How much does it cost?

Regardless, lenovo legion 5 is better. https://www.box.co.uk/82B50043UK-Lenovo-Legion-5-15_2943317.html

Or https://www.amazon.co.uk/1920x1080-Processor-Windows-82B1000AUS-Phantom/dp/B08BB9RWXD if you can get 30 more euros fit in your budget.

The following Acer laptop with a 6 core Ryzen 5 4500u APU and integrated Vega 6 selling for $570 should be more than sufficient.

https://www.amazon.com/Acer-A515-44-R41B-Hexa-Core-Processor-Graphics/dp/B087N4ZRXV/ref=sr_1_4?dchild=1&keywords=ryzen%2B5%2B4500u%2Blaptop&qid=1613074493&sr=8-4&th=1

​

Be aware that based on the questions asked section, the 8GB of RAM that comes with the laptop is soldered into the motherboard. There is an empty RAM slot to add more RAM. For best graphics integrated performance, you should install a 2nd 8GB RAM stick for a total of 16GB. When two RAM sticks of the same capacity are installed, the RAM will operate in dual channel mode or full speed rather than single channel mode or half speed with only 1 RAM stick.

Actual performance increase depends on how sensitive the specific game is to RAM speeds. Generally speaking, it can be anywhere between 0% to 20%.

The Vega 6 with the default 8GB soldered into the motherboard should be more than enough to play such an old game which had pretty low requirements when it was released.

Get this one.

It is one of the best "value-for-money" budget laptops I've ever seen. Display is great, build quality is solid, RAM and storage is also fully upgradeable.

I did the research for you. The Lenovo Legion 5 is the one you want, believe me. You want it just as I linked, 1660Ti, 144Hz, Ryzen 7. You can check my post history if you want more details from the users who helped me. But basically, according to my research, it has solid specs and good thermals and build quality. It's currently the best gaming laptop up to $1000, and may currently be the best-bang-for-the-buck (most cost-effective) out of all the laptops out there.

In case you were wondering, it runs Cyberpunk on medium settings at 60fps and high at mid-50s and ultra at mid-40s IIRC.

I think you'll get a major performance increase swapping the 1TB hard drive to SSD. You could put the hard drive in one of these for data migration and later backup storage. Your laptop's still pretty modern. Crucial.com has a configurator that guarantees what memory and storage they recommend will work with your laptop. Have fun and happy upgrading.

HY510 looks like crap / generic thermal paste.

I recommend you get Arctic MX-4.

https://www.amazon.com/ARCTIC-MX-4-2019-Performance-Durability/dp/B07L9BDY3T/ref=sr_1_4?dchild=1&keywords=HY510&qid=1607892412&s=electronics&sr=1-4

The 1660Ti/2060 model overheats, would not recommend it.

Get the Legion 5 instead: https://www.amazon.com/Lenovo-1920x1080-Processor-Windows-82B1000AUS/dp/B08BB9RWXD/

Short update:

https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B08PJFMY4X/

I talked to this seller and they created a listing for one that they're calling compatible and IPS. And since it's Amazon if it doesn't work return will be easy. My laptop still hasn't shipped and isn't scheduled to until December 11 so this whole process may take a while since I want to use it for ~1mo before completely voiding my warranty.

The screens for these Pavilion 15 gaming laptops appear to be attached with stretch release tape, which is a massive pain to remove in my experience especially if it breaks partway through. If it does there's no way to remove the old display without breaking it in the process. My second concern is that I don't know if this replacement will ship with replacement adhesive so that may also be needed.

Now that i listen via bigger speaker i wonder how loud the sound is, but anyway,
Try cleaning them, but gently, compressed air looks like this
https://www.amazon.com/Falcon-Compressed-Disposable-Cleaning-DPSJB/dp/B0000AE67M/ref=sr_1_3?dchild=1&keywords=compressed+air&qid=1605691142&sr=8-3
you can get it for 3-4 euro.
If that doesn't work, just buy new fan and replace it, last fans i replaced were dell's and it cost me like 20 euro, and you are good to go for another year or so.